Autosport Awards: Motorsport superstars celebrate in London
London, UK – 8th December 2019: Following a year of stunning overtakes, nail-biting racing and a host of new talent emerging, superstars from throughout motorsport descended on London’s Grosvenor House for the 2019 Autosport Awards – dubbed ‘The Greatest Night in Motorsport’.
In its 30th year, Motorsport Network’s premier event was once again a roll call of the industry’s leading figures celebrating the achievements of the recently concluded motor racing season. More than 1,000 VIPs graced the red carpet including motor racing legend, Sir Jackie Stewart, World Rally champion Ott Tanak, double Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne and celebrities Vernon Kay and Strictly Come Dancing’s Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse.
The 2019 Autosport Awards were this year also honoured with royalty with His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Monaco attending to collect the Gregor Grant award to mark 90 years of the iconic Monaco Grand Prix.
In a year when Lewis Hamilton claimed International Racing Driver of the Year, presented by Pirelli, and Marc Marquez claimed Rider of the Year, presented by Tata Communications, alongside their Formula 1 and MotoGP World Championships, a host of young talent solidified their places as future title contenders winning awards throughout the evening.
Red Bull Racing’s Alex Albon collected the Richard Mille Rookie of the Year award and McLaren’s Lando Norris was announced as British Competition Driver of the Year. The strong display of young driving talent was enhanced with Johnathan Hoggard taking home the evening’s marque award as winner of the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.
Hoggard will receive £200,000, an F1 test drive with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, a World Endurance Championship GTE car test as well as full membership of the British Racing Drivers’ Club. Johnathan joins an elite group of winners including the first winner of the prestigious award and new President of the BRDC, David Coulthard, who presented the award, Jenson Button, Dario Franchitti and many more drivers who currently compete in World Championship series.
Charlie Whiting was posthumously awarded the John Bolster award. The Award, named after Autosport's co-founder and long-time technical editor, is presented annually to an organisation or person that has made an exceptional contribution to motorsport technology. The late Whiting had been the FIA race director since 1997 and was responsible for all activity on track over a race weekend including safety, starting the race and enforcing rules and regulations. He had been a driving force in promoting safety in F1, including the introduction of the halo cockpit protection device last year.
James Allen, Motorsport Network President, said: “Celebrating current, future and past talents from throughout all corners of the Motorsport community is always a highlight of my year. Being guardians of the Autosport Awards is something we at Motorsport Network take great pride in. Congratulations to all our winners tonight and in particular Johnathan Hoggard our 2019 Aston Martin Autosport BRDC winner. It’s great to see so many young winners who with so much potential to become World Champions of the future.”
Winners of the awards voted for by the readers of Autosport were:
Rider of the Year, presented by Tata Communications
Marc Márquez
International Racing Driver of the Year, presented by Pirelli
Lewis Hamilton
British Competition Driver of the Year
Lando Norris
Rally Car of the Year
Toyota Yaris WRC
Richard Mille Rookie of the Year
Alex Albon
Rally Driver of the Year
Ott Tänak
National Driver of the Year
Colin Turkington
Racing Car of the Year, presented by Pirelli
Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+
Other awards were:
The Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award
Jonathan Hoggard
The Autosport Williams Engineer of the Future Award
Luke Dardis
The Mahindra Pioneering and Innovation Award
W Series
The Gregor Grant Award
Dick Bennetts, WSR
The Gregor Grant Award
Monaco GP
The John Bolster Award
Charlie Whiting
Moment of the Year, presented by Marelli
Jean-Éric Vergne
The 2019 Autosport Awards will be broadcast on Sky Sports F1 on Monday 09th December at 21:00 (GMT).
Motorsport Network’s next event opens the 2020 motorsport season with Europe’s largest consumer and trade racing show at the NEC. The Autosport International Show starts on the 09th January 2020, with more information available here.
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