Alan Rees

Alan Rees is a former British racing driver who was active during the 1960s, recording three starts in the Formula One World Championship in 1966 and 1967. He was much more successful in Formula 2, winning the British championship in 1967 and scoring several wins in the European championship.

After his racing career, in 1969, he was one of the co-founders of March Engineering, a company that became one of the most successful British manufacturers of race cars. In 1977, he was one of the co-founders of Arrows racing team.

Alan Rees in 1978, a year after he co-founded Arrows

Victorious start of a career

Born in January 1938 in Langstone, Wales, Alan Rees started his racing career in the late 1950s. His first recorded success is a victory at BARC Goodwood race in April 1959, at the wheel of Lotus Eleven. Later he added few more wins and podiums to his account, switching to Lola MkI and collecting many wins in sports car races in 1960.

Joining Lotus factory team in 1962

In 1962, Reed joined Lotus factory team. He was even listed for Le Mans 24 Hours but didn't participate in the race. In July, he scored a class victory at Trophee d'Auvergne, a round of the World Sportscar Championship, in a Lotus 23.

Alan Rees was driving for Roy Winkelmann until the end of his career

Driving for Roy Winkelmann since 1963

In 1963, Rees started to race in Roy Winkelmann's car, both in sports car races with Lotus 23 and Formula 2 races with Brabham BT10-Cosworth and Brabham BT18-Cosworth. He was pretty successful, even finishing third in the French Formula 2 in 1964, behind Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme. He repeated the same result in the 1966 Formula 2 Trophees de France, again behind Brabham and Hulme.

Formula 1 debut in Formula 2 car at 1966 German Grand Prix

In August 1966, Rees made his Formula 1 Championship debut, driving Roy Winkelmann's #29 Brabham BT18-Cosworth F2 car at German Grand Prix at Nürburgring Nordschleife. He stopped after just three laps with a broken engine.

Alan Rees at 1966 German Grand Prix

Le Mans 24h debut with Matra

In 1966, Rees also recorded several notable attempts in sports car races with different manufacturers, including his debut at 24 Hours of Le Mans. First, he was driving a Ferrari 250 LM at Oulton Park's Tourist Trophy and Matra M620 at Spa 1000 Kilometers.

And then, in June 1966, he made Le Mans debut in the #42 Matra M620, sharing a car with Jo Schlesser. They retired after 100 laps because of an accident.

British Formula 2 champion in 1967

In 1967, Rees continued to race with Roy Winkelmann's Brabham BT23-Cosworth in Formula 2, winning the British F2 Championship. He was also successful in the inaugural European Formula 2 Championship, scoring two wins and finishing fifth in the points.

He also participated in some non-championship F2 races, taking fourth place in the Finnish Grand Prix and seventh place at International Gold Cup.

Alan Rees

Two Formula 1 Grand Prix starts in 1967

Rees recorded two Formula 1 Grand Prix starts in 1967. In July, he was driving the #14 Cooper T81-Maserati at British Grand Prix at Silverstone, finishing in the ninth place, four laps behind race winner Jim Clark.

In August 1967, he returned to Nordschleife in Formula 2 car, driving the #7 Brabham BT23-Cosworth at German Grand Prix. He finished the race in seventh place, the second among F2 drivers.

In 1967, Rees also recorded one start in the sports car championship, joining Jacky Ickx at Monza 1000 Kilometers in the #6 Mirage M1. They didn't finish the race.

Closing a career at the end of 1968

Rees spent one more season in racing competitions, driving Roy Winkelmann's Brabham BT23-Cosworth in Formula 2 races. He participated in five rounds of the Argentinean Temporada series, finishing in 16th place. In the 1968 European Formula Two Championship, he took part in four races, scoring points two times to finish 17th in the final classification.

March co-founders Max Mosley, Alan Rees and Robin Herd

Founding March in 1969 and Arrows in 1977

At the age 30, Rees finished his racing career. Next year, he was one of the co-founders of March Engineering. The company was named by initials of co-founders: Max Mosley, Alan Rees, Graham Coaker and Robin Herd. Each of them had a specific area of interest, Rees was acting as a manager.

A few years later he became a team principal of Shadow Racing Cars and then, in 1977, became a co-founder of another racing team – Arrows. The name was again taken from initials of co-founders: Franco Ambrosio, Alan Rees, Jackie Oliver, Dave Wass and Tony Southgate. Rees stayed with the team, which was renamed to Footwork in 1991, until 1996 when Tom Walkinshaw bought his share.

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