V8Star Series

Category	Touring cars
Country or region	Germany
Inaugural season	2001
Folded	2003
Engine suppliers	Roush 5.7l V8
Tyre suppliers	Goodyear
Last Drivers' champion	Pedro Lamy
Last Teams' champion	Zakspeed Racing

The V8Star Series was a touring car racing series based in Germany. It ran from 2001 to 2003 and can be compared to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Series.

Cars[link]

V8Star used a mono type tubular chrome-molybdenum steel chassis equipped with 5.7-litre V8 engine. The engine, tuned by Jack Roush, was a lightweight aluminium block unit weighting about 200 kg. Originally the engines produced 445 hp of power, but they were tuned up to 495 hp at 6,500 rpm and 600 Nm at 4,850 rpm for the second season.

The cars weighted 1,295 kg, of which 90 kg was a fibreglass-reinforced plastic silhouette. The silhouettes represented seven different saloon cars. All of them were 1.92 m wide and 1.36 m high. Rear wings, rear diffusers and front spoilers were adjusted in wind tunnel in order to make each body style equal. The silhouettes resembled Audi, BMW, Ford, Jaguar, Lexus Opel and Volkswagen models but were unbranded, as none of the manufacturers were involved in the series.

The cars had independent, double wishbone suspension in front and rear. Wheels were 18 inches in diameter. Slick Goodyear control tyres were 12 inches wide in front and 14 inches in rear.

Race venues[link]

Over the three years, races were held at eight different European circuits. The circuits of Nürburgring, Hockenheimring, Sachsenring, Motorsport Arena Oschersleben and EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany were regular hosts, and the series also went to nearby track venues Circuit Park Zandvoort (Netherlands), Salzburgring (Austria) and Zolder (Belgium).

Scoring system[link]

• Below is the scoring system used in the inaugural 2001 season:

• For 2002 and 2003, points were awarded for the top thirty race finishers with no bonus points for pole position or the fastest race lap.

Champions[link]

Season	Champion	Team Champion
2001	Johnny Cecotto (Irmscher Motorsport)	PoleVision Racing
2002	Johnny Cecotto (Irmscher Motorsport)	Zakspeed Motorsport
2003	Pedro Lamy (Zakspeed Racing)	Zakspeed Racing

See also[link]

• Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
• Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft
• ADAC Procar Series

References[link]

External links[link]

• driverdb.com V8Star
• speedsport-magazine.com V8Star
• German Wikipedia V8Star

Jason Richards
Nationality	New Zealander
Born	(1976-04-10)10 April 1976 Nelson, New Zealand
Died	15 December 2011(2011-12-15) (aged 35) Melbourne, Victoria
Retired	2011
V8 Supercar Championship Series
Years active	2000–2010
Teams	Team Kiwi Racing Team Dynamik Tasman Motorsport Brad Jones Racing
Starts	131
Wins	1
Poles	2
Fastest laps	1
Best finish	14th in 2004, 2007 & 2009
Previous series
1985–93 1994 1995 1995 1995–2000 2011 2011	Karts New Zealand Mini 7's New Zealand Formula Ford British Formula Ford Championship New Zealand Touring Car Championship Australian GT Championship Development V8 Supercar
Championship titles
1998/99,1999/00, 2000/01	New Zealand Touring Car Championship

Jason Richards (10 April 1976 – 15 December 2011) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. A multiple championship winning driver in his homeland in the New Zealand Touring Car Championship, he moved to Australia to pursue a career in the Australian-based V8 Supercar Championship Series. Richards career highlights include finishing second and third in V8 Supercar's most famous race, the Bathurst 1000. Richards died at the age of 35, just over a year after being diagnosed with cancer.^[1]

Early career[link]

Richards started his motor racing career at the age of eight in 1985, driving in karting events in his home country of New Zealand. He made his move out of karting in 1993 after 35 championship titles, entering the Mini 7s.

After much success again, Richards was offered the Canterbury Racing School Formula Ford drive for the Nissan Mobil 500 meetings at Wellington and Pukekohe.

After a short stint in the English Formula Ford Championship, Richards returned to New Zealand to sign with BMW Motorsport NZ as junior driver, winning the 1995/96 Class 1 Touring Car Championships for the team, along with nine out of 12 series races.

V8 Supercar[link]

Team Kiwi Racing[link]

Promoted to lead driver, Richards won the next three NZ Touring Car Championships prior to joining Team Kiwi for the V8 Supercar series in Australia in 2001. Battling testing restrictions and the tyranny of distance, Richards finished an extremely creditable 19th in the 2002 V8 Supercar Series.

Team Dynamik[link]

Richards moved to the new South Australian Team Dynamik in 2003, putting in some strong results, including a narrow failure to snatch victory in the Sandown 500 from Mark Skaife in the race's dying stages.

Tasman Motorsport[link]

He then made the decision to move to the newly-formed Tasman Motorsport outfit in 2004 and has developed into a driver who believes he is capable of standing on the top step of a V8 Supercar podium.

Coming back from a major rollover in the 2005 round at Queensland Raceway,^[2] Richards quickly returned to stride and promptly placed the repaired Commodore into the top 10 in the following round at Oran Park Raceway.

His podium results in the Sandown and Bathurst endurance events in 2005 helped cement his place as a ‘coming man’ of the V8 Supercar category. In the 2005 Supercheap Auto 1000, Richards produced a strong performance and came very close to winning the race.

At the 2007 Bathurst 1000 Richards and Murphy were the best placed Holden team, finishing fourth overall. Surfers Paradise was his best round in 2007 where he finished third overall, and finished 14th in the Championship, with 235 points 15 points behind teammate Greg Murphy.

Brad Jones Racing[link]

Richards joined Brad Jones Racing VE Commodore in 2009, driving the #8 car. (who ran a new race number for the team in V8 Supercars but was the racing number of team co-principal Brad Jones during the teams years racing in AUSCAR and NASCAR at the Calder Park Thunderdome) Richards secured his first V8 Supercar pole position at Hidden Valley Raceway in 2009. Richards finished third at the 2010 L&H 500 with Andrew Jones.^[3]

Illness and death[link]

In November 2010 it was revealed that Richards was admitted to hospital on 16 November and was later diagnosed with an adrenocortical carcinoma.^[4] Richards immediately stepped away from racing to devote his energies to fighting the illness with Andrew Jones substituting for the balance of the 2010 season. He continued to race sporadically with guest appearances in the second-tier V8 Supercar series, Australian GT Championship, Touring Car Masters and continued testing with Brad Jones Racing into the second half of 2011. He died on 15 December 2011 at his home.^[5]

Career highlights[link]

• Winner, New Zealand Touring Cars Championship 1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01
• 5th, Oran Park V8 Supercar round 2003
• 3rd, Betta Electrical Sandown 500 2005
• 2nd, Supercheap Auto 1000 at Bathurst 2005, 2008 & 2009
• Winner, Winton Motor Raceway, RD.5 Race 2, V8SCS 2006
• 3rd, Surfers Paradise V8 Supercar Challenge, V8SCS 2007
• Pole, Hidden Valley Darwin, Race 9, V8SCS 2009

Bathurst 1000 statistics[link]

• Debut: 1997 (BMW 320i with Brett Riley)
• Starts: 13 (including 2 Super Touring)

Best Results: 2nd (2005, Holden Commodore VZ with Jamie Whincup, 2008, Holden Commodore VE with Greg Murphy, 2009, Holden Commodore VE with Cameron McConville) 4th (2007, Holden Commodore VE with Greg Murphy)

Career results[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Driver Database stats
• Motorsport.com articles and photos
• VESRIX V8 Supercar stats
• Speedcafe.com Tribute
• Jason Richards "In his own words" - Interview Speedcafe 19 December 2011