After a few months of waiting Will Palmer finally got the news that he won the 2015 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, having beaten five other young stars to take the crown. He becomes the twenty-seventh winner of the prize that has helped many young drivers develop their careers.
Palmer who competed in BRDC Formula 4 this year, won the title having claimed victory in half of the races over the course of the season, rarely finishing outside of the top ten.
“This is absolutely massive for my career. I’d like to thank all my family, especially my dad, and HHC Motorsport. They’ve guided me for the past four years,” Palmer said.
“Looking towards the future, obviously the goal’s Formula 1 and this is a massive step to take.”
At 18, Palmer was the youngest of the contenders, however; had achieved a similar result to last years winner George Russell. Unlike Russell though, his championship win was far more dominant having claimed the title with one weekend to go and by a record margin of 137 points.
Russell became the youngest ever winner of the award last year, after he won the BRDC F4 championship in his first season. Since then he’s moved up and this year, raced in European Formula 3.
To add, Russell also claimed second in this years Master of Formula 3, while picking up one win in the main series, on his way to sixth overall, finishing as the second highest British driver.
Many of the runners up in this years Award had won titles of their own as they now look to next year, hopefully moving up the ladder to further success.
The surprise entrant had been Toby Sowery having spent the year significantly less active than the rest. Despite this he clinched the MRF Challenge 2000. Ending the year with a few races in MSA Formula alongside fellow candidate, Ricky Collard, who finished the year as runner up after proving his consistency.
Once again though, it was Formula Renault that captured the attention with three drivers having competed in the category. The Eurocup championship saw Ben Barnicoat clinch fourth overall, meanwhile; Jake Hughes had a run of podiums during the middle of the year which sadly faded in the closing rounds, seeing him drop back in the six way title fight at Jerez. None of them could match Jack Aitken whose two wins in the final weekend saw him claim the title by 13 points.
