BAR Aim to Fight for the Title in 2004

New British American Racing team boss David Richards has revealed that he expects the Brackley-based outfit to fight for the World Championship by 2004.

Richards, who is also the commercial rights holder of the World Rally Championship, replaced Scot Craig Pollock at the helm of the Formula One team last month after three disappointing seasons in which BAR were unable to finish higher than fifth in the Constructors' Championship, failing to score any victories.

But BAR, who were only the second team to launch their 2002 car in December right after Toyota, aim to be fighting for race wins in one-year time, according to Richards, who is under no illusion about the difficulty of the task ahead of him.

"I don't think this is going to be an overnight wonder, and I think we have a very tough three years ahead," Richards told this week's Autosport magazine. "But we're in the right place at the right time and over the next couple of years you will see it all come together.

"The aim is to be in a title-winning position by 2004, so if we work backwards, we'll be challenging for wins and podiums in 2003. What that means for this year, it's still too early to say."