HE has found success at Mount Panorama for some of the big-name teams of the Supercars series, but this year when Steven Richards chases his sixth Bathurst 1000 victory it will be a little different.
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This year the man who has previously won the Great Race for Stone Brothers Racing, Gibson Motorsport, Ford Performance Racing and Triple Eight will drive for an independent team.
Defending Bathurst champion Richards will act as co-driver for Mark Winterbottom in the Charlie Schwerkolt Holden Commodore ZB.
"It's a very different environment with Charlie Schwerkolt IRWIN Racing Team, it's small, but we've seen at Bathurst small teams can do huge things come race day," Richards said.
"It's really exciting, you can't underestimate the amount of work that's got to go into this race for a smaller team. We don't see ourselves as being any worse off than a big team, but having to build what we need to compete against those teams is huge."
Schwerkolt's team, which has run as an independent since 2016, will be having its seventh tilt at the Bathurst 1000.
It's best result thus far was a ninth in 2015, while the past three years have seen a pair of DNFs and a 21st placing.
Since making the switch from Tickford to Schwerkolt's outfit - known this year as IRWIN Racing - Winterbottom has posted 10 top 10 results. His best finishes are a pair of fourths.
While all that means the #18 Commodore Richards will share with Winterbottom is one of the outsiders for this year's Peter Brock Trophy, the experienced co-driver feels a good result is not impossible.
READ MORE: Bathurst keeps luring Richards back to drive
"We've got to have a really lot of good things to go our way, the cards have got to fall, but it's about our preparation and what we do to make those cards fall our way on Sunday," Richards said.
"Here it is possible to win as a small team, it is hard to do in any other place, but here with the strategy and different things that roll your way, the weather - it's possible."
What will play in favour of the team is that Richards and Winterbottom are a proven combination at Mount Panorama.
When they last shared a seat in 2013 - in a Ford Performance Racing Falcon - they won the Peter Brock Trophy. They also have a pair of fourth placings together and led the race in the latter stages of the 2007 edition before having to settle for 10th.
"We've had a great amount of history, this will be our seventh Bathurst together, that's great," Richards said.
"I'm looking forward to writing another personal piece of history for myself and Frosty. The competition's as good as it's ever been - better - and it's a hard race to get to the top of, but with the IRWIN Racing guys I'm really looking forward to it."
Richards is the most experienced driver in the field in terms of 1000 starts, while Craig Lowndes is the only man with more wins.