The Jason Richards Memorial Trophy race for New Zealand V8 Touring Cars will now be part of the New Zealand Grand Prix meeting.
This year the trophy, commemorating the popular Kiwi driver who died in 2011, will be awarded to the winner of the third NZV8 Touring Cars race in the GP meeting at Manfeild on February 8-9.
The current holder of the trophy, Cambridge driver Nick Ross, welcomed the move and said he was determined to retain the trophy.
“I was really chuffed to win that trophy,” Ross said. “I grew up with Jason in karts and we’d catch up when he was back over here for races. It’s hard to lose a man like Jase.
“There’s only two names on that trophy, Jason Bargwanna’s and mine, and I want to make sure mine’s there for a second time.”
Ross leads the current championship from Bargwanna and reckons their cars – Ross’s Holden Commodore and Bargwanna’s Toyota Camry – have about equal performance, so they should put on a close race in the trophy event.
Raised in Nelson, Jason Richards was very successful in karts and Mini racing before joining BMW and winning three NZ touring car championships.
He moved to Australia and became a regular in V8 Supercars, twice finishing on the podium in the classic Bathurst 1000km race. In 2010 he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, which took his life in December 2011.
Attached photo shows Nick Ross with the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy he won in 2013. It is free to use but should be credited to Euan Cameron.
