V8 Supercar driver Jason Richards dies aged 35
V8 Supercar driver Jason Richards died on Thursday night after losing his fight against cancer
New Zealand-born Richards passed away peacefully at home with his wife, Charlotte by his side at 8.00pm on Thursday, his family said in a statement.
Richards was 35. He had been diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of cancer back in November of 2010.
A memorial service to honour him and his career will be held at Sandown in the coming weeks.
"Jason Richards was, and will always be remembered, as a highly respected race car driver and champion on and off the race track," said V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane.
"Jason will be remembered for his great grin and his love and loyalty to his family. Both of which made him an immensely admired figure in pit lane.
"There was not a single person in Australian sport, or indeed Australia and his native New Zealand, who did not admire his enormous courage as he battled the last 14 months and his determination to fight in every way he could. He will be dearly missed by all in the V8 Supercar family, but in particular, everybody associated with Brad Jones Racing.
"On behalf of the Championship, let me extend our prayers and thoughts to his wife Charlotte and his children Sienna and Olivia, and all of his family members. Our collective thoughts are with you all."
Richards had been racing in the V8 Supercars championship since 2002, taking part in 287 races. He had scored one win and two pole positions.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Top Comments
Hand injury forces Crutchlow to miss MotoGP Silverstone wildcard
Police finds no criminal offence in Mercedes F1 sabotage email claims
The story of the 2011 Italian Grand Prix
Autosport Podcast: Newey to Aston Martin
The timeline of Adrian Newey's decision to move to Aston Martin
Toyota takes another BoP hit for home WEC event at Fuji
Why the recent past represents historic racing's fast-growing future
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
When Nissan ruled Australia with its 'Godzilla' Group A special
Ranking the top 10 Supercars drivers of 2021
The well-travelled racer now Supercars' elder statesman
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
