Motorsport Ireland Awards €100,000 to Young Drivers at Dunlop Awards Lunch

Motorsport Ireland Awards €100,000 to Young Drivers at Dunlop Awards Lunch / Keith Cronin wins International Driver of the Year

Posted: December 8, 2010 1:15 PM

Motorsport Ireland today honoured their National Champions of 2010 at a prestigious gala lunch held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dublin. The lunch was attended by personalities with a record of distinction in the sport spanning many years.

Among the many highlights were:

23 year-old Robert Barrable from Swords in Co Dublin was announced as the Young Rally Driver of the Year, winning the Billy Coleman Award and a support package for Rally competition in 2011 to the value of €50,000.

Patrick McKenna, also from Swords, was selected as the Dunlop Young Racing Driver of the Year for the second time. The 23 year-old was presented with the prestigious Walter Sexton Memorial Trophy and support to the value of €50,000, which will be tailored to the driver’s needs.

Keith Cronin from Ballylickey, Co Cork, who was recently crowned British Rally champion for the second year in succession, was voted by the Motorsport media as the International Driver of the Year and winner of the Manley Memorial Trophy. This reflects the outstanding year which Irish drivers have had in rally, racing and rallycross competition throughout the world.

Announcing the awards, Joe Corcoran, President of Motorsport Ireland, expressed his pleasure at the high standard of competition over the past year, and especially the achievements of our young drivers. Joe also thanked Dunlop, the Irish Sports Council and the FIA for their valued support of our awards schemes and training programmes without which they would simply not be possible.