Richards, the son of Steve and grandson of Jim, will line up in a 14-car field for the third round of the 2023 TCR Australia season.
The Toyota 86 regular will drive a Shannons-backed Audi run by Melbourne Performance Centre for his TCR debut.
“This is a great opportunity for me to taste TCR racing for the first time,” said Richards.
“It’s a whole new experience for me with front-wheel-drive race cars, racing against lots of drivers with plenty of experience in the category and with these cars.
“My aims for the weekend are simple – to be consistent, continue learning every time I go on the track and clock up plenty of laps across the event.
“Naturally, I’m hoping this weekend is something we can build upon for the future.”
Garry Rogers Motorsport Peugeot driver Jordan Cox, meanwhile, is hoping to use the Winton weekend to run down series leader, Hyundai's Bailey Sweeny.
Cox currently sits second in the standings, just ahead of GRM teammate Aaron Cameron.
“I have got full trust in the GRM crew with what they do – there are four drivers in GRM and we have all got our own unique driving styles but we work very well together to go down a path then put our own personal touches on things,” Cox said.
“I’m pretty confident moving forward, the boys have had some good tests and we have seemed to have made a great gain.
“I am here to win the series, I’m not here just to make up the numbers. I haven’t had the race wins I’ve wanted but I’ve been up there a lot of the time.”
Will Brown is a notable absentee from the entry list, the Audi driver currently on a trip to the United States with his Erebus Supercars squad.
Entry list – TCR Australia Winton
| # |
SPONSOR |
DRIVER |
STATE |
VEHICLE |
MODEL |
CC |
COLOUR |
|
1 |
Honda Wall Racing |
Tony D'Alberto |
VIC |
Honda |
Civic FK7 TCR |
1998 |
Red/White |
|
4 |
Shannons Insurance MPC |
Clay Richards |
VIC |
Audi |
RS3 LMS SEQ |
1984 |
Green/White |
|
14 |
Purple Sector |
Lachlan Mineeff |
NSW |
Audi |
RS3 LMS SEQ |
1998 |
Orange |
|
15 |
Carl Cox Motorspport |
Michael Clemente |
VIC |
Cupra |
Leon Competicion TCR |
1998 |
Black/Red |
|
18 |
Team Valvoline GRM |
Aaron Cameron |
VIC |
Peugeot |
308 TCR |
1600 |
Red |
|
22 |
Challenge Motorsport |
Iain McDougall |
VIC |
Auid |
RS3 LMS SEQ |
1984 |
Red/Silver/Black |
|
30 |
HMO Customer Racing |
Josh Buchan |
NSW |
Hyundai |
i30N Sedan |
1999 |
Blue/Orange |
|
33 |
Schaeffler GRM |
Jordan Cox |
NSW |
Peugeot |
308 TCR |
1600 |
Green/White |
|
41 |
Valvoline Racing GRM |
Kody Garland |
NSW |
Peugeot |
308 TCR |
1800 |
Red |
|
71 |
Burson Auto Parts Racing |
Ben Bargwanna |
VIC |
Peugeot |
308 TCR |
1600 |
Blue/Red/White |
|
74 |
Exclusive Switchboards / Wall Racing |
Brad Harris |
NSW |
Honda |
Civic FK7 TCR |
1998 |
Aquamarine |
|
110 |
Team Soutar Motorsport |
Zac Soutar |
VIC |
Audi |
RS3 LMS TCR |
1998 |
Black/Yellow |
|
115 |
Autoglym / Ashley Seward Motorsport |
Tom Oliphant |
NSW |
Lynk & Co |
CO 03 TCR |
1750 |
White/Red/Green |
|
130 |
HMO Customer Racing |
Bailey Sweeny |
NSW |
Hyundai |
i30N TCR |
1999 |
Blue/Orange |
