Alan Auerbach Wins 2017 Motorsport Ireland Hawthorn Trophy
Irish Stryker Champion Alan Auerbach has been named by Motorsport Ireland as the winner of the 2017 Hawthorn Trophy.
The prestigious award, which is presented to the National Racing Driver of The Year, is open to all Motorsport Ireland race classes and is decided by calculating the scores of each competitor on a number of predetermined rounds.
Total domination of the rejuvenated Irish Stryker championship in 2017, winning all but one of the rounds, meant that the CivicMedia.ie backed driver was always going to be extremely hard to beat.
Alan Auerbach “I am delighted and honoured to win this famous trophy. It has been a great season and I would especially like to thank my dad Peter for all his hard work. He gave me a car which was perfect and never missed a beat all season. Also, I would like to thank the Irish Stryker committee, who did a great job this year getting the numbers in the class back up!”
A former Autotest champion, Alan Auerbach, 34, has been a regular winner in the Irish Stryker class for the last number of years. In 2017, he took maximum points in every round he competed in, ending the year and class champion and also being announced as the winner of the famous Hawthorn Trophy. His plans for the 2018 season will be announced shortly.
About Irish Strykers:
Irish Strykers were introduced to Irish Motorsport in the late 1990s. Initially running a 1600 CVH engine, they have gradually been developed over the years and in their latest form run an 1800cc Zetec engine, a limited slip differential and run Yokohama semi slick racing tyres. The cars are not expensive and have provided close competitive racing for many years at circuits both in Ireland and the UK. They recently ran a taster day at Mondello Park for potential racers and expect increased numbers for 2018 as a result. A number of small technical changes and a new Yokohama tyre should also make them slightly quicker, they are already close to breaking the “magic minute” at Mondello Park!
The Dunlop Hawthorn Trophy was presented in 1959 by the Irish Dunlop Company to commemorate the memory of Mike Hawthorn, the Formula 1 World Champion, who enjoyed greatly racing in Ireland in the early part of his career.
Previous Winners of the Trophy are:
2004 Stephen Kershaw (Formula Vee)
2005 Quentin Smith (Punto Abarth)
2006 Ray Moore (Formula Vee)
2007 Paul Sammin (Formula Vee)
2008 Jackie Cochrane (Sunbeam Tiger)
2009 Alan Watkins (Stryker)
2010 Jackie Cochrane (Sunbeam Tiger)
2011 Lee Newsome (Formula Vee)
2012 Lee Newsome (Formula Vee)
2013 David Kelly (Crossle 9S)
2014 Pat McBennett (Lotus Elise)
2015 Dan Polley (Formula Vee)
Action Images from Michael Chester
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