David Richards Chairman, Prodrive
‘LOCKDOWN’S NOT BEEN THE BEST OF times for anyone, but at least I’ve had time to clear the cupboards out and dig through my old press cuttings. I’ve been meaning to do it for years!’ So says World Rally Champion co-driver, founder and chairman of Prodrive, chairman of Motorsport UK (British Motorsport’s governing body), former chairman of Aston Martin and all-round force of nature David Richards CBE.
The thought of ‘DR’ doing some housework and admin is one of the less likely Covid-related scenarios, but for a man who has spent the last four decades at full throttle, his enforced hiatus has led him to rediscover some rare treasures in the dusty depths of the Richards archives.
‘I found the original sponsorship presentation I made for Rothmans back in 1979,’ he reveals. ‘I basically went to them saying, “I’ve found this young Finn who can win the World Rally Championship.” They were obviously impressed because they gave us the sponsorship. £1million was quite a lot of money in those days. Ari [Vatanen] and I did three years, from ’79 till ’81, when we delivered on my promise and won the World Championship.’
Having spent a very happy morning drooling over some of the pristine gems in the Prodrive collection – iconic
