is Richo a real contender

[macca46]

do we think Richo is a real contender i beleive so as he has a brilliant co driver already sorted so thats two races already penciled in for perkins in my book i spose reliability will be a factor as it is for everyone

[TBMATT05]

Yeah it would be good to see him win the championship, they had him on the shabang, yesterday arvo and they complained that all you could hear from the commentators was them talking about Ambrose (I suppose that is just ibecause he won the event), "A tough weekend for Skaifey", "Bad luck for Greg Murphy" and how good Russell Ingall can be.

lol

[pete55]

He will go close to winning the championship this year.

[Gaz170]

Well if Larry keeps giving him a car that good, he could well win the championship.
Richo showed us he knows how to use it.

[Dazz]

Unfortunately it has very much become a qualifying championship.

Unless Richo can stick it on the front row consistantly he won't be a real threat becasue passing is so difficult, and the penalty for tapping the guy in front to get past is too severe to warrent having a go sometimes......

[Lowndesfan6]

Given the car speed of the AGP and Clipsal 500, he's in with a shot.
He's consistent and has a reliable car.
Of course I'd rather Lowndes blow them away........we know that ain't gunna happen......not this year anyway.

[mixxer]

With a few round victorys Richo should be a force, but like Dazz said thats if he qualifys well.

[lcfp2297]

Originally posted by Dazz
Unfortunately it has very much become a qualifying championship.

Unless Richo can stick it on the front row consistantly he won't be a real threat

So how does one explain Ambrose starting from row 2, Richards starting from row 6 and Weel starting from row 17 in Race 1 of the Clipsal 500?

Currently running 1, 2 and 3 respectively in the Championship...

[macca46]

HE DID START 12TH ON THE WEEKEND TO BE PASSING PEOPLE AND FINISHED 2ND AND THERE PIT STOPS WERNT FLASH AT ALL

[tiko]

yeah if richo is to win the championship perkins boys will have to cut 2 secs off their pitstops.

[Dazz]

The Adelaide race is not really comparable to a normal round as far as starting/finishing positions go.

Don't get me wrong, Richo is a great driver and has a quick car, but catching Marcos and pasing him are two different things.

My point was that unless you are starting from the front consistantly like Marcos, getting up to him, and actually passing him for a win are two very different things.

Finishing secong to Ambrose at every round won't win Richo the championship. It might if Ambrose has a bad round and Richo doesn't and keeps racking up the points, but otherwise it will be tough work if he has to use up his tyres coming through the pack to get to the front cars.

In the last four or five seasons, what percentage of race winners have started further back than 6th I wonder?

[tiko]

We shouldnt judge the guy one his first qualifying effort in 04. The last 2 years at round 1 he qualified 4th and until he got the VY last year he had around a 75% top 10 qualifying ratio. In 2002 he was in 70% of top 10 shootouts, only missing 4, and only once outside the top 15. Whilst the championship winner from each year probably has better stats than Richo, now that he has a very competitive package, and a team with 2 extra VY's, expect to see some strong performances throughout 04.

[DAVID PATERSON]

With the ridiculous point score in place, you don't need to win. If you finish every race in the top 5, you should be well clear of anyone who regularly wins and has a few DNFs.

[Forbesy]

I'm a big fan of Richo/CPR and he drove fantastically all weekend. But with CPR of recent times, they just haven't had that racewinning pace that the likes of SBR, HRT & KRT can often produce. They've been close, only perhaps a few tenths away on the weekend, and hopefully wins are just around the corner for Richo. If he keeps that consistency up throughout the year, he will go close to winning the championship.

Another fact is that he has been basically running as a one car team, with Dumbrell still in a VX and having a questionable ability to provide good feedback considering he is so inexperienced. Maybe Lognhurst will be able to further the development of the VY as the season progresses. If the rumours are true, Bright/Tander going there next season could make them one of the teams to beat. Even now, they are about the mark.

[Also a Believer]

I tell you what, did you see the in car footage of Jim errrrI mean steve, they are both so cool and calm behind the wheel its hard to tell Impressed I was

[mixxer]

Originally posted by DAVID PATERSON
With the ridiculous point score in place, you don't need to win. If you finish every race in the top 5, you should be well clear of anyone who regularly wins and has a few DNFs.

I dont know any drivers that bank on other teams having DNF's, hence you need to have some wins to be in the fight for the championship and to be in a chance for those victorys you need to consistantly be at the front of the pack starting with qualifing

[mac]

As David mentioned, I think this point system is tailor-made for Steven. It rewards good, consistent finishing, without demanding outstanding performances and wins during the season.

Ordinarily, I would suggest that Steve doesn't have that killer, raw racer's edge of guys like Ambrose, Skaife, Bright, Murphy, Ingall or even Lowndes that you typically find in a champion.

But with this point system, and Perkins' habitual bulletproof relieability, I think he's a strong contender.

[Mattracer]

Agreed!

CPR have always been reliable and quick in a consistent way but often not the pacesetters especially in qual. The longer the race, the more arduos the conditions, count on him getting there at or very near the front.

Typically he and the team do shine at Adelaide, Sandown (and Qld when it was 500k) and Bathurst.

[lcfp2297]

An odd arguement MattRacer...

I'm a little perplexed at what constitutes a longer race

Adelaide is two 250 km races...does that mean he should do well at longer (e.g. 300 km) races?

[Dirk]

With the point system the way it is, it would be quite possible to win the Championship without winning a single round or even race for the year.

[Dazz]

But only if you are the only one not to have a bad round.

[Dazz]

It won't happen, but thisit is an interesting way to look at the lack of reward for winning.

If Ingall wins every round to come, which is what, 12?, and Ambrose comes second at every round, then Ambrose will still win the title because Russell can only mass 72 points more than Marcos, and is currently 102 points behind.

So Russell wins 12 rounds to 1 and still loses. Harsh reality.

Having said that, to finish second at every round would be a pretty good run and you would deserve to be near the front in any points system.

In all honesty, with a season of the new point score behind us, I personally think that those 6/3/2 points are worth fighting for, becasue they are so very hard to come by and there is no way of making them up any other way.

[HDTVKSS]

Go Stevo - Really nice guy and a hard racer to boot, finger crossed he will make it a Bathurst /V8SCC double this year.

[macca46]

its like a world title fight you dont have to land the massive blows but if you hang in for 15 rounds you are still in with a chance

[Mattracer]

Originally posted by lcfp2297
An odd arguement MattRacer...

I'm a little perplexed at what constitutes a longer race

Adelaide is two 250 km races...does that mean he should do well at longer (e.g. 300 km) races?

250k on consecutive days as the first round of the season with that pressure in itself, the walls are close, the fumes heavy, the ambient temp already hot being March even before you start would be more physically taxing than any other meeting in the year, including Bathurst let alone a "regular" 300k race at other curcuits. All the drivers say so.