RACING legend Jim Richards is among those recognised in the 2026 Australia Day Honours List.
The Kiwi has called Australia home since moving to Melbourne in 1975 with wife Fay and has been awarded an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for ‘significant service to motor sports as a team owner and driver’.
Dubbed ‘Gentleman Jim’, Richards has a racing resume the envy of many, achieving success in a broad range of cars and racing disciplines.
He is a seven-time winner of the Bathurst 1000, his first win coming in 1978 alongside Peter Brock in a Holden Torana A9X that led to a three peat of wins.
Richards and Mark Skaife combined to win the race three times, twice with Nissan in 1991 and 1992, and once with the factory Holden Racing Team in 2002.
Jim Richards crossing the line to win the 1991 Bathurst 1000. Pic: an1images.com / Rod Eime
Richards also conquered Mount Panorama in 1998 in a Volvo Super Tourer alongside Swede Rickard Rydell.
The Australia Day honour is the latest among a long list of achievements for Richards that also include him being inducted into the Supercars Hall of Fame and Motorsport Hall of Fames in New Zealand and Australia.
Richards won the Australian Touring Car Championship four times, twice for BMW in 1985 and 1987 and twice for Nissan in 1990 and 1991.
His versatility also saw him win eight Targa Tasmania road rallies plus national titles in Australian NASCAR, Porsche Carrera Cup, GT-Production, Nations Cup and Touring Car Masters.
Richards’ life and career was covered in the highly successful book, ‘Gentleman Jim: The Official Racing History of Jim Richards’ produced by AN1 Media, written by V8 Sleuth’s Will Dale and Aaron Noonan and released in December 2022.
“I raced because I enjoyed it; I loved driving a car as fast as I could,” Richards reflected in the book.
“Don’t get me wrong, everyone likes to win and I’m no different, but I wasn’t results driven. I was just lucky enough to win more often than not. I’ve always said that competing is what you do, and winning is the bonus of competing.
“I raced because I loved it. And I still love it; I’m just not doing it anymore.”
Limited copies remain available of the book on sale here in the V8 Sleuth Superstore online.
Now 78 years of age and largely living of the public eye, the passionate Melbourne Storm fan still tinkers with his collection of race cars that includes his highly successful Touring Car Masters Falcon Sprint and AMC Javelin.
Son Steve followed Jim into the sport and won the Bathurst 1000 five times in a brilliant career and now Jim’s grandsons Clay Richards and Jett Blumeris continue on the family’s racing history.
Also recognised in the 2026 Australia Day honours were Penrite Oil’s Margaret Dymond and long-time motorsport media operator Brett ‘Crusher’ Murray.
WATCH: 1989 .05 SANDOWN 500 TOURING CAR ENDURO – WON BY JIM RICHARDS AND MARK SKAIFE