Keith Wiggins (born 1 July 1958)
is a motor racing team owner born in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
and one of only three people ever to have owned a Formula One team, an IndyCar and a ChampCar team.
Early career
Born in London, England on 1 July 1958, Wiggins began his racing career while at school as a kart driver in 1973. He was selected as a member of the British International Kart Team for 1975–76. He trained as a design engineer for specialist road car conversions and later joined
Ron Dennis
Ronald Dennis CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder of McLaren Group. Dennis was removed from ...
'
Project Four Racing
Project Four Racing was a British Formula Two and Formula Three team. The team was founded in 1976 by former Brabham mechanic Ron Dennis. At the end of 1980, the team merged with the McLaren Formula One team.
The team name lived on in the des ...
in 1977 for Formula 2, and then as an engineer in British Formula 3 in 1988. In 1979 Wiggins continued his driving career in
British Formula Ford
The British Formula Ford Championship was an entry level single seater motor racing category, designed to give racing drivers their first step into car racing after karting. Drivers from around the world were attracted to the United Kingdom to ...
, finishing 2nd in the Championship. The following year (1980) he focused on his management and engineering skills, joining Rushen Green Racing for
British F3
The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seat ...
. In 1982 he was appointed team manager and chief engineer with
Van Diemen
Van Diemen International, Ltd. was a British race car manufacturer based in Snetterton, Norfolk, United Kingdom. The company had a reputation for high-volume production runs of its cars, the most well-known of which is its series of Formula Fo ...
in British and European Formula 2000. During this period, he also constructed a development
Formula Ford
Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...
chassis designed by
David Baldwin which became the next generation Van Diemen Formula 2000 chassis.
Pacific Racing
Wiggins established
Pacific Racing in 1984 as owner, chairman, and chief engineer. The team went on to unrivalled success over the following 13 years. Pacific won every European single-seater championship on its way up to Formula One and is the only team ever to climb from the lowest ranks to compete at the premier level. With
JJ Lehto
Jyrki Juhani Järvilehto (; born 31 January 1966), better known as "JJ Lehto", is a Finnish racing driver. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, in 1995 and 2005. He is also a former Formula One driver.
He was a protégé of Finnish 1982 Formula ...
,
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...
,
Eddie Irvine
Edmund Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2002, and finished runner-up in the 1999 World Drivers' Championship, driving for Scuderia Ferrari.
He b ...
and
Christian Fittipaldi
Christian Fittipaldi (born 18 January 1971) is a Brazilian former racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car, and NASCAR. He was a highly rated young racing driver in the early 1990s, and parti ...
behind the wheel of his cars, he moved the operation to
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
in .
Pacific Racing Achievements:
*1984 1st European & Benelux Formula Ford 1600 Championships
*1985 1st British Formula Ford 1600 Championship
*1986 1st British & World Formula Ford 2000 Championships
*1987 1st British, European, & World Formula Ford 2000 Championships
*1988 1st British Formula 3 Championship
*1991 1st FIA Formula 3000 Championship
*1993 2nd FIA European Formula 3000
*1994–1995 FIA Formula One World Championship
The team Pacific Grand Prix ran on a shoestring budget for two seasons, designing, building and racing their own chassis, with highest finishing positions of 7th in Brazil 1994 and 7th in Australia 1995. The inaugural year they ran struggling
Ilmor
Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Mi ...
engines and battled with
Simtek
Simtek (Simulation Technology) was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The Formula One (F1) engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved ...
at the rear of the grid. Just making the grid was a challenge; while
Bertrand Gachot qualified for five of the first seven events,
Paul Belmondo
Paul Alexandre Belmondo (born 23 April 1963) is a French racing driver who raced in Formula One for the March and Pacific Racing teams. He was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, the son of actor Jean-Paul Belmondo and grandson of scul ...
made it just twice. They qualified and ran every race in 1995 with Gachot and
Andrea Montermini
Andrea Montermini (born 30 May 1964) is an Italian racing driver.
Career
Montermini raced in Formula 3 in 1989, taking second place in the Monaco GP support race and 4th in the Italian F3 Championship. He then moved up to Formula 3000, racing f ...
,
Jean-Denis Délétraz Jean-Denis is a masculine given name, and may refer to:
* Jean-Denis Bredin (born 1929), a French attorney
* Jean-Denis Délétraz (born 1963), a Swiss racecar driver
* Jean-Denis Lanjuinais
200px
Jean Denis, comte Lanjuinais (12 March 175313 ...
, and
Giovanni Lavaggi
Giovanni Lavaggi (born 18 February 1958) is an Italian racing driver.
Despite Lavaggi being a nobleman by background, he couldn’t count on personal financial resources; therefore he started racing only at the age of 26. Nevertheless, he man ...
, but Wiggins returned to F3000 in 1996, plus competed at LeMans with a BRM-Nissan and then closed Pacific in 1997.
Lola
In 1998, following
MasterCard Lola
The MasterCard Lola Formula One Racing Team, often known as MasterCard Lola or simply Lola, was a British Formula One team that contested only one race in the 1997 Formula One World Championship. It quickly withdrew from the sport after failing ...
's ill-fated decision to enter Formula One, Wiggins helped to get the newly purchased
Lola
Lola may refer to:
Places
* Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama
* Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States
* Lola Prefecture, Guinea
* Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture
* Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands
People
* Lola ...
out of receivership and back on its feet, then serving as Vice-President and then President of Lola Cars International Inc. in America and Sales and Marketing Director of Lola Cars International in the UK.
Indycar
Wiggins left Lola in 2000 and took over as president and team owner of
Tony Bettenhausen Jr.'s
CART team
following a tragic plane crash which killed Tony, renaming it Herdez Competition in
2001.
Michel Jourdain Jr.
Michel Jourdain Lascurain, better known as Michel Jourdain Jr. (born September 2, 1976), is a Mexican racecar driver, best known for winning two Champ Car races in 2003. He is the 2020 Super Copa GTM Champion.
Formula racing
Jourdain started rac ...
remained in the cockpit and
Mario Dominguez
is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...
replaced him in
2002,
winning at Surfers Paradise and claiming
Rookie of the Year. Herdez remained as title sponsor until 2005, with three further wins, by Ryan Hunter-Reay and Mario Dominquez and a dominant performance of first and second in the streets of Miami in 2003. In 2005 promising youngsters
Björn Wirdheim
Björn Karl Michael Wirdheim (born 4 April 1980) is a Swedish professional racing driver. He is the son of Örnulf Wirdheim, also a racing driver. Björn began racing karts, competing in his first race, at the age of 10. His main achievement to ...
and
Ronnie Bremer
Ronnie Bremer (born 14 October 1978) is a Danish racecar driver who has driven in the Champ Car World Series.
Bremer won three consecutive Danish Formula A karting championships from 1998 to 2000, before racing in British Formula Ford and Formula ...
were signed, together with others to get through a tough season due to a lack of sponsorship.
By that point the team had been renamed HVM (Herdez Viva Mexico) and in October 2005
Cedric the Entertainer
Cedric Antonio Kyles (born April 24, 1964), better known by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He hosted BET's '' ComicView'' during the 1993–1994 season and '' Def Comedy Jam'' in 1995. He is ...
announced he had become a partner in the team. The team's name changed in 2006 to
CTE-HVM Racing. They finished fourth in the championship with Frenchman
Nelson Philippe
Nelson Philippe (born July 23, 1986 in Valence, Drôme) is a French race car driver.
Career
Early career
Philippe raced go-karts from 1998-2002. In 2003, he raced in the Barber Dodge Pro Series, finishing the season with one podium, and four ...
, who won at
Surfers Paradise.
In 2007, ex
Minardi owner
Paul Stoddart
Paul Stoddart (born 26 May 1955) is an Australian businessman, airline owner and former Minardi Formula One team boss.
Personal life
Born in Coburg, Melbourne, Australia, and attended Preston Technical School and St Joseph's College Melbourn ...
bought into the team and they renamed it
Minardi Team USA
Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following ...
fielding ex-F1 Driver
Robert Doornbos and
Dan Clarke
Daniel Clarke (born 4 October 1983) is a British auto racing driver, most recently competing in the Firestone Indy Lights series with Walker Racing, having previously competed in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport and the Champ Car World Series ...
for a second season, Wiggins being the managing partner. In the 2007 season, the team claimed 2 wins and 7 podiums on its way to third place in Championship standings and Rookie of the Year with Doornbos and a pole position for Clark. With Champ Car's unification with the
Indy Racing League
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
in 2008, Stoddart left the team and it appeared that the team would shut down, however, Wiggins assumed full control of the team again and signed
E. J. Viso to continue racing operations in the IndyCar Series, with the team's name reverting to HVM Racing. In 2010 the team brought new rookie driver
Simona de Silvestro into IndyCar and she finished 14th at the Indianapolis 500 and became the 'Rookie of the Year'.
HVM Racing earned six victories, three pole positions, 22 podiums, 40 top-five finishes and 97 top-tens. The team also earned "Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year" honors with driver Simona de Silvestro in 2010. HVM finished fourth and third, respectively, in the Champ Car World Series in 2006 and 2007, and earned drivers Mario Dominguez and Robert Doornbos Rookie of the Year honors in 2002 and 2007, respectively.
References
External links
Official website of HVM racing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiggins, Keith
Living people
IndyCar Series team owners
Formula One team owners
1958 births
English motorsport people