| Born | (1957-11-27)27 November 1957 (age 67) Cookstown,Northern Ireland, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  British |
| Active years | 1983,1985 |
| Teams | RAM |
| Entries | 10 (3 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1983 British Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1985 Italian Grand Prix |
Kenneth Henry Acheson (born 27 November 1957) is a British formerracing driver fromNorthern Ireland who competed forRAM Racing in the1983 and1985Formula One seasons. He completed only one of his three race starts, finishing in 12th position in the1983 South African Grand Prix. In 1985, he was a substitute forManfred Winkelhock, who was killed in a sportscar race during the season.
Born inCookstown, his father, the owner of an Ulster brickworks, raced in the 1970s on motorcycles and inFormula Ford.
In 1976 he had a test in his father's oldCrosslé FF1600 at the localKirkistown Circuit and in no time was lapping within three seconds of the lap record. He entered his first race later in the year, once again at Kirkistown driving his father's FF1600 Crosslé. He acquitted himself pretty well and his father agreed to buy a new Crosslé for the 1977 season if Kenny quit smoking.
So, equipped with new machinery, he won the 1977 Northern Ireland FF1600 Championship.
For 1978 he moved to England to contest three of the Formula Ford series. Driving one of Alan Cornock's Royales with RMC sponsorship, he won 29 races and all three championships. He also picked up aGrovewood Award at the end of the year.
Moving up toFormula 3 in 1979, he began with a second-handRalt but soon ordered a newMarch 793 in an effort to be more competitive. However he failed to take any Championship wins though he set the fastest lap at the F3 support race for the1979 British Grand Prix and won three non-championship races.
For 1980 he joined up with Murray Taylor Racing at Stone in Oxfordshire, to contest the Vandervell British F3 Championship. By mid-season Acheson was leading the Championship fromStefan Johansson who was driving for Project 4 Racing. But then Johansson acquired a new Ralt RT3 and closed the gap. At the last race of the Championship, Kenny made a small mistake and Johansson took the title.
Moving up toFormula 2 in 1981, he joined Docking Spitzley Racing driving aToleman TG280. However his season ended prematurely with a big accident while racing for the lead withMichele Alboreto around the French street circuit at Pau. Running wheel to wheel, Alboreto left Acheson nowhere to go and he crashed heavily, his car ending up in a tree. With both his legs badly broken he was lucky to survive.
Nevertheless, he returned in 1982 with the Ralt Honda team, finishing seventh in the European Championship.
He was given a works F2 drive withMaurer Motorsport in 1983 and, later in the year, made his F1 debut in one of John McDonald'sRAM March F1 cars with RMC sponsorship RAM March F1 car. In seven races, he failed to qualify the cumbersome car on every occasion before he finally made it onto the grid for theSouth African GP.
Without a drive in 1984, he returned to the RAM team as to replaceManfred Winkelhock who had tragically been killed racing a Kremer Porsche 962C atMosport Park. With the more competitiveHart-powered RAM 03 Kenny qualified for both the Austrian and Italian GP but his funds dried up and that was the end of his F1 career.
He also had a brief flirtation with CART that year. He was entered for the Indy 500 in a Lola T800 Cosworth but didn't drive. He then crashed his March 83C Cosworth at the Meadowlands before failing to qualify for Elkhart Lake and crashing in practice at Laguna Seca in the Skoal Bandit Lola T800 Cosworth.
For the next few years he made his living in Japan where he raced forKunimitsu Takahashi's Advan-backed Alpha team inFormula 3000 and sports cars. He won the Japanese Sportscar Championship in 1987 and on the back of that, moved back to Europe in 1988 withSauber-Mercedes and was due to drive at Le Mans, but the team pulled out in practice.
He embarked on a full season with Sauber-Mercedes in 1989 and took a fine second at Le Mans that year driving withMauro Baldi, the pair going on to win atBrands Hatch and Spa.
At the end of 1989 he was dropped by Sauber despite his performances and instead moved to Nissan for 1990 for the WSPC season. At Le Mans he retired the R90CK with a gearbox failure during the warm-up lap.
For Le Mans in 1991 he was part of the Silk Cut Jaguar team, finishing third in the XJR12. In 1992 he was back at Le Mans, this time with Toyota driving theTony Southgate designed TS010 and scoring another second, though the following year he failed to finish. When the sportscar World Championship ended, Acheson switched to GT racing in Japan with the SARD team. This led to a final visit to the Sarthe in 1995, when he drove the SARD MC8R, retiring after just 14 laps when the car suffered a total brake failure.
In 1996 Acheson went to the Daytona 24 Hours with theNewcastle United football team liveriedLister Storm, sharing the car with Geoff Lees andTiff Needell. In the dying moments of the race his Lister was destroyed in a violent crash when he was hit by a slower car. Luckily he walked away from the scene, and he also decided to walk away from racing altogether.[1]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Docking Spitzley Team Toleman | Lola T850 | Hart | SIL 19 | HOC Ret | THR Ret | NÜR 6 | VLL 10 | MUG 15 | PAU Ret | PER | SPA | DON | MIS | MAN 3 | 15th | 5 | |
| 1982 | Ralt Racing Ltd. | Ralt RH6/82 | Honda | SIL Ret | HOC 13 | THR 2 | NÜR 4 | MUG 6 | VLL 14 | PAU 5 | SPA 10 | HOC 11 | DON 10 | MAN Ret | PER Ret | MIS Ret | 7th | 12 |
| 1983 | Maurer Motorsport | Maurer MM83 | BMW | SIL Ret | THR 10 | HOC 10 | NÜR 9 | VLL 11 | PAU 2 | JAR Ret | DON 8 | MIS | PER | ZOL | MUG | 10th | 6 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Suzuki Racing | Toleman TG280 | Hart | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ Ret | NC | 0 | ||||||
| 1982 | Ralt Racing Ltd. | Ralt RH6/82 | Honda | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ 15 | SUZ 4 | 12th | 10 | |||||
| 1985 | Advan Sports Nova | March 85J | Honda | SUZ 4 | FUJ 3 | MIN 6 | SUZ Ret | SUZ 5 | FUJ 1 | SUZ 4 | SUZ 8 | 3rd | 66 (69) | |||
| 1987 | Advan Sports Tomei | March 87B | Cosworth | SUZ 8 | FUJ 16 | MIN | SUZ 10 | SUZ 15 | SUG Ret | FUJ 7 | SUZ Ret | SUZ Ret | 15th | 8 | ||
| 1988 | Team Kitamura | March 87B | Mugen-Honda | SUZ 8 | FUJ Ret | MIN 9 | SUZ 15 | SUG Ret | FUJ 14 | SUZ | SUZ | NC | 0 | |||
| 1989 | Team LeMans | Reynard 89D | Mugen-Honda | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | SUZ | SUG Ret | FUJ 14 | SUZ | SUZ | NC | 0 | |||
| 1991 | Ad Racing Team | Reynard 91D | Mugen-Honda | SUZ EX | AUT | FUJ | MIN | SUZ | SUG | FUJ | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | FUJ | NC | 0 |
(key)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | RAM Automotive Team March | RAM March01 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0V8 | BRA | USW | FRA | SMR | MON | BEL | DET | CAN | GBR DNQ | GER DNQ | AUT DNQ | NED DNQ | ITA DNQ | EUR DNQ | RSA 12 | NC | 0 | |
| 1985 | Skoal BanditFormula 1 Team | RAM03 | Hart 415T 1.5L4t | BRA | POR | SMR | MON | CAN | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT Ret | NED DNQ | ITA Ret | BEL | EUR | RSA | AUS | NC | 0 |
Source:[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | Car | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pos. | Pts | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | WIT Promotions | 47 | March 83C | CosworthDFXV8t | LBH | PHX | INDY | MIL | POR | MEA 28 | CLE | MCH | 40th | 0 | [3] | ||||||||
| H&R Racing | 82 | March 84C | ROA DNQ | POC | MDO | SAN | MCH | PHX | |||||||||||||||
| Forsythe Racing | 33 | Lola T800 | LAG DNQ | CPL | |||||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | John Fitzpatrick Racing | C1 | Porsche 956B | Porsche Type 935 2.6F6t | MUG | MNZ Ret | SIL | NC | 0 | ||||||||
| Porsche 962C | LMS DNQ | HOC | MOS | SPA | BRH | ||||||||||||
| Richard Lloyd Racing | Porsche 956 Gti | FUJ Ret | SHA | ||||||||||||||
| 1986 | Team Ikuzawa | C1 | Tom's 86C | Toyota 4T-GT 2.1L4t | MNZ | SIL | LMS | NOR | BRH | JER | NÜR | SPA | FUJ Ret | NC | 0 | ||
| 1987 | Advan Alpha Nova | C1 | Porsche 962C | Porsche Type 935 3.0F6t | JAR | JER | MNZ | SIL | LMS | NOR | BRH | NÜR | SPA | FUJ 11 | NC | 0 | |
| 1988 | Team Sauber Mercedes | C1 | Sauber C9 | Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0V8t | JER | JAR | MNZ | SIL | LMS DNS | BRN | BRH | NÜR | SPA | FUJ 5 | SAN | NC | 0 |
| 1989 | Team Sauber Mercedes | C1 | Sauber C9 | Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0V8t | SUZ 2 | DIJ 3 | JAR 5 | BRH 1 | NÜR 2 | DON 2 | SPA 1 | MEX Ret | 4th | 97 (105) | |||
| 1990 | Nissan Motorsports International | C | Nissan R89C | Nissan VRH35Z 3.5V8t | SUZ Ret | 9th | 11 | ||||||||||
| Nissan R90CK | MNZ 7 | SIL Ret | SPA 3 | DIJ 21 | NÜR 9 | DON 4 | CGV 5 | MEX 4 | |||||||||
| 1991 | Silk CutJaguar | C2 | Jaguar XJR-12 | Jaguar 7.4L V12 | SUZ | MNZ | SIL | LMS 3 | NÜR | MAG | MEX | AUT | 24th | 12 | |||
| 1992 | Toyota TeamTom's | C1 | Toyota TS010 | Toyota RV10 3.5V10 | MNZ | SIL | LMS 2 | DON | SUZ Ret | MAG | 16th | 15 | |||||
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | John Fitzpatrick Racing | Dudley Wood Jean-Louis Schlesser | Porsche 962C | C1 | - | DNQ | DNQ |
| 1988 |  Team SauberMercedes |  Klaus Niedzwiedz | Sauber C9-Mercedes | C1 | - | DNS | DNS |
| 1989 | Team SauberMercedes |  Mauro BaldiGianfranco Brancatelli | Sauber C9-Mercedes | C1 | 384 | 2nd | 2nd |
| 1990 |  Nissan Motorsports International | Martin DonnellyOlivier Grouillard | Nissan R90CK | C1 | 0 | DNF | DNF |
| 1991 | Silk CutJaguarTom Walkinshaw Racing | Teo FabiBob Wollek | Jaguar XJR-12 | C2 | 358 | 3rd | 3rd |
| 1992 | Toyota TeamTom's | Pierre-Henri RaphanelMasanori Sekiya | Toyota TS010 | C1 | 346 | 2nd | 2nd |
| 1993 | Toyota TeamTom's | Pierre-Henri RaphanelAndy Wallace | Toyota TS010 | C1 | 212 | DNF | DNF |
| 1995 | SARD Co. Ltd. | Alain FertéTomiko Yoshikawa | SARD MC8-R-Toyota | GT1 | 14 | DNF | DNF |
Source:[4] | |||||||
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Eddie Jordan Racing | March 86B | Ford Cosworth | SIL | VLL | PAU | SPA | IMO | MUG | PER | ÖST Ret | BIR | BUG | JAR | NC | 0 |