Need for speed

WAYNE Richards is as calm and composed as any parent could be when it comes to the speedway racing exploits of his three sons Ben 17, Abrum, 14 and Bailey 10.  

A former racer himself, Wayne has spent the past three years supporting his three boys need for speed as they’ve worked their way through the sport’s junior ranks.

But after crashes put both Ben and Abrum in hospital within a couple of weeks of each other over the past two months, Wayne decided it was time to call a family meeting.

“After Abe broke his collarbone down in Albury a couple of weeks ago, I sat down with the boys at home and asked them, ‘do you want to keep doing this, you’re hurting yourselves?’

“They all said to me that I was welcome to stay home if I wanted to but they were going to keep racing. They just love it, it’s their passion,” Wayne explained.

“My wife even asked me how I could contemplate them not racing…so for us it’s just about giving them as much support as we can to keep them on track. You’re always going to be a little bit hesitant as a parent but knowing the quality of the safety equipment puts your mind at rest.”

Last weekend, Ben, Abrum and Bailey’s passion for racing was on full display once again when the trio rode at the NSW Senior Longtrack Titles at Wagga Wagga.

A week after his fourth-place finish in the Australian Classic Dirt Track titles, Ben lined-up in the senior ranks while his two younger brothers featured in the Junior Lites support classes.

Despite their youth, the three are already in their third season of competition after the family started Richards Brothers Racing in 2010. 

“As soon as each of them was old enough to race I got them a bike and they loved it,” Wayne said. “We’ve always had bikes in the family, I bought Ben his first bike – a Peewee 50 – when he was three-years-old and it’s just been a natural progression since then.

“Riding is just something they’ve always done; it’s what they’re good at and where their passion is.”