Richards will drive the car that Michael Clemente drove last year, and the plan is for Richards is to do the whole season.

“Hopefully we can, but we will get though this weekend first,” Richards said of the deal that came together in the last two weeks.

“We had plans to do another category but that didn’t work out. So, we were looking for something to have a drive in this year and a good opportunity came up with Carl Cox Motorsport and Supercheap Auto.

“That opportunity was to race at the first round in the TCR Series. It was all very late and a last minute thing. I can’t wait to get out on track.

Friday for Practice 1 will be his first chance to drive the car. But Richards is no stranger to TCR cars as he drove an Audi RS3 at the Winton Shannons SpeedSeries round and a Peugeot 308 at Sandown last year.

“The Cupra has similar running gear to the Audi, so there should be some familiarity. Hopefully it is not too different. I did notice that driving the Peugeot there was a big difference between the two cars.

“The Peugeot needed a different driving style, and it was something that took most of the weekend to get up to speed with. At the same time, it did have its strengths and weaknesses.”

The son of grandson of Jim and son of Steve, Richard began his circuit racing career in Formula Fords and State and National level before two seasons in the Toyota GAZOO Racing Australia 86 Series.

“I am confident we can get the deal done to do the whole championship, but I am feeling pretty good about this weekend and looking forward to it,” Richards concluded.