Surprise honour for Curnow at BARC awards evening (17 Feb 05)

The prestigious Copthorne Hotel near Gatwick was the venue for the British Automobile Racing Club’s ‘Big Night Out’ on 12 February for its Annual Championship Awards presentations.

Ross Curnow was there to collect his award for winning the 2004 Formula BMW UK Rookie Championship. Andy Priaulx, himself winner of the 2004 European Touring Car Championship for BMW, presented Ross with his trophy and paid tribute to what the Salisbury teenager had achieved.

As Ross and his supporters then relaxed to enjoy the rest of the evening, the programme concluded with the presentation of some special awards, the winners of which are traditionally kept secret until the last minute. One of these is the Peter Collins Memorial Challenge Trophy, awarded annually to the most successful novice racing driver in a BARC championship. Ross then found himself listening to the words “We’ve seen this young man up here earlier this evening and he certainly has a very bright future ahead of him. This award goes to Ross Curnow!”

The trophy, in memory of the great Formula 1 driver killed at the Nurburgring in 1958 only a fortnight after winning the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, has been awarded annually since 1960. Little did Ross think that it would be he that climbed onto the stage to receive it from Peter Groves, Chairman of the BARC, this year! Stunned but delighted, Ross said: “This has been a complete surprise for me and I feel very privileged to have been selected for this honour.”

Curnow, who has recently joined Soper Sport to contest the 2005 Formula BMW UK Championship, is due to test with the team at Thruxton on 18 February and at Brands Hatch on 25/26 February. These will be his first outings with the team in the UK after a test in freezing conditions in southern Spain in late January.

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