Recent History
In the 2005 New Year Honours List Richards was awarded a CBE for his services to motorsport.
David Richards is also a major figure in the complex politics of the World Rally Championship and Formula One and is an advocate for measures to reduce the costs of car development as well as increasing safety.
On 16 September 2007 Richards and his wife, Karen, survived a helicopter crash in Essex whilst returning from the 2007 Belgian Grand Prix, less than 24 hours after his former WRC driver, Colin McRae, perished in a similar accident along with his son and two others. Based on Prodrive's statement after the crash, Richards was piloting Prodrive's Eurocopter EC 135. Both Richards and his wife Karen walked away unharmed.
In September 2008, Richards returned to rally co-driving duties when he took part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, a round of the Scottish Rally Championship centred in Perth in Scotland. He was co-driver once again to Ari Vatanen and they competed in the same Rothmans sponsored Ford Escort RS1800 that they used in 1981. He was one of a number of ex-world champions to take part in the event in memory of McRae, who died in 2007.
In July 2010 it was announced the Richards' Prodrive business would take MINI into the World Rally Championship in 2011, using the new MINI Countryman as its base. Richards was pivotal in the negotiations with the BMW board in Germany to secure the new multi-year contract. The MINI WRC Team will compete in six events in 2011.
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