An emotional history of the Jason Richards Trophy

When Supercars hits New Zealand on April 11-13, the fight for wins will be as intense as ever. However, there will be added emotion at play.

The 2025 ITM Taupō Super 440 will see the 10th awarding of the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, won by the highest round point-scorer at Supercars’ annual trip to New Zealand.

First awarded in 2013, the trophy was named after the late Richards, who raced full-time in Supercars and was a three-time Bathurst 1000 runner-up.

Richards passed away in late 2011 after a battle with cancer, but left a lasting legacy on a sport he loved dearly, and a sport that loved him back.

In nine events, the Jason Richards Trophy has been won by six different drivers, with only two becoming repeat winners. One was a former teammate of Richards, with the other a hometown hero.

2013

It was almost as if it was meant to be in 2013, when Jason Bright became the first recipient of the Jason Richards Trophy. Bright won the finale for Brad Jones Racing, which Richards called home in his final years in Supercars. In emotional scenes, Bright accepted the trophy on the podium from Richards’ family, which has become tradition ever since. Bright even smashed the podium light while celebrating the win. On the same weekend, a teenage Scott McLaughlin won his first race, Jamie Whincup survived a tangle with Mark Winterbottom to win a race, and Will Davison broke through for Ford.

2014

Jason Bright, Mark Winterbottom and Shane van Gisbergen shared the four wins in 2014, and the Richards Trophy went to Winterbottom. It was a remarkable victory for ‘Frosty’, who survived a wild spin on the front straight before the races even began to score two from four. It was the first of three Richards Trophy wins for a Ford driver, but the last for four years.

2015

After a poor season, Jamie Whincup finished 2015 in style with a host of wins. Two came in New Zealand, with Whincup winning the Richards Trophy for the first time. David Reynolds won the middle race, on a day Craig Lowndes suffered a puncture and crashed out of the lead. It was an emotional win for Whincup, who was teammates with Richards at Tasman Motorsport in 2005, the duo finishing second in Bathurst.

2016

Shane van Gisbergen claimed the first of his three Richards Trophy wins in his first championship year in 2016. Van Gisbergen only won one of the four races, but finished on the podium in each race. Pivotal to van Gisbergen’s Richards Trophy triumph, the first by a Kiwi, was surviving a tangle with Jamie Whincup. Whincup won two races, but spun out and cost himself a shot at a second straight Richards Trophy.

2017

Jamie Whincup bounced back in 2017 to win, becoming the first repeat winner of the Richards Trophy. Shane van Gisbergen won the opener, headlined by a huge crash for Fabian Coulthard. On the following day, Whincup benefited from a pit lane blunder from van Gisbergen, who crashed into Tim Slade, to win the race, the weekend and set the tone for championship No. 7.

2018

Scott McLaughlin had already won races on home soil, but was desperate to win the Richards Trophy. McLaughlin and heated rival Shane van Gisbergen split the wins, but the Richards Trophy went the way of McLaughlin on a countback, courtesy of winning the second race. Van Gisbergen infamously parked in McLaughlin in victory lane on the Saturday, but McLaughlin got his revenge a day later.

2019

Shane van Gisbergen made it two Richards Trophy wins in 2019, taking out the first race before trailing home Scott McLaughlin in the second. The second race was headlined by a Safety Car debacle that left Jamie Whincup and Cam Waters seething, earning the ire of officials over heated comments. Van Gisbergen, though, accepted the Richards Trophy in tears, highlighting how special the trophy is, and what it means to Kiwis.

2022

In a last hurrah for Pukekohe in 2022, there could have been no other driver to give the famous circuit a memorable send-off. Shane van Gisbergen didn’t even get on the podium for the first race, which was won by Will Davison. Van Gisbergen won the second race, which featured a bellringer for Will Brown after a clash with Mark Winterbottom. Davison was in the box seat to win the finale and the Richards Trophy, leading as van Gisbergen started eighth. As a loose wheel curtailed Davison’s hopes, van Gisbergen charged through and famously defeated Cam Waters in the dying laps to send Pukekohe into raptures.

2024

Supercars’ first visit to Taupō was one to remember for the locals, with Andre Heimgartner defying the odds and driving rain to claim a popular victory in the #8 Brad Jones Racing entry Richards made his own. The finale came down to a showdown between Broc Feeney and Will Brown, who showed his championship credentials in a battle for the ages. The Richards Trophy, though, was won by Anton De Pasquale, who became the first driver to claim weekend honours without winning a race.