RIP Jason Richards

[bigfoot]

Jason Richards, 1976-2011

THE V8 Supercar community is in deep mourning with the tragic passing of popular driver Jason Richards.

The New Zealander passed away peacefully last night at 8.00pm after a brave battle with Adreno Cortical Carcinoma (ACC), with which he was first diagnosed in November last year.

A native of Nelson in New Zealand but a resident of Melbourne for the last six years, Richards is survived by wife Charlotte and young daughters Sienna and Olivia.

Bright, enthusiastic and popular among fellow drivers and fans alike, the inspirational racer’s illness galvanized the V8 Supercar paddock over the last 12 months as it rallied to support one of its truly good guys.

The fact that rival teams, drivers and manufacturers came together to help him in whatever way possible showed exactly the sort of standing he was held in by the Australasian racing community.

A part of the V8 Supercars Championship for the last decade, Richards tackled his illness with the same vigour he had approached 131 event starts since 2000 in the toughest championship in this part of the world.

His ability to extract maximum speed over one flying lap made him a favourite to watch among his fellow drivers – many of whom had nicknamed him ‘Racin’ Jason’ - but it was his classy, courageous and quite public battle with cancer that topped all of his achievements on track.

His passion for life, love of his young family, love of the sport he was so engrossed in and his positive attitude and determination in the face of adversity made him an inspiration to all.

Richards started 131 V8 Supercars Championship events and 284 individual races after making his debut with Team Kiwi Racing at Bathurst in 2000.

He also made 10 non-championship event starts in this time at the Australian F1 Grand Prix support events at Albert Park, the last coming this year as he returned for a one-off appearance.

[GoLfMan]

extremely sad for Australian racing. RIP Jason