Jake Dennis, Sebastian Vettel, Sebastien Loeb and Jenson Button were amongst the winners during the 2012 Autosport Awards at The Grosvenor House hotel in London.
The annual awards celebrate the best of British and International motorsport, with the hotel’s Grand Room holding 1,200 people in attendance, with the star-studded audience also including the likes of David Coulthard, Murray Walker, Rob Huff, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen.
The night’s finale saw 17 year old Dennis win the coveted McLaren Autosport BRDC Award. The 2012 Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup champion fended off competition from five other young British talents to secure a prize fund including £100,000 and a McLaren Formula One test.
The success means Dennis’ name was up in lights alongside that of the newly crowned triple Formula 1 world champion Vettel, the German picking up the International Racing Driver of the Year award for the third year running, with the car that took him to the title, the Red Bull RB8, securing the Racing Car of the Year honours.
It was a similar situation in the rallying awards, with Loeb winning the Rally Driver of the Year award after securing the World Rally Championship title once again, with the Citroen DS3 WRC winning Rally Car of the Year.
The retiring Loeb was the night’s only double award winner too, with the Frenchman also receiving a Gregor Grant award for lifetime achievement, in recognition of him securing a ninth WRC title. The other Gregor Grant award went to another rallying legend in Jimmy McRae.
While they were recognised for their long-term achievements in motorsport, on the other end of the scale, 15 year old Matheo Tusher picked up the 2012 Autosport.com Rookie of the Year honours after finishing runner-up in Formula Two.
Jenson Button secured the British Competition Driver of the Year award for the second consecutive year, having taken three wins on his way to fifth in 2012 F1 standings, while Gordon Shedden secured the Paul Warwick Trophy as National Driver of the Year after winning his first BTCC title. Scott Malvern also picked up a trophy, the 2012 Formula Renault BARC Champion and two-time McLaren Autosport BRDC Award nominee named the British Club Driver of the Year.
The first of the evening’s two Pioneering and Innovation Award’s went to the FIA medical team in acknowledgment of the work of Professor Sid Watkins, who died earlier this year. His wife Susan collected the award in his honour.
The second meanwhile went the way of the Nissan DeltaWing, with designer Ben Bowlby collecting the award on behalf of the team behind the innovative sportscar which competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Also receiving awards were Peter Sauber and Bob Dance, with both picking up a John Bolster Award in recognition of their technical excellence in motor racing.
A full list of winners can be found at: http://awards.autosport.com/
