The Shannons Nationals caught up with 2018 Australian Production Car Series Class B winner James Keene, who won the class title comfortably alongside Dominic Martens.
Shannons Nationals: Congratulations James on taking out the Class B1 class time – how were the celebrations?
James Keene: The celebrations were huge. To actually come away with the class title was quite something, because the cars in our class were really strong and we really had to push to get the win. When we actually came away with the title, it was just phenomenal.
SN: Was there one moment that sticks out to you?
JK: There isn’t really one particular moment as such, but towards the end of the year I was really hoping we could clinch the title because my dad Trevor actually took the Class B Production car title back in 2007. For us to back it up 11 years later with me driving and my dad in the crew chief was pretty special.
SN: Was there a moment you would rather forget?
JK: Probably the worst thing for us was blowing the gearbox in our second car at the beginning of the year. Dad and I had to work really hard to put a gearbox in before the next round.
During the opening round at Sandown, when we began running two cars, we ended up blowing one of the car’s gearboxes on the Saturday. Dad gave me the task of finding a new gearbox overnight, which I did. We put it in that night and we were back out racing the next day. We then had to track down another one to put back in our own car for the next round.
SN: Who would you like to thank for the title?
JK: I would like to thank all of our sponsors Volksmuller, MWMRacing, Walero Motorsports, APR Australia, Race Driver Coach, Midwest Multimedia, Brenden Vinckx Designs, Raceaway, Tracktime, Shane’s Signs, S-sport Racing, Buttriss Smash and Mechanical, Oils Plus Orange, Power Brake, Charged Drinks, Yellow Speed Racing Australia.
I would also like to thank all of our crew who helped out across the year and my dad, because we wouldn’t be out there racing if it weren’t for dad. He was fantastic for all the effort that he’s put in behind the scenes, especially with prepping and building the cars.
SN: What are the plans for this year?
JK: We plan to have a run at the first round of the Australian Production Car Series and then we’ll see how we’re standing after that. I could be doing a couple of rounds at the State Championships as the year goes on, but because I’ll actually be away overseas for one of the Australian Production Cars rounds, I won’t be back for another crack at the class title.
