Meanwhile, the Sports Sedan series had been replaced by the GT championship, running to Group 5/IMSA GT rules. The JPS Team BMW entered a turbo-charged 318i for Richards. It was up against Porsche 935s, Holden LX Torana, and an Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV amongst others. 1982 was a learning curve, ending with a surprise pole position in the final race. But going into the 1983 season everything changed. The small and nimble BMW had a much better power-to-weight ratio and won the first two rounds, giving the new JPS team its first victories. But a spectacular televised crash at the start of the next round at Adelaide between Brock, Richards and Tony Hubbard (in Richards' old Falcon) put the BMW on its side and left it very badly damaged and ending Richards' championship. However, the two victories were sufficient to give him second equal in the final standings.