Alan Jones, MBE ASM
1980 Formula One World Champion
Alan Jones is a world-renowned motor racing identity and Australian legend. He and Sir Jack Brabham are the only two Australians to have won the Formula One World Championship as drivers.
Alan won a remarkable 12 grands prix from 116 starts. His Formula One career spanned from 1975 to 1986 and his final grand prix appearance was in Adelaide, Australia.
Outside Formula One racing, Alan has proved a versatile performer in a variety of racing formulae and has excelled in television commentating and as an inspiring speaker.
Alan’s motor racing career began in go-karts, winning the Victorian Junior Go-Kart Championship in 1958-59. As Alan’s skills developed, his touring car experiences grew enormously, travelling extensively in Great Britain and Europe. From 1969 to 1981, he based himself in Great Britain.
Alan had a major career breakthrough in 1972 when he won the 1972 British Formula 3 Championship in a GRD.
Alan entered Formula One in 1975 with the Hesketh-Ford Team. He drove for Surtees-Ford in 1976, then for Shadow-Ford the following year.
Continuing with Shadow in 1977, Alan raced into the international limelight with his first Formula One victory, the Austrian Grand Prix at Osterreichring, where he took the chequered flag ahead of the Ferrari, driven by Austria’s world champion Niki Lauda. Alan then began a highly successful four year stint with the Williams-Ford team. In 1979, they won four grand prix races and finished third in the World Championships.
During 1980, Alan Jones won grand prix races in Argentina, Great Britain, Canada and the United States, making him the World Champion ahead of Nelson Piquet, Carlos Reutemann and Jacques Laffite.
Late in 1981, Alan Jones made his debut on the Australian premier touring car race at Bathurst, driving a Holden Commodore with Victorian Warren Cullen. In 1982, Alan clinched the Australian Sports Sedan & GT Championship by winning all nine rounds in a Porsche 935.
Alan returned to Formula One in 1985 with the Lola-Haas team powered by the turbocharged Hart engine and the following year with a Ford engine. After retiring from Formula One, Alan participated in International Touring Car Championships. His success in motor car racing continued throughout the nineties, including victory in the 1993 James Hardie 12-hour event at Bathurst in a Mazda RX-7. He also won the 1995 Winfield Triple Challenge at Eastern Creek and followed this up by recording top-three podium finishes in the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship rounds at Phillip Island and Eastern Creek. Alan Jones’ extensive career in motor car racing make him a knowledgeable expert on all motor car racing, including Formula One and Touring Car Racing.
