Jim Richards has claimed the round victory in the Touring Car Masters after winning Race 3 at Sandown Raceway today.
Aboard his AMC Javelin, Richards steered clear of trouble to break the dominance of John Bowe and his Ford Mustang.
Richards said that the two long straights at Sandown suited the high horsepower AMC Javelin.
“That was good, we felt that we had it in us to win a race eventually and it’s all been a matter of making sure that everything was going well, that the car was doing everything we wanted it to, and it all was today, it was ready to win,” said Richards.
“The car seemed to suit this track well. It didn’t have the handling issue we had last round, and each meeting we’ve gone along, it’s gone a little bit better so we’re seeing ongoing improvements.
“It’s great to have had pole position, and now the win to wrap up the round – really good for the crew, very much deserved.”
Championship leader Bowe found trouble early in Race 3 when he tangled with Race 2 winner Gavin Bullas on the final corner on Lap 1.
After suffering a broken steering column yesterday, Andrew Miedecke charged through the field to battle it out with Richards for the lead.
Richards however, proved to strong and held on to take the race and round victory.
In Class B Nigel Benson took home race and round honours.
The exciting reverse top 10 Race 2 was won by former series champion and category returnee Bullas earlier this morning.
Greg Crick showed improvement in his Mopar Performance Chrysley Charger E55, taking second place ahead of Richards and Bowe.
Nigel Benson spun his Holden HQ Monaro at Turn 1 and was able to continue with no damage.
Other historic action at Sandown today included Race 3 of the Group C and A Heritage Touring Cars
David Holc completed his clean sweep of the weekend, which included 3 races wins and pole position in his GIO Holden Commodore VL.
Troy Stapleton finished second ahead of Mike Roddy in his eye opening 1985 Bathurst 1000 winning Jaguar XJS.
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Sandown 500 Race Guide
