The Kiwi Cup.

RACE PRESS OPINION PIECE BY DAVID SEGAL

With more than 50 years in the sport behind him, David Segal was once well-known as a Driver Manager, PR, and marketer and, originally, a prominent journalist.

His CV includes work with Craig Lowndes, Dick Johnson, Peter Brock, Allan Moffat, Will Davison, John Bowe and many others.

Best described these days as suffering a lethal dose of ‘Relevance Deprivation Syndrome’, David now happily sits on the sidelines making wry and often painfully truthful observations of the world he once inhabited.

I didn’t know him at all – aside from swapping a passing acknowledgement in the pits – but they tell me Jason Richards was a terrific bloke.

As an observer, that was apparent in the way he conducted himself generally in the Supercars world and with the teams he drove for, and on the rare occasion he made it to the podium.

But the ridiculous way Supercars carries on about the importance of the Jason Richards Trophy – pushed heavily down the throats of the television audience by its on-the-payroll commentators – you’d think that the accolade commemorated one of the sport’s greatest ever drivers.

Don’t get me wrong, Jason’s premature death at just 35 years old from cancer, was tragic, and utterly devastating for his family and friends. I can’t begin to imagine the utter despair his wife and kids felt.

Over 50,000 Australians die every year from cancer – yes, you read that statistic right – and, in Jason’s native land, over 11,000 people die annually from this insidious disease.

But is that incredibly sad fact, plus that he was a good bloke, enough to justify the hoopla around the Jason Richards Trophy, or even the existence of the Trophy itself?

You could, perhaps, understand it if Jason died at the wheel of a racecar … but he didn’t. In motor racing terms, at least in Supercars, Richards barely troubled the scorer.

One win from 131 starts. Competent, composed and quickish, Richards was better than your average mid fielder but didn’t really ever look like a serious, regular race winner or championship contender.

Although, of course, that may have been more to do with the less than front running teams he drove for, than his innate ability.

Truth is, Jason Richards’ career would be largely forgotten were it not for his tragic, premature death.

So, if Supercars’ motivation – and I am not sure what that is now, but originally it was undoubtedly a knee-jerk reaction to Richards’ sad passing – is to enliven its (few) events with a Trophy or two, how about recognizing some of its past greats.

How about the Jamie WhinCup? Surely, appropriate recognition for the Greatest Of All Time?

We already have the Peter Brock Trophy, rightly awarded at Bathurst every year, scene of so much of his success, and where the legend was largely created.

And then there’s the Larry Perkins Trophy at the Australian Grand Prix.

A rather more tenuous link I’ll grant you – it’s not like Larry won dozens of supports races at the Grand Prix, in his Touring Car career – although he did, at least, race in Formula 1. Even Larry looks a bit uncomfortable about that one.

If we’re going to recognise the ‘greats’ of the sport – and we should – where’s the Allan Moffat Trophy? And the Craig Lowndes Cup? Even, and this won’t be popular with a lot of fans, the Mark Skaife Trophy?

Looking back even further to drivers whose success and profile created the platform upon which Supercars is built, what about the Bob Jane Cup? The Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan Trophy? Or the Norm Beechey Medal anyone?

All are certainly justifiable and would mean something to today’s drivers, who seek to emulate the feats of these greats, and to the (ageing) fan base who can still relate to these stars of the past – and, indeed, saw many of them race.

If, on the other hand, it is Supercars’ intent with the Jason Richards Trophy is to promote/encourage Kiwi participation in the series, it’s hardly needed.

New Zealand continues to do a better job than we do here, of funding its talented youngsters into Supercar seats. There’s so many of them in the series at any one time, it really should be called the Australasian Supercar Championship.

And if we want to specifically recognise talented New Zealanders in Supercars, how about Scott McLaughlin? Or Shane Van Gisbergen? Or the Kiwi that started it all, Jim Richards?

With absolutely no disrespect to Jason Richards and his memory – and complete disrespect to Supercars for its ridiculous over-playing of the Trophy’s importance – I suggest we simply rename it the Kiwi Cup.

It could be awarded every year to the best performed native New Zealander in the Kiwi races – whether there be one or two rounds in the land of the long white sheep – or even at year’s end, for the highest placed NZ driver in the championship.

That way, the Kiwi Cup would mean far more to the drivers who win it, and be more representative of sporting achievement within Supercars. Which is what it should be all about.

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