Louis Sharp shortlisted for the biggest award in junior motorsport

Rising star Louis Sharp has cemented his position as one of motorsport’s hottest prospects having been confirmed as a finalist in this year’s Silverstone Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.

The reigning British F4 Champion and GB3 series leader is one of four standout teenagers selected for the highly prized accolade previous winners of which include 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button, multiple grand prix winner David Coulthard, current F1 stars Lando Norris and George Russell as well as triple Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti. The prize for this year’s winner includes £200,000 plus a money-can’t-buy Formula 1 test with Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team.

Though brought up in New Zealand, Sharp qualifies for an award which aims to find and assist the best junior British racing driver as he was born in Nottingham, England before his family moved abroad.

The four finalists now face fitness tests and simulator elements before a two-day test on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in MotorSport Vision F2, Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and Ligier LMP3 racers with the winner announced at the Autosport Awards in January.

“I’m obviously delighted to have been recognised by the judges for such a prestigious award – it’s very special to me,” admitted Sharp who races for Rodin Motorsport. “At this stage it’s only the top four, so it’s going to be important to keep working and training hard, so I can give it my everything at Silverstone.

“I’m really looking forward the competition. I’ll be driving three cars that I haven’t driven before – in fact, I’ve never driven a competition car with a roof over my head, so the LMP3 and the GT car will be a bit of a challenge. There’s going to be a lot to learn and some of the finalists may have a little bit of an advantage having driven these cars before but, it’s a massive honour to be selected and I’m determined to enjoy what’s going to be a really exciting experience. I will go in with an open mind and give it my very best.”

While excited to have been nominated for such an esteemed award, Sharp’s immediate focus is on winning consecutive championships. Having clinched the British F4 Championship at Brands Hatch last year, Louis returns to the Kent circuit this weekend with his sights set on adding the GB3 title to his impressive CV.

With just this weekend’s three races remaining on the calendar, he leads the title race by 33 points but, with 102 points on offer at Brands, Sharp is still under pressure to become the first racer in history to win back-to-back F4 and GB3 titles in successive seasons. Fuelling his hopes, the 17-year-old New Zealander was fastest in yesterday’s (Wednesday) only official Free Practice sessions on the Brands Hatch GP daunting circuit in the run up to the all-important season finale.