Joe Kelly (racing driver) facts for kids
Kelly driving his Jaguar C-Type
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| Born | Joseph Michael Kelly 13 March 1913 Dublin, Ireland |
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| Died | 28 November 1993 (aged 80) Neston, Cheshire, England |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Irish |
| Active years | 1950 – 1951 |
| Teams | privateer Alta |
| Entries | 2 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1950 British Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1951 British Grand Prix |
Joseph Michael Kelly (born March 13, 1913 – died November 28, 1993) was an Irish racing driver and a successful businessman. He competed in the Formula One British Grand Prix races in 1950 and 1951.
Contents
About Joe Kelly
His Racing Adventures
Joe Kelly loved car racing. He was a car dealer in Dublin, Ireland, and used the money he earned to follow his passion for motorsport.
He first raced a Maserati 6CM car on August 20, 1949. This was at the Silverstone Circuit in England. It was a big event called the 1949 BRDC International Trophy. The race was held on the roads around the airfield, not the main runways. The winner of the final race was Alberto Ascari from Italy, driving a Ferrari. Ascari later became a two-time Formula One World Champion.
In 1950, Joe Kelly raced his own Alta GP car. This was the very last Alta GP car ever built. He took part in the British rounds of the Formula One World Championship in 1950 and 1951. He didn't score any championship points in these races. His best starting position was 18th place.
Even though he didn't win in Formula One, his hard work with the Alta GP car paid off later. In 1952, he finished third in the Ulster Trophy race at Dundrod. His Alta car was later changed to have a different engine. It became known as the Irish Racing Automobile.
Joe Kelly also owned and raced a Jaguar C-Type sports car. He raced it in Ireland at a famous place called "The Curragh." This place is known for horse racing, but it also had two motor racing tracks in the late 1940s and early 1950s. These tracks were called the "Short" circuit and the "Big" circuit. They attracted huge crowds and many great cars.
At a race meeting in June, Joe Kelly broke the lap record at The Curragh. This time, he was driving a Maserati. It was the first car built just for racing to compete there. Before that, most cars were MGs or homemade "specials." The crowd loved Joe Kelly, and he showed them amazing high-speed racing that day. The record he set lasted until 1954. Then, he broke it again by almost 10 miles per hour, this time in a Ferrari sports car.
Joe Kelly's full-time racing career ended in 1955. He had a serious accident at the Oulton Park circuit. However, he still competed in some hill climb races later in life. He drove Porsche and Ferrari sports cars in Wicklow, Ireland. His Jaguar C-Type and his Ferrari Monza cars are still raced today in special historic car events around the world.
His Business Life
Joe Kelly was a businessman first and a racer second. Making money from his car dealing and property trading was very important to him. He owned many famous homes in Ireland and England during the 1970s and 1980s. He was very well-known in his hometown of Dublin.
In the 1950s, he was in the Irish newspapers because he was the first Irishman to get a special invitation to the very first British Grand Prix at Silverstone. After he stopped racing, Joe Kelly focused on his businesses. This included being the official dealer for Ferrari cars in Ireland.
Later Life and Car Collection
After his accident in 1955, Joe Kelly worked on building car showrooms in England. In 1969, he sold them all and moved back to Athy, Ireland. This is where he started buying and selling properties. He ended up owning some of the most impressive estates in the country, like Old Conna Hill near Dublin.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, Joe Kelly started collecting rare and expensive cars. His collection included cars like Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Rolls-Royce.
Even though he lived most of his life in Ireland, Joe Kelly passed away in Neston, Cheshire, England.
Images for kids
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Joe Kelly's Jaguar after his crash at Oulton Park
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Joe Kelly's car dealership
