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David Richards | |
|---|---|
 Richards in 2005 | |
| Born | (1952-06-03)3 June 1952 (age 73) |
| Occupations | Chairman ofProdrive Chairman ofMotorsport UK |
| Personal information | |
| Nationality |  British |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 1974–1976,1979–1981 |
| Driver | Tony DrummondTony Pond Ari Vatanen |
| Teams | Opel,British Leyland,Ford |
| Rallies | 25 |
| Championships | 1 (1981) |
| Rally wins | 4 |
| Podiums | 11 |
| Stage wins | 198 |
| First rally | 1974 RAC Rally |
| First win | 1980Acropolis Rally |
| Last win | 19811000 Lakes Rally |
| Last rally | 1981RAC Rally |
David Pender RichardsCBE is the chairman ofProdrive and chairman ofMotorsport UK. He is former chairman ofAston Martin and a former team principal of theBAR andBenettonFormula One teams.
Richards attendedYsgol Brynhyfryd inRuthin.[1]
Richards won the1981 World Rally Championship as a co-driver toAri Vatanen.[2][better source needed]
In 1987Prodrive entered into what was to become a long-standing partnership withBMW in theBritish Touring Car Championship. They took the Class B title three times, from 1988 to 1990, winning outright in 1988 withFrank Sytner.[3]
Richards became chief executive ofBenetton Formula in1998, replacingFlavio Briatore.[4] He left after just a year in his post and was replaced byRocco Benetton for1999.[4]
When theBritish American Racing (BAR) team was restructuring after the departure ofCraig Pollock in 2001, the owners,British American Tobacco (BAT), brought in Prodrive to run the team with Richards as its team principal. Under his direction there was an immediate improvement in performance, ultimately leading to the team taking second place in the 2004 F1 Constructors' Championship. Richards also broughtJenson Button to the team and made him lead driver, providing the majority of their championship points in 2004. This success led to BAT selling a 45% share of the team toHonda in late 2004. With Prodrive having completed its management contract with BAT, Richards stood down as team principal and Prodrive's then managing directorNick Fry assumed this role.[5]
His Prodrive company entered a bid to enter a Formula One team for the 2008 season and on 28 April 2006, Prodrive were officially granted entry when theFIA announced the list of entrants to the2008 Formula One World Championship.[6] However, on 22 November 2007, he was forced to announce that Prodrive F1 would not be competing in the 2008 Formula One World Championship after a lack of clarity over the legality of 'customer cars' and the threat of possible legal action.[7]
On 12 March 2007, Richards led a consortium of investors includingInvestment Dar andAdeem Investment, raising $925 million to finance the purchase ofAston Martin fromFord. Richards subsequently became chairman of the car company. He stepped down from this role at the end of 2013.[8]
On 16 September 2007 Richards and his wife, Karen, survived a forced landing in theirhelicopter inEssex whilst returning from the2007 Belgian Grand Prix, less than 24 hours after his formerWRC driver,Colin McRae, perished in a similar accident along with his son and two others.[9] Based on Prodrive's statement after the incident, Richards was piloting Prodrive'sEurocopter EC 135. Both Richards and his wife Karen walked away unharmed.[10]
In the2005 New Year Honours, Richards was appointed aCBE for his services to motorsport.[11] In 2017, he was inducted into the Motor Sport Hall of Fame and received the Spirit of Le Mans award from the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO).[citation needed] In 2019 he received the Autocar Outstanding Leader Award.[citation needed]Cranfield School of Management awarded Richards an Honorary Doctor of Science degree in 2008.[12]
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