Well done Sarah

[skeggysteve]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80452

Autosport awards tonight:

Sarah Moore Club Driver of the Year.

Well done!

[Allyc85]

Nice one Sarah!

Was at Thruxton earlier in the year when she became the first female to win a BTCC support race and she deservedly got a huuuge standing ovation when she got back to the chicane

Edited by Allyc85 on Sunday 6th December 22:27

[Forbes82]

Caught a few ginetta junior races on the tv coverage this year and she always impressed, seemed very fast, certainly seemed to be one of the fastest in the field. Good for her, i'll remember her name incase we see her pop up in BTCC a few years down the line.

[deadslow]

Yes, well done! Followed her on the telly this year.

[mattikake]

Nah. Publicity stunt as ever with female drivers. I don't see her as an F1 driver anyway (or no more than another publicity stunt).

Jake Hill was the best driver in Genetta Juniors (especially considering his age and experience disadvantage too, getting exponentially faster and more consistent as the season went on, at least until sponsorship dried up).

Dean Smith was the best and most consistent young driver in 2009.

All IMO of course.

[llewop]

Even if there is an element of 'publicity stunt' to it, good luck to her. I hope she can carry on winning races in whatever series she tries in future and look forward to seeing how she progresses.

[andy97]

Its about time the title "club driver of the year" actually represented club drivers and not those from "career series".

[Scuffers]

andy97 said:

Its about time the title "club driver of the year" actually represented club drivers and not those from "career series".

Here here!

[Project 644]

mattikake said:

Nah. Publicity stunt as ever with female drivers. I don't see her as an F1 driver anyway (or no more than another publicity stunt).

Really? You mean that they don't want to do it, they just want to get the Tampax sponsorship deal?

mattikake said:

Blah

All IMO of course.

Good thing.

[A.Wang]

Forbes82 said:

Caught a few ginetta junior races on the tv coverage this year and she always impressed, seemed very fast, certainly seemed to be one of the fastest in the field. Good for her, i'll remember her name incase we see her pop up in BTCC a few years down the line.

I've watched her in a few races in 2008, and she was impressive then.

Has she confirmed that BTCC/WTCC will be her career plan then? I ask, because most young drivers tend to aspire to F1 (and shout loudly about it, whether they have what it takes to get there or not). Either way - all the best to her, it would be great to finally see a woman in motorsport's top formulae/categories.

[KaraK]

Saw a few of her races earlier in the year on TV, always looked pretty quick and consistent (didn't she have a 6-race run of podium finishes IIRC?). Not afraid to get stuck in either from what I saw.

I know its not always clear cut to say the championship winner in a club series is always the best (as some drivers can't get a full season due to sponsorship problems etc) but it's still an impressive feat and she deserves some recognition for that.

[Scuffers]

That's not really the point though is it?

good as she might well be (and I have no idea having not seen any of it), but there are (IMHO) way better candidates for this on 'clubman' racing who would never get a look in.

I would love to understand what the criteria for such awards is, like which series/championships are viewed, who votes, etc etc.

[andy97]

In my view she could have been a candidate for "National Race driver" of the year but the title of "Club driver of the years" should go to.... er..... a "club driver"!

[Adrian W]

So she's a better driver than Tim Bridgmen, come on!! stunt

[VladD]

Adrian W said:

So she's a better driver than Tim Bridgmen, come on!! stunt

Depends if the award is for the fastest driver or the driver who has impressed the most. I thought Sarah had a very good season and was entertaining to watch.

[anonymous-user]

The award is given based on votes from Autosport readers, there was a form in the magazine a few weeks ago that could be filled in to support who you preferred. I went for Phil Glew, apart from knowing Phil and having worked with him, so obviously a bit biased, i thought the way he took the clio cup this year was pretty impressive, he is a talented driver who if the budget is forthcoming should do well in the BTCC next year.

[snailpace85]

andy97 said:

In my view she could have been a candidate for "National Race driver" of the year but the title of "Club driver of the years" should go to.... er..... a "club driver"!

+1 !!!!!

Well said Andy. Don't mean to be negative towards Sarah - well done anyway and enjoyed watching her and the Ginettas on the telly this year but that's a world away from club racing.

Snailpace

[xr287]

andy97 said:

Its about time the title "club driver of the year" actually represented club drivers and not those from "career series".

Yes, I'm sick of all these awards and rising star status etc all being awarded to those privileged few who are paying £xxx,xxx a year to go racing. It's a shame that 99.9% of seats at any high level series are held by those with the most money rather than talent but there's not much can be done about it because of the costs involved. The least they could do is actually recognise those who do have the talent but not the big series budgets with some "real" club racing awards.

[mat205125]

Scuffers said:

andy97 said:

Its about time the title "club driver of the year" actually represented club drivers and not those from "career series".

Here here!

I agree too, however the Ginettas is a bit borderline with regards to its status. Whilst I'm in no doubt that not one of the drivers has made their own money (at that age how could you), and therefore they are heavily reliant on parents / family with access to a lot of funding, the relatively uncluttered livelry of the cars shows that there isn't masses of corporate backing to these drivers.

Even the Clios has a strong element of genuine club drivers ....... Modern day BTCC itself isn't exactly bristling with professional drivers come to mention it.

British club racing (no matter where you draw the line) continues to be a very strong hobby/pastime/reason to work. It'd be impossible to award a driver that everyone agreed on.

[BenElliottRacing]

The only big money thing about Ginetta Juniors is the Entry Fees. The cars themselves are cheaper than most club racing cars. Yes Ginetta have upped their prices a fair bit since LNT took over but a lot of the bits could be sourced from a local parts factor. It's still a club series and the budgets are way lower than the other TOCA package series.

The G40 will be clio cup money I expect though so perhaps will need to go up to 'national series' spec

Well done Sarah on winning the award.

Formula Renault and its reportedly huge budgets (Dino Zamperelli's dad was saying front end teams wanted £200k+) is not club racing its national racing.

Edited by BenElliottRacing on Monday 7th December 16:11