By 
CASTLEDERG man Ken Irwin was honoured on Monday, November 3, when the Mayor of Derry & Strabane Council Ruairi McHugh hosted a civic reception to celebrate his achievements in motorsport.
The word ‘legend’ is often thrown around these days, but in motorsport terms, it’s the perfect word to describe Ken. He has been Northern Ireland overall autotest champion six times, Southern Ireland champion twice, Scottish champion once and the pinnacle of his Autotesting career was becoming British Autotest champion in 1981.
He was also the first driver to win all four different classes in the Northern Ireland Championship, a feat that has only been repeated by one other driver.
The biggest event in the sport each year is the International Autotest held in England where teams from all countries compete for the Ken Wharton Trophy. Ken has represented Northern Ireland a record 30 times and has been on the winning team a record 15 times. He has also won every class on that event and has set the individual fastest time on a number of occasions.
Such are his skills that they were recognised by none other than Top Gear who invited him to become part of their stunt driving team. He did two six week world tours helping to put on breath-taking driving displays in a number of different countries, sharing the stage with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
As a very talented engineer, throughout the past 50 years Ken has built and prepared cars for other drivers. These cars have won over 25 championship titles.
At 85 years of age he still is building cars and is a great encourager of young and upcoming drivers. He delights in taking a young driver and mentoring them and the records will show that some of them have gone on to win championships.
Not only is he renowned for his Autotest achievements but Ken was also a very gifted rally driver. He competed all over Ireland, winning many rally awards. One of these was winning the up to 1600cc Group One class in the Northern Ireland Forest championship. On that occasion his navigator was Omagh man Godfrey Crawford.
The word legend is some times misused but in Ken’s case he is a true legend and being recognised by the Lord Mayor in the Guild Hall was a fitting tribute to a wonderful talented man who thoroughly deserved this award.
