When the University announced its new race team in October 2014, Shane Kelly was named as its driver. More than a decade later he is still there — now as Team Manager as well as the driver of every UWR car, from the original Formula Renault to the 2026 Radical SR3 XXR.
The racer
Kelly raced in Formula Renault UK in 2002 and 2003 and won the Club Formula 3 championship in 2006. He has also worked as a precision driver on films including Rush and Fury. Before UWR he had worked with founder David Tucker in 750 Motor Club Formula 4 and Monoposto.
With UWR
- Formula Renault 2.0 debut season, 2015
- F3 Cup with the Dallara F308: P2 2016, P2 2017, P3 2018, P2 2019, class champions 2021
- Praga Cup win at Silverstone, 2022, sharing with Stefano Leaney
- Praga Driver of the Year, ZEO Prototype Series, 2023 — including the first outright win for a Praga in the series
- Outright win at Brands Hatch Indy with fastest lap, 2024
- Revolution 500 EVO, Equipe Sports Prototypes, 2025
- Radical SR3 XXR #11, Radical Cup UK, 2026 — team-reported P3 overall
The mentor
Kelly has always framed the team’s purpose around the students rather than the trophies. In interviews he has described UWR as a mainstream racing operation rather than a university championship, and the industry’s engineering skills gap as the reason it exists. Looking ahead from the tenth season, he set out a focus on graduate readiness, career support and making motorsport accessible to all ages.
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