Jim Richards (racing driver)

Jim Richards
Nationality	New Zealand
Born	2 September 1947 Otahuhu
Related to	Steven Richards (son)
Touring Car Masters
Years active	2008–13
Teams	Jim Richards Racing
Car no.	2
Best finish	1st in 2010, 2013
Previous series
1976–1980 1977, 1980–1995 1994–1996, 1999 1995–1999 1996 1999–2006 2001–2003 2003–2006 2009	Australian Sports Sedan Australian Touring Car Australian GT Production Australian Super Touring NASCAR Australia V8 Supercar Australian Nations Cup Carrera Cup Australia Australian GT
Championship titles
1985 1985 1986 1987 1990 1991 1995 1996 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2010 2013	Australian Touring Car Australian Endurance Champ. Australian Endurance Champ. Australian Touring Car Australian Touring Car Australian Touring Car Australian GT Production NASCAR Australia Australian GT Production Australian Nations Cup Australian Nations Cup Australian Nations Cup Carrera Cup Australia Touring Car Masters Touring Car Masters
Awards
2006	V8 Supercars Hall of Fame

Jim Richards (born 2 September 1947) is a New Zealand racing driver who has spent most of his racing life in Australia. While retired from professional racing, Richards continues to compete in the Touring Car Masters series. After seven Bathurst 1000 victories and four Australian Touring Car Championships, Richards was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 2006^[1] and the Australian Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2015. He is the father of racing driver Steven Richards, and between them they have achieved 11 Bathurst 1000 wins, most recently in 2015.

Career

Richards first made his mark in Australia at the 1974 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 with a masterful display of wet weather driving during the race, recording faster lap times than any of his opposition in the latter part of the event while driving a V8 Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 with fellow Kiwi Rod Coppins which finished in third place. This and other wet weather drives over his career gave Richards the reputation of being a 'rainmaster' which many Australian's cynically attributed to living in rainy New Zealand, though Richards himself believes it is more from the car control he learned early in his career racing dirt track speedway.

In mid-1975 Richards moved to Australia and was quickly competitive in sports sedan races driving his Sidchrome-sponsored Mustang. He was co-driver for John Goss in 1976 at Bathurst.

Then in 1978 Richards began a successful stint at the Holden Dealer Team as Peter Brock's co-driver at Bathurst, netting Richards three Bathurst 1000 titles in a row. Brock later recalled that at the time he only knew Richards as a casual acquaintance and fellow driver, but after the Wanneroo Park round of the 1978 Australian Touring Car Championship, the pair shared a Ford Falcon panel van for the drive from Perth back to Melbourne (which they allegedly covered in approximately 24 hours for what is normally a 2-3 day trip). Upon returning home to Melbourne, Brock suggested Richards for the job of his co-driver for that years Hardie-Ferodo 1000 at Bathurst. He was hired by HDT team manager John Shepherd and although only driving once a year for the team, the Brock/Richards combination would win Bathurst in 1978, 1979 and 1980.

In 1982, Richards was hired by JPS Team BMW team manager Frank Gardner as the teams lead driver to drive the teams BMW 635 CSi. While results under the locally developed Group C regulations were lacking, when Australian touring car racing changed to the international Group A regulations in 1985, the BMW was suddenly a frequent race winner. Richards easily won the 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship and the 1985 Australian Endurance Championship. The 635 CSi was replaced by the smaller capacity BMW M3 in 1987, and Richard's would again come to the fore, winning the 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship.

Gardner shut down the JPS team at the end of 1987, and Richards re-joined Peter Brock's team for 1988, with the old HDT now running the BMW M3s after spending the previous 19 years racing Holdens. By 1988, however, the M3 had been overtaken as the car to have by the all-powerful Ford Sierra RS500, and the wins of 1987 were now struggles for places. At the end of the year, Brock's team decided to race Sierras in 1989 while Richards was snapped up by the Fred Gibson to race for his factory-backed Nissan team.

Driving for Nissan, Richards won his third ATCC in 1990 driving both the Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R and 4WD, twin turbo R32 GT-R, affectionately known as "Godzilla". He would repeat as champion in 1991, finishing the ATCC ahead of his young team mate Mark Skaife. Skaife then put the GT-R on pole position at Bathurst, before he and Richards cruised to victory in race record time, a lap ahead of the Holden Commodore of defending race winners Win Percy and Allan Grice.

Richards finished second to Skaife in the 1992 ATCC, before the pair then won their second straight Bathurst 1000 in a crash-shortened race which saw Jim crash the GT-R in a downpour on lap 145. However, as there had been a separate crash on that lap (which Richards later became a part of while trying to drive back to the pits), the red flag was shown and the race was declared. As the rules state that the results would be from the previous lap, this saw a surprised Richards and Skaife declared race winners. On a personal note, the 1992 Tooheys 1000 was a sad occasion for Richards when his longtime friend and former JPS BMW team mate, 1967 Formula One World Champion Denny Hulme died at the wheel of his BMW M3 on lap 32 after suffering a heart attack.

Richards was only informed of Hulme's passing just before he and Skaife took to the podium as winners, and as the unruly crowd below booed the pair (they wanted the second placed Sierra of Dick Johnson and John Bowe declared winners as they did not like a Japanese car dominating as the GT-R did), the normally gentlemanly Richards let fly with his now famous speech:^[2]

“	"I'm just really stunned for words, I can't believe the reception. I thought Australian race fans had a lot more to go than this, this is bloody disgraceful. I'll keep racing but I tell you what, this is going to remain with me for a long time, you're a pack of arseholes."	”
	— Jim Richards - Bathurst 1992.

His other Australian title wins were:

• 1985 Australian Endurance Championship in a BMW 635 CSi
• 1985 AMSCAR Series in a BMW 635 CSi
• 1986 Australian Endurance Championship in a BMW 635 CSi
• 1992 AMSCAR Series in a Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
• 1995 Australian GT Production Car Series in a Porsche 993 RSCS
• 1996 Australian NASCAR Championship
• 1999 Australian GT Production Car Championship in a Porsche 996 GT3
• 2000 Australian Nations Cup Championship in a Porsche 996 GT3
• 2001 Australian Nations Cup Championship in a Porsche 996 GT3
• 2002 Australian Nations Cup Championship in a Porsche 996 GT3
• 2003 Australian Carrera Cup Championship in a Porsche 996 GT3 Cup

His Bathurst wins have been:

• 1978 - Peter Brock / Jim Richards (Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback)
• 1979 - Peter Brock / Jim Richards (Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback)
• 1980 - Peter Brock / Jim Richards (Holden VC Commodore)
• 1991 - Mark Skaife / Jim Richards (Nissan R32 GT-R)
• 1992 - Mark Skaife / Jim Richards (Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R)
• 1998 - Rickard Rydell / Jim Richards (Volvo S40)
• 2002 - Mark Skaife / Jim Richards (Holden VX Commodore)

He has also won the Sandown 500 in 1985 with Tony Longhurst in a BMW 635 CSi, and again in 1989 with Mark Skaife in a Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R.

Recently, Richards has driven in the Targa Tasmania as well as numerous other tarmac rallies in the Australian Targa Championship and other tarmac rallies, driving for Porsche. Partnering Richards as navigator has been motor racing journalist and commentator Barry Oliver. The pairing of Richards and Oliver (affectionately known as Team Grandpa in later years) has won the Targa Tasmania a record 8 times. Richards and Oliver made their debut in Targa in 1993 in a Porsche 968 CS.^[3] His final victory saw him become only the fourth winner of the event in a two-wheel-drive car, and is the last person to do so, holding off more fancied four-wheel-drive rivals over a wet Day 5 to win his last Targa Tasmania title.

Targa Tasmania wins:

• 1996 - Jim Richards / Barry Oliver (Porsche 993 Turbo)
• 1997 - Jim Richards / Barry Oliver (Porsche 993 Turbo)
• 1998 - Jim Richards / Barry Oliver (Porsche 993 Turbo)
• 2000 - Jim Richards / Barry Oliver (Porsche 996 Turbo)
• 2001 - Jim Richards / Barry Oliver (Porsche 996 Turbo)
• 2002 - Jim Richards / Barry Oliver (Porsche 996 Turbo)
• 2003 - Jim Richards / Barry Oliver (Porsche 996 Turbo)
• 2006 - Jim Richards / Barry Oliver (Porsche 997 GT3)

Career results

Richards drove a BMW 635 CSi in the Group C Touring Car category from 1982 to 1984

Jim Richards and Barry Oliver competing in the 2005 Targa Tasmania

Richards won the 2010 Touring Car Masters at the wheels of a 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint

Richards placed second in the 2012 Touring Car Masters with an AMC Javelin AMX

Season	Series	Position	Car	Team
1972	New Zealand Unlimited Saloon Championship	1st	Ford Falcon GT
1974	New Zealand Saloon Championship	1st	Ford Mustang	Sidchrome
1974	New Zealand Unlimited Saloon Championship	1st	Ford Falcon GT
1975	New Zealand Unlimited Saloon Championship	1st	Ford Falcon GT	Sidchrome
1976	Australian Sports Sedan Championship	4th	Ford Mustang	Sidchrome
1976	Marlboro Sports Sedan Series	1st [4]	Ford Mustang [4]	Sidchrome [4]
1977	Australian Sports Sedan Championship	4th	Ford Mustang	Jim Richards
1977	Australian Touring Car Championship	13th	Ford XB Falcon GT
1978	Australian Sports Sedan Championship	2nd	Ford XC Falcon	Jim Richards Motor Racing
1979	Rothmans International Series	11th	Matich A53 Repco Holden	Jim Richards
1979	Australian Sports Sedan Championship	2nd	Ford XC Falcon Chrysler VH Valiant Charger Chevrolet Monza	Jim Richards Motor Racing Clem Smith Rotax Monza
1980	Australian Sports Sedan Championship	3rd	Ford XC Falcon	Jim Richards
1982	Australian Touring Car Championship	22nd	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1982	Better Brakes AMSCAR Series	9th	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1982	Australian Endurance Championship	36th	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1982	Australian GT Championship	13th	BMW 318i turbo	JPS Team BMW
1983	Australian Endurance Championship	2nd	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1983	Australian GT Championship	2nd	BMW 318i turbo	JPS Team BMW
1984	Australian Touring Car Championship	5th	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1984	Better Brakes AMSCAR Series	3rd	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1984	Australian Endurance Championship	NC	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1984	World Sportscar Championship	NC	BMW 320i	JPS Team BMW
1985	Australian Touring Car Championship	1st	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1985	Australian Endurance Championship	1st	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1986	Australian Touring Car Championship	3rd	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1986	Better Brakes/AMSCAR Series	3rd	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1986	Australian Endurance Championship	1st	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1987	Australian Touring Car Championship	1st	BMW M3	JPS Team BMW
1987/88	Australian Superspeedway Series (AUSCAR)	1st	Ford XF Falcon	Stillwell Ford
1988	Australian Touring Car Championship	4th	BMW M3	Mobil 1 Racing
1988	Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship	NC	BMW M3	Mobil 1 Racing
1989	Australian Touring Car Championship	4th	Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R	Nissan Motorsport Australia
1990	Australian Touring Car Championship	1st	Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R	Nissan Motorsport Australia
1991	Australian Touring Car Championship	1st	Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R	Nissan Motorsport Australia
1991	Australian Endurance Championship	4th	Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R	Nissan Motor Sport
1992	Australian Touring Car Championship	2nd	Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R	Winfield Team Nissan
1993	Australian Touring Car Championship	4th	Holden VP Commodore	Winfield Racing
1994	Australian Touring Car Championship	6th	Holden VP Commodore	Winfield Racing
1994	Australian Super Production Car Series	4th	Porsche 968 CS	Jim Richards
1995	Australian Touring Car Championship	12th	Holden VR Commodore	Winfield Racing
1995	Australian Super Touring Championship	16th	Hyundai Lantra Ford Mondeo	Hyundai Automotive Ross Palmer Motorsport
1995	Australian GT Production Car Series	1st	Porsche 968CS & Porsche 911 RSCS	Bob Jane T Mart
1996	Australian Super Touring Championship	8th	Vauxhall Cavalier	Jim Richards
1996	Australian GT Production Car Championship	2nd	Porsche 993 RSCS	Jim Richards
1996	Australian Superspeedway Series (NASCAR)	1st	Pontiac Grand Prix	Garry Rogers Motorsport
1997	Australian Super Touring Championship	5th	Volvo 850	Volvo Dealer Racing
1998	Australian Super Touring Championship	3rd	Volvo S40	Volvo Dealer Racing
1999	Shell Championship Series	62nd	Ford AU Falcon	John Briggs Motorsport
1999	Australian Super Touring Championship	2nd	Volvo S40	Volvo Dealer Racing
1999	Australian GT Production Car Championship	1st	Porsche 996 GT3	Jim Richards
2000	Shell Championship Series	33rd	Ford AU Falcon	John Briggs Motorsport
2000	Australian Nations Cup Championship	1st	Porsche 996 GT3	Jim Richards
2001	Shell Championship Series	35th	Ford AU Falcon	Ford Tickford Racing
2001	Australian Nations Cup Championship	1st	Porsche 996 GT3	OAMPS Insurance Brokers
2002	V8Supercar Championship Series	33rd	Holden VX Commodore	Holden Racing Team
2002	Australian Nations Cup Championship	1st	Porsche 996 GT3	OAMPS Insurance
2003	V8Supercar Championship Series	37th	Holden VY Commodore	Holden Racing Team
2003	Australian Nations Cup Championship	15th	Porsche 911 GT3	OAMPS Insurance
2003	Australian Carrera Cup Championship	1st	Porsche 996 GT3 Cup	Jim Richards Racing
2004	V8Supercar Championship Series	39th	Holden VY Commodore	Castrol Perkins Racing
2004	Australian Carrera Cup Championship	2nd	Porsche 996 GT3 Cup	Jim Richards
2005	V8Supercar Championship Series	47th	Holden VZ Commodore	Holden Racing Team
2005	Australian Carrera Cup Championship	2nd	Porsche 996 GT3 Cup	OAMPS Insurance
2006	V8Supercar Championship Series	58th	Holden VZ Commodore	Holden Racing Team
2006	Australian Carrera Cup Championship	4th	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	OAMPS Insurance Brokers
2009	Australian GT Championship	3rd	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	Jim Richards Racing
2009	Touring Car Masters	4th	Ford Falcon Sprint	Jim Richards Racing
2010	Touring Car Masters	1st	Ford Falcon Sprint	Jim Richards Racing
2011	Touring Car Masters (Class C)	2nd	Ford Falcon Sprint	Jim Richards Racing
2012	Touring Car Masters	2nd	AMC Javelin AMX	Jim Richards Racing
2013	Touring Car Masters	1st	Ford Falcon Sprint	Jim Richards Racing
2015	Touring Car Masters (Pro Masters Class)	2nd	AMC Javelin	Shannons Insurance

Complete World Sportscar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1984	JPS Team BMW	BMW 320i	MNZ	SIL	LMS	NUR	BHT	MOS	SPA	IMO	FJI	KYL	SAN 14	NC	0

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1987	JPS Team BMW	BMW M3	MNZ	JAR	DIJ	NUR	SPA	BNO	SIL	BAT 4	CLD Ret			NC	0
	Viacard Services											WEL 16	FJI

* Despite finishing 4th in the James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst, Richards scored no World Championship points as he wasn't a registered WTCC competitor.

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	DC	Points
1988	Mobil 1 Racing	BMW M3	BAT Ret	WEL Ret	PUK	FJI	NC	0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Pos	Class	No	Team	Co-Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps
						Engine
1981	DNS	GT	74	Porsche Cars Australia	Peter Brock Colin Bond	Porsche 924 Carrera GTR	D	0
						Porsche VW EA831 2.0 L I4 turbo

Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results

Year	Pos	Class	No	Team	Co-Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps
						Engine
2002	15	1	99	Prancing Horse Racing Scuderia	Matt Weiland Maher Algadrie Peter Fitzgerald	Porsche 996 GT3 R	D	451
						Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6

Bathurst 1000 wins

Year	Pos	Class	No	Team	Co-Drivers	Chassis	Tyres	Laps
						Engine
Group C
1978	1	A	05	Holden Dealer Team	Peter Brock	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	B	163
						Holden 308 5.0 L V8
1979	1	A	05	Holden Dealer Team	Peter Brock	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	B	163
						Holden 308 5.0 L V8
1980	1	3001-6000cc	05	Marlboro Holden Dealer Team	Peter Brock	Holden VC Commodore	B	163
						Holden 308 5.0 L V8
Group A
1991	1	1	1	Nissan Motorsport Australia	Mark Skaife	Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R	Y	161
						Nissan 2.6 L S6 Twin-turbo
1992	1	A	1	Winfield Team Nissan	Mark Skaife	Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R	Y	143
						Nissan 2.6 L S6 Twin-turbo
Super Touring
1998	1	ST	40	Volvo S40 Racing	Rickard Rydell	Volvo S40	M	161
						Volvo 2.0 L I4
V8 Supercars
2002	1		1	Holden Racing Team	Mark Skaife	Holden VX Commodore	B	161
						Holden 5.0 L V8

1992 Bathurst 1000

Richards is infamous for his speech after winning the 1992 Bathurst 1000 after crashing his Nissan GT-R in while in the lead. The crash happened during appalling conditions with heavy rain making parts of the circuit almost undriveable, race stewards decided to stop the race and waved the red flag. The Nissan was largely unpopular with Bathurst race fans who mostly wanted to see either a Ford or Holden win. After Richards' crash, crowd favourite Dick Johnson, driving a Ford Sierra, assumed the lead, but the race results were declared at the end of the last completed lap before Jim Richards' accident which saw Richards and Mark Skaife declared race winners. The Nissan won the day and the crowd booed when Richards and his co-driver Mark Skaife went to collect their trophies. After Skaife had voiced his opinion on the unruly mob below, Richards was called to the microphone and said: "I'm just really stunned for words, I can't believe the reception. I thought Australian race fans had a lot more to go than this, this is bloody disgraceful. I'll keep racing but I tell you what this is going to remain with me for a long time. You're a pack of arseholes.".^[5] Podium MC and Channel 7 commentator Gary Wilkinson then suggested he could cool the crowd down with a champagne bath, to which Richards replied "I wouldn't bother."

Richards later apologised for the outburst, citing the fact that he had been told just before going out onto the podium that his longtime friend and former JPS BMW team mate Denny Hulme had died from a heart attack which he suffered while driving in the early part of the race.

References

1. "Lowndes wins major V8 award". Fox Sports Australia. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
2. When Jim Called Them A Pack Of ...
3. Octagon Australia. "Targa Tasmania Results Archive".
4. Tom Naughton, Frank's final, Jimmy's "SS", Racing Car News, January 1977, pages 48 & 49
5. Bidwell, Peter (2006). V8 Kiwis. Auckland: Hodder Moa. p. 18. ISBN 1-86971-060-6.

External links

• Jim Richards Hot Laps Experience
• Jim Richards Racing Homepage
• VESRIX
• 2003 Carrera Cup
• 2007 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport