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American Motors eXperimental
The Jim Richards Experience
Congratulations on your 2nd place finish in the 2012 Historic Racing Series!
Jim Richards has won seven Bathurst 1000 victories and four Australian Touring Car Championships. In 1978, 1979, and 1980 he was Peter Brock's co-driver at Bathurst winning three in a row racing Holdens. In addition, he has won Targa Tasmania eight times and has a pair of Sandown 500 wins. In 2006 he was inducted into Australia's V8 Supercar Hall of Fame and the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame. He now competes in the Touring Car Masters Historic Racing category. Previously running a Falcon Sprint, for 2012 he is campaigning a 1973 Javelin AMX sponsored by Shannons Insurance.
The car was an original imported 1973 Javelin AMX (not an AMI car) that had previously been converted to RHD. Jim had it converted back to LHD as it would be more suitable to the majority of Australian racetracks that run in a counter-clockwise direction (unlike Winton which runs clockwise).
The Engine & Engine Bay: Obviously a Chrysler spec race block (with AMC 360 bore & stroke) with the distributor at the rear (usual question so far: why is the dizzy at the rear if its an AMC engine?). The alternator is also obviously not a conventional type but is a high performance lightweight type with a high output suitable for racing. The two black tubes running in from the sides of the radiator to alongside the carby are air duct tubes for cooling around the top of the engine. The tubing coming through the firewall out to each shocker tower are part of the integral roll cage.
Jim Richards Javelin at Winton Race Track, VIC, Australia. February, 2012.
2012 Schedule and Results
Round 1, Clipsal 500 Adelaide, SA. March 1 - 4
Qualified 4th. Finished 3rd Overall for 148 points.
Race 1 - Clipsal 500 Adelaide 2012 - Touring Car Masters presented by Wilson Security. Raw video, no commentary.
Race 2 - Clipsal 500 Adelaide 2012 - Touring Car Masters presented by Wilson Security. Raw video, no commentary.
Jim Richards Touring Car Masters Race 3 - From the streets of Clipsal. On board camera in Jim Richards Javelin with legendary Aussie racer Allan Moffat announcing (Allan Moffat joins at 4:30).
Round 2, Phillip Island, VIC (Shannon's Nationals). May 23 - 25
Unofficial results and video from our man at the track: Three races as usual this round, Jim qualified 2nd fastest & started on the front row but had to pit on the 4th lap (while running 3rd) when he lost the accelerator. Finished last & started the 2nd race at the rear of the field of 24 cars but made it to finish 7th after just 8 laps. Third race started 9th on the grid & finished 3rd. Had the fastest lap of the day being 2 seconds quicker than anyone else.
Official Results from the Shannons website:
Pos Car Competitor/Team Driver Vehicle R1 R2 R3 Total
1 16 Rain City Racing Gavin Bullas (VIC) Ford Boss Mustang 56 42 60 158
2 56 Autolite Brett Youlden (VIC) Holden HQ Monaro 45 60 48 153
3 9 Ultra Performance Components Tony Edwards (VIC) Holden Torana SL/R 5 42 52 56 150
4 34 Kings Springs/Waddington Racin Mark King Holden HQ GTS 33 56 33 122
5 52 Outbound Racing / wheels.com.p Keith Kassulke (Vic) Ford Falcon XB Coupe 39 45 36 120
6 18 WesTrac Cat - Wilson Security John Bowe (VIC) Ford Mustang T Am 60 14 42 116
7 11 Lion Mill Solutions Chris Collins (VIC) Ford Falcon XA GT 36 48 27 111
8 2 Shannons Insurance Jim Richards (VIC) AMC Javelin 8 39 52 99
9
10.......
Round 3, Hidden Valley, NT. June 15 - 17
Official results: Three races again: Jim qualified 2nd fastest & started on the pole. Finished 2nd behind John Bowe's 1969 Mustang. Jim finished 5th in the Second race and took 2nd place in the Third race. Overall standings through Round 3 has Jim in 2nd trailing John Bowe by 11 points.
Round 3, Race 1 Darwin, NT (Shannon's Nationals). June 15 - 17
Round 4, Queensland Raceway, QLD. August 3 - 5
Jim finishes 2nd to John Bowe (once again) but was up near the front for the whole race. So 2nd in race 1, 3rd in race 2 & DNF race 3. Came to equal 5th overall for Round 4 & still running 2nd in the Championship for 2012.
Video of Round 4; Race 1
Round 5, Muscle Car Masters, Eastern Creek, NSW. September 1 - 2
Jim finished 3rd, behind John Bowe and Andrew Miedecke. Real fender banging action in this.
Round 6, Sandown, Vic. September 14 - 16
Javelin Wins!
Jim finished 2nd in race 1, 3rd in race 2 & 1st in race 3 to win this round.
Round 7, Bathurst, Mount Panorama, NSW. October 4 - 7
Bathurst! The "Superbowl" of Australian Racing. Javelin records the fastest lap over the mountain for the weekend.
Two videos (1 & 3) for this round. Race 2 was a DNF for Jim after being hit in the rear.
Round 8, Sandown, Vic. November 25 - 27
Javelin Wins!
Jim finished 1st in race 1, then a brutal head-on crash when Tony Karanfilovski spun his Ford Falcon in race 2 resulted in heavy damage to the Javelin and a DNF. Very fortunate there were no injuries. Race 3 DNS.
Sandown Race 1 - Javelin Victory!
Well done in the 2012 Season Jim! We're looking forward to the 2013 Season!
Sandown Race 2 - In this race they have implemented an inverted start, hence Jim starting in the back. Includes Javelin crash. Warning Graphic content!
For the official series results click here.
