For the 1982 Bathurst race, Richards had British veteran David Hobbs as co-driver (Hobbs had raced with Gardner in his first Le Mans in 1962, winning their class). They finished a creditable 5th, 6 laps behind winners Peter Brock / Larry Perkins, and first non-V8 home. In the 1983 race the car was updated with new Group A engine components from Germany. Now developing 390 bhp the team was encouraged after a 2nd at the immediately preceding Castrol 400 at Sandown, behind Allan Moffat's Mazda RX-7. Richards (co-driven by Gardner himself) qualified fourth on the grid but fuel –contamination issues immediately affected the car, retiring on the 6th lap. Conspiracy theories swirled in the papers about sabotage but nothing was proven. Reliability however meant Richards finished second in the Endurance Championship.