DAVID RICHARDS' BIOGRAPHY

DAVID RICHARDS C.B.E

Chairman and chief executive, Prodrive Group
Chairman, Aston Martin

 

Date of birth:                          3 June 1952

Lives:                                     Warwickshire

Family:                                    Married to Karen with three children

Nationality:                             British

 

Career profile

 

After studying accountancy, David became a professional rally co-driver, competing for the factory Leyland, Opel and Ford teams.  Whilst with Ford, he co-drove Ari Vatanen to victory in the British and Scandinavian Championships, and finished his competition career by winning the World Rally Championship title with Vatanen in 1981.

 

Following the 1981 season, David devoted his time to developing his business interests, which led to the formation of his own rally team and the creation of Prodrive in 1984.  The company established its headquarters in Banbury, Oxfordshire, where, under David’s direction, it has grown into a world leading independent motorsport and automotive technology business, with operations on three continents, employing more than 500 staff, and with annual sales of £100 million. 

 

Since 1984, Prodrive has won more than 200 international motorsport events, as well as six World Rally titles with Subaru; five British Touring Car championships with BMW, Alfa Romeo and Ford; and class wins at Le Mans with Ferrari in 2003 and Aston Martin in 2007 and 2008.   In 2004, the BAR Honda F1 team, managed by Prodrive, finished runners up in the F1 Constructors’ Championship.  Today, Prodrive oversees Aston Martin’s sports car racing programme, as well as the Ford Performance Racing team in Australia.

 

In addition to its motorsport programmes, Prodrive also undertakes a wide range of projects for the automotive, aerospace, marine and defence industries.

 

David sits on the advisory board of the Warwick Business School, is a trustee of the British Racing Drivers’ Club Benevolent Fund and is a vice president of BEN, the automotive industry’s benevolent fund.  He is also a member of the Government Motorsport Development UK.  In the 2005 New Years’ honours, he was made a Commander of the British Empire, CBE, for his services to motorsport.

 

In March 2007, David led a consortium that purchased Aston Martin from Ford resulting in David being appointed as the chairman of this iconic British sports car manufacturer.