John McGuinness received the prestigious award of honorary membership of the BRDC Annual Award Ceremony at the Grand Connaught in London this week.
Honorary membership of the BRDC is only by invitation of the Directors and John is only the second motorcycle racer ever to have been offered membership purely on his achievements on two wheels after Valentino Rossi in 2015. There are others within the Club who are known for their success on two wheels but all of these have qualified for membership from their four wheel achievements.
Many awards were given out on the evening, recognising outstanding achievements and individuals during the Motorsport year, but one of the undoubted highlights of the evening was when John McGuinness was awarded an honorary membership of the prestigious association at the end of the evening.
The 23 time TT Race winner, the Isle of Man’s ‘King of the Mountain’, is only the second ever motorcyclist to win the award. The only other two-wheeled racer to win that honour in history is nine time world champion Valentino Ross. Recently retired F1 champion Nico Rosberg was also in attendance and won the trophy for the fastest lap of the season at Silverstone.
“Wow, wasn’t expecting this at all, but great surprise. Super proud and humbled. Thank you,” said McGuinness on picking up the award.
The British Racing Drivers’ Club is, arguably, the most exclusive club in motor racing. With a membership that numbers only 850, it is home to the most successful racing drivers from Great Britain and the Commonwealth. Those who have met the exacting entry criteria have achieved at the highest levels of the sport, or made a significant contribution to enable others to do so.
Membership of the BRDC is highly sought after and extremely difficult to achieve. The list of Members, past and present, reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of motor sport.
Fellow BRDC Members Ed Jones, Alexander Albon, George Russell and Jann Mardenborough were also honoured with BRDC awards having, achieved notable success this year in single seater championships worldwide. Sir Stirling Moss OBE and Lady Moss, Damon Hill OBE, Nigel Mansell CBE, Sir Chris Hoy MBE and 2017 Renault Sport Formula One Team driver Jolyon Palmer joined over 300 guests to celebrate at this exclusive event, which also supported the BRDC Benevolent Fund.
The full list of 2016 BRDC Annual Awards winners is:The John Cooper Trophy – Lance StrollThe Spencer Charrington Trophy – George RussellThe Richard Seaman Trophy – Jann MardenboroughThe Nigel Moores Trophy – Tom Ferrier (TF Sport)The Fairfield Trophy – Oliver GavinThe ACO Plate – Mike ConwayThe Silverstone–Le Mans Challenge – Porsche: (Romain Dumas, Neel Jani & Marc Lieb)The Earl Howe Trophy – Ed JonesThe John Cobb Memorial Trophy – Simon Dolan & Harry TincknellThe Woolf Barnato Trophy – Strakka Racing: (Nick Leventis, Jonny Kane & Danny Watts)The Colin Chapman Trophy – Darren TurnerThe ERA Club Trophy – Rob BellThe Innes Ireland Trophy – Josef NewgardenThe Henry Surtees Award – Lando NorrisThe Sir Jackie Stewart Award – Paddy LoweThe Bruce McLaren Trophy – Daniel RicciardoThe Jim Clark Trophy – Matheus LeistThe Chris Bristow Trophy – Lando NorrisThe Graham Hill Trophy – Alexander AlbonThe Johnny Wakefield Trophy – Nico RosbergBRDC Silver Star – Colin TurkingtonBRDC Gold Star – Lewis Hamilton MBE
