Kelby Rogerson
 Kelby Rogerson pictured on his potato farm after retiring. | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Name | Kelby Rogerson |
| Born | 29th Feb 1952 |
| Nationality |  Irish
|
| Achievements | |
| Drove in the Dywa Grand Prix Series | |
Kelby Colm Rogerson (born 29th February, 1952 in Ardee, County Louth) is an Irish former racing driver best known for competing in the Dywa Grand Prix Series.
Early life
Growing up in County Louth in the 1950s and '60s, Rogerson was raised from an early age to support the unification of Ireland. Once he left school, Rogerson began to smuggle weapons out of the Republic of Ireland and into Northern Ireland, replacing them with contraception on the British side of the border to make the return trip. He quickly built up good savings by doing this, eventually making enough that he could get out of the smuggling business and instead move into a safer and more sensible industry: in 1973, he started a new career motorsport.
Career in Ireland
Rogerson began his racing career in Ireland in 1973, racing in the Irish Formula Ford Championship. He became a very familiar face in the circles that conducted their racing at the Mondello Park, Phoenix Park and Kirkistown circuits in particular, as well as occasional appearances in hot rod events at Waterford Raceway and street races at Dundalk and Dundrod. He owned and operated his own Crossle 30F Formula Ford car, as well as a Ford Escort Mk I that he used in hot rod races and on one ill-advised occasion, a road rally.
He also got the taste for more powerful machinery in Formula Atlantic and occasionally Formula 5000 cars graced Kirkistown, Mondello and Phoenix Park with their presence - although on those occasions, Rogerson was occasionally stymied by the need to convince others that he was worth entrusting their cars to. His best result was second place at Phoenix Park in a Formula Atlantic car entered for him by Eddie Jordan, which sounds good except for it being the second of two Formula Atlantic cars in the race - the rest of the field was filled by Formula Ford entries.
There is only so long that you can remain interested in the same three Irish racing circuits though, and Rogerson began to set his sights further afield. He competed in two races of the 1977 Super Visco British Formula Three Championship for Alan Docking Racing, and attempted to enter the 1977 Dave Lee Travis Trophy in the Shellsport International Series, but his Aim Racing Chevron-Ford failed to make the start of the race. As he was already in England, he used the opportunity to enter the 1977 Hot Rod World Final at Foxhall Stadium, but did not finish after being dumped into the wall by an angry Norwich man.
International Competition
In 1978, Rogerson finally got his break in international motorsport when the Dywa Grand Prix Series was founded by Dydo Monguzzi with the backing of Renzo Engineering. He managed to secure a drive with the newly-founded Scuderia Sighinolfi, and it was surprisingly cheap, setting him back roughly the same as he had once charged his buyers for however many condoms you can fit in a Ford Anglia.
Racing Career Results
Selected results from Irish races
| Series | Event | Result | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formula Ford | 1974 Formula Ford Race at Kirkistown | 3rd | Mr. K.C. Rogerson |
| 1975 Irish Formula Ford Championship | 4th | Mr. K.C. Rogerson | |
| Formula Atlantic | 1976 John Player Grand Prix (Phoenix Park) | 2nd | Mr. E.P. Jordan |
| 1976 Irish Formula Atlantic Series | 5th | Mr. K.C. Rogerson / Mr. E.P. Jordan [?] | |
| Formula 5000 | 1974 Dublin Grand Prix (Mondello Park) | 6th | Hogan Racing Limited |
Dywa Grand Prix series
| Season | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pts | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 |  Scuderia Sighinolfi
|
Dywa-Renzo | ENN | IMO | ROU | NUR | MIS | MUG | BAR | CAS | CLE | MNZ |