Difference between revisions of "Mal McKee"
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'''Mal McKee''' is a Northern Irish driver, manager and team owner in the GPVWC. He currently owns and runs [[Synergetic Motorsports]]. He competed in 35 [[Superleague]] races, with 24 race starts. | '''Mal McKee''' is a Northern Irish driver, manager and team owner in the GPVWC. He currently owns and runs [[Synergetic Motorsports]]. He competed in 35 [[Superleague]] races, with 24 race starts. | ||
| − | McKee started his sim-racing career in 2002 in the [[GPVWC]] and [[GPTC]] leagues. In the GPVWC, McKee approached [[Dan Lawrence]] (then league administrator), who put him in touch with [[Dan Prescott]] with a view to securing a seat with [[DPI Racing]]. Prescott gave McKee a test session at [[Magny-Cours]] and was impressed with the rookie's consistency. However, McKee drove with most of [[GP3]]'s [[driving aids]] on! Not having had time to read the rules, Mal unwittingly submitted laps which would have been illegal had it been a race session. Prescott was also unaware of this, and accepted the driver anyway. When McKee realised and then confessed to his new team manager, a contract had already been signed. Mal went on to get used to driving with the minimum of driver aids, in a short space of time, and entered the [[2003 Brazilian Grand Prix]]. | + | McKee started his sim-racing career in 2002 in the [[GPVWC]] and [[GPTC]] leagues. In the GPVWC, McKee approached [[Dan Lawrence]] (then league administrator), who put him in touch with [[Dan Prescott]] with a view to securing a seat with [[DPI Racing]]. Prescott gave McKee a test session at [[Magny-Cours]] and was impressed with the rookie's consistency. However, McKee drove with most of [[GP3]]'s [[driving aids]] on! Not having had time to read the rules, Mal unwittingly submitted laps which would have been illegal had it been a race session. Prescott was also unaware of this, and accepted the driver anyway, praising his consistent lap times. When McKee realised and then confessed to his new team manager, a contract had already been signed. Mal went on to get used to driving with the minimum of driver aids, in a short space of time, and entered the [[2003 Brazilian Grand Prix]]. |
==From Dan to Dan (2002)== | ==From Dan to Dan (2002)== | ||
Revision as of 04:55, 29 May 2011
| |
| Superleague Career | |
| Nationality |  British
|
|---|---|
| Active Years | 5 (2002, 2003, 2008, 2009) |
| Team(s) | DPI Racing, BA Racing, Ultima Racing, Synergetic MS |
| Grand Prix | 24 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Podium finishes | 8 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | |
| First Grand Prix | 2002 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| First Win | 2008 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Last Win | 2008 Japanese Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | |
Mal McKee is a Northern Irish driver, manager and team owner in the GPVWC. He currently owns and runs Synergetic Motorsports. He competed in 35 Superleague races, with 24 race starts.
McKee started his sim-racing career in 2002 in the GPVWC and GPTC leagues. In the GPVWC, McKee approached Dan Lawrence (then league administrator), who put him in touch with Dan Prescott with a view to securing a seat with DPI Racing. Prescott gave McKee a test session at Magny-Cours and was impressed with the rookie's consistency. However, McKee drove with most of GP3's driving aids on! Not having had time to read the rules, Mal unwittingly submitted laps which would have been illegal had it been a race session. Prescott was also unaware of this, and accepted the driver anyway, praising his consistent lap times. When McKee realised and then confessed to his new team manager, a contract had already been signed. Mal went on to get used to driving with the minimum of driver aids, in a short space of time, and entered the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Contents
From Dan to Dan (2002)
With Dan Prescott's sudden departure from the league, Dan Lawrence ensured McKee wasn't left without a drive. Lawrence rekindled BA Racing and gave McKee a seat. It was therefore with BA Racing that Mal entered his first Grand Prix in Brazil, 2002. He finished 10th, just behind his team mate and manager Dan Lawrence.
While today 10th is enough to secure a point in the championship, it was only the top six drivers who received points back then. Unfortunately the relative success of his début was not to last. In the early years of his career, Mal had problems with equipment and personal commitments that was to haunt him in his driving and management career for quite some years.
After a couple of races, Dan decided to bring some fresh talent into the team, and asked Mal to sit back as reserve driver. While this was somewhat disappointing, being a team player, this was something Mal readily agreed to. It wasn't long before Lawrence demoted himself as well, in favour of more talent for BA Racing. The fortunes of the team increased before the end of the season but, by then, it was too late.
Ups and Downs... mostly Downs (2003-2004)
With some minor success in the GPTC, McKee eventually got off the waiting list to enter his team, Down Racing in the GPVWC. The most consistent driver for his team, which renamed to Ultima Racing in the middle of the season, was Mal himself - and that was not a record of consistency to be proud of. Mal had wanted to concentrate on the management side and establish the team, while working on improving his driving skill on the side. This was not something which was destined to happen, however.
With a lack of interest in the team, and Mal's own increasing despair and dwindling optimism, he was hit with a double-barrel of disappointment: firstly, he was informed that his team had been evicted from the GPVWC with only two races to go in the season; then the GPTC league folded. McKee resigned himself that he was not destined for sim-racing. In that same year, the GPVWC itself had almost come to a standstill.
Mal remained on the sidelines, though kept in touch with some of the people in the league - particularly the new Administrator, William Ponissi, who had started his sim-racing career about the same time and shared a similar driving pace. McKee was jaded with the sim-racing scene, but his interest in both racing and managing never really left him.
Return (2005)
Thanks mostly to continued contact with Ponissi, Mal rejoined the GPVWC (now known as the F1VWC). He was given a racing seat in the Supercup with Mariano Malisani's new team, Synergetic Motorsports. Able to concentrate more on driving, and leaving the management side of things to others, Mal found a renewed commitment levels. When Mariano took a leave of absence, the team was offered to Mal, who accepted and developed a plan to enter the team in the Superleague. It had been his intention to re-enter the Superleague as well, after gaining some more valuable experience in the Supercup. He gained some moderate success in the Supercup, but his plans were delayed.
Synergy (2006)
Synergy is defined as "a mutually advantageous conjunction of distinct elements". A more apt description could hardly be found for McKee's resurrection as a team owner/manager. It is the very definition of a team, and a founding principle which McKee had hoped to inject in his role as manager, as well as other spheres. The opportunity to do this came in 2006 when, in order to increase the team's profile in the league, Mal and Ted Cragg entered into an agreement which saw Synergetic come under the umbrella of Stealth International.
The agreement was of more benefit to Synergetic, and Cragg was of a generous nature. It was to last until one or other of the owners decided to end it. This moment actually came when Cragg decided to retire Stealth from sim racing - at least from the GPVWC. The exercise was fruitful, and addressed the problem McKee had in attracting drivers to his team. Drivers were shared between the Stealth organisation and Synergetic, which meant that standby drivers achieved driving seats in the Superleague who wouldn't have had much opportunity otherwise.
McKee handed over the management of the Superleague aspect of Synergetic to Stealth's Juha Tanskanen, allowing him to concentrate on his own bid for glory in the Supercup and the management of that aspect of Synergetic.
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