The iconic Bargwanna and Richards families will reunite once again at Sandown International Raceway next month with Clay Richards to join forces with Ben Bargwanna under the Garry Rogers Motorsport banner.
After Bargwanna Motorsport and Hangcha Forklifts announced a partnership in July, resulting in the addition of a new Peugeot to run under GRM, Richards will now steer the Hangcha Forklifts backed Peugeot 308 TCR entry at Sandown.
Richards will join the team ahead of round five of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia season at Sandown International Raceway, two months after making his one-off 2023 series debut at Hi-Tec Oils Race Winton.
Tickets for the event are available for purchase at motorsporttickets.com.au.
Richards was excited to join the team and continue his family’s legacy at GRM.
“It’s a great opportunity to partner up with Hangcha and Garry Rogers Motorsport in the Peugeot for Round 5 of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series,” Richards said.
“It’s great to have the Richards name back at GRM. My dad raced with Garry Rogers Motorsport when he first entered Supercars and also my grandad as well. It’s great to partner up with the Bargwannas, Benny and I’ve got to thank Jason for the opportunity, it’s really exciting.
“I absolutely loved my time at Winton. Getting a podium on debut was really cool and to also get this chance with Garry Rogers Motorsport as well.
“Our expectations were never to get a podium at Winton at my first round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series, but we just learnt as much as we could and the reverse grid race was really good to us, so to come away with second was an awesome result.
“Sandown is a happy hunting ground for the Peugeots, with Ben getting a win there last year but my main focus is to learn as much as I can as the 308 TCR is a lot different to the Audi I drove at Winton.”
As for Bargwanna, he will continue in the Burson Auto Parts Peugeot 308 that has been a competitive weapon thus far in 2023 and looked forward to racing alongside (and against) Richards.
“It’s one of those things in history that comes full circle, and it doesn’t happen very often, it’s very exciting,” Bargwanna said.
“We have a very good relationship with Hangcha and to stick Clay in the other Peugeot, he can get a taste of what I’ve been driving all year, which will be exciting.
“It will be great to work with Clay and he will really benefit from having a big team around him. But once we get in the cars, the gloves will definitely be off, and we’ll be going head-to-head!
“Clay is talented, he’s a good driver and he held me off pretty well for a podium spot at Winton, so he can do it. I think he’ll do just as good a job at Sandown in the Peugeot.”
The history between GRM and the iconic family names goes all the way back to the 90s, where both Steven Richards and Jason Bargwanna were handed their first major motorsport opportunities.
Steven was recruited in 1995 in the Super Touring era, before stepping up to Supercars in 1996 before Jason joined the team two years later, even co-driving with the former in the 1998 endurance races.
Jason welcomed Clay to the team, stating that the decision to go with the 23-year-old was an easy one to make.
“Once we were able to sit down and talk to Hangcha about what we were doing here to put the program together, there was a point where I was actually going to pull out the helmet and have a go,” Jason said.
“But when I watched Clay drive at Winton, he became an obvious choice. The plan was to give a young guy a go, Garry (Rogers) gave me a go many years prior, he did the same for Steven, and Jim and myself finished on the podium at Bathurst.
“Watching Clay through karts, Formula Ford and Toyota 86s, he was an easy choice.
“I think it’s going to be exciting for him to debut in the Hangcha Peugeot at Sandown.”
Sandown International Motor Raceway hosts the next round of the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series on 8-10 September.
Tickets for the event are available for purchase at motorsporttickets.com.au.
