Richard Rydell Offered Ride At WP in 2000?

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by Richard Rydell, The Article

We figured out sometime during the year that Volvo would not continue in the championship after 1999, but the team was still very focused on winning a second championship. The Volvo engine was a lot better in 1999, but unfortunately the reliability was not quite so good. At the end of the season, I had an offer from TWR to sign a two year deal to race for them in the Australian V8 championship. I thought about it for a long time before deciding not to do it & instead moved to Ford to remain in the BTCC.”

The Article

Wonder who he might have displaced at WP?

[V8 Fireworks]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

The Article

Wonder who he might have displaced at WP?

Given Lowndes and Skaife were signed for 2000, one can only presume Rydell would have replaced Noske or Todd Kelly in one of the Holden Young Lions cars or in additional Young Lions car, perhaps without the Young Lions branding and running just a "Konica" or "MyCar" livery without the lion design.

Recalling that there were no RECs restrictions at the time, a Level 1 could run up to three cars, and anyone (even a Prancing Horse Racing Budweiser car) could get a Level 2 license and attempt to pre-qualify for a race. However they would have to navigate a pre-qualifying elimination session.

Interestingly, WP seemed to have siphoned Mr Ellery's personal Konica backing in such a way it then appeared on non-Ellery driven Holden Racing Team cars in 1999 (even though the preparation of Young Lions racer was subcontracted to Gibson motorsport at the time)! Meanwhile Mr. Kelly seems to have brought his own Mildura-related sponsorship to the Young Lions team...