Jones

Number Fifty Eight to my vast collection
And one HUGE THANK YOU to ProudGangrel for this boy
He will remain happily in my collection (for forever, I can assure you)

1980 WDC and one of the most successful Australian drivers of all time

His familiar is named after the team he won the Can-Am championship; Lola. Plus its a blue crocodile: blue for Williams and a crocodile for Australia


Once again not enough gifs (please be kind)

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Formula One World Championship career Nationality: Australian Active years: 1975–1981, 1983, 1985–1986 Teams: Hesketh (privateer), Hill, Surtees, Shadow, Williams, Arrows, Haas Lola Entries: 117 (116 starts) Championships: 1 (1980) Wins: 12 Podiums: 24 Career points: 199 (206) Pole positions: 6 Fastest laps: 13 First entry: 1975 Spanish Grand Prix First win: 1977 Austrian Grand Prix Last win: 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix Last entry: 1986 Australian Grand Prix Alan Stanley Jones, MBE; born 2 November 1946, is an Australian former Formula One driver. He was the first driver to win a Formula One World Championship with the Williams team, becoming the 1980 World Drivers' Champion and the second Australian to do so following triple World Champion Sir Jack Brabham. He competed in a total of 117 Grands Prix, winning 12 and achieving 24 podium finishes. In 1978 Jones won the Can-Am championship driving a Lola. Jones is also the last Australian driver to win the Australian Grand Prix, winning the 1980 event at Calder Park Raceway, having lapped the field consisting mostly of Formula 5000 cars while he was driving his Formula One Championship winning Williams FW07B. Jones announced his retirement after the 1981 season, which he managed to cap with a win in Las Vegas, but came out of retirement for a one-time drive with Arrows in 1983 at the United States Grand Prix West at Long Beach where he qualified 12th but retired after 58 laps through driver fatigue. A week later he again drove for Arrows in the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch where he qualified and finished third behind reigning World Champion Keke Rosberg (Williams) and rookie American driver Danny Sullivan (Tyrrell). This was to be his last drive for the team, a bid to raise enough money to drive in the French Grand Prix the week after the Race of Champions failed which saw Arrows use its regular drivers Marc Surer and Chico Serra (whom Jones had replaced at Long Beach) instead.

During a 2012 Grand Prix Legends interview, Jones revealed that he had been contacted by Ferrari to drive for the team from mid-1982 after the death of Gilles Villeneuve and the injury forced retirement of Didier Pironi. As he was enjoying life back in Australia at the time, Jones did not give them an answer straight away and basically gave them the run around, a move he regrets as it was possible that, as the 1980 World Champion, Ferrari would have wanted to keep him for 1983 when he was looking to make a comeback, which would have seen him drive the car which won the Constructors' Championship in 1983. After taking too long to give them an answer, the Scuderia instead offered the drive to 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti who drove the last two races of the 1982 season at Monza and Caesars Palace.

Jones did not compete in Formula One during 1984, though he did drive some World Sportscar Championship races in 1983 and 1984. He made a full-time comeback to F1 late in 1985 when Team Haas was created and Jones became the first driver for the team. The American owned and sponsored team was based in England and made its debut at the 1985 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Jones qualified the new Lola THL1 9.851 seconds slower than pole man Ayrton Senna in his Lotus-Renault and retired after only 6 laps with a blown engine. Jones was joined at Haas in 1986 by former Ferrari and Renault works driver Patrick Tambay. The comeback was unsuccessful more due to the Ford V6 engine's lack of power compared to its rivals from Honda, TAG-Porsche, BMW, Ferrari and Renault, than any lack of effort from the team and its drivers.

At the end of the 1986 season after the Haas team lost its sponsorship and ran out of money, Jones retired from Formula One for good having won 12 races, 6 pole positions and one World Championship.

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