A trio of V8 Supercar stars will be in the thick of the action in round two of the Shannons Nationals this weekend, 26-27 April, at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway.
Two-time Bathurst winner Steven Richards and young-gun Lee Holdsworth will get behind the wheel during a bumper weekend of racing, while reigning V8 Champion Garth Tander will figure behind the scenes.
Fresh from finishing second at last weekend’s Hamilton street race in New Zealand, Richards will trade his Ford Performance Racing Falcon for a less-advanced model from the Blue Oval’s back catalogue - a 1972 Escort.
Richards will compete in the Biante Touring Car Masters aboard the 1600cc pocket rocket, and looks set to punch well above its weight against more powerful cars such as Chev Camaros and Ford Mustangs.
“I’m really looking forward to racing the Escort this weekend, anyone who can remember motorsport from the 1970s can remember them running around,” Richards, who has restored his own Escort in recent years, said.
“I’ve always been a big fan of them and my first car was an RS2000 Escort.
“I haven’t spent much time on racetracks in an Escort but I know them well, they’re great little cars so it should be a lot of fun.”
Holdsworth’s most-recent outing at Oran Park was last year’s V8 Supercar round - where he took his maiden race and round win.
This weekend the Garry Rogers Motorsport driver returns to the category where he cut his teeth, Commodore Cup, a competitive series featuring modified VS and VH Holden Commodores, with four-litre V8 engines producing around 400hp.
Currently third in the V8 Supercar standings, Holdsworth will make a one-off appearance as the series pays tribute to alumni Ashley Cooper, who tragically lost his life in an accident at the Clipsal 500.
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