Jim McKeown (racing driver)

Jim McKeown
Nationality Australian
Australian Touring Car Championship
Years active 1964-1972
Teams Neptune Racing Team
Tridents Racing Team
Shell Racing Team
Starts 21
Wins 2[1]
Poles 1[2]
Best finish 2nd in 1970
Previous series
Toby Lee Series

Jim McKeown is a retired Australian racing driver who competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship from 1964 to 1972, with a best finish of 2nd in the 1970 ATCC. McKeown was part of the successful Neptune Racing Team alongside Norm Beechey and Peter Manton. The team later became known as the Shell Racing Team and consisted of McKeown in a Porsche 911S, Beechey in a Holden Monaro GTS350 and Manton in a Mini Cooper S.

In addition to the Australian Touring Car Championship, McKeown also competed in the Bathurst 500 and its forerunner at Phillip Island on four occasions. He and George Reynolds took the Class D win at the 1962 Armstrong 500, five laps off the lead.[3] McKeown drove for the Ford Works Team under Harry Firth in the 1968 Hardie-Ferodo 500, finishing 42nd with Spencer Martin in the team's only XT Falcon GT fitted with an automatic transmission.[4] In the 1970s McKeown raced Porsches in the Sports Sedan category, achieving a 2nd place finish in the 1974 Toby Lee Series at Oran Park.

Career results

A recreation of the Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E38 which was driven to 6th place in Class D of the 1971 Hardie-Ferodo 500 by Norm Beechey & Jim McKeown
Season Title Position Car Team
1967 Australian Touring Car Championship 6th Ford Lotus Cortina Tridents Racing Team
1969 Australian Touring Car Championship 4th Ford Lotus Cortina Jim McKeown Motors[5]
1970 Australian Touring Car Championship 2nd Porsche 911S Shell Racing Team
1971 Australian Touring Car Championship 4th Porsche 911S Shell Racing Team
1972 Australian Touring Car Championship 13th Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV Shell Racing Team
1973 Toby Lee Series 4th[6] Porsche Carrera
1974 Toby Lee Series 2nd[7] Porsche Carrera


References

  1. ↑ "Most ATCC/V8SCS Race Wins (1960 - 2009)". Official site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  2. ↑ "Most Poles in the ATCC/V8SCS". Official site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  3. ↑ "Armstrong 500 - Phillip Island, Victoria - 22nd October, 1962". Unique Cars and Parts. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  4. ↑ "Hardie-Ferodo 500 - Mount Panorama, Bathurst - 6th October, 1968". Unique Cars and Parts. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  5. ↑ Official programme, Mallala Motor Races, 16 June 1969
  6. ↑ Sports Sedans, Oran Park Toby Lee Series, Australian Competition Yearbook, 1974 Edition, pages 144-154
  7. ↑ Sports Sedans, Oran Park Toby Lee Series, Australian Competition Yearbook, 1975 Edition, pages 146-149