Neil McEwan
 Neil McEwan | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Name | Neil McEwan |
| Born | 6th June 1966 |
| Nationality | Template:GBR British |
| Achievements | |
| Won a defamation lawsuit against Sue Jawhard | |
Neil McEwan (born 6th June, 1966 in Gillingham, Kent) is a British former racing driver and Precision Team Principal from 2022.
Early life
Having been born and raised in Kent, McEwan had been exposed to motorsport from an early age. The first race he ever attended was the 1978 Tony Brise Memorial Trophy, which was won by Arrows driver Keke Rosberg. Inspired by the racing that he watched, he was able to work his way through the scholarship classes at Buckmore Park Circuit alongside his academic studies. His car racing career began with him picking up sporadic drives at Brands Hatch as a nineteen-year-old, and McEwan would not run a full Formula One season until the age of 21, by which time he had graduated from the University of Kent with a degree he described as "computer stuff".
At around this time, McEwan was able to make use of his father's banking connections to secure the backing that would be required to secure a seat at the best teams in British Formula Three and Formula 3000.
Early career
| Template:GBR British F3 Career | |
|---|---|
| Entries | 34 |
| Starts | 33 |
| Wins | 1 Donington, '89 |
| Podiums | 6 |
| Points | 41 |
| Best Season | 5th 1989, 28 pts |
McEwan's early outings for Mike Rowe Racing in 1986 and 1987 were very anonymous, with a best finish of 7th from his five attempts he did not trouble the scorers. That was to change when he joined Middlebridge Racing in 1988 with the intention of running a full season with the team. He claimed his first points for the team in the fourth round of the season, and added his maiden podium finish a few weeks later; both results came at his home track of Brands Hatch. His season would take a nosedive at Thruxton, however, when an accident at Church in qualifying left him with a broken wrist. After some time out to let it recover, McEwan returned to the track with a stunning podium at Oulton Park, although he and the team did opt to skip the rounds at both Spa and Thruxton owing to the time already lost in the season, and consequent lack of funds.
This would prove to be a strong year for McEwan, as he recorded three further podiums including a win at Donington Park to place fifth in the Championship, this time driving for B&S Fabrications, the former Formula One team. McEwan considered this to be proof enough that he was ready to make the step up to British Formula 3000 with GA Motorsport, driving alongside Vittorio Zoboli, though he did return for two rounds of the 1990 British F3 Championship to "keep his eye in".
Formula 3000 Career
After a somewhat slow start in which his team failed to get to grips with the number eight car, McEwan claimed his maiden Formula 3000 race win in his sixth race at this level, winning an attritional race on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. This immediately propelled him into the upper reaches of the Championship table, a position that he would later consolidate with a second-place finish at Donington Park. McEwan's fifth place in the Championship put him both one place and one point above teammate Zoboli.
McEwan returned to the team in 1991, competing in the first three rounds of the Championship before a second-place finish at Brands Hatch attracted the attention of Dome, in the International championship, who invited him to replace the underperforming Mauro Martini from Mugello onwards. He had a difficult season in the uncompetitive Dome car, culminating in an unfortunate accident with Ukyo Katayama in which the Japanese driver sustained injuries that kept him out of the season finale. McEwan received a race ban for his part in the incident, being replaced by local French driver Mike Boullier at Magny-Cours.
Despite this, the team kept faith in McEwan for the 1992 season, in which he performed well enough to attract the attention of Oreca Formula 1 team for the 1993 Formula One season. In the background of the 1992 season, McEwan was also contesting a defamation lawsuit with journalist Sue Jawhard, who incorrectly reported that Katayama had lost his life in the accident, and used it to coin the nickname "Murderer McEwan" that would follow the British driver through the early 1990s.
Formula One Career
In the 1993 Formula One season, McEwan started strongly by recording a 7th placed finish at the Pacific Grand Prix, home race of team sponsor Footwork. This would ultimately be the best result of a very difficult season for Oreca, one in which long-standing driver Sophie Fabron was fired from the team to be replaced by American driver Robby Gordon. Unlike Gordon, McEwan had a strong relationship with the team's engineers. Also unlike Gordon, McEwan was retained for the 1994 season.
Sportscars and Team Management
After McEwan failed to find a drive for the 1998 Formula One season, McEwan switched his focus to sportscars. He picked up various drives in series that included the American Le Mans Series, Sports Racing World Cup and 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2006, McEwan founded McEwan Automotive in order to build a car according to the new LMP1 regulations. His four attempts at the famous race made him international motorsport's most recent driver-constructor.
After winding down his sportscar efforts, McEwan Automotive became involved in junior teams in a consulting capacity, working with Mucke Motorsport from 2010 to 2018. In 2022, McEwan was promoted to the Team Principal of Precision following the departure of Jeroen Krautmeir from the role.
Racing Career Results
British Formula Three Championship
| Season | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pts | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Template:GBR Mike Rowe Racing | Ralt-Volkswagen | THR |
SIL |
THR |
SIL |
BRH |
THR |
DON |
SIL |
SIL |
OUL |
ZAN |
DON |
SNE |
SIL |
BRH Ret |
ZOL |
SPA |
SIL |
0 | - |
| 1987 | Template:GBR Mike Rowe Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen | THR |
BRH 7 |
SIL |
THR |
SIL |
BRH Ret |
THR |
SIL |
ZAN |
DON |
SIL |
SNE |
DON |
OUL |
SIL |
BRH 10 |
SPA |
THR Ret |
0 | - |
| 1988 | Template:GBR Middlebridge Racing | Reynard-Toyota | THR Ret |
SIL Ret |
THR 8 |
BRH 6 |
DON 10 |
SIL 9 |
BRH 3 |
THR DNS |
SIL INJ |
DON INJ |
SIL INJ |
SNE INJ |
OUL 3 |
SIL 12 |
BRH Ret |
SPA |
THR |
SIL 7 |
9 | 11th |
| 1989 | Template:GBR B&S Fabrications | Ralt-Volkswagen | THR 4 |
SIL 14 |
BRH Ret |
SIL 6 |
BRH 7 |
THR Ret |
SIL 3 |
DON 1 |
SIL 8 |
SNE 6 |
OUL 3 |
SIL Ret |
BRH DSQ |
DON 5 |
SIL Ret |
THR 4 |
28 | 5th | ||
| 1990 | Template:GBR Hepworth Racing | Reynard-Volkswagen | DON |
SIL |
THR |
BRH |
SIL |
BRH |
THR |
SIL Ret |
DON |
SIL |
SNE |
OUL |
SIL |
BRH 3 |
DON |
THR |
SIL |
4 | 13th | |
British Formula 3000 Championship
| Season | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pts | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Template:GBR GA Motorsport | Lola-Cosworth | BRH 6 |
OUL Ret |
THR 8 |
SNE DNS |
BRH 7 |
BRH 1 |
OUL Ret |
BRH Ret |
SIL 6 |
DON 2 |
17 | 5th | |
| 1991 | Template:GBR GA Motorsport | Reynard-Cosworth | OUL Ret |
DON Ret |
BRH 2 |
BRH |
OUL |
SNE |
THR |
DON |
BRH |
SIL |
DON |
6 | 11th |
International Formula 3000 Championship
| Season | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pts | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 |  Dome
|
Dome-Cosworth | IMO |
SIL |
PAU |
JER |
MUG 19 |
ENN Ret |
HOC 16 |
BRH 12 |
SPA 14 |
BUG 23 |
MAG EX |
0 | NC | |
| 1992 | Dome
|
Dome-Cosworth | SIL ENT |
IMO ENT |
PAU ENT |
CAT ENT |
ENN ENT |
HOC ENT |
NUR ENT |
SPA ENT |
EST ENT |
BUG ENT |
MAG ENT |
BUE ENT |
* | * |
Formula One World Championship
| Season | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Template:FRA Footwork Team Oreca | Oreca-Lamborghini | RSA Ret |
BRA 19 |
PAC 7 |
SMR Ret |
ESP 12 |
MON Ret |
CAN 13† |
FRA 10 |
GBR Ret |
GER Ret |
HUN 16 |
BEL Ret |
ITA INJ |
POR 12† |
JPN Ret |
AUS 12 |
0 | NC |
| 1994 | Template:FRA Footwork Team Oreca | Oreca-Mugen-Honda | BRA Ret |
PAC Ret |
SMR Ret |
MON 5 |
ESP 7 |
CAN Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR 6 |
GER 13 |
HUN Ret |
BEL 14 |
ITA Ret |
PRT Ret |
EUR Ret |
JPN 4 |
AUS 7 |
6 | 14th |
24 Hours of Le Mans
- This is more of a rough guide so that future-me knows who it was I wanted to try to pick up. Will most definitely change as and when the time comes - therefore to be treated as subject to change.
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 |  Kickert Motorsport Engineering
|
Pieter Kickert Template:AUS Paul Stokell |
Porsche 911 GT3-R | GT | TBC | |
| 2001 | Template:GBR Ecurie Ecosse | Template:GBR Ian McKellar Template:BEL Bruno Lambert |
Saleen S7-R | GTS | ||
| 2003 | Template:USA Risi Competizione | Template:USA Shane Lewis Template:USA Butch Leitzinger |
Ferrari 360 Modena GTC | GT | ||
| 2006 | Template:GBR McEwan Automotive | Template:FRA Mike Boullier Pieter Kickert
|
McEwan MA1 | LMP1 | ||
| 2007 | Template:GBR McEwan Automotive | Template:FRA Mike Boullier Tiago Monteiro
|
McEwan MA3 | LMP1 | ||
| 2008 | Template:GBR McEwan Automotive | Tiago Monteiro Template:GBR James Rossiter |
McEwan MA4 | LMP1 | ||
| 2009 | Template:GBR McEwan Automotive | Tiago Monteiro Template:GBR James Rossiter |
McEwan MA4 | LMP1 | ||