EXCLUSIVE: PHIL KEEN Q&A
British GT maestro tackles his toughest test yet – the readers’ questions
For this week’s Motorsport News readers’ Q&A we are in the presence of GT racing royalty. Phil Keen in his Lamborghini Huracan is a fixture in the British GT championship as well as further afield. He’s also a historic racer and became a YouTube sensation by taking his Lister Jaguar Knobbly through the field to win at the 2018 Goodwood Revival after starting from the pits.
And in Keen’s home British GT contest, while he’s somehow so far missed out on the overall title, he’s been the driving standard bearer for years. He’s won more races overall than anyone in the category, and in 2020 – although notorious Silver Cup vs Pro-Am vagaries often impeded him – he underlined his continued status as the fastest thing out there by taking seven fastest laps from the nine races.
But, as we find out from your enquiries, there’s a lot more to Keen even so. Many of his answers might surprise you. We find out variously about his love of motorcycle racing, of driving a Honda Civic road car and of his fascination for tractors… But let’s start with what he’s best known for.
Question: It’s your last race – do you choose the Huracan, the Lister Knobbly or something else? And where to race it? David Harbey Photography
Via Twitter
Phil Keen: “I’ve never been to Bathurst, so I’d like to drive around Bathurst in a Lola T70 3B. It’s a sportscar from I think the seventies [late 1960s, actually]. It’s just the connection with the car, it’s got a massive V8, lightweight, it’s a manual gearbox, no ABS, it’s on a radial tyre.
It’s a proper car to drive and to drive round somewhere like Bathurst would be an eyeopener, especially if it’s my last-ever race!
“It’s good to go somewhere I’ve never been before and I’ve always watched it [Bathurst] on TV and I really enjoy the circuits that have no run-off, that are all concrete walls and no room for error.
“I’m all up for safety, don’t get me wrong, but they’ve ruined a lot of circuits these days by making big run-off areas and it means it’s very easy to find the limit.
“Obviously I don’t want to see people get hurt, but at the same time I like circuits that you have to build up to and respect. You go to Silverstone these days and you can drive off the circuit at every corner, there’s no real challenge or there’s no real penalty if you run wide anymore. If you look, Goodwood’s never changed and a lot of the circuits in America haven’t, Road Atlanta, places like that, they’re proper old-school circuits that haven’t been tampered with.”
MN: Do you feel circuits like that separate the good and not so good drivers a bit better?
PK: “Yeah and also it’s a challenge isn’t it? You turn up to a circuit and you can’t afford to make a mistake or you have to be on top form, and that’s the way you see the difference between good drivers and really good drivers.”
MN: You mentioned Bathurst, has there ever been a possibility of that for you? PK: “I would love to go and do it, we’ve talked to a few people a few times about potentially going. It’s definitely on my bucket list of circuits that I’d love to go and do, so hopefully one day I’ll get to have a go. It’d be great to drive a V8 Supercar round there, they look awesome. Again there’s no ABS, skinny tyres, they look a lot of fun.”
Question: What’s your favourite car you’ve raced within British GT? agreenfield0602
Via Instagram
PK: “Well I’ve got to say Lamborghini! [Laughs] They’ve come on so much, each car it has improved and got quicker and quicker and the Lambo is a great car and they’ve done a good job.”
MN: When you think about all of the various cars you’ve raced in British GT, how do they compare to each other?
PK: “Most of them these days have come on in terms of the amount of grip they have, braking, aero, and driveability as well. If you jumped into a Mosler for example or an old [Porsche] 996, or
997, from a long time ago, they were very different to drive. They didn’t have the braking performance, didn’t have the cornering speed, they didn’t have the engine tractability and they are a lot more usable and easy to get nearer the limit these days. They’ve done a good job with the cars to make them more Am [amateur driver] friendly. For me that’s the biggest thing.
“I haven’t driven an old car for a long time now, so it’s difficult to do a back-toback comparison, you’d have to get in one and get in the other to get a true feeling for it. But I look at it based on the old Lamborghini before they brought the update kit, and the car actually got slower in a straight line and the speed came from braking and cornering.
“So they’ve tended to work hard on the aero platform and braking performance [which] is where the biggest improvement I’ve found has come, and then the tractability of the cars and the systems with the traction control and making it more user friendly with paddleshift and everything else.”
Question: If you could partner up with one driver, from any series, past or present for one race, who would it be? Alfie Lunn
Via Facebook
PK: “I’d probably say Joey Dunlop. I just like the way he worked in the sport. I know it was motorcycle racing but I like what he stood for and the things he did for the sport and the way he worked at his own bikes, raced at the TT and travelled around the world helping people when he could.
“He was just a sporting hero of mine I suppose, someone that you admire. So if I could give back to the sport like he did then that for me [would be] good.
MN: Do you follow motorcycle racing?
PK: “I enjoy watching the motorbike racing, the World, MotoGP and stuff is very impressive to watch and the racing is great. I follow it all really, well I try to.”
MN: Have you ever been tempted to have a go yourself on two wheels?
PK: “I struggle enough on four wheels! I would love to have a go, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think it would end well!”
Question: What’s your favourite circuit you have ever raced at? jake_s95
Via Instagram
PK: “I like Oulton Park, I like Cadwell Park, I like Portimao. Portimao is really good and I do enjoy racing round there. Le Mans is quite a challenging circuit. If I had to pick one I’d probably say Portimao.”
MN: It sounds like a bit of a theme, the challenging old-school tracks?
PK: “Yeah the reason I don’t put Spa on the list, to me they ruined Spa a little bit with all the runoff. Pouhon, Blanchimont all used to have gravel, and Eau Rouge, and if you ran wide you were in trouble. You can just straight-line everything now. You saw at Spa 24 Hours this year [2020] you can just drive flat out, drive off the circuit and come back on again. I don’t feel it’s as good as in
2005 when I first went there.”
MN: And Portimao, how often are you able to get out there?
PK: “Not very often, I’ve raced out there in Michelin Le Mans Cup, I’ve driven a few classic cars round there so not very often to be honest. But we used to go out there testing every year in February,
March time, so I really enjoy driving round there. Just because of the undulation, they’re quite challenging a lot of blind corners. It is a cool circuit to drive around.”
Question: Who’s you favourite team boss?
Barwell Motorsport
Via Facebook
PK: “That’s a difficult question isn’t it? To be honest they’re all very similar. I want to be careful here because I’ve enjoyed working with everybody!”
MN: And I suspect Barwell wants a particular answer!
PK: “I’m going to go with Nigel Morris. He looks after all of Jon’s [Minshaw, Keen’s long-time co-driver in British GT and historic racing] cars [with] Valley Motorsport.
“I just shared a lot of memories with him and done a lot of cool races in the historics and stuff. We’ve had a lot of fun together and I’ve worked with him the longest I suppose. A lot of stories!”
MN: Any particular story that can be repeated that stands out?
PK: “He has a reputation for having issues with throttles on cars, so like the reason why we started from the pitlane at Goodwood! So [there’s a] bit of a running joke, but I just had a lot of fun really. And he’s got an eye for perfection, apart from throttles, he’s not allowed near throttles anymore!”
Question: Was drifting a Mosler on slicks in the wet through Woodcote your greatest moment of skill?
(I thought it was)
Martin Short
Via Facebook
PK: “Probably [my] greatest moment of luck, tell him! That was one of the things of driving the older cars, they were a bit more challenging not having ABS and everything, no traction control back then. And I guess it’s just like driving an historic car in some respects, it was good fun.”
MN: When was this, 2005?
PK: “Yeah I think so, in British GT. It was spitting with rain and we stayed out on slicks to try and make up some time. It was a long time ago, my memory’s pretty bad!”
MN sets the scene: Keen co-drove with Lee Caroline in British GT in 2006 driving a Mosler. Caroline’s son Jamie now competes in British GT, winning the GT4 championship last year with TF Sport. Question: How good was Lee Caroline?
Jamie Caroline
Via Instagram
PK: “He was very good in TVR Tuscans, he was a good pedaller, it’s a shame he stopped and didn’t continue.
“I saw him in the paddock a little while ago and we said that he needs to get back out there racing with Jamie! He was one of my main competitors when I started TVR Tuscans, and he was a good driver especially in those type of cars.”
MN: You were a co-driver with him as well?
PK: “Yeah we raced the Mosler together. He’s a very competitive person and kept me on my toes and it was good fun. But obviously now he’s supporting his son who seems to be pretty good so it’ll be interesting to see when he steps up to GT3 how he gets on.”
Question: As a novice race driver, where would you say is the biggest area to focus on when it comes to reducing lap times? mickjones90, Via Instagram
PK: “I would say car positioning and not braking too late. Start with car positioning, he’d be amazed how many people don’t put the car in the right position and then everything else afterwards is very difficult. So I would say car positioning, not braking too late, don’t accelerate until you’ve turned the car: three points!”
MN: How do you go about making sure the positioning’s right?
PK: “Just using all the circuit. The best thing to do is watch some videos of some good drivers and see where they position the car and how they position the car through each corner. Because the trouble is it doesn’t matter what you do with the brakes or throttle, if you haven’t positioned the car right it’s going to be very difficult to get the most from it.
“And there is a lot of people I drive with even today, like the Ams I drive with like Adam [Balon] and Michael [Igoe] this year, they all brake later than you do, and that’s one of the issues with having ABS, you can brake really late, as hard as you can and the problem is if you’re buried in the brake pedal the car won’t turn.
And what you tend to do if you brake too late as well you start turning early.
“So that’s probably where I’d start: car positioning. Maximising on the way in, through the middle of the corner and on the way out, use every inch of Tarmac.”
MN: On the braking point it must sound counter-intuitive to some drivers because you’re always told the idea is to brake as late as possible?
PK: “The problem is the tyre can only do [so much], if you’re using 100% brake you can’t use any steering input. Because you can’t ask the tyre to do maximum retardation and to turn, so you need to make sure that as you’re turning you’re bleeding off the brake to allow the car to turn. Otherwise as you bleed if you’ve got 100% brake you’ve got no percentage of tyre to turn. When get to 90% you’ve got 10% to turn; 80% you’ve got 20% to turn and so on. And you just need to modulate your braking so that by the time you get to the apex you’re off the brake and you can turn the car and think about accelerating. And also understanding the mechanics of it helps.”
MN: In Pro-Am racing it’s a big element for the Pro to make sure they’re developing their driving partner, so how do you find that side of things?
PK: “I really enjoy the Pro-Am racing, I love the development side of things and seeing people get faster and better and the challenge of bringing people on. I enjoy working with all types really, I’ve been very lucky to be honest.”
Question: Would you ever like to do a day’s marshalling? emily.chatters.3
Via Instagram
PK: “I’d probably get it wrong with the flags! My idea of an incident and waved yellows is probably different to theirs! Normally I drive round see a waved flag and think ‘you don’t need to wave a flag for that!’So I’d need to brush up on the rules a little bit; you can tell by how many cars I overtake under yellow!”
MN: Do you have much contact with marshals?
PK: “Obviously there’s a couple of marshals always say hello and we’re always very grateful for all their help and support because without them we wouldn’t be racing, and they’re there primarily for our safety.
“And they’re enthusiasts like I am, I love cars and motorsport. If I wasn’t racing a GT3 car then I’d have something in the garage that I can go racing at weekends with, it wouldn’t matter what it was. I enjoy racing and motorsport and the atmosphere like they do.”
MN sets the scene: This season in British GT Keen gets a change of scene, moving to WPI Motorsport driving alongside Michael Igoe, still in a Lamborghini Huracan, ending a six-year spell driving for Barwell. Question: Was it his, Lamborghini’s or “another’s” decision to change teams this season in British GT? Garyharman
Via Instagram
PK: “Michael [Igoe] approached me in the middle of the [2020] year about driving with me for 2021 and at the time my contract was with Lamborghini for British GT, so I said you’d have to speak to Giorgio [Sanna, head of Lamborghini Motorsport] about it. And he spoke to Lamborghini and Lamborghini spoke to me and that’s pretty much how it all came about.
“I’m very grateful for all the years I’ve had with Barwell and the support and everything else and I’d love to go back and race with them in the future, it’s by no means from my side a closed book.
It’s just a new challenge and hopefully I’ll be back doing something with them in the future.”
MN: Sounds it was like Michael who approached Lamborghini and that’s what initiated it?
PK: “Yeah basically. Obviously I could have said no. Michael, he spoke to Lamborghini and he wanted to race with me for 2021 and they did a deal and that’s it really.”
MN: From Lamborghini’s side are they fairly relaxed which Lamborghini team you end up with?
PK: “Their main goal is to win championships and win races, that’s what they want to achieve. So they try and put the right people in the right places to do that and with a bit of luck hopefully me and Michael can have a good run like I did at Barwell.”
Question: Are you finally going to get your hands on the trophy?
Mark Simpson
Via Facebook
MN: I assume they mean the British GT championship?
PK: “I’ve been very lucky over the years. Pretty much most years we’ve come very close to winning and I’ve had a lot of fun and enjoyment. And yes it would be nice to win but if you give me a choice between winning the championship next year or having another five years of racing I want to go racing and I enjoy that side of it.
“So yeah it’s frustrating not being able to finally clinch the championship but I’m very grateful to be able to be out there every year racing and doing something I love.”
MN: And looking ahead to this year, no Silver Cup in GT3 so presumably that’s a bonus for you?
PK: “Well it will be a challenge no matter what, it’s never easy. Even if there were six cars on the grid there would still be six very good drivers and teams. So we’ll try our best and be as prepared as we can and see what we can do.”
MN: You mentioned rivals, Jonny Adam’s back and you’ve got Sandy Mitchell there as well?
PK: “Yeah you’ve got Dennis Lind and Sandy at Barwell, Jonny Adam and Yelmer Buurman in the Merc so there’s four very good pairings there so I’m sure we’ll have our work cut out and it won’t be easy.”
Question: Any prototype racing in the future?
Richard Moxley
Via Facebook
PK: “Well no, last time I sat in a prototype was a long time ago, I think it was 2012 or 2011. I’d love to drive one of the new LMP2 cars, they look great, I’ve got nothing lined up but it would be great to go to do some prototype racing for sure, I definitely wouldn’t say no.”
MN: So what are the biggest differences between a prototype and a GT3?
PK: “Well a GT3 car’s a lot heavier and a lot less aero in some respects. The
“Seeing a team-mate develop is the most rewarding” Phil Keen
prototype’s got carbon brakes and no
ABS and just they’re lighter and the corner speeds are a lot higher and the LMP2 cars have got quite a lot of power as well, they do 680bhp I think. So it’s just slightly different driving technique and lines but fundamentally it’s a race car.
“I’ve not driven one of the new ones, I can only relate to what I drove 10 years ago. Long time ago. Oh yeah, actually I drove a DPi car in 2015 didn’t I?”
MN: So how was that?
PK: “They’re great fun. That’s one place I would like to go and race more is in America, the circuits, the atmosphere, the cars, the people there, it was a great experience and left me wanting to definitely go back and do some more.”
Question: When are you thinking of resuming your historic racing career?
Danny Morris
Via Facebook
PK: “Well I’ve never stopped, it’s just more with the way the pandemic happened last year and they crammed a year into four or five months it was difficult to find the time and everything clashed. But I’ve got a few races lined up this year, we just have to hope that nothing clashes but I have missed driving the historic cars and the meetings and stuff, they’re good fun.”
MN: Which historic races are you hoping to do this year?
PK: “I can’t remember the name of the series now but it’ll be with Jon [Minshaw confirmed to MN subsequently it is Duncan Wiltshire’s Le Mans Legends series they intend to race in], there’s some with Jon and some with Lee Mowle, there’s Silverstone, Donington and Thruxton I think. Hopefully get out there with Jon and his E-type and then I think there’s some Masters races as well that Lee’s asked me to do. So hopefully there will be no clashes and we can go and do some more historic racing.”
MN: So what is it about historic racing and driving historic cars?
PK: “I enjoy driving them mainly because there is no ABS, no traction control, it’s manual gearbox and you can’t just drive them flat out. You drive them as fast as you can but there’s techniques and certain cars have certain things.
“It’s very rewarding and therapeutic to drive an old historic car on the limit.
It’s really enjoyable, especially a wellprepared one that’s set up nicely, they’re a lot of fun, just a completely different experience to driving a GT3 car.”
Question: How many tractors does
Phil Keen own?
Shaun Balfe
Via Facebook
PK: “Just the one. Just to mow the lawns. I’ve just got a Ford 4000. I think secretly Shaun’s quite jealous of my tractor, he’s only got one of those toy ones basically. One day he’ll get a proper tractor.
“I’ve just got some old machinery.
I like old machinery, anything that has an engine to be honest with you. I enjoy working and driving them as sad as it is!”
Question: What’s it like getting in your old EP3 Civic Type R after driving a Lamboghini Huracan GT3 car?
keithcheetham,
Via Instagram
PK: “I enjoy my Civic. Modern cars don’t really do a lot for me these days, they’re all so numb and they do everything for you and there’s just not much of a connection there when you drive. I don’t find anything rewarding about them to be honest. They’re fantastic bits of kit, don’t get me wrong, but I’d rather have something analogue and old over something that was new and modern. I just get a lot more enjoyment out of driving something like that than I would do with something modern.”
MN: How long have you had the
Civic for?
PK: “Two years now I think. It’s old, 2005. I like the engine. The other thing with modern cars now is they’re so fast you can’t really use them on the road.
The Honda you can have some fun in and you’re only doing 70mph.”
MN: So what did you drive before the Civic?
PK: “I had a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 which I did 186,000 miles in, and then I had to retire it because it got a bit rusty sadly! So I thought I’d downgrade to something else Japanese that rusts, but with a smaller engine.”
MN sets the scene: Keen competed previously in the popular and nowdefunct TVR Tuscan Challenge, coming third in the championship in 2003. Question: When are you buying a Tuscan Challenge car like all the other ex-Challenge guys?
Graham Walden
Via Facebook
PK: “My car did actually come up for sale a little while ago but I’m not sure where it’s gone now. And we already have a TVR, two TVRs actually, I don’t think we’re quite ready for another one yet!”
MN: What was it like racing in the
Tuscan Challenge?
PK: “They were great fun. I could only imagine it to be a bit like the V8 Supercars are with a manual gearbox, 460bhp and skinny slicks. They were challenging and I don’t think there’s another series that’s replaced it. And it’s a shame that it wasn’t updated or they couldn’t do something to continue it, maybe with a newer car. But they definitely were exciting to drive and rewarding when you got it right.”
MN sets the scene: Keen in 2007 tested at Paul Ricard and drove a race at Monza in an LMP1 Pescarolo 01 for the Euro Le Mans Series with Martin Short’s Rollcentre Racing.
Question: Where was the naughty step at Paul Ricard? And will your dad ever forgive me for Monza?
Martin Short
Via Facebook
MN: You’ll probably have to explain this one!
PK: “Oh yes. I was always in trouble with Martin. Unfortunately when I was younger I was always getting in trouble. But normally out the back of a truck I had to stand there and think about what I’d done wrong! [Laughs] But no, I was very grateful for the opportunity Martin gave me to drive the cars, the Pescarolo and the Radical. It was a nice thing to have done. I was very lucky he let me test the car and do a race back in 2007.”
MN: What’s it like going racing with him?
PK: “It’s difficult really, it was a long time ago now and I was a lot younger and never had much experience of anything like that or working with someone like Martin. And if I was to do it now you’d like to think it would be a bit different, I’d definitely do things slightly differently from my side. But I learnt a lot those weekends and it helps shape you and move you forward.”
MN: And Monza?
PK: “Well I think dads are funny aren’t they? They always think their sons can do no wrong. But I don’t really know to be honest, we haven’t spoken about it for a long time now. But everything happens for a reason and that’s how you end up where you are isn’t it?”
MN: So what happened at Monza?
PK: “Just I made a mistake and went off at the Parabolica and, I can’t remember now off the top of my head but I think there was a few other things as well. I can’t remember the ins and outs of it all. But let’s just say the outcome wasn’t great and it was my fault, so like I said you learn a lot from your mistakes and it then helps to shape you and you do things differently in the future. I’ll always be very grateful for the opportunity Martin gave me and the advice he gave me during our time racing together.”
MN: He concluded his questions with “you’re a legend mate” so clearly he’s forgiven you for anything that might have happened!
PK: “He’s done very well when you look at what he achieved and what he did and to get the results he did at Le Mans against all the factory teams and stuff he’s achieved a lot. Part of me wishes that I was a bit older and had a bit more experience when I got there. Because it would have been nice to have done some more stuff with him and achieved some results.”
Question: What was your best race? Marcin Lekawski
Via Facebook
PK: “There’s quite a few races that I enjoyed. Watching a team-mate or someone you’ve helped drive, drive well for me is [good]. Probably watching Jon [Minshaw] at Brands GP in qualifying, he went something like three or four seconds faster than anyone else in the wet, that for me is probably one of the most rewarding things you can watch because you’ve played a part in helping him and seeing him improve and drive the way he was driving.
“So those are the races that stand out for me rather than actual me driving. Watching them achieve what they want to achieve and seeing them drive really well and achieve their goals that they’ve worked hard to achieve.
“There was Brands and there was Oulton Park in in the wet [in 2017], when he drove off into the distance after he went across the grass a couple of times! You know, good old Jon! Light the touchpaper and send him as they say. But he was great to watch and to coach and to see him drive like that they’re the most rewarding races rather than actual me driving and winning.”
“I prefer tracks you respect, not huge run-offs” Phil Keen