The Supersport Championship is a support class to the main British Superbike series.
Richardson was a father to two young kids. He was racing for Astro-JJR Hippo Suzuki.
Growing up in Lower Hutt, Richardson moved to the United Kingdom to pursue his dream of becoming a professional motorcycle racer. He had raced for 24 years.
Richardson worked for Triumph Motorcycles in Leicestershire as a test rider. He also had a joinery business. The Oulton Park event was the opening round of the British Supersport Championship, with the crash occurring in the third race.
“At the start of this afternoon’s Quattro Group British Supersport Championship race at Oulton Park, exiting turn one, Old Hall corner on the first lap, there was a chain reaction incident involving 11 riders falling,” a statement from race organisers Motorcycle Circuit Racing Control Board and MotorSport Vision Racing said.
“The race was immediately stopped and trackside medical services deployed.
“Due to the extreme severity of the incident and ongoing medical intervention, the remainder of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship event was cancelled.
“This catastrophic accident has tragically resulted in two riders being fatally injured, and another sustaining significant injuries.”
“The Motorcycle Circuit Racing Control Board and MotorSport Vision Racing are investigating the full circumstances of the incident in conjunction with the Coroner and Cheshire Constabulary.”
Michael McLeod, president of Motocycle New Zealand, told the Herald the news has rocked the community.
“It’s a tragic shock to the Motorcycle racing community in New Zealand because he’s such a well-respected competitor and mentor to a lot of young up-and-coming riders that are now competing in Europe and England as well.
“He was a fantastic guy, he’d always stop and have a chat. He’s a real nice bloke and it’s a real shame.”
McLeod said Richardson had found his niche racing in the British Superbike series. “He had found his comfort zone...He was very good at his craft.”
Adrian Cox, the general manager of Whites Powersport, who sponsored the Kiwi rider, told the Herald Richardson represented their brand extremely well.
“Richardson was completely passionate about what he was doing and loved what he was doing,” Cox said.
“It’s just absolutely devastating news that a young Kiwi travels over to the other side of the planet to live his dream, and it all comes unstuck in such a tragic way.
“It’s a dangerous sport, but there’s a lot of safety elements within the sport, so you don’t hear of too many people dying. So when it does happen, it’s still super tragic, and super painful because it doesn’t happen every day – it doesn’t happen every year.
“It’s huge for our community. The road-racing community in New Zealand is pretty small and pretty tight, and a lot of people are going to be affected by it.”
In a post on social media, Whites Powersports said: “Our thoughts go out to Shane’s young family and friends during this tough time. Ride in Peace, Shane.”
Allan “Flea” Willacy, organiser of the Cemetery Circuit event in Whanganui where Richardson raced for many years, told the Herald: “It’s very, very sad news.”
“Shane’s such a gentleman, lovely guy, [would] do anything for anybody.
“It’s a sad loss to the motorcycle community in general of course, for Hannah [his partner] it’s absolutely devastating.
“It’s the nature of the beast, I’m afraid, though, isn’t it? He did what he loved doing.
“Shane had the potential to go a long, long way [in motorsport]”.
Hutt City Councillor, Brady Dyer, shared on Facebook: “My thoughts are with the family and friends of Shane Richardson, a talented Kiwi rider who tragically lost his life while doing what he loved. Shane was proud to be from Wainuiomata and was admired both locally and abroad for his skill and passion. This is a heartbreaking loss, and I know many in our community will be feeling it deeply. Arohanui to all who knew him. ”
In 2018, after Richardson’s debut outing on a 1000cc superbike in Taupō, he told NZME: “I’m more than happy with this result, my first time in New Zealand racing on a big bike.
“The racing was so tight. It was good. It’s such a good class right now and I’m over the moon.”
Bonnie Jansen is a multimedia journalist in the NZME sports team. She’s a football commentator and co-host of the Football Fever podcast, and was part of the Te Rito cadetship scheme before becoming a fulltime journalist.
