I have recently completed building a Cobra and have a Richmond 6 speed. I have been completely happy with the transmission and the gate mechanism. The gate was a bit stiff, but with 2000 miles break in, so far, the shifting has been lightening up nicely. The gate shifting is sharply precise and solid, the way I like it. My understanding of the Richmond is that when they bought the transmission from Doug Nash, they made several improvements to make it more race ready and easier to swap parts. Along with internal improvements, they also managed to get fit a sixth gear for those needing an overdrive. You mentioned that you have a Race model. I understand that there are no differences in the Richmond 5 and 6 speed configurations except for gear ratios. By race model, I assume you have a close ratio version. Interesting enough, I haven't noticed any gear noise from the transmission. I'm running Redline
synthetic. However, my exhaust is loud, so I couldn't guarantee that there isn't gear noise either. My transmission guy is friends with his Richmond sales rep, so if you have any specific questions, may be able to find an answer for you. Let me know.