Callan O'Keeffe (born 9 June 1996) is a South African former racing driver, driver coach and founder of the School Of Send. He is a former member of both the

Red Bull Junior Team The Red Bull Junior Team is a driver development programme operated by Austrian conglomerate company Red Bull GmbH to identify and develop talent in open-wheel racing. Members of the Junior Team are financed and sponsored by Red Bull in kart ...

and the Lotus F1 Junior Team.

Racing career

Karting

O'Keeffe started karting at the age of 13. In 2010 he finished third in the KF3 CIK-FIA World Cup. In 2011 O'Keefe won the British Karting Junior Championship in and was the runner-up in the KF3 CIK-FIA World Cup.

Lower formulae

O'Keeffe began his career in single-seater racing cars in 2012 with the Formula BMW Talent Cup. He won 4 races during the regular season. In the Grand Final, he only finished in ninth with 13 points. In 2013 he competed in the

ADAC Formel Masters ADAC Formel Masters was an ADAC sanctioned open wheel racing series based in Germany, held annually from 2008 to 2014. It was replacement of the local Formula BMW championship. The first season was in 2008 and is the main feeder series to the ATS F ...

for Lotus. He finished the season in thirteenth.

Formula Renault

For the 2014 season, he signed a contract with the ART Junior Team to start in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. Later in the season, he switched his team driver for KTR alongside fellow

Lotus F1 Lotus F1 Team was a British Formula One racing team. The team competed under the Lotus name from until , following the renaming of the former Renault in Formula One, Renault team based at Enstone in Oxfordshire. The Lotus F1 Team was majority ...

juniors

Alex Albon Alexander Albon Ansusinha (; born 23 March 1996) is a Thai and British racing driver who competes under the Thai flag in Formula One for Williams. Born in Westminster and raised in Suffolk, Albon is the son of English racing driver Nigel A ...

and Gregor Ramsay. He took his first Formula Renault race win in the Northern European Cup at

TT Circuit Assen The TT Circuit Assen is a motorsport race track built in 1955 and located in Assen, Netherlands. Host of the Dutch TT, it is popularly referred to as "The Cathedral of Speed" by motorcycle racing fans. The venue has the distinction of holding th ...

. after also scoring his first pole position. At the end of the season he had scored one win and was on the podium three times. He was seventh in the drivers' standings with 187 points. In the Eurocup he collected a total of 28 points and finished sixteenth in the final drivers' standings. In 2015 he joined

Fortec Motorsport Fortec Motorsport Ltd. is a motor-racing team that races in the GB3 Championship, GB4 Championship, and F4 British Championship. The team was bought in 1995 by current owner Richard Dutton. Past drivers for the team include Juan Pablo Montoya, ...

s to compete in both the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. In the Northern European Cup he scored 3 podiums and finished the season in seventh. In the Eurocup he only finished in fourteenth after leaving the series ahead of the final two rounds. In 2016 he only competed in one round of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup for

JD Motorsport JD Motorsport was an auto racing team based in Vespolate, Italy that competed in formula single-seaters in Europe. History The team was formed in 1995 by Roberto Cavallari and Alfredo Cappelletti. In 1996 the team started to participate in Form ...

. In 2019 he returned to the

Formula Renault Eurocup Formula Renault Eurocup was a Formula Renault motor racing championship. Eurocup raced only on European circuits. It served as a support series to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series as part of the World Series by Renault from 2005 to 2015. Renault S ...

with FA Racing by

Drivex Drivex is an auto racing team and school based in Spain. The team was founded by Pedro de la Rosa and Miguel Ángel de Castro in 2005 as a racing school. The racing team is run by Miguel Ángel de Castro. They compete in the F4 Spanish Championsh ...

. Ahead of the fifth round at

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a Race track, motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa, Belgium, Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One ...

he moved to

M2 Competition M2 Competition are a motorsport team based in New Zealand and Belgium. History Founded in 2010, M2 Competition began partaking in the New Zealand-based single-seater championship the Castrol Toyota Racing Series in 2011, with Ivan Lukashevich ...

. He finished the season in seventeenth.

BRDC British Formula 3 Championship

In 2016 O'Keeffe competed in the BRDC British Formula 3 Auumn Trophy for

, where he finished third. In 2017 he joined Douglas Motorsport for a full season in the

BRDC British Formula 3 Championship The GB3 Championship is a single seater motorsport series based in the United Kingdom. The championship is the UK's premier single-seater category, and is aimed at young racing drivers moving up from FIA Formula 4 championships, the GB4 Champi ...

. He scored 3 podiums and finished the season in sixth.

British LMP3 Cup

In 2017 O'Keeffe also made his debut in

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

by competing in some events of the

2017 British LMP3 Cup The 2017 Henderson Insurance Brokers LMP3 Cup Championship was the inaugural season for the British LMP3 Cup. The series started at Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicester ...

together with his team Douglas Motorsport.

U.S. F2000 National Championship

In 2017 O'Keeffe also competed in selected races of the

U.S. F2000 National Championship The USF2000 Championship Presented by Continental Tire is an American racing series using an American variation of the Formula Ford standard, "F2000", that resumed operation for the 2010 season. As of 2022, it is sanctioned by the United States ...

Formula One

In 2012 he was signed by the

. He was dropped by Red Bull after the 2013 season. He then joined the Lotus F1 Junior Team in 2014. He parted ways with

prior to the 2015 season.

School Of Send

After retiring from racing in 2019 O'Keeffe founded the

driver development program A driver development program, also known as a driver development team or driver academy, is a system or structure designed to identify and develop talent in auto racing. Programs are typically offered to drivers aged 12 to 25 in junior racing cat ...

School Of Send. The program offers simulator training, in-car tuition, online coaching and trackside support for its drivers. The programs current drivers include

Matthew Rees Matthew Rees (born 9 December 1980) is a Welsh former professional rugby union footballer who played as a hooker. After beginning his career with Tonyrefail RFC and Merthyr RFC, he made his professional debut for Pontypridd RFC in 2001. With t ...

, Hunter Yeany,

Rui Andrade Rui Andrade may refer to: * Rui Andrade (footballer) (born 1977), Portuguese footballer * Rui Andrade (racing driver) (born 1999), Angolan-Portuguese racing driver {{hndis, Andrade, Rui ...

, Max Cuthbert and Sonny Smith. In 2021 Matthew Rees became the

F4 British Championship The F4 British Championship (full name Wera Tools F4 British Championship certified by FIA, formerly known as F4 British Championship certified by FIA — powered by Ford (2016–21), MSA Formula (2015)) is a single-seater motorsport seri ...

champion with O'Keeffe as head coach.

Personal life

As of 2019, O'Keeffe resides near

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He is in a relationship with Dutch cyclist

Puck Moonen Puck Moonen (born 20 March 1996 in Sint-Michielsgestel) is a Dutch cyclist, who has ridden in the past for UCI Women's Continental Team . She previously rode for Lotto Soudal but left, in part due to a knee injury. In 2019, she became a spokesper ...

Racing record

Racing career summary

† O'Keeffe was ineligible to score points.

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* * https://www.schoolofsend.co.uk/ {{DEFAULTSORT:OKeeffe, Callan Living people 1996 births South African racing drivers Karting World Championship drivers Formula BMW drivers ADAC Formel Masters drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers BRDC British Formula 3 Championship drivers U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers Motopark Academy drivers R-ace GP drivers ART Grand Prix drivers Keerbergs Transport Racing drivers Fortec Motorsport drivers JD Motorsport drivers FA Racing drivers Drivex drivers M2 Competition drivers Racing drivers from Johannesburg South African expatriate sportspeople in England Sportspeople from St Albans 21st-century South African sportsmen