Jason Richards: The racer, teammate, man and legacy

Each time Supercars returns to New Zealand, drivers race for Jason Richards.

While Richards lost his fight with cancer in 2011, he won hearts in Supercars, leaving behind a legacy on a sport he loved dearly, and a sport that loved him back.

The upcoming ITM Taupō Super 440 will see the 10th awarding of the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, awarded to the highest round point-scorer of the New Zealand round.

First awarded in 2013, the trophy was named in Richards' honour, celebrating a racer who competed at the highest level of touring car competition between 2001 and 2010. A pole-sitter and race winner in Supercars, Richards was also a three-time Bathurst 1000 runner-up.

Heading to the 2025 Taupō event, the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy has been won by six different drivers,. Only two are repeat winners; one was a former teammate of Richards, and the other a Kiwi star.

The racer

Born on April 10, 1976, Richards started karting at eight years old. He raced in the Mini 7 class in 1993, and after a stint in Formula Ford, he shifted to to 2.0 litre touring cars. Between 1998 and 2001, he won three New Zealand Touring Car titles.

Richards made his Supercars debut with Team Kiwi Racing at the 2000 Bathurst 1000. He raced full-time with TKR in 2001 and 2002 before joining Team Dynamik.

Richards famously pushed Mark Skaife all the way at Sandown in 2003, and while he fell off the road in awful conditions, he had made his mark.

Tasman Motorsport signed him in 2004, and he remained at the team until 2008. In that time, he netted two Bathurst podiums, and claimed his only Supercars win with the team at Winton in 2006.

He added a third Bathurst podium in 2009 in his first season with Brad Jones Racing, and also claimed a podium at Hidden Valley. He scored a Phillip Island 500 podium in 2010, the year his life changed.

The teammate

In his career, Richards shared garages with the likes of Jamie Whincup, Greg Murphy, Jason Bright, Fabian Coulthard and Cameron McConville.

He played a crucial role in the career of a young Whincup, Richards standing alongside the then 22-year-old as they claimed Sandown and Bathurst podiums with Tasman in 2005.

Whincup learned plenty from JR, and recorded the first two of his record 240 podiums with the Kiwi. The duo were fierce rivals as teammates in Tasman colours, Whincup beating Richards by just 12 points in their only season together.

However, Whincup says the 2005 Bathurst podium made them mates for life.

“He was a character. Obviously, it was a shock to the whole industry when JR passed away," Whincup told Supercars.com.

"I really enjoyed being his teammate in 2005 at Tasman Motorsport. We had plenty of good times together. It was a great rivalry.

"And of course, we stood on the podium at Bathurst. You know, whenever you stand on the podium at Bathurst with somebody, they generally become good mates for life. And we did."

The man

Most knew Richards as a racer, a naturally-gifted, tenacious steerer who gave it everything.

To those who knew him best, Richards was a great family man to wife Charlotte and daughters Sienna and Olivia. Family meant everything to Richards, who sometimes carried messages to his kids in his car as he raced.

While cancer took him off the track, Richards was never far away. He famously won on Super2 debut in Adelaide in 2011, before emotionally charging to second at the main game non-championship round at Albert Park. Later in the year, Richards joined Jason Bright on the Winton podium as BJR won for just the second time.

All these scenes were as powerful as we've ever seen in Supercars.

Just weeks before his death, Richards raced a Holden Monaro HQ in the Bathurst Touring Car Masters round, all while acting as advisor to Brad Jones Racing as they tackled the Great Race. For Richards, it was all about giving back, something friend John Bowe made sure he did after his mate passed away.

Bowe raced against Richards between 2000 and 2007, but was also a dear mate. Bowe remains close to the family, and has been there for many milestones. From watching Richards' children grow up, to being with the family as Richards was posthumously inducted into the Supercars Hall of Fame, Bowe made sure he was there. Bowe even took Sienna for a hot lap at Sandown in 2019 at his Fastrack V8 Race Experience.

"I was only looking at some pictures the other day and I saw a picture of this little girl, Sienna, who's now a licensed driver,” Bowe told Supercars.com.

“He used to walk past my place. He lived across the road, and she was a little tiny little girl in a stroller. So time's gone very fast.

“It was like everybody knew him. He was a great bloke, terrific driver. He was a very special, special fella to me.

"So it's lovely that the whole thing still continues on with the trophy. Cole Hitchcock, who was previous media man at Supercars, sort of instigated it. He spoke to me about it and, but he made it happen.

"The trophy should go on forever, just like his legacy will."

The legacy

If there was ever a moment that summed up what Richards left behind in Supercars, it was the poignant image of Shane van Gisbergen shedding tears after winning the trophy in his countryman's name.

Van Gisbergen, an infamously phlegmatic character, let it all out on the 2019 podium after accepting the trophy for a second time. He first won in 2016, and won again in 2022. On all three occasions, the big Kiwi was left in tears.

Whether he raced against them or not, Richards left an indelible mark on drivers in Supercars. Speaking in 2018, van Gisbergen said Richards made an effort to make him feel welcome on his debut in 2007.

“I was 16th after the first practice and Jason came straight up as we were going to drivers’ briefing and said how impressive it was,” van Gisbergen said.

"I didn’t tell him we were one of the only cars on new tyres! But he welcomed me to the series and wished me luck for the weekend.

“He was always friendly and that’s just the kind of guy he was. Even when he was fighting through his illness, he was still coming to the track, smiling with his family with him and everything.

“He was just an inspiration and a true Kiwi hero. To win a trophy with his name on it, I did tear up a little bit, I’m not ashamed to say. It was one of my best achievements.”