Autosport international 2014 day three

Autosport international (photo by Marc Waller)The first of the two public days of Autosport international took place on Saturday and were opened by John Surtees and Martin Brundle.

Today also saw the presentation of the annual BWRDC Gold star awards. The award, given to two female racing drivers every year by the club, recognises and rewards achievement by female racing drivers and it aims to help their driving careers. This year there were two drivers nominated at Elite level, for drivers who are aiming to become professionals; Charlotte Burridge and Amanda Black. For the club level award; which is aimed at drivers who race solely for fun but want to attain a higher level in their career there were three nominees; 2013 Max 5 Mk1 champion Amy Barker, Sian Stafford-Atkinson, Sharlie Goddard and Jo Hodgson.

For each award, there are a number of prizes incuding A free test day courtesy of Donington Park, GoldStars website build and support courtesy of 24Seven, a 20% discount from Grand Prix Racewear (GPR), a simulator session courtesy of iZone, a supply of specialist products from Lucas Oil, £100 Stand 21 voucher and a Vectorised Portrait courtesy of DSD.

Autosport international (photo by Marc Waller)Autosport international (photo by Marc Waller)Autosport international (photo by Marc Waller)The winners also have female mentors appointed to help and guide them through their next season. For the Elite drivers it’s Susie Wolf and the Club drivers have Liz Halliday.

Rob Austin was on hand to present the awards and the winners were Amanda Black for the elite award and Amy Barker for the club award.

There was some f1 news today as Max Chilton was confirmed as a Marussia F1 driver for his second season. Chilton spoke on the main Autosport stage; I received fantastic support from British motorsport fans throughout my first season in Formula One, and it was exciting to share the news that I’ll be continuing with the Marussia F1 Team in 2014 with them first hand at Autosport International today. You learn such a lot in your debut season, but the second year is when you can really pull all of those new experiences together and show your true potential. That has always been the case for me in the junior categories and I’ll be aiming for a similar step in my second year of F1 competition.”

There were many other British drivers interviewed on the main stage during the day including; the only man to have won world championships on two and four wheels, John Surtees, ex-F1 racer and commentator Martin Brundle, retiring Le Mans legend Allan McNish, British Touring Car Champions Andrew Jordan, Matt Neal, Jason Plato, Gordon Shedden and Colin Turkington, and F1 test drivers Gary Paffett and Sam Bird.

Autosport international (photo by Marc Waller)Autosport international (photo by Marc Waller)Autosport international (photo by Marc Waller)Tom Kristensen and Petter Solberg were also present at the show. Allan Mcnish was on hand later at the super One karting stand to present their awards. He spoke at the stand;
“I really enjoyed being able to meet with the fans who have provided so much support, and, personally, it was great to present the karting trophies to the next generation of drivers. 2013 was my last season racing at the top level, and it was nice to see the enthusiasm and dedication of the next generation of British stars.”

Following on from the mention of the charity kart race in our previous report, the Dan Wheldon Kart trophy was won by team Avago, including Rikki Christadolou. The BRDC all-female team took ninth place in the end after running strongly in the top four during the early stages. The Moore families Tockwith (Including Sarah Moore) team took second after losing the lead late in the race. Third was Titan Motorsport. Full results are available on the TSL Timing website. (www.tsl-timing.com) Sunday sees the last chance to visit this year’s show and there will be plenty of celebrity drivers to see and possibly meet as well as plenty of attractions to see and activites to take part in. Tickets are available on the day from the NEC. By Marc Waller

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