Touring Car glory at Phillip Island Classic

Richards originally drove the car to win the first of his four National titles, and is set to wow the crowds once again as he competes at the 2012 Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport from March 9-11.

Richards will race the former John Player Special team car against a near-capacity field of former Group C and Group A touring cars from the 1970s and 1980s in four Touring Car Revival races over the Phillip Island Classic weekend in his first race in a BMW for 24 years.

Participation in the Phillip Island Classic races is essential to qualify drivers for their involvement in major support category events for the Group C and Group A Touring Cars at the 2012 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix meeting the following weekend, at which Richards will again drive the 635 CSi.

The BMW that Richards will race is the car he originally campaigned in Group C configuration in the 1984 Australian Touring Car Championship in what was a 'shakedown' for Australia's move to International Group A Touring Car regulations the following year.

The vehicle was then rebuilt to Group A specification and was one of three similar BMWs that Richards drove to dominate the 1985 series, winning both the Australian Touring Car and Australian Endurance Championships that year.

Although a three-time Bathurst winner (partnering Peter Brock in Holdens) and having finishing second (twice) and third in the Australian Sports Sedan Championship driving his self-prepared Falcon XC, they were Richards' first major Australian series titles since his first race in Australia at Bathurst in 1974.

"The BMW was a great car," recalled Richards, who first drove the car in the final Surfers Paradise round of the 1982 Australian Touring Car Championship after being 'head-hunted' by the late Frank Gardner to spearhead his newly-formed JPS Racing Team.

Although well down on power compared to its Group C Falcons, Commodores and Mazda RX7s, Richards managed to finish fifth in the 1984 ATCC and surprised his rivals by leading the opening laps of the rain-drenched Lakeside, Queensland round.

The 'Touring Car Revival' races will be one of the highlights of the 33-event Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport program, which will begin on Friday March 9 with practice and qualifying for all categories, followed by racing through the weekend.

With two months to go before the close of entries, the Victorian Historic Racing Register, which organises the 'Classic' with support from CoolDrive, Shannons and Penrite had received 320 entries, ensuring that a near record 500-plus vehicles will participate in the meeting.

The most popular categories to date include Production Sports Cars, with nearly 100 entries from Alfa Romeos, Corvettes, Lotus, MG V8s, Nissans, Panteras and Porsches, Historic Touring Cars, with more than 40 entries from pre-1973 cars so far and Regularity, with 75 entries for two separate groups.

A record grid of up to 38 high-powered open-wheeler racing cars, incorporating around 35 thundering Formula 5000s and several former Formula One cars, is also expected, with entrants coming from New Zealand, the USA, Canada and the UK.

The Phillip Island Classic Festival of Motorsport has been recognised internationally as one of the world's greatest motorsport historic motorsport events and was short-listed in the inaugural 2011 International Historic Motoring Awards conducted by the respected 'Octane' magazine.

More meeting details can be found by visiting www.vhrr.com