Jason Bright was choked with emotion after a perfectly scripted climax to the V8 Supercars round in Auckland on Sunday.
The Holden driver blitzed the field to win the fourth and final race at Pukekohe but this chequered flag meant much more than any other race victory in his 15 years in the category.
The Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, named in honour of the New Zealand V8 driver who died from cancer in 2011 and awarded to the best overall driver at this weekend’s meeting, is heading home.
And, symbolically, Bright was behind the wheel of the No.8 Holden that Richards drove during his career at Brad Jones Racing, where they struck up a close friendship while teammates.
After stepping out of his Commodore, tears welled in the 40-year-old’s eyes as he paid tribute to Richards.
Richards’ wife, Charlotte, then awarded the trophy to Bright, who held Richards’ daughter Sienna in his arms.
“I got a message from Charlotte during the week passed on from Sienna saying that she wanted to present the trophy to me this weekend – talk about putting the pressure on,” Bright said.
“I was awake last night thinking about it.
“This weekend, all the team thought about was winning that trophy … to take back to (the team’s headquarters in) Albury.
“Yesterday when I got tagged by James Courtney, I think he (Richards) jumped in the car and saved that one for me because there was no way I was going to save that one.”
Bright was clinical to beat home Garth Tander by 5.299sec and Jamie Whincup to make it a Holden cleansweep on the podium.
In fourth was Fabian Coulthard while Will Davison finished fifth to jump ahead of Whincup at the top of the championship standings.
In the post-race press conference when Bright shed more tears while reflecting on the significance of his victory, rival drivers were happy to concede the right car won the round.
“You couldn’t have scripted that one,” said Tander.
“It was a really special day. Somehow JR is still winning races and it’s great to see.”
The fiercely competitive Whincup was full of praise for Bright’s performance.
“This is one of the great motorsport stories that’s unfolded this weekend,” he said.
“Nothing was stopping car eight today. Jason was a great bloke and I’m sure he’d have a massive smile on his face seeing Brighty cross the line.”
Bright’s victory meant there were four different winners over the weekend with Davison, Whincup and Scott McLaughlin also saluting.
Earlier in the day, Davison scored a rare win for Ford at Pukekohe with victory in race three.
In an anti-climactic finish to a chaotic race, Davison held off New Zealand’s Holden pair of Shane van Gisbergen and Coulthard.
The safety car exited the track just 700m from the finish line after New Zealand teenager McLaughlin had put his Commodore VF into a wall.
That left an easy passage to the line for Davison, who started from fifth spot on the grid, to claim just the second win for a Ford driver in 24 attempts at Pukekohe.
