Rising Weston Hills star Johnathan Hoggard was named as the winner of the 2019 Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award on Sunday night.
BRDC British F3 runner-up Hoggard saw off rivals Ayrton Simmons, Enaam Ahmed and Jamie Chadwick to clinch the coveted award at the Autosport Awards at Grosvenor House Hotel in London.
Hoggard, who claimed seven race wins with Fortec Motorsports in his debut season in the BRDC British F3 series, receives an F1 test with the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing team, a prize of £200,000, a run in an Aston Martin GTE World Endurance Championship car, full BRDC membership and an Arai helmet after emerging as the leading candidate following two days of assessments at Silverstone.
That included multiple runs in MSV F2, Ligier LMP3, and Garage 59-run Aston Martin Vantage GT3 machinery.
A panel of expert judges – including BRDC Vice-President Derek Warwick, Darren Turner, Andrew Kirkaldy, Alexander Sims, Jason Plato, Lola and McLaren designer Mark Williams, Le Mans-winning engineer Leena Gade, top commentator Ian Titchmarsh and Autosport editor Kevin Turner – were present at the Silverstone assessments, and picked Hoggard as this year’s winner.
Hoggard told www.britishF3.com: “I’m over the moon! I’m lost for words.
“I’ve been waiting for over a month for this and it’s been agonising.
“I’m thankful for everyone who’s helped along the way, family, sponsors, judges and the organisers.
“I knew it was very tough competition and it’s amazing to have won.”
Winning the prize sees Hoggard add his name to a stellar list of previous winners that includes David Coulthard, Dario Franchitti, Anthony Davidson, Jenson Button, George Russell, Lando Norris and last year’s winner Tom Gamble.
Having seamlessly stepped up from F4 to F3 last season, the South Holland speedster expects to have more options available to him after winning Sunday’s award and is hoping to finalise his plans for next season “soon”.
Speaking to Autosport after winning the award, he added: “I’ve worked really, really hard to get to this point and to come out on top against really tough opposition who pushed me all the way, well, I’m really happy and can’t believe it.
“I’m being written into history, so it’s amazing.
“My future all really depended on this night, as I think there may now be a lot more opportunities that will hopefully open up after tonight regarding next year.
“I’ve now got the Daytona 24 Hours coming up at the end of January thanks to Sunoco and I’m really looking forward to that.
“Then hopefully we can finalise our plans (for next season) soon.”
Sunday’s award completes an incredible campaign for Hoggard.
Winning the Sunoco Whelen Challenge secured his free ride at January’s Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, while he also picked up the much sought-after Jack Cavill Pole Position Cup (a cash award which he gave to his Fortec Motorsport mechanics).
Hoggard also secured the Donington Park Racing Association Club’s Raymond Mays Challenge Trophy, which is given to the top single-seater racing driver who has competed at the track in 2019.
