Best Ever Expectations for Richards

Hamilton driver Simon Richards and the Ballistic Motorsport team are more prepared than ever as they get set to enter their fifth season of the BNT V8s at this weekend's opening round at Pukekohe Park Raceway.

Much hard work and many long hours endured over the past six months will be expected to pay dividends at the first meeting of the six round season.

With numerous significant and also minor improvements been made to the SEW Eurodrive Falcon race car package, team expectations are high leading up to the opener.

"We have worked very hard on redistributing the weight of the car and relocated the driving position for weight and of course driver safety." says team principal Steve Richards.

"This is also the first time we have been able to do some pre- season testing which has resulted in much improved lap times and performance - now the team just needs to turn this into race results." he says.

In fact the entire car has had a complete rebuild with attention to the gearbox, suspension, chassis and engine with driver Simon Richards also concentrating on his physical fitness leading up to the new season.

Also contributing to the increased performance of the SEW Eurodrive Falcon is an upgrade on the brake system.

"The car feels more positive than ever before when testing it but we won't really know until we get into a racing situation." says Simon Richards.

There will be an all new format for the BNT V8s this season with all three races of each round being televised live by TV3.

Those races will all be run on Sunday putting pressure on the teams to perform due to the quick turn around between each contest.

Should there be any damage sustained in a race the Ballisitic Motorsport Team will be pushed hard to prepare for the next one.

But this year the team have a race-ready second engine on hand as well as an enviable inventory of spares to ensure they are well prepared for a tight schedule which must stay aligned with TV3's programming.

But the added pressure to the teams should indeed be worth the bonus of the heightened public profile made available to the BNT V8s this season.

"It is what it is and we all have to deal with it and we are getting live TV coverage so we certainly aren't going to argue about that." said Richards.

With the improvements made to the race car Simon Richards and the Ballisitic Motorsport Team are expecting to run consistently in the top 10 this season.

They are also expecting to finish the season with an improved championship standing on their past results in this their fifth season racing at the top level of New Zealand motorsport in the BNT V8s.

"I'd like to get a top ten finish this weekend at Pukekohe but as always there's going to be plenty of tough competition to go up against." he said.

The opening round of the season begins with practice sessions and qualification shoot-out on Saturday the 7th November with three sprint races taking place on Sunday the 8th.