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Sunday 15th January 2012

Kartsport Nelson would like to dedicate thier homepage to a much loved driver and friend.

Rest In peace Jason Richards 15 December 2011

Early career

Richards started his motor racing career at the age of eight in 1985, driving in karting events in his home country of New Zealand. He made his move out of karting in 1993 after 35 championship titles, entering the Mini 7s. After much success again, Richards was offered the Canterbury Racing School Formula Ford drive for the Nissan Mobil 500 meetings at Wellington and Pukekohe. After a short stint in the English Formula Ford Championship, Richards returned to New Zealand to sign with BMW Motorsport NZ as junior driver, winning the 1995/96 Class 1 Touring Car Championships for the team, along with nine out of 12 series races.

Teams

Team Kiwi Racing Promoted to lead driver, Richards won the next three NZ Touring Car Championships prior to joining Team Kiwi for the V8 Supercar series in Australia in 2001. Battling testing restrictions and the tyranny of distance, Richards finished an extremely creditable 19th in the 2002 V8 Supercar Series.

Team Dynamik Richards moved to the new South Australian Team Dynamik in 2003, putting in some strong results, including a narrow failure to snatch victory in the Sandown 500 from Mark Skaife in the race's dying stages.

Tasman Motorsport He then made the decision to move to the newly-formed Tasman Motorsport outfit in 2004 and has developed into a driver who believes he is capable of standing on the top step of a V8 Supercar podium. Coming back from a major rollover in the 2005 round at Queensland Raceway, Richards quickly returned to stride and promptly placed the repaired Commodore into the top 10 in the following round at Oran Park Raceway. His podium results in the Sandown and Bathurst endurance events in 2005 helped cement his place as a ‘coming man’ of the V8 Supercar category. In the 2005 Supercheap Auto 1000, Richards produced a strong performance and came very close to winning the race. At the 2007 Bathurst 1000 Richards and Murphy were the best placed Holden team, finishing fourth overall. Surfers Paradise was his best round in 2007 where he finished third overall, and finished 14th in the Championship, with 235 points 15 points behind teammate Greg Murphy.

Team BOC Richards joined Team BOC VE Commodore in 2009, driving the #8 car. (who ran a new race number for the team in V8 Supercars but was the racing number of team co-principal Brad Jones during the teams years racing in AUSCAR and NASCAR at the Calder Park Thunderdome) Richards secured his first V8 Supercar pole position at Hidden Valley Raceway in 2009. Richards finished third at the 2010 L&H 500 with Andrew Jones.

Illness and death

In November 2010 it was revealed that Richards was admitted to hospital on 16 November and was later diagnosed with an adrenocortical carcinoma. Richards immediately stepped away from racing to devote his energies to fighting the illness with Andrew Jones substituting for the balance of the 2010 season. He continued to race sporadically with guest appearances in the second-tier V8 Supercar series and Australian GT Championship and continued testing with Brad Jones Racing into the second half of 2011. He died on 15 December 2011 at his home.

Career highlights

Winner, New Zealand Touring Cars Championship 1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01 5th, Oran Park V8 Supercar round 2003 3rd, Betta Electrical Sandown 500 2005 2nd, Supercheap Auto 1000 at Bathurst 2005, 2008 & 2009 Winner, Winton Motor Raceway, RD.5 Race 2, V8SCS 2006 3rd, Surfers Paradise V8 Supercar Challenge, V8SCS 2007 Pole, Hidden Valley Darwin, Race 9, V8SCS 2009

Bathurst 1000 statistics

Debut:1997 (BMW 320i with Brett Riley) Starts: 13 (including 2 Super Touring) Best Results: 2nd (2005, Holden Commodore VZ with Jamie Whincup, 2008, Holden Commodore VE with Greg Murphy, 2009, Holden Commodore VE with Cameron McConville) 4th (2007, Holden Commodore VE with Greg Murphy)

Authors, Multiple. (2011). Retrieved 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Richards

Jason Richards never won Bathurst, nor a V8 Supercar championship.

But those closest to the New Zealand motor racing driver, who died in Melbourne on Thursday night after a 14-month battle with cancer, say the record books didn't do him justice.

The death of Richards, a three-time Bathurst 1000 runner-up and a much-loved figure in the competitive environment of Australasian motor racing, has deeply saddened all involved with the sport.

Richards was 35.

Tributes came from officials, rival drivers and his grief-stricken race team Brad Jones Racing - the most recent of a succession of winning associations with Holden outfits since joining the Australian V8 series in 2001.

Richards won three New Zealand touring car championships prior to moving into V8 Supercars.

"The history books will not do him justice," owner Brad Jones said in a statement from Richards' race team.

"Given the right equipment JR was easily a frontrunner but chose team loyalty over personal gain, determined to work with his crew to reach the front of the grid together."

Ex-Brad Jones Racing teammate John Bowe led a long list of tributes from drivers.

"Awesome dad, wonderful husband, loving son, a brilliant racer and a hero to all," Bowe said of Richards.

"Our hearts are broken - such a tragic loss."

V8 Supercar chairman Tony Cochrane said Richards' fight against adrenocortical carcinoma - a rare form of cancer in Australia - had won universal admiration from all involved in the sport.

"Jason will be remembered for his great grin and his love and loyalty to his family - both of which made him an immensely admired figure in pit lane," Cochrane said.

"There was not a single person in Australian sport, or indeed Australia and his native New Zealand, who did not admire his enormous courage as he battled the last 14 months and his determination to fight in every way he could.

"He will be dearly missed by all in the V8 Supercar family."

Richards was diagnosed with cancer late last year and was forced to step away from fulltime V8 driving.

But he still managed to race part-time despite his illness, winning a second-tier development series race in Adelaide in March.

A memorial service to honour Richards and his career will be held at Melbourne's Sandown Raceway in the next few weeks.

Richards is survived by his wife Charlotte and children Sienna and Olivia.