McGovern, McLaughlin, Smyth named as Sexton Trophy finalists
After yesterday’s interviews with prospective candidates for the 2025 Sexton Trophy Young Racing Driver of the Year award, the judging panel have selected the three finalists. The top three represent the best of the best of young Irish racing talent in 2025 with this year being the first to offer funding prizes to all three who make the final stage.
After an extensive day of interviews, assessing the nominees’ performance both on and off the track, with representatives from Sport Ireland, RTÉ, and Mondello Park forming the basis of the judging panel, the final three were selected as Sean McGovern, Fionn McLaughlin, and Jason Smyth.
McGovern was this year’s Ford Fiesta Zetec champion, wrapping up the title with three races to spare, which allowed him to shift over to the Seat Supercup series for the rest of the year where he scored a pole-position in his qualifying debut. The 20-year-old from Dublin added seven race wins to his tally in 2025 and looks to build on his rapid pace with a progression through the racing ladder.
Smyth, from Co. Kildare, had an impressive year of single-seater action, taking the Walter Hayes Trophy and the overall Formula Ford Festival win in what would be a historic weekend for Irish motorsport, locking out 1-2-3 on the podium. Smyth finished as a runner-up for the award in 2024 and on top of studying at Technological University Dublin, the 19-year-old from Kildare is working two part-time-jobs.
McLaughlin, already a Red Bull Junior driver, completed his year with the British Formula 4 Championship title and looks to push even further with a Formula 3 drive on the horizon. The 18-year-old Derryman has shown impressive poise and professionalism jumping straight from karting to single-seater racing with ease while competing against the best of UK and Irish talent.
The Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year award and the historic Sexton Trophy are presented to the individual who has demonstrated the most potential to represent Ireland at home and internationally both on the track as well as in the public eye. This year, the structure of the award has changed, whereby the winner will receive a €42,500 support package to help develop their motor racing career, but for the first time, monetary prizes are awarded for the first and second runners-up at €5,000 and €2,500 respectively.
The overall winner of the 2025 award will be announced at the Motorsport Ireland Champions Awards Lunch on Wednesday 03 December at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry, Co. Dublin. The event will be livestreamed on MotorsportIreland.com and YouTube for those wishing to follow along. The Sexton Trophy for Young Racing Driver of the Year is presented annually and is supported by Sport Ireland and Motorsport Ireland.
