Paddock nice guy and reigning Motorpoint British Supersport Champion has been appointed race manager of the Honda TT Legends team after Russell Benney decided to step down from the role.
Richards will take over the race weekend running of the World Endurance squad, which comprises John McGuinness, Simon Andrews and Michael Rutter but stresses his priority for 2013 is to retain the Supersport number one plate.
"It's going to be an interesting year, going racing on the bike one weekend and then going racing in the garage the next but I am really looking forward to the challenge even though it is just a part-time role," said Richards, speaking to bikesportnews.com from Simon Crafar's sprawling estate in Andorra.
"My primary goal is to retain the number one plate in Supersport and give Smiths Triumph back-to-back titles and, because of that, I will have to miss the Le Mans 24hr WEC race as it clashes with the Assen BSS round."
Richards is more than familiar with his riders having raced against them for a number of years but not so the task of a manager.
"Neil (Tuxworth, team boss) and I spoke about it a number of times before I committed. As I said, it is only a part-time role at the moment but as I am 40 this year and have been racing for a quarter of century, it is time to start looking at what I will do when I stop riding around in circles.
"That might be next year, it might not be but hopefully if I do decide that I won't race on in 2014, there will be a role for me with the Legends team as a full-timer. Whatever, I am looking forward to the experience this year."
