After completing three-days of
challenging tasks, which included fitness training and assessment at the
Territorial Army Centre (TA Centre), media communications skills and press
conference programme, the 34-year-old came out on top of his fellow 11
competitors.
“I did not expect to win at all and when
the TV presenter said my name out loud I just stood there and did not know how
to react,” said John, a mortgage consultant who is married with two sons.
“Looking back on the three days I really put in 110% in all the fitness tests at
the TA Centre. Today, the Jaguar JP1 was a bit of a challenge but I listened to
the instructor and took on board his comments. After that it went really well
and I started to enjoy it.
“It will probably take a few days to sink
in until I realise what I have achieve today. I’m absolutely over the
moon.”
Vauxhall’s competition initially
attracted over 8,000 UK entrants, with 2,000 qualifying for the six regional
semi-finals. From each semi-final the two fastest competitors qualified for the
finalist’s boot camp. All VXR Racing Driver of the Year finalists were eager to
win the highly valuable prize in order to realise their dreams of becoming a
professional racing driver with Vauxhall, who has a success record in touring
cars second to none of recent years.
“I would like to congratulate John. He
did a fantastic job over the last three days whilst being under immense
pressure,” said Richard Hughes, Vauxhall’s Group Marketing Manager. “Vauxhall
drivers have to reflect the high quality of the brand. John will be acting as
ambassador and we have every confidence in his ability.”
John’s next step in his newly-found
opportunity will be to meet his VX Racing team of mechanics and engineers,
before embarking on a test programme to prepare him for the season ahead.
