Born on August 16th, 1965 in Norfolk, Richard had his first try on a bike aged sixteen in second half rides at Kings Lynn, eventually joining their Junior side. He moved to Mildenhall for a £1,500 sum and between 1984 - 1987 he appeared in some 114 meetings for them.

Joined Exeter in 1988 and was to be an instant hit around the County Ground, scoring a paid maximum on his debut. In that first season Richard averaged 6.46 from 26 meetings and improved on that the following year when he appeared in 42 matches for the Falcons and averaged 7.63.

His averages continued to rise, and in 1992 he was on 8.80 when he went on to reach the National League Rider's championship, finishing in third spot after having been denied a place on the winners rostrum after a spill in his final Heat.

He had looked set to leave Exeter at the beginning of the 1993 season following troubles concerning the new riders pay regulations, but was to return three meetings into the season, only to later recieve a serious neck injury that was to force him to eventually retire from Speedway. A Benefit meeting was held for Richard on March 24th 1997 and included many top stars, a thank you to one of the most exciting riders ever seen around the County Ground. Prior to that tragic accident, Richard had been averaging 7.97 from from the 26 meetings that he appeared in.

Made something of a comeback late in 1995 when he was taken onboard by Swindon and he promptly replied by winning his first race and ending the night on 7+1 but it only served to aggrivate the injury and he had to conceed his racing days were over.