Steven Richards is the latest high-profile confirmation for the 2019 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship.

The 2014 Carrera Cup champion will contest the 2019 season with his own Steve Richards Motorsport operation and will announce his major backer in the coming weeks ahead of the Adelaide 500 season opener.

Richards, son of inaugural Carrera Cup Australia champion Jim Richards, returns to Porsche one-make competition following two seasons of GT racing, in which time he also claimed his fifth Bathurst 1000 victory. Prior to that, Richards was a Carrera Cup regular from 2011 through to 2016, competing in 132 races across 46 rounds.

“I’m really looking forward to coming back to Carrera Cup. The series has certainly stepped up another notch since I was involved, from the new cars to its popularity and the incredible investment of Porsche into the championship,” said Richards.

“I was attracted back to Carrera Cup for numerous reasons. The professionalism of the series is second-to-none and racing at high-profile Supercars Championship events and the Australian Grand Prix is great value for the brands I’ll represent in 2019. Also, importantly, the racing is first class with a great blend of young up-and-coming drivers and some really serious Pro-Am competitors.”

Richards is eager to be competitive from the season-opening Adelaide 500 with the aim of adding to his current three round wins, 13 race wins, 21 round podiums and one title victory.

“My hope is to be competitive and start the season where we finished off in 2016. The competition has certainly stepped up but we’ll head into Adelaide as prepared as possible with the aim of podium finishes.”

The 2019 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia season commences in just six weeks for the series’ 13th visit to the Adelaide 500, to be held on February 28 to March 03, 2019.