|
As Stefan Wilson comes to terms with the biggest
achievement of his career at Sunday’s Autosport Awards, plaudits are
arriving thick and fast for the 2007 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner.
Jonathan Palmer, series director of Formula Palmer Audi,
with whom Stefan raced this year, believes the competition’s judges
have made a great decision.
“I’m thrilled for Stefan, it’s really
quite an inspired choice by the judges. Of this year’s finalists, if
you look ahead over the next few years, I have no doubt that Stefan Wilson
will be a top international driver.”
Palmer's MotorSport Vision company continued to host and
run the awards evaluation test at Snetterton for a third consecutive year,
but the FPA founder himself stepped down as a judge of the competition.
Palmer remained chairman of the judges, but took no part in the
decision-making process of selecting a winner. Having steered Formula Palmer
Audi back to its original concept as a career category for aspiring F1
drivers, Palmer chose to avoid any possible conflict of interest.
This year's selection panel comprised of ex-Formula 1 driver and ITV
commentator Martin Brundle, McLaren's Head of Engineering Steve Hallam, Ian
Titchmarsh from the BRDC, Autosport's Marcus Pye, and former McLaren
Autosport BRDC Award winner Darren Turner. Commenting on the panel, Jonathan
Palmer said: "The judges have clearly looked at Stefan's performance in
the context of his experience, which is absolutely right. He had the least
car racing experience of the six finalists and acquitted himself extremely
well.
“He is a great racer and can overtake without
getting involved in incidents. He also has a huge amount of car
control,” he added.
Palmer still manages Stefan’s brother, Justin, who
races in the US-based Champ Car formula and claimed the first ever Formula
Palmer Audi championship in 1998.
“Although we’ve had nominations before, Stefan
is the first FPA driver to have the won the award and it is fitting that
he’s done so in the 10th anniversary year of the
formula,” said Palmer.
Wilson’s
win further strengthens FPA’s credentials as a junior formula, and as
Palmer explains, winning in the category means more than in other series.
“Everybody knows that FPA is not just a
level-playing field, but is also the most cost effective junior formula in
motorsport. Anybody who wins in FPA has beaten 20 other drivers; there are no
other teams to influence the outcome, which adds to the weight of achievement
for the driver.
“FPA will continue going from strength-to-strength
and I look forward to more talented drivers coming through the
formula.”
|
News 
