Steve Richards
D.O.B. - 11th July, 1972 - (Auckland, NZ)
Lives - Melbourne
Marital Status - Wife, Angela; Children, Clayton (8) and Priya (7)
Start of Motor Racing Career - Aged 15 in Karts
Career Achievements
1991 to 1994
Started racing karts at age 15 and progressed to Formula Ford in 1991, winning the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 1994. Signed to join Garry Rogers Motorsport (GRM) to compete in the Super Touring, Auscar (Super Speedway) and V8 Supercar Championships.
1995
Competed in the 2.0 Litre Super Touring Car Championship and Auscar Series. Made his Bathurst 1000 debut with GRM finishing in 4th place and winning the Denny Hulme Rookie of the Year Award. Continued V8 Supercar career with GRM until the end of the 1997 season.
1998
Appointed to the role of full time test driver for the works British Touring Car Championship Nissan team. Returned to Australia at the end of 1998 to compete in two Bathurst 1000 events with great success. Steve won the V8 Supercar Bathurst 1000 (with Jason Bright) in a Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) Falcon and raced to second place in the Super Tourer Bathurst 1000 in a Nissan Primera that he sourced from the BTCC in the UK and prepared himself.
1999
Joined the Gibson Motorsport V8 Supercar team, racing to his second victory of Bathurst 1000 (with Greg Murphy). In doing so, Steve became the only driver to win the Bathurst 1000 in consecutive years driving for both Ford and Holden teams.
2001
Joined Ford Tickford Racing (FTR) for the 2001 season alongside double Champion driver Glenn Seton. Winner of the reverse-grid race at the Canberra 400 Street Circuit and qualified third at Eastern Creek. Steve raced to six top ten round finishes in the first seven rounds. His best round result was sixth at the Phillip Island season-opener.
2002
Part of inaugural Bathurst 24 Hour winning team driving a Holden Monaro to victory in 2002. Joined Team Perkins Racing and finished 2nd in the Bathurst 1000 and the Queensland 500 (with Russell Ingall).
2003
Second place in the Bathurst 24 Hour race. Finished 4th in the Bathurst 1000 (with Larry Perkins). Steve led the Championship after six of the 13 rounds with a best result of second overall at the opening round in Adelaide. Two further podium finishes followed at Winton (VIC) and Barbagallo (WA). Richards finished inside the overall top ten in ten of the 13 rounds.
2004
Gained Pole positions at Barbagallo (WA), Bathurst (NSW) and Symmons Plains (TAS) along with a number of podium results including three second placings, at Adelaide, Hidden Valley (NT) and Qld Raceway, plus a third placing at Symmons Plains with Team Perkins Racing.
2005
Raced to 7th in the V8 Supercar Championship with Team Perkins Racing, Steve was the only driver to qualify inside the top ten at every Championship round of the season. Won the Perth round and gained overall second places at Shanghai and Symmons Plains, where he also gained a second consecutive Pole position, the fourth of his career.
2006
Once again raced to 7th in the V8 Supercar Championship with Team Perkins Racing / Jack Daniels Racing. Winner of the Albert Park non-Championship V8 Supercar Showdown and the overall round winner in Perth. Richards raced to nine top ten finishes and five top five results during the season.
2007
Returned to the blue oval ranks by joining the Prodrive owned Ford Performance Racing team, taking control of the Castrol FPR BF Falcon alongside team mate Mark Winterbottom. Raced to three round podium finishes - second at Oran Park and Tasmania and third at the Sandown 500 with co-driver Owen Kelly. These efforts along with several top six finishes ensured that Richards completed his first season with FPR well within the top ten at 7th in the Championship standings.