Richards Salvages Great Result

Gaining 13 places in 59 laps was a satisfying result today for Jason Richards, who again won the battle of the Kiwis in the V8 Supercar race at Hamilton Street Track.

After saying yesterday’s Team BOC Commodore was uncomfortable to drive, the crew made extensive changes overnight. Unfortunately the set-up did not work for qualifying, with Richards starting the race 25th, but a sensational drive and some great strategy saw him finish 12th, the first of the New Zealanders for the second day running.

V8 Supercars will next be in action two weeks from now at Queensland Raceway, Ipswich.
                             
Jason Richards, Team BOC #8:
“In retrospect, yesterday was probably the best the car has been but we changed it for qualifying today; we changed the philosophy. It didn’t seem to work and starting from 25th we didn’t have much to lose so we bailed and joined Jason Bright’s set-up. It was good for the first few laps but then lost the tyres.

“The places I made up were mostly through strategy because we didn’t have the brakes to pass people. I managed to put a really good middle stint together, which gave us a bit of a leap into the pack after the stops and the car felt good but when the tyres go away you can’t make up any ground.

“I didn’t see a P12 here today so to be fair we finished both races probably where our car speed was.”

Brad Jones, Co-Owner:
“I think it was a fantastic job by both Jason and the team to go from 25th up to 12th. It was a combination of good strategy and sensible driving. Jason just knuckled down on a tough weekend and got the best result he could. Two top-12 finishes in two races is a good solid result on any day.”

2010 ITM400 Hamilton
Hamilton Street Circuit
QUALIFYING Race 8
01. Garth Tander, HRT, 1:23.0349 (record)
02. Jamie Whincup, 888, +0.0694
03. Michael Caruso, GRM, +0.1617
04. Rick Kelly, Kelly Racing, +0.2165
05. Craig Lowndes, 888, +0.2707
06. James Courtney, DJR, +0.2751
07. Steven Johnson, DJR, +0.3588
08. Will Davison, HRT, +0.3745
09. Todd Kelly, Kelly Racing, +0.3748
10. Mark Winterbottom, FPR, +0.4049

25 Jason Richards, Team BOC, +1.2434

2010 ITM400 Hamilton
Hamilton Street Circuit
RACE 8
01. Jamie Whincup, 888
02. Garth Tander, HRT
03. Michael Caruso, GRM
04. Lee Holdsworth, GRM
05. Steven Johnson, DJR
06. Will Davison, HRT
07. Rick Kelly, Kelly Racing
08. Shane Van Gisbergen, SBR
09. Todd Kelly, Kelly Racing
10. Jason Bargwanna, Kelly Racing

12 Jason Richards, Team BOC

Jason Richards V8 STATS
Current championship position: 14
Current championship points: 474
V8 Supercar Championship race starts: 271 (including today)
Previous best Hamilton qualifying: 18 (2009)
Previous best Hamilton result: 9 (2008)