Last Saturday afternoon Tony Ricciardello won his 12th National Sports Sedan title and is keen to continue for more glory. It follows on from wins in 1998-99, 2001-02, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2014-16 and 2019.
Speedcafe caught up with the Alfa Romeo GTV/Chev V8 driver immediately after the completion of the Precision National Sports Sedan Series final race of the season on Sunday.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, it feels pretty good though,” he said.
“We have been working all year for that and at times we were not the fastest, and we just had to keep pushing hard.
“We had to manage a lot of issues behind the scenes with the car, so a proud moment with the whole family here, the team and the guys back in Perth who put a lot of effort into it.
“To keep the car going, backwards and forwards from Perth to get over here has been a big effort.
“Even this weekend we were chasing dramas [H-pattern gear selection issues], since Bathurst we had odd things go wrong like in that last race [where he finished to laps down after a spin and pitstop].
“Still, I was willing to have a crack. There is a little bit of damage on it, but that is alright as it will get stripped down and ready for next year.”
As this stage he has committed to running the car again in 2024 while talk of a new car under construction remains just that.
“It’s just time. It is hard enough to build a car while you are running one. I am at a different stage of life with four kids, a business to run and other bits and pieces.
“Hopefully we’ll keep working on it . . . you never know. But I think the old girl will be back next year and maybe it will be #13. We will find more pace, more grunt and give the other boys a run.”
