Three former Sexton trophy winners take top honours

Left to right: Peter Dempsey, Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluç, Max Hart

For what may have been the first time in history, three former Sexton Trophy winners have won races in a single weekend. Peter Dempsey and Charlie Eastwood marched to victory in Sao Paulo, while Max Hart edged out the competition at Snetterton.

Peter Dempsey, a winner of the award in 2008, is paired with Charlie Eastwood, the 2018 winner aboard the #34 Racing Team Turkey Corvette, and are joined by Turkish driver and team-financier Salih Yoluç for their campaign in the World Endurance Championship this year.

After a rocky start to the year so far, a sixth place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans was the best result for the trio until this past weekend. Therefore, the class victory as the WEC ventured to Brazil’s Interlagos was a welcome one. The #34 Corvette suffered a late scare with a puncture for Eastwood, but thankfully wasn’t enough to derail their chances of a win.

Dempsey and Eastwood join former Clearwater Racing Ferrari driver Matt Griffin as Motorsport Ireland drivers who have taken class victories in the WEC.

More close to home, the 2024 Sexton Trophy winner was outpacing the field in Race 1 of the TCR UK Championship round at Snetterton. Max Hart, who pilots a Honda Civic Type R FL5 TCR for ALM with Hall’s Racing, took top honours in the first of two races this past weekend, and paired his win with a P4 in the second race to propel him to second in the championship overall. Hart is now just 12 points adrift of leader Jenson O’Neill-Going with four rounds to go.

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. An annual support package of €50,000 is awarded each December. The award is presented annually and is supported by Sport Ireland and Motorsport Ireland.

Photo credits: FIAWEC, Racing Team Turkey, Max Hart, TCRUK