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| Steven Richards | |
|---|---|
 Richards in 2010 | |
| Nationality |  New Zealander |
| Born | 11 July 1972 (1972-07-11) (age 53) |
| Supercars Championship career | |
| Championships | 0 |
| Races | 451 |
| Wins | 12 |
| Podiums | 60 |
| Pole positions | 6 |
| 2019 position | 37th (438 pts) |
Steven James Richards[1] (born 11 July 1972) is a New Zealand-Australian racing driver, currently competing in thePorsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship.
Richards, the son of seven-timeBathurst 1000 winnerJim Richards, is himself a five-time Bathurst 1000 winner, having won the event in1998,1999,2013,2015 and2018. Colloquially known as 'Richo', he also won theBathurst 24 Hour in2002.
Richards' first major career success was winning theAustralian Formula Ford Championship on his second attempt in1994 forGarry Rogers Motorsport. In1995, Richards made his debut in the Bathurst 1000, finishing fourth forGibson Motorsport withAnders Olofsson.[1] Richards continued his association with Garry Rogers Motorsport in the years following, competing in theAustralian Super Touring Championship from1995 to1997 driving anAlfa Romeo 155,Honda Accord andNissan Primera and making hisAustralian Touring Car Championship debut for the team in1996 in aHolden VR Commodore. Richards competed with his father Jim at the Bathurst 1000 in1996 and1997, finishing second in the latter. Richards continued with the team for1998 before leaving to take up a testing role withNissan in England.[2]
At the1998 AMP Bathurst 1000 Richards finished second in a Nissan Primera, only two seconds behind his father Jim. A month later driving aFord EL Falcon, he won theFAI 1000 withJason Bright forStone Brothers Racing.
In1999 Richards took up a full-time drive with Gibson Motorsport in 1999, as a team-mate toGreg Murphy in aHolden VT Commodore. Richards finished seventh in the championship with the highlight beingdefending his Bathurst crown with Murphy. By winning his second Bathurst title in a Holden, he became the first driver to win the Bathurst 1000 in both aFord andHolden, and remains the only driver to do so in consecutive years.[3] Richards continued with Gibson Motorsport in2000, winning the inauguralCanberra 400 as well as a round atCalder Park Raceway.[2]
In2001, Richards moved toFord Tickford Racing. Richards finished 12th in the standings for the team in 2001. With Ford Tickford Racing scaling back to one car, Richards moved toPerkins Engineering in2002. He continued with the team for five years and achieved consistent championship finishes between fifth and seventh. Richards won two rounds for the team, both at thePerth 400 atBarbagallo Raceway.[2]
In2007, Richards made another manufacturer switch, joiningFord Performance Racing. Richards started competitively for the team, with championship finishes of seventh and eighth, but dropped off in2009 and2010 with finishes of thirteenth and fifteenth. Richards was subsequently replaced byWill Davison for2011, and finished his full-time career with a podium in the final race of the season at theSydney 500. Richards' highlights for the team were winning theSkycity Triple Crown in 2008, and podium finishes at the2007 Sandown 500 and2009 Phillip Island 500 withOwen Kelly andMark Winterbottom respectively. Richards and Winterbottom were leading the2007 Bathurst 1000 late in the race before Winterbottom went off the track in wet conditions.[3]
Following his full-time career ending, Richards became a highly sought-after co-driver for V8 Supercars' two endurance events, theSandown 500 and Bathurst 1000. He decided to stay on with Ford Performance Racing, renewing his partnership with Winterbottom. In 2013, Richards and Winterbottom won the2013 Bathurst 1000 on their sixth attempt together. It was the first Bathurst victory for Winterbottom and the team, and Richards' first since 1999.
After his success in 2013, Richards was poached byTriple Eight Race Engineering to drive withCraig Lowndes from 2014 onwards in what had become known as thePirtek Enduro Cup. The move brought Richards a fourth Bathurst victory in2015.[4] In doing this Richards joined Lowndes, who along withTony Longhurst andJamie Whincup had matched the feat of winning in both a Ford and Holden since Richards had achieved it, as the only two drivers to win more than one Bathurst 1000 for both Ford and Holden. Richards won the race again with Lowndes in 2018 winning his Fifth Bathurst crown becoming one of the most successful winners of the great race throughout the current decade and sixth on the all-time list of Bathurst champions.
Richards announced his retirement from Supercars racing after the 2019 season.[5]
Richards won the inaugural Bathurst 24 Hour race in2002 driving aHolden Monaro 427C forGarry Rogers Motorsport. Richards won the race alongsideGarth Tander,Cameron McConville andNathan Pretty. Driving the same car in the2003 race, the same quartet finished in second place, less than a second behind their teammates Greg Murphy,Todd Kelly, Jason Bright, andPeter Brock, who had formed a famous partnership with his father Jim in the 1970s and 1980s.
Richards competed in the2014 24 Hours of Spa with Roger Lago,David Russell andSteve Owen, driving aLamborghini Gallardo LP600+ GT3. They did not finish the race. Richards has also achieved a class victory at theBathurst 12 Hour, in2012.
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After the conclusion of his full-time V8 Supercars career, Richards entered theAustralian Carrera Cup Championship in 2011 in a team backed by Laser Plumbing & Electrical. He consistently became a top-five championship runner since joining the series. His highlight was in2014 when he won the championship title and broke the stranglehold on the series held byCraig Baird. It was Richards' first championship title in twenty years. Richards slipped back in the following two years before stepping back from the series to focus on his team's entry in theAustralian GT Championship.[6]
In 2013 and 2014, Richards competed in selected events of theAustralian GT Championship in aLamborghini Gallardo alongside Justin McMillan. They finished fifth in the2014 championship. Richards then made a one-off appearance in the 2015 season in aChevrolet Camaro.
In2016, Richards re-joined the series full-time, this time with his own team, Steven Richards Motorsport. The team became the factory-supported customer entrant for the newBMW M6 GT3 in Australia.[7] The team has also entered two cars in the 2017 Bathurst 12 Hour.
Before taking up motor racing full-time, Richards served hisapprenticeship as anaircraft engineer.
Richards is married to Angela (m. 1998) and has two children, Clayton (born 2000) and Priya (born 2001).[1]
Richards lives with his family in Melbourne, Victoria.
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(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | No. | Team | Car | Co-driver | Position | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2 | Gibson Motorsport | Holden Commodore VR |  Anders Olofsson | 4th | 161 |
| 1996 | 32 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VR | Jim Richards | DNF | 33 |
| 1997* | 34 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Nissan Primera |  Matt Neal | DNF | 84 |
| 1997 | 34 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VS | Jim Richards | 2nd | 161 |
| 1998* | 34 | Team Dynamics | Nissan Primera | Matt Neal | 2nd | 161 |
| 1998 | 4 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford Falcon EL |  Jason Bright | 1st | 161 |
| 1999 | 7 | Gibson Motorsport | Holden Commodore VT | Greg Murphy | 1st | 161 |
| 2000 | 7 | Gibson Motorsport | Holden Commodore VT | Greg Murphy | 3rd | 161 |
| 2001 | 5 | Ford Tickford Racing | Ford Falcon AU | Glenn Seton | 9th | 161 |
| 2002 | 16 | Perkins Engineering | Holden Commodore VX | Russell Ingall | 2nd | 161 |
| 2003 | 11 | Perkins Engineering | Holden Commodore VY | Larry Perkins | 4th | 161 |
| 2004 | 11 | Perkins Engineering | Holden Commodore VY | Jim Richards | 21st | 148 |
| 2005 | 24 | Perkins Engineering | Holden Commodore VZ | Paul Dumbrell | DNF | 28 |
| 2006 | 7 | Perkins Engineering | Holden Commodore VZ | Paul Dumbrell | 5th | 161 |
| 2007 | 6 | Ford Performance Racing | Ford Falcon BF | Mark Winterbottom | 10th | 161 |
| 2008 | 6 | Ford Performance Racing | Ford Falcon BF | Mark Winterbottom | 4th | 161 |
| 2009 | 6 | Ford Performance Racing | Ford Falcon FG | Mark Winterbottom | DNF | 49 |
| 2010 | 6 | Ford Performance Racing | Ford Falcon FG | James Moffat | 11th | 161 |
| 2011 | 5 | Ford Performance Racing | Ford Falcon FG | Mark Winterbottom | 4th | 161 |
| 2012 | 5 | Ford Performance Racing | Ford Falcon FG | Mark Winterbottom | 11th | 161 |
| 2013 | 5 | Ford Performance Racing | Ford Falcon FG | Mark Winterbottom | 1st | 161 |
| 2014 | 888 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Holden Commodore VF | Craig Lowndes | 10th | 161 |
| 2015 | 888 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Holden Commodore VF | Craig Lowndes | 1st | 161 |
| 2016 | 888 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Holden Commodore VF | Craig Lowndes | 16th | 156 |
| 2017 | 888 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Holden Commodore VF | Craig Lowndes | 11th | 160 |
| 2018 | 888 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Holden Commodore ZB | Craig Lowndes | 1st | 161 |
| 2019 | 18 | Team 18 | Holden Commodore ZB | Mark Winterbottom | 6th | 161 |
*Super Touring race
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded all races) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded)
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Overall position | Class position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Garth TanderNathan PrettyCameron McConville | Holden Monaro 427C | 1 | 532 | 1st | 1st |
| 2003 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Garth TanderNathan PrettyCameron McConville | Holden Monaro 427C | A | 527 | 2nd | 2nd |
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Overall position | Class position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Paul Fordham | Nissan Pulsar SSS | B | 234 | 21st | 3rd |
| 2012 | Hunter Sports Group | Steven JohnsonNathan Tinkler | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | B | 254 | 4th | 1st |
| 2013 | GB Galvanising | Ross Lilley Justin McMillan | Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 | A | 247 | 13th | 10th |
| 2014 | M Motorsport | Ross Lilley Justin McMillanDale Wood | Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 | A | 78 | DNF | DNF |
| 2015 | M Motorsport | Craig Baird Justin McMillan | Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 | AP | 129 | DNF | DNF |
| 2017 | BMW Team SRM |  Marco WittmannMark Winterbottom | BMW M6 GT3 | AP | 281 | 14th | 7th |
| 2018 | BMW Team SRM | Timo Glock Philipp Eng | BMW M6 GT3 | AP | 270 | 9th | 5th |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Winner of theBathurst Classic 1998 (withJason Bright) | Succeeded by Steven Richards Greg Murphy |
| Preceded by | Winner of theBathurst 1000 1999 (withGreg Murphy) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of theBathurst 1000 2013 (withMark Winterbottom) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of theAustralian Carrera Cup Championship 2014 | Succeeded by Nick Foster |
| Preceded by | Winner of theBathurst 1000 2015 (withCraig Lowndes) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of theBathurst 1000 2018 (withCraig Lowndes) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of theEnduro Cup 2018 (withCraig Lowndes) | Succeeded by |