Pitstop: Bathurst champ signs up to race Porsche GTs

By BOB PEARCE

Jim Richards, who won the Bathurst 1000 last month, may race in New Zealand again next year.

The Otahuhu-born 55-year-old, who learned his skills here, is a provisional starter for a series of races for Porsche GT cars during MotorRace New Zealand's summer series.

Plans are for two Australian cars to take on the locals at Invercargill, Timaru and Pukekohe, and for Richards to drive either the car in which he recently won the Australian Nations Cup title for the fourth year in a row or a locally provided model.

He is keen to come, but a complication is the likely sale of his Australian Porsche.

Seven Porsche GT cars raced at Pukekohe during the Boost Mobile V8 meeting at the head of a big field of other models from the marque.

Lyall Williamson, who used to run BMWs in his International Motorsport team, now runs the GT Porsches in a venture with Auckland car magnate Colin Giltrap.

Several more GTs are due in the country before the end of the year, and Williamson is confident that 10 will be racing in the summer series.

Richards has had a long and successful career in Australian motorsport. He has won Bathurst seven times. He was touring car champion four times, Australian Nascar champion and six-times winner of the Targa Tasmania.

His son, Steve, drives for Larry Perkins' Holden Supercar teamand was runner-up to his fatherat Bathurst this year.

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Sandy Myhre had a busy time at Pukekohe at the weekend. She was heavily committed launching her book 50 Years on Track but also scurried around to keep Murray Deaker on air in her role as radio journalist.

There was scarcely time to visit the support race pits to check on her youngest son, Anthony, a competitor in the Formula Ford races.

Another book with strong motorsport interest will be veteran journalist Eion Young's biography of former Ferrari star Chris Amon. Forza Amon will be published next year.

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The Boost Mobile V8 meeting crowds were down a bit on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday brought a record 41,000 and most went away happy after Greg Murphy's remarkable win. They were certainly well fed. Panda caterers sold 12 tonnes of chips, 15,000 hotdogs, 3500 litres of tomato sauce, 25,000 burgers, 10,000 frankfurters, two tonnes of potato wedges and 12,000 servings of fish and chips. Contributing to this food fest were five tonnes of meat, 1.5 tonnes of potatoes, 15,000 bread rolls and 350 loaves.

The VB bridge was a welcome addition and earned praise from the visiting Australians as by far the best of its kind they had encountered.

It will be a permanent fixture at Pukekohe and it would be nice to think that the pit garages could also remain and be further enhanced.

One small niggle. The promoters, IMG, make a big commitment to providing continuous entertainment for fans throughout the day and their big screens spread it around. But there were times, particularly on Sunday, when a couple more support races wouldn't have gone amiss.

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The New Zealand V8s fully lived up to their billing as our premier racing class with two high-class races at Pukekohe. In fact, before the final Supercar race, the locals had outshone the visiting Aussie cars.

Mark Pedersen, Paul Manuell, Andy Anderson, Andy Booth, Wade Henshaw and Dean Perkins all showed what fiercely competitive racing they can produce.

But one who particularly caught the eye was Pukekohe driver Kevin Williams, who was holding his own with the better-known drivers until his Holden was tipped off by Booth.

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Nelson Hartley was picked by his mentor, Kenny Smith, as a star in the making and he didn't disappoint in the Formula Ford races at Pukekohe, where he won one race and went from last to first in the other before mechanical failure stopped him.

But there were others who could be pleased with their efforts. Simon Richards had a first and second to lead the points, and Formula First graduates Michael Shepherd and Christina Orr both made promising debuts in the championship.

Palmerston North teenager Chris Pither, fourth in the second race, has combined racing and education.

A story on his racing career has been published and distributed as a journal to New Zealand schools and, combined with a read-along tape, it has been published in the US as part of a programme to interest young males in books.

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Pit prattle at Pukekohe produced speculation about another New Zealand-owned V8 Supercar team.

Up for sale is the franchise which runs Cameron McLean under the VIP Petfoods Racing banner.

Word is that former rally driver David Thexton, who recently sold the Rio soft-drink empire, has expressed interest in buying the franchise.

McLean is pulling out at the end of the season because his sponsor became unhappy with the lack of TV exposure the car received during the season, when it was not among the front-runners.

In contrast, improved TV exposure of the New Zealand V8s has encouraged sponsors such as Caltex and Orix to get involved this season.

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The four-hour motorcycle endurance championship at Manfeild on April 12-13 has been cancelled. The organisers blame lack of support from three of the four motorcycle distributors.