JPS Team BMW
Encyclopedia
JPS Team BMW is a former motor racing team that ran primarily in Australia
and New Zealand
mainly in touring car racing
but also ran in sports sedans
and GT cars
as well. The team, under the management of former British Touring Car Champion
and Formula One
racer Frank Gardner, was based in Sydney
and completed almost all of their testing at the old Amaroo Park
circuit with Gardner himself doing most of the test miles in the various BMW's the team raced.
's Craven Mild Racing which had run Holden Torana
s and Holden Commodore
s in the mid to late 1970s and into 1980. In 1981 CMR became the factory operation for BMW
Australia running a Group C
version of the BMW 635 CSi
. The car would have a new paint scheme as well with the red, white and gold of Craven Mild
replaced by the black and gold of John Player & Sons
. Over the next seven seasons the sinister looking black BMW's were a fixture in Australian Touring Car Racing.
For 1981, Allan Grice was the teams lead driver in the 635 CSi. Grice finished second in the Amaroo Park
based AMSCAR Series and finished in seventh place in the crash shortened James Hardie 1000
partnered by British driver David Hobbs. However, differences between Grice and team manager Gardner, led to Gricey's removal from the team at the end of 1981. Gardner then signed three time Bathurst 1000
winner Jim Richards from New Zealand who would remain the teams lead driver until Gardner shut down operations at the end of 1987
JPS Team BMW scored their first podium when Richards finished 3rd in the final round of the 1982 Australian Touring Car Championship
at Surfers Paradise
. Richards then finished a disappointing 11th at the Castrol 400
at Sandown
in the traditional lead up to Bathurst
and partnered with David Hobbs finished a fine fifth in the James Hardie 1000
after starting from only 19th position. The team had a second car in the race for 1967 Formula One champion
Denny Hulme
and Stephen Brook. After qualifying 38th the car was retired after just 96 laps.
The team opted not to compete in the 1983 ATCC
, instead deciding to concentrate on developing the car for the Australian Endurance Championship
later in the year. The work paid off as the BMW started to show its potential not only with improved reliability but with extra horsepower giving much needed added speed. Richards finished seventh in the opening endurance round at Amaroo but only finished 17th in the next round at Oran Park
. The combination came good Sandown's Castrol 400
where Richards finished second behind Touring Car Champion Allan Moffat
in his Mazda RX-7 and they were suddenly being talked about among the favourites for the James Hardie
at Bathurst.
Team manager Frank Gardner came out of retirement to partner Richards at Bathurst and the BMW which carried a RaceCam
unit that had a periscope lens poking through the roof of the car. The 635's speed was shown on the 6.172 km Mount Panorama Circuit
when Richards qualified fourth in Hardies Heroes which was cause for great optimism for the race. The race however was a complete disaster from the team. After a good start Richards suddenly started falling back on lap three and came straight into the pits. It was found that metal filings had somehow made their way into the fuel system of the car which would have meant a total strip, clean and rebuild of the entire fuel system just to get back into the race and the car was sadly retired after only six laps. Gardner would later claim the car had been sabotaged although he did not know by who and wouldn't speculate on the reason.
Following the James Hardie, Richards went on to finish 11th at the Surfers Paradise 300 and 9th in the Humes Guardrail 300 at the Adelaide International Raceway
. All this gave "Gentleman Jim" second place in the championship with a total of 67 points, only five points behind winner Peter McLeod
in his Slick 50 RX-7.
JPS Team BMW competed in its first full Australian Touring Car Championship
in 1984
with Richards finishing in fifth place with a best of third again at Surfers Paradise. Tony Longhurst
joined the team as Richard's co-driver for the Castrol 500
at Sandown and the last ever James Hardie 1000
for the local Group C Touring Cars. Unfortunately both races were a disaster for the team. After starting 6th at Sandown, the BMW was a DNF with a broken diff on lap 72. The team expanded to two cars for Bathurst
with the addition of a Group A 635 for Denny Hulme and Bavaria
n Prince Leopold von Bayern
. The teams progress was hampered during race week at Bathurst when von Bayern crashed the Group A 635 at the top of the mountain. The effort into fixing the car put the Group C challenger behind schedule although Richards still managed to qualify the car sixth in Hardies Heroes. The race didn't get any better for the Richards/Longhurst car which suffered a blown engine on just lap 39. The Hulme/von Bayern car fared much better though, qualifying 49th (third in class but 5.3 seconds slower than the Group A leading TWR
Rover Vitesse
). In the race the car's only problem was a flat tyre and Hulme and con Bayern had a steady run to finish second in class and 15th outright.
. The team always told anyone who'd listen to wait for Group A to take over in Australia and they would show everyone how good the BMW 635 CSi really was. While many scoffed at this suggestion it proved very accurate with Richards and the BMW winning the first ever ATCC run under international Group A rules in 1985
. Richards won seven of the ten races, including a record six in a row. In a golden year for JPS Team BMW, Richards also won the AMSCAR Series and then won the 1985 Australian Endurance Championship
winning five out of six races including the Castrol 500
at Sandown. The team only missed out at Bathurst
when Richards finished in fourth place partnered with Tony Longhurst
after being delayed for three laps in a sand trap when Richards spun on oil. The team's second car, driven by car owner Neville Crichton who had also driven the car in the ATCC and finished in fourth in his championship debut, and on-loan Nissan Motorsport
driver George Fury
, finished second at Sandown after leading until late in the race when Crichton was slowed by a reported shortage of fuel. In a twist of fate, as Richards was sliding off into the sand trap at Bathurst, George Fury, who Richards had just lapped, joined him having gone off on the same oil. The second car only completed 68 laps before being retired with engine failure.
For the 1986
championship, Richards was once again in the 635 CSi while Longhurst drove the teams newest car, a BMW 325i. Unfortunately for the team newer cars such as a much more powerful and durable Holden VK Commodore Group A SS
and the turbocharged
Nissan Skyline DR30 had been introduced into the championship while the Volvo 240T had further development. The high-revving BMW straight-6 in the 635 did not have the power to allow Richards to successfully defend his title. He only managed one win at Winton
while finishing third in the championship. Another reported problem the team had was their Pirelli
tyres weren't suited to Australia's warmer weather causing them to not work as well as the same tyres were working in Europe. It was not until mid way through 1986 that the team were able to get Pirelli tyres better suited to Australian conditions. At both the Castrol 500
and at Bathurst
, the BMW was outgunned by the more powerful V8
s and turbos with Richards & Longhurst partnered to finish both races in 5th and 6th respectively. The teams second car (another 635) was driven by Kevin Bartlett and Trevor Crowe who failed to finish both endurance races.
1987
saw the old 635 CSi finally retired as BMW's flagship touring car racer. It was replaced by the high-revving, 2.3 litre
, 4cyl BMW M3, of which JPS Team BMW built two for a full assault on the 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship
for Richards and Longhurst. After a tight struggle with the Nissan Skyline's of George Fury
and Glenn Seton
which went down to the last race at Oran Park
, Richards emerged victorious with four wins from the nine rounds. The team then competed in Australia's end of season endurance events as well as the Australian and New Zealand rounds of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship season
. Richards and Longhurst combined to win the Pepsi 250 at Oran Park while repeating their 1985 result by finishing 4th at Bathurst
. The teams second M3 was driven by 1986 ATCC winner Robbie Francevic
from New Zealand and the teams engine builder who had also driven in the last two rounds of the ATCC, Ludwig Finauer. Francevic & Finauer finished in 5th place at the Sandown 500
and 6th at Bathurst.
Following the 1987 season team boss Frank Gardner decided to retire from motor racing at the age of 57, although he would make a comeback of sorts in 1988
when he became Team Manager/consultant for Longhurst's newly formed team Tony Longhurst Racing
running a Ford Sierra RS500. When Gardner retired he effectively shut down operations of JPS Team BMW. The team assets, including the BMW M3s were then sold to Peter Brock
who ran them in the colours of Mobil
in 1988 under the Advantage Racing banner. Brock's team also took over as the factory supported BMW team in Australia. Jim Richards joined the Mobil 1 team for 1988. By this time the M3 was no longer competitive in the shorter sprint races of the ATCC against the high powered Ford Sierra RS500 and Richards finished fourth in the championship.
JPS Team BMW is the only team ever to win the Australian Touring Car Championship, the Australian Manufacturers' Championship and Australian Endurance Championship for BMW.
. The only change the team made to the car for the race was the removal of the high powered turbo engine, in its place the team gambled on a more reliable 2.0 litre 4cyl BMW motor. In what was the first ever World Championship motor race ever held in Australia, the gamble on the motor paid off as Richards and Longhurst finished in 14th place (first in class), 28 laps behind the winning Rothmans Porsche 956
of 1984 WSC Drivers' Champion Stefan Bellof
and (then) three times 24 Hours of Le Mans
winner Derek Bell
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
mainly in touring car racing
Touring car racing
Touring car racing is a general term for a number of distinct auto racing competitions in heavily-modified street cars. It is notably popular in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Scandinavia and Britain.-Characteristics of a touring car:...
but also ran in sports sedans
Australian Sports Sedan Championship
The Australian Sports Sedan Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of cars complying with Australian Sports Sedan regulations...
and GT cars
Australian GT Championship
The Australian GT Championship is a CAMS-sanctioned national title for drivers of GT cars, held annually from 1960 to 1963, from 1982 to 1985 and from 2005. Each championship up to and including the 1963 title was contested over a single race and those after that year over a series of races...
as well. The team, under the management of former British Touring Car Champion
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...
and Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racer Frank Gardner, was based in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and completed almost all of their testing at the old Amaroo Park
Amaroo Park
Amaroo Park was a motor racing circuit located in Annangrove, New South Wales, in the present-day western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. It opened in 1967, hosting its first motorcycle meeting on 26 February with a 30 lap production race won by Larry Simons on a BSA Spitfire in heavy rain. The...
circuit with Gardner himself doing most of the test miles in the various BMW's the team raced.
Australian Group C
The team was born out of Allan GriceAllan Grice
Allan Maxwell Grice OAM , known to motor-racing fans as Gricey, is an Australian former racing driver and politician, most famous for twice winning the prestigious Bathurst 1000 , and as a privateer driver of a Holden in the Australian Touring Car Championship.Grice also had a successful second...
's Craven Mild Racing which had run Holden Torana
Holden Torana
The Holden Torana is a car which was produced by General Motors–Holden's , the Australian subsidiary of General Motors from 1967 to 1980. The name comes from an Aboriginal word meaning "to fly". The first Torana appeared in 1967 and was a four-cylinder compact vehicle that had its origins in the...
s and Holden Commodore
Holden Commodore
The Holden Commodore is an automobile manufactured since 1978 by the Holden subsidiary of General Motors in Australia, and, formerly, in New Zealand. In the mid-1970s, Holden established proposals to replace the long-serving Kingswood nameplate with a smaller, Opel-based model...
s in the mid to late 1970s and into 1980. In 1981 CMR became the factory operation for BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
Australia running a Group C
Group C (Australia)
In relation to Australian motorsport, Group C refers to either of two sets of regulations devised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport for use in Australian touring car racing from 1965 to 1984...
version of the BMW 635 CSi
BMW E24
The BMW E24 series was the first BMW 6 Series coupé, produced by the German automaker BMW between the 1976 and 1989 model years. The 6 Series name reappeared with the BMW E63 chassis beginning in the 2004 model year. The E24 borrowed heavily from contemporary 5-series cars .- Model history :The...
. The car would have a new paint scheme as well with the red, white and gold of Craven Mild
Craven A
Craven "A" is a brand of cigarette which were made in Canada, Jamaica, Vietnam, and North Korea. The cigarettes exhibit the English-style flavor of a Virginia-tobacco dominant blend, with that plant's attendant nutty sweetness. The cigarette was named after the third Earl of Craven in 1860.Craven...
replaced by the black and gold of John Player & Sons
John Player & Sons
John Player & Sons, known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. It is today a part of the Imperial Tobacco Group.-History:...
. Over the next seven seasons the sinister looking black BMW's were a fixture in Australian Touring Car Racing.
For 1981, Allan Grice was the teams lead driver in the 635 CSi. Grice finished second in the Amaroo Park
Amaroo Park
Amaroo Park was a motor racing circuit located in Annangrove, New South Wales, in the present-day western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. It opened in 1967, hosting its first motorcycle meeting on 26 February with a 30 lap production race won by Larry Simons on a BSA Spitfire in heavy rain. The...
based AMSCAR Series and finished in seventh place in the crash shortened James Hardie 1000
1981 James Hardie 1000
The 1981 James Hardie 1000 was the 22nd running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 4 October 1981 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst...
partnered by British driver David Hobbs. However, differences between Grice and team manager Gardner, led to Gricey's removal from the team at the end of 1981. Gardner then signed three time Bathurst 1000
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia...
winner Jim Richards from New Zealand who would remain the teams lead driver until Gardner shut down operations at the end of 1987
1987 Australian Touring Car season
The 1987 Australian Touring Car season was the 28th year of touring car racing in Australia since the first runnings of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the fore-runner of the present day Bathurst 1000, the Armstrong 500....
JPS Team BMW scored their first podium when Richards finished 3rd in the final round of the 1982 Australian Touring Car Championship
1982 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1982 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to Group C Touring Cars. It began on 18 February 1982 at Sandown Raceway and ended on 16 May at Oran Park Raceway after eight rounds...
at Surfers Paradise
Surfers Paradise International Raceway
Surfers Paradise International Raceway was a motor racing complex at Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The circuit was designed and built by Keith Williams, a motor racing enthusiast. It was located opposite the Surfers Paradise Ski Gardens at Carrara...
. Richards then finished a disappointing 11th at the Castrol 400
1982 Castrol 400
The 1982 Castrol 400 was an endurance race for Touring cars complying with CAMS Group C regulations. The event was held at the Sandown Raceway circuit in Victoria on 12 September 1982 over 109 laps, totalling 337.9 km....
at Sandown
Sandown Raceway
Sandown International Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, approximately south east of the city centre. It is considered a power circuit with its front straight being 899m long and back straight 910m long.-History:...
in the traditional lead up to Bathurst
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia...
and partnered with David Hobbs finished a fine fifth in the James Hardie 1000
1982 James Hardie 1000
The 1982 James Hardie 1000 was the 23rd running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 3 October 1982 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia...
after starting from only 19th position. The team had a second car in the race for 1967 Formula One champion
1967 Formula One season
The 1967 Formula One season was the 18th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over an eleven race series which commenced on January 2, 1967, and ended on October 22...
Denny Hulme
Denny Hulme
Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme, OBE was a New Zealand racing driver, the 1967 Formula One World Champion for the Brabham team....
and Stephen Brook. After qualifying 38th the car was retired after just 96 laps.
The team opted not to compete in the 1983 ATCC
1983 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1983 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Group C Touring Cars. The title, which was the 24th Australian Touring Car Championship, was contested over a series which began on 6 February 1983 at Calder Park Raceway and ended on 19 June at...
, instead deciding to concentrate on developing the car for the Australian Endurance Championship
1983 Australian Endurance Championship
The 1983 Australian Endurance Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Group C Touring Cars. The championship was contested over a six round series with all rounds run concurrently with those of the 1983 Australian Endurance Championship of Makes.-Calendar:* Round 1,...
later in the year. The work paid off as the BMW started to show its potential not only with improved reliability but with extra horsepower giving much needed added speed. Richards finished seventh in the opening endurance round at Amaroo but only finished 17th in the next round at Oran Park
Oran Park Raceway
Oran Park Raceway was a motor racing circuit at Narellan in southwestern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia which was operational from 1962 to 2010....
. The combination came good Sandown's Castrol 400
1983 Castrol 400
The 1983 Castrol 400 was an endurance race for Touring Cars complying with CAMS Group C regulations. The event was staged at the Sandown Park circuit in Victoria, Australia on 11 September 1983 over 129 laps of the 3.1 km circuit, totalling 399.9 km...
where Richards finished second behind Touring Car Champion Allan Moffat
Allan Moffat
Allan George Moffat, OBE is an Australian racing driver known for his four wins in the Australian Touring Car Championship, six wins in the Sandown 500 and his four wins in the Bathurst 1000...
in his Mazda RX-7 and they were suddenly being talked about among the favourites for the James Hardie
1983 James Hardie 1000
The 1983 James Hardie 1000 was the 24th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was an endurance race for Touring Cars complying with CAMS Group C regulations. It was held on October 2, 1983 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst and was Round 4 of the 1983 Australian...
at Bathurst.
Team manager Frank Gardner came out of retirement to partner Richards at Bathurst and the BMW which carried a RaceCam
RaceCam
RaceCam is a video camera system used primarily in motor racing, which uses a network of car-mounted cameras, microwave radio transmitters, and relays from helicopters to send live images from inside a race car to both pit crews and television audiences....
unit that had a periscope lens poking through the roof of the car. The 635's speed was shown on the 6.172 km Mount Panorama Circuit
Mount Panorama Circuit
Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home of the Bathurst 12 Hour motor race, held each February, and the Bathurst 1000 motor race, held each October...
when Richards qualified fourth in Hardies Heroes which was cause for great optimism for the race. The race however was a complete disaster from the team. After a good start Richards suddenly started falling back on lap three and came straight into the pits. It was found that metal filings had somehow made their way into the fuel system of the car which would have meant a total strip, clean and rebuild of the entire fuel system just to get back into the race and the car was sadly retired after only six laps. Gardner would later claim the car had been sabotaged although he did not know by who and wouldn't speculate on the reason.
Following the James Hardie, Richards went on to finish 11th at the Surfers Paradise 300 and 9th in the Humes Guardrail 300 at the Adelaide International Raceway
Adelaide International Raceway
The Adelaide International Raceway is a permanent circuit owned by Australian Motorsport Club Limited under the auspices of the Bob Jane Corporation. It is located on Port Wakefield Road at Virginia, a small town just north of Adelaide, South Australia, and is round the corner from Speedway City...
. All this gave "Gentleman Jim" second place in the championship with a total of 67 points, only five points behind winner Peter McLeod
Peter McLeod
Peter Gerard McLeod , was an Australian racing driver, best known as co-winner of the 1987 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst and for driving the distinctive yellow and black Slick 50 Mazda RX-7 Group C touring car during the early to mid 1980's.-Group C Touring Cars:McLeod began his racing career in...
in his Slick 50 RX-7.
JPS Team BMW competed in its first full Australian Touring Car Championship
Australian Touring Car Championship
The Australian Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the V8 Supercar Championship Series awarded the trophy and title of Australian Touring Car Champion.-History:The...
in 1984
1984 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1984 Australian Touring Car Championship was the 25th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship, and was the last year of Group C regulations. The following year would see the introduction of the international Group A regulations...
with Richards finishing in fifth place with a best of third again at Surfers Paradise. Tony Longhurst
Tony Longhurst
Tony Longhurst is an Australian former racing driver and Australian Champion water skier. He is most noted for his career in the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercar series....
joined the team as Richard's co-driver for the Castrol 500
1984 Castrol 500
The 1984 Castrol 500 was an endurance motor race staged at the Sandown Park circuit in Victoria, Australia on 9 September 1984. The event was open to Group C Touring Cars, competing in two engine capacity classes, Up to 3000cc and Over 3000cc. It also included a class for Group A cars which were to...
at Sandown and the last ever James Hardie 1000
1984 James Hardie 1000
The 1984 James Hardie 1000 was the 25th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 30 September 1984 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia and was Round 4 of the 1984 Australian Endurance Championship...
for the local Group C Touring Cars. Unfortunately both races were a disaster for the team. After starting 6th at Sandown, the BMW was a DNF with a broken diff on lap 72. The team expanded to two cars for Bathurst
1983 James Hardie 1000
The 1983 James Hardie 1000 was the 24th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was an endurance race for Touring Cars complying with CAMS Group C regulations. It was held on October 2, 1983 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst and was Round 4 of the 1983 Australian...
with the addition of a Group A 635 for Denny Hulme and Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n Prince Leopold von Bayern
Prince Leopold of Bavaria (b. 1943)
Prince Leopold of Bavaria is a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach and a former champion race car driver.-Early life & racing career:...
. The teams progress was hampered during race week at Bathurst when von Bayern crashed the Group A 635 at the top of the mountain. The effort into fixing the car put the Group C challenger behind schedule although Richards still managed to qualify the car sixth in Hardies Heroes. The race didn't get any better for the Richards/Longhurst car which suffered a blown engine on just lap 39. The Hulme/von Bayern car fared much better though, qualifying 49th (third in class but 5.3 seconds slower than the Group A leading TWR
Tom Walkinshaw Racing
Tom Walkinshaw Racing , was an auto racing team and engineering firm founded in 1976 by touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw.-History:TWR started by modifying BMW 3.0 CSLs, but soon was contracted to head Mazda's works program in the British Touring Car Championship. The TWR developed RX-7, with Win...
Rover Vitesse
Rover SD1
Rover SD1 is both the code name and eventual production name given to a series of large executive cars made by British Leyland or BL through its Specialist, Rover Triumph and Austin Rover divisions from 1976 until 1986....
). In the race the car's only problem was a flat tyre and Hulme and con Bayern had a steady run to finish second in class and 15th outright.
Group A
In its Group C specification, while often fast, the 635 CSi was not the race winner that it was in Group A racing in EuropeEuropean Touring Car Championship
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004...
. The team always told anyone who'd listen to wait for Group A to take over in Australia and they would show everyone how good the BMW 635 CSi really was. While many scoffed at this suggestion it proved very accurate with Richards and the BMW winning the first ever ATCC run under international Group A rules in 1985
1985 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Touring Cars. It was the 26th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the first to be contested using regulations based on the FIA's International Group A regulations...
. Richards won seven of the ten races, including a record six in a row. In a golden year for JPS Team BMW, Richards also won the AMSCAR Series and then won the 1985 Australian Endurance Championship
1985 Australian Endurance Championship
The 1985 Australian Endurance Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Touring Cars complying with an Australian version of FIA Group A Touring Car regulations...
winning five out of six races including the Castrol 500
1985 Castrol 500
The 1985 Castrol 500 was an endurance race for "Group A" Touring Cars staged at the Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit in Victoria on 15 September 1985...
at Sandown. The team only missed out at Bathurst
1985 James Hardie 1000
The 1985 James Hardie 1000 was the 26th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 6 October 1985 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst. It was the first time the race was held exclusively for cars complying with the Australian version of International Group A...
when Richards finished in fourth place partnered with Tony Longhurst
Tony Longhurst
Tony Longhurst is an Australian former racing driver and Australian Champion water skier. He is most noted for his career in the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercar series....
after being delayed for three laps in a sand trap when Richards spun on oil. The team's second car, driven by car owner Neville Crichton who had also driven the car in the ATCC and finished in fourth in his championship debut, and on-loan Nissan Motorsport
Gibson Motor Sport
Gibson Motor Sport was an Australian motor racing team. Originally established by Howard Marsden as the in-house factory Nissan motorsport operation, the team later passed into the ownership of Fred Gibson., who had won the 1967 Bathurst 500 as a driver, sharing with Harry Firth. In 1993 the team...
driver George Fury
George Fury
George Fury is a retired Australian rally and racing car driver. For the majority of his career Fury was associated with Nissan, twice winning the Australian Rally Championship, and twice runner up in the Australian Touring Car Championship.-Rallying:Born in Hungary, Fury rose to prominence during...
, finished second at Sandown after leading until late in the race when Crichton was slowed by a reported shortage of fuel. In a twist of fate, as Richards was sliding off into the sand trap at Bathurst, George Fury, who Richards had just lapped, joined him having gone off on the same oil. The second car only completed 68 laps before being retired with engine failure.
For the 1986
1986 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship was the 27th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. It began on 2 March 1986 at Amaroo Park and ended on 13 July at Oran Park Raceway after ten rounds....
championship, Richards was once again in the 635 CSi while Longhurst drove the teams newest car, a BMW 325i. Unfortunately for the team newer cars such as a much more powerful and durable Holden VK Commodore Group A SS
Holden VK Commodore
The Holden VK Commodore was introduced in 1984 and replaced the VH. It was the first Commodore to have plastic bumpers and introduced rear quarter windows for a six-window design as opposed to the four-window design on previous Commodore models...
and the turbocharged
Turbocharger
A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...
Nissan Skyline DR30 had been introduced into the championship while the Volvo 240T had further development. The high-revving BMW straight-6 in the 635 did not have the power to allow Richards to successfully defend his title. He only managed one win at Winton
Winton Motor Raceway
Winton Motor Raceway is a Motor Racing track in Winton, near Benalla, Victoria, Australia.-History:The Benalla Auto Club began planning for a permanent racing track around 1958. In 1960 it was decided to build the track at Winton Recreation Reserve and was completed in twelve months...
while finishing third in the championship. Another reported problem the team had was their Pirelli
Pirelli
Pirelli & C. SpA is a diverse multinational company based in Milan, Italy. The company, the world’s fifth largest tyre manufacturer, is present in over 160 countries, has 20 manufacturing sites around the world and a network of around 10,000 distributors and retailers.Founded in Milan in 1872,...
tyres weren't suited to Australia's warmer weather causing them to not work as well as the same tyres were working in Europe. It was not until mid way through 1986 that the team were able to get Pirelli tyres better suited to Australian conditions. At both the Castrol 500
1986 Castrol 500
The 1986 Castrol 500 was an endurance race for cars complying with CAMS Touring Car regulations, which were based on FIA Group A rules. The event was staged on 14 September 1986 over 129 laps of the 3.9 km Sandown circuit in Victoria, Australia, a total distance of 503 km...
and at Bathurst
1986 James Hardie 1000
The 1986 James Hardie 1000 was an endurance motor race held on 5 October 1986 at the Mount Panorama Circuit, just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia...
, the BMW was outgunned by the more powerful V8
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
s and turbos with Richards & Longhurst partnered to finish both races in 5th and 6th respectively. The teams second car (another 635) was driven by Kevin Bartlett and Trevor Crowe who failed to finish both endurance races.
1987
1987 Australian Touring Car season
The 1987 Australian Touring Car season was the 28th year of touring car racing in Australia since the first runnings of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the fore-runner of the present day Bathurst 1000, the Armstrong 500....
saw the old 635 CSi finally retired as BMW's flagship touring car racer. It was replaced by the high-revving, 2.3 litre
BMW S14
The BMW S14 is a 2.3 L DOHC 16-valve I4 piston engine. It was used in the E30 M3. The S14 is essentially a BMW M10 basic engine block casting with modified oil drain back passages and a M88/S38 DOHC cylinder head . It has four separate throttle bodies...
, 4cyl BMW M3, of which JPS Team BMW built two for a full assault on the 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship
1987 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship was a motor racing competition which was open to Touring Cars complying with regulations as defined by CAMS and based on FIA Group A rules. The championship, which was the 28th Australian Touring Car Championship, began on 1 March 1987 at Calder Park...
for Richards and Longhurst. After a tight struggle with the Nissan Skyline's of George Fury
George Fury
George Fury is a retired Australian rally and racing car driver. For the majority of his career Fury was associated with Nissan, twice winning the Australian Rally Championship, and twice runner up in the Australian Touring Car Championship.-Rallying:Born in Hungary, Fury rose to prominence during...
and Glenn Seton
Glenn Seton
Glenn Seton is an Australian racing driver.Seton, father of Courtney and Aaron Seton and husband to Jayne Seton, retired from full time racing after the 2005 V8 Supercar season, and is only one of five drivers to have competed in over 200 rounds in the series. The other drivers are Dick Johnson ,...
which went down to the last race at Oran Park
Oran Park Raceway
Oran Park Raceway was a motor racing circuit at Narellan in southwestern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia which was operational from 1962 to 2010....
, Richards emerged victorious with four wins from the nine rounds. The team then competed in Australia's end of season endurance events as well as the Australian and New Zealand rounds of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship season
1987 World Touring Car Championship season
The 1987 World Touring Car Championship season was the inaugural World Touring Car Championship season. It commenced on March 22, 1987 and ended on November 15 after eleven races. The championship was open to Touring Cars complying with FIA Group A regulations.-Drivers and teams:Fifteen registered...
. Richards and Longhurst combined to win the Pepsi 250 at Oran Park while repeating their 1985 result by finishing 4th at Bathurst
1987 James Hardie 1000
The 1987 James Hardie 1000 was the eighth round of the inaugural World Touring Car Championship, the first round to be held in the southern hemisphere. The race was held for cars eligible for Group A touring car regulations. It was the 25th anniversary of the original touring car endurance race...
. The teams second M3 was driven by 1986 ATCC winner Robbie Francevic
Robbie Francevic
Robert James Francevic, was a touring car racing driver in New Zealand and Australia in the 1970s and 1980s...
from New Zealand and the teams engine builder who had also driven in the last two rounds of the ATCC, Ludwig Finauer. Francevic & Finauer finished in 5th place at the Sandown 500
1987 Castrol 500
The 1987 Castrol 500 was an endurance race for cars complying with CAMS Touring Car regulations, which were based on FIA Group A rules. The event was staged on 13 September 1987 over 129 laps of the 3.9 km Sandown circuit in Victoria, Australia, a total distance of 503 km.-Dulux...
and 6th at Bathurst.
Following the 1987 season team boss Frank Gardner decided to retire from motor racing at the age of 57, although he would make a comeback of sorts in 1988
1988 Australian Touring Car season
The 1988 Australian Touring Car season was the 29th year of touring car racing in Australia since the first runnings of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the fore-runner of the present day Bathurst 1000, the Armstrong 500....
when he became Team Manager/consultant for Longhurst's newly formed team Tony Longhurst Racing
Tony Longhurst Racing
Tony Longhurst Racing is a former V8 Supercar team. The team, based on Queenslands Gold Coast at the Longhurst family owned Dreamworld adventure park, made its debut in Group A touring car racing in the 1988 Australian Touring Car Championship at Melbourne's Calder Park Raceway and made its last...
running a Ford Sierra RS500. When Gardner retired he effectively shut down operations of JPS Team BMW. The team assets, including the BMW M3s were then sold to Peter Brock
Peter Brock
Peter Geoffrey Brock, AM otherwise known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain" or simply as "Brocky" was one of Australia's best-known and most successful motor racing drivers. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, although he raced vehicles of other...
who ran them in the colours of Mobil
Mobil
Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...
in 1988 under the Advantage Racing banner. Brock's team also took over as the factory supported BMW team in Australia. Jim Richards joined the Mobil 1 team for 1988. By this time the M3 was no longer competitive in the shorter sprint races of the ATCC against the high powered Ford Sierra RS500 and Richards finished fourth in the championship.
JPS Team BMW is the only team ever to win the Australian Touring Car Championship, the Australian Manufacturers' Championship and Australian Endurance Championship for BMW.
Sports Sedans
JPS Team BMW also ran a BMW 318i Turbo (updated by 1984 to a 320i), a carry-over from the Craven Mild Racing team, in the Australian Sports Sedan Championship and later in the Australian GT Championship. The car proved to be fast but fragile in the hands of Allan Grice who usually gave unfavorable reports on the cars handling. It was taken over by Richards when he joined the team who raced it with moderate success. Richards actually finished equal second in the 1983 GT championship after winning the opening two rounds and then not appearing for the rest of the six round championship. The car's last race was in the special Australian Class for the 1984 Sandown 1000 which was part of the 1984 World Sportscar Championship season1984 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1984 World Endurance Championship season was the 32nd FIA World Sportscar Championship season. It was a series running under the Group C and Group B formulas, running cars in three classes known as C1, C2, and B...
. The only change the team made to the car for the race was the removal of the high powered turbo engine, in its place the team gambled on a more reliable 2.0 litre 4cyl BMW motor. In what was the first ever World Championship motor race ever held in Australia, the gamble on the motor paid off as Richards and Longhurst finished in 14th place (first in class), 28 laps behind the winning Rothmans Porsche 956
Porsche 956
The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship...
of 1984 WSC Drivers' Champion Stefan Bellof
Stefan Bellof
Stefan Bellof was a racing driver who is famous for setting the fastest lap ever on the Nordschleife configuration, at the Nürburgring, setting the time in a Porsche 956 in 1983...
and (then) three times 24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
winner Derek Bell
Derek Bell (auto racer)
Derek Reginald Bell MBE is a former racing driver from England who was extremely successful in sportscar racing, winning five times at Le Mans. He also raced in Formula One for the Ferrari, McLaren, Surtees and Tecno teams...
.
Championships Won
- 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship - BMW 635 CSi (Jim Richards)
- 1985 AMSCAR Series - BMW 635 CSi (Jim Richards)
- 1985 Australian Endurance Championship - BMW 635 CSi (Jim Richards)
- 1986 AMSCAR Series - BMW 325i - (Tony Longhurst)
- 1986 Australian Endurance Championship - BMW 635 CSi (Jim Richards)
- 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship - BMW M3 (Jim Richards)
- 1987 AMSCAR Series - BMW M3 (Jim Richards)