Supercars: Steven Richards reveals lost Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing replacement deal

STEVEN Richards has revealed he had an agreement in place to be Marcos Ambrose’s successor at Stone Brothers Racing for 2006.

Richards famously helped SBR to victory in its first attempt at the Bathurst 1000, in 1998, before refiring his full-time Supercars career via Gibson Motorsport.

By ’05, the son of ‘Gentleman Jim’ was part of the furniture at Perkins Engineering, the combination netting regular podiums.

“Midway through 2005 at LP’s, Larry was great, he came to me and said ‘mate, you need to have a look at what your options are for 2006 because I’ve just been told from Castrol that they’re not going to be (continuing). And if we don’t have a sponsor, I can’t afford to keep the team running’,” Richards recalled via the V8 Sleuth Podcast powered by Parramatta Toyota.

“I said ‘okay’. So I had been into the market and I had done a deal…”

That arrangement, it turns out, was with SBR to replace two-time champion Ambrose as he prepared to head Stateside in pursuit of the NASCAR bright lights.

“That deal was done, subject to I couldn’t say anything until December 31,” said Richards.

And given he hadn’t heard from Perkins, it’d seemed the coast was clear to be released from the 2006 component of his existing contract. Until…

“Somewhere later in that year, Larry has come to me and gone ‘I’ve got a sponsor’… I said ‘Larry, I’ve got a deal, it’s done, it’s agreed, contract, it’s all here’.

Steven Richards won two races for Perkins Engineering in 2005, at Wanneroo and Oran Park. Pic: an1images / Scott Wensley

“And he goes ‘Richo, it’s a guaranteed deal, you can’t take it’.

“So I had to ring Ross and say ‘sorry I can’t do it’.

“I would have loved to have driven with Stone Brothers.

“Larry’s was great, I was so hands-on there during that period, but I always thought to drive with Ross and Jimmy would have been pretty cool.”

As it turned out, James Courtney was signed to become Russell Ingall’s new teammate at SBR, while Richards lasted just one more season at Perkins Engineering before switching to Ford Performance Racing for 2007.