Born : February 26 1955
Deceased : September 23 2024
Biography Rupert Keegan
Rupert Keegan was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. His father, Mike Keegan, was an extrovert owner of an airline company, BKS Air Transport. Keegan always had the reputation of being a playboy racer, maybe even more than James Hunt. Fact was that his father had a big fortune to spend, and he financially supported his son heavily. Add sponsorhips of the adult magazine Playboy, and Durex added to the image. But one thing was sure, Rupert Keegan took racing very seriously. He won two major championships, started in 25 grands prix and had podium finishes in the world sports car championship.
He started his career with a win first time out in a Ford Escort Mexico in 1973 and quickly moved into Formula Ford where, by late in 1974 he had started to win races despite a tendency to drive rather wild with lots of crashes and DNFs as a result. His father bought Hawke Racing Cars and there was talk that Mike would fund the construction of an F1 car to be designed by Adrian Reynard. The F1 project never materialised however Reynard did design a Hawke F3 car.
Just one year later, In 1975 Keegan moved up to Formula 3 with the ex-Henton March 743 but once again his season was characterised by crashes, one of them a big shunt at Thruxton.
Formula 1
Keegan stayed with March in 1976 and things changed dramatically, with Rupert winning nine rounds of the BP championship and the title, earning himself the reputation as a junior James Hunt. Keegan then tried his hand at Formula 2 in a Chevron but in 1977 the fading Hesketh team offered him a seat. Keegans Formula 1 debug was on May 8, 1977. His world championship rookie year was respectable, even though his car was uncompetetive.
Keegan qualified for every race he entered. He succeeded in having 5 top ten finishes but retired from the other half of the races after various incidents. The car, with Penthouse and Rizzla sponsorships is now successful in Historic F1 events, with Michael Lyons at the wheel. In his 2nd F1 season, he moved to the Team Surtees, but that was not the best career move. Keegan only started in six of the 15 races and never finished inside the top ten.
He then decided to switch to the Aurora AFX British Formula 1 Championship with Charles Clowes Racing, running an Arrows A1. He won the title and in 1980 tried to make a comeback in the World Championship with a RAM Racing Williams. In 1982 he made a final attempt to get back into F1 with the Rothmans March.
Le Mans 24H and Porsche
David Hobbs / Rupert Keegan / Franz Konrad, Skoal Bandit, Porsche 956B. ©Motorsport Images
The only highlight of a short 1983 season was 5th overall in his Le Mans 24 Hours debut with team owner John Fitzpatrick and Edwards. This rather good result lead to a full season with Fitzpatrick Racing the year after, in a Porsche 956 with Skoal Bandit livery. The best result was second place with David Hobbs and Franz Konrad in the Mosport 1000Kms behind the Jacky Ickx/Jochen Mass factory Rothmans 956 and third places in the Brands Hatch 1000Kms and Silverstone 1000Kms.
After three seasons in sportscars Keegan decided to go to America and try his hand at CART. He took part in a handful of races with the Machinists Union team and then faded from the international scene. Keegan quit to pursue business interests and to also work as a racing instructor.
In 1995, at the age of forty, he made a surprise reappearance on the track, driving a Lister Storm at Le Mans with Geoff Lees and Dominic Chappell. The last few years Rupert Keegan fought a fierce battle with cancer. He died September 23 2024 in his home in Elba, Italy
