Welcome to another week of TheJudge13 #F1 Bar Exam.
Last week’s question(s): Can you name the driver, team and car in the photo. Can you also state at which race this photo was taken and a bonus point (+2) if you get the corner.
The answer(s) I was looking for were: The driver in the photo was Rupert Keegan in the RAM Racing entered Williams FW07B Ford Cosworth. The photo was taken during the 1980 British GP held at Brands Hatch as Keegan exited Surtees corner onto the back straight.
Keegan started 18th on the grid, finishing 11th, 3 laps down on race winner Alan Jones. Keegan’s team mate that day was Desire Wilson (the South African female driver who impressed John Macdonald, owner of RAM Racing) unfortunately failed to qualify.
Keegan came from a wealthy background – his father, Mike, was an airline pioneer in the UK – and he enjoyed a swift rise into the Formula One ranks. His first race was in 1973, and the following year his father bought the Hawke racing company amid rumours he would fund the construction of a BAF-Cosworth car. Although that never happened Keegan remained with March, winning the Formula Three title in 1976. Much was expected of the young man and he earned the title of ‘Junior James Hunt’.
After a brief dalliance with Formula Two in 1977, he joined the Hesketh team in that summer but despite some good displays in practice, the car was not competitive and he struggled. He switched to Surtees in 1978 but but that seemed a bad move as he struggled with another substandard car.
In 1979 he decided to switch to the Aurora AFX British Formula One Championship in an Arrows A1, he won the title the following year. The success triggered a return to F1 with RAM Racing Williams but once again he found himself landed with an uncompetitive car. A final attempt at F1 came in 1982 when he was called in as cover for the injured Jochen Mass, but he failed to shine and this brought his F1 career to a close.
In 1983 he teamed up with former Hesketh team-mate Guy Edwards to race a Porsche 956 and managed to finish fifth at Le Mans. After three seasons Keegan decided to go to America and try his hand at the now defunct CART series. Taking part in a handful of races with the Machinists Union team did not amount to much and he faded from the international scene.
In 2002 he emerged as the driving force behind a move to stage a run-off between F1, CART and NASCAR cars in Dubai but this never materialised.
Despite never officially scoring any Formula 1 world championship points, Rupert Keegan lived the F1 lifestyle to the fullest, and while never a F1 world champion he seem to have lived up to the ‘Junior James Hunt’ mantle off track activities.
Below is a promotional video of a documentary called ‘Made It Out Alive’ which is set to relive the story of Keegan’s racing roller-coaster ride, as he travels throughout Brazil, the US and Europe meeting and reminiscing with the men and women who were a part of his era.
Well done to Tim, Tim (another one), Jason, Ken, Johnny, Andrew, Milestone11, Cassius42, AV2290, Graham, Jim, Thomas888, Reinis, Tony and The13thDuke!
This week’s question(s): Can you name the driver, car and race in the photo. Who was this driver’s team mate and how many wins did they record between them in the season?
Please provide your answers in the field below:
