Keith Holland (born 6 December 1935)[1] is a British former racing driver from England who competed in various classes of racing in the 1960s and 1970s. He is known for winning the 1969 Madrid Grand Prix in a Formula 5000 car in a field which contained several Formula One entries. He was also a regular competitor in the European Formula 5000 Championship finishing third in the title standings on two occasions.

Keith Holland
NationalityBritish
Born (1935-12-06) 6 December 1935 (age 88)
Maidstone, UK
Retiredc.1979
Years active1961–1978
Best finish3rd; European Formula 5000 Championship in 1973 and 1976

Racing career

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Early career

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Holland's career began in 1961, with a Lotus 11,[2] yielding a third-place finish in the Boxing Day meeting at Brands Hatch.[3] He continued in 1962, with a GSM Delta competing in only three national level, or above, races. He achieved a best finish of fourth at a 500km race at the Nürburgring in September.[3] In 1963, Holland entered the Guards Trophy (S2.0 class) at Brands Hatch in a Diva GT but did not finish.[3]

Holland next appeared at national level in the 1967 Brands Hatch six-hour race. He competed alongside entrant Terry Drury in a Ford GT40 and finished 14th.[3] Although Holland entered other events in 1967, he did not actually compete in them.[3] In 1968, Holland again entered the Brands Hatch six-hour race, together with the Monza 1000 km race, in Drury's GT40, but did not finish either event. The pairing then entered the Targa Florio with the Ford and were classified 54th, followed by the 1000km of Nürburgring, finishing 35th.[3] Holland then returned to domestic racing with a Lotus 47 before competing in a six-hour race at Surfers Paradise in an Austin Mini Cooper, finishing fifth.[3] He then finished 12th in the Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch with the Lotus 47, and was entered for the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Drury in the GT40, but did not attend.[3]

1969 Madrid Grand Prix

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Holland took part in the 1969 Madrid Grand Prix at Jarama with a Formula 5000 Lola T142-Chevrolet V8 entered by Alan Fraser.[4] The race was originally intended as a full-scale Grand Prix-type event as the Spanish Grand Prix had been moved to Barcelona. However, a clash of dates meant that a relatively small mixed field of F5000 and F1 cars took part. Holland led early in the race, after Tony Dean (BRM P261) spun at the start, but was passed by Peter Gethin in an F5000 McLaren-Chevrolet. Towards the end, Holland had to drop back slightly due to water temperature issues, but on the last lap, Gethin's Chevrolet engine broke a connecting-rod and despite spinning on his own final lap, Holland was able to win the race.[4]

1969 also saw Holland enter the French Formula Three Championship with Fraser's Brabham BT15 and finish eighth in the Oulton Park Gold Cup with the Lola T142. He competed in the British Formula Three Championship in a Brabham BT21 finishing 27th in the title standings with three points. However, his 1969 Guards Formula 5000 Championship season was more successful, achieving fourth place in the championship, with six podium finishes.[5]

In 1970, Holland entered the Australian Grand Prix (at that time run to F5000 rules) in a McLaren M10B-Chevrolet. He qualified in eighth position but retired after nine laps with an oil-pump problem.[5] He also competed in the British F5000 championship in Fraser's Lola, finishing in 12th place in the standings with eight points from five races.[5]

Formula 5000

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In 1971, Holland competed in three races in the Tasman Series with the Mclaren-Chevrolet entered by Road & Track Auto Services. He was classified 14th in the title standings with two points.[5] He participated in the 1971 Rothmans F5000 European Championship with the McLaren finishing in 16th place with four points from eight races.[5] At the 1971 World Championship Victory Race, Holland was classified 15th, in the McLaren, in a race stopped at 15 laps following a fatal accident to Jo Siffert.[5][6]

Holland entered the 1972 International Gold Cup with the McLaren-Chevrolet. He did not finish, retiring after 31 laps with broken engine mountings.[7] He subsequently participated in the Rothmans 50,000 race at Brands Hatch with a Lola T190 (F5000) entered by Chris Featherstone. He qualified in 29th position and thus took part in the main race, for the first 30 qualifiers, where he finished 13th but 12 laps behind.[8] At the John Player Challenge Trophy, Holland finished 11th in a Chevron B24 entered by Sid Taylor Racing.[3][9] In the 1972 British F5000 championship, Holland competed in eight races and was classified eighth in the championship with 16 points. He achieved two podium finishes and two fastest laps.[5] In the 1972 World Championship Victory Race, he finished 11th in a Chevron B24.[5]

In 1973, Holland finished third in the 1973 Rothmans 5000 European Championship,[5] using both a Trojan T101 and a Lola T190 entered by Ian Ward Racing.[5] He achieved a total of 116 points from 15 races, with wins at Mallory Park[10] and Mondello Park,[11] each with the Trojan. He had one further podium finish together with two pole positions and two fastest laps.[5] At the 1973 International Trophy, Holland finished 10th with the Trojan[3] and at the 1973 Race of Champions qualified 11th but did not finish due to a rear wing problem.[3][12]

In the 1974 Rothmans 5000 European Championship, Holland dropped to 19th in the title standings with 20 points from eight races, including two podium finishes, and used both a Trojan T102 and a Lola T332.[5] Entries were made for the 1974 Race of Champions and the International Trophy but Holland did not start at either event.[3] However, co-driven by Tony Birchenhough and Brian Joscelyne he achieved a tenth-place finish in the Brands Hatch 1,000km race using a Lola T294, but again paired with Birchenhough, did not finish the Kyalami six-hour race.[3]

The 1975 ShellSPORT 5000 European Championship saw Holland finish in 25th position with 10 points, having only competed in one event.[5] However, in 1976, with the series renamed as Shellsport International and run to Formula Libre rules, Holland finished third in the standings using a Lola T400, with a win at Brands Hatch in October, three other podium finishes and two pole positions.[5][13]

Holland began the 1977 series with a second place at Mallory Park but achieved only one other podium-finish and dropped to eighth in the championship with 63 points.[5][14]

In 1978, Holland competed in the Rothmans International Series which was part of the Australian Formula 1 category and at that time included cars to F5000 specification. He finished 10th in the championship with 3 points from four races.[5]

Personal life

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The winning car from the 1969 Madrid Grand Prix was restored in 2004 as part of the UK television series Salvage Squad. Holland made a brief appearance in the programme.[15][16]

Racing record

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Complete European F5000 Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos. Pts
1969 Alan Fraser Racing Team Lola T142 Chevrolet 5.0 V8 OUL
3
BRH
2
BRH
3
MAL
9
SIL
6
MON
4
KOK
3
ZAN
4
SNE
8
HOC
5
OUL
3
BRH
3
4th 2000 (2445)
1970 Alan Fraser Racing Team Lola T142 Chevrolet 5.0 V8 OUL BRH
5
ZOL ZAN SIL BRH
Ret
CAS
5
MAL MON
5
SIL MNZ AND
5
SAL THR SIL OUL SNE HOC OUL BRH 12th 8
1971 Keith Holland McLaren M10B Chevrolet 5.0 V8 MAL
Ret
SNE BRH
Ret
MON SIL CAS MAL
7
MNZ
4
MAL
Ret
THR SIL OUL SNE HOC
Ret
OUL BRH
Ret
BRH
6
16th 4
1972 Keith Holland McLaren M10B Chevrolet 5.0 V8 BRH
Ret
MAL
2
SNE
Ret
BRH
Ret
NIV SIL MON
3
OUL
4
MAL
Ret
BRH
4
SIL BRH OUL BRH 8th 16
1973 Ian Ward Racing Trojan T101 Chevrolet 5.0 V8 BRH
Ret
MAL
6
SIL
Ret
SNE
Ret
BRH
7
OUL
6
MAL
1
MIS
C
MAL
DNS
MON
1
SIL
C
BRH
5
OUL
Ret
JYL
5
ZAN
7
SNE
4
BRH
2
3rd 116
Chris Featherstone Lola T190X MAL
Ret
1974 Ian Ward Racing Trojan T102 Chevrolet 5.0 V8 BRH
DNS
MAL
Ret
SIL
DNS
OUL BRH
Ret
ZOL
NC
THR
6
ZAN
Ret
MUG MNZ 19th 20
Embassy Racing with John Butterworth Lola T332 MAL
Ret
MON THR BRH OUL
3
SNE
9
MAL
Bill Wood Trojan T101 BRH
DNS
1975 John Turner Lola T330 Chevrolet 5.0 V8 BRH OUL BRH SIL ZOL ZAN THR SNE MAL THR BRH
4
OUL SIL SNE MAL BRH 25th 10
Source:[17]

Complete Formula One non-championship results

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(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1969 Alan Fraser Racing Team Lola T142 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ROC INT MAD
1
OUL
8
1971 Keith Holland McLaren M10B (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ARG ROC QUE SPR INT RIN OUL VIC
15
1972 Keith Holland McLaren M10B (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ROC
DNS
BRA INT OUL
Ret
REP
Sid Taylor Racing Chevron B24 (F5000) VIC
11
1973 Ian Ward Racing Trojan T101 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ROC
Ret
INT
10
1974 Ian Ward Racing Trojan T102 (F5000) Chevrolet 5.0 V8 PRE ROC
DNS
INT
DNS
Source:[18]

Complete Shellsport International Series results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos. Pts
1976 E. L. Gibbs Ltd. Racing Lola T400 Chevrolet 5.0 V8 MAL SNE OUL
2
BRH
8
THR
6
BRH
Ret
MAL
2
SNE
4
BRH
Ret
THR
6
OUL
3
BRH
1
BRH
5
3rd 95
1977 E. L. Gibbs Racing Lola T332C Chevrolet 5.0 V8 MAL
2
SNE
4
OUL
Ret
BRH
6
MAL
4
THR
3
BRH
Ret
OUL MAL DON 8th 63
Chris Featherstone McRae GM1 BRH
4
THR
Ret
SNE
Ret
BRH
NC
Source:[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Keith Holland | BRDC Members | British Racing Drivers' Club". brdc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Keith Holland". historicracing.com. Archived from the original on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "All Results of Keith Holland". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b Jenkinson, Denis (May 1969). "Madrid G.P". Motor Sport magazine archive. p. 23. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Keith Holland". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  6. ^ Marriott, Andrew (December 1971). "Rothman's World Championships Victory Race". Motor Sport magazine archive. p. 40. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  7. ^ "International Gold Cup 1972 - Race Results". www.racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  8. ^ Brown, Allen. "Brands Hatch, 28 Aug 1972: International Libre". www.oldracingcars.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  9. ^ "1972 Non-World Championship Formula One Races". www.silhouet.com. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  10. ^ Brown, Allen. "Mallory Park, 28 May 1973 « European Formula 5000 « OldRacingCars.com". www.oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  11. ^ Brown, Allen. "Mondello Park, 22 Jul 1973 « European Formula 5000 « OldRacingCars.com". www.oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  12. ^ "1973 Non-World Championship Formula One Races". www.silhouet.com. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  13. ^ "1976 Shellsport G8 International Series". www.silhouet.com. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  14. ^ "1977 Shellsport G8 International Series". www.silhouet.com. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  15. ^ "Racing Car". channel4.com. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  16. ^ "Racing Car". Salvage Squad. Season 1. Episode 8. 2002.
  17. ^ a b "British and European Formula 5000 1969-1977". OldRacingCars. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  18. ^ "Keith Holland – Biography". Motor Sport. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
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