GB3 contenders Callum Voisin and Joseph Loake will discover whether they are the latest winner of the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award on Sunday evening (3 December).
The duo are among the four finalists for one of the biggest prizes in junior motorsport, with previous winners including David Coulthard, Jenson Button, George Russell and Lando Norris.
GB3 has an outstanding record of success in the Award, with seven of the last eight winners having raced in the series during the same year, with Zak O’Sullivan and Luke Browning the two most recent winners.
Should Loake or Voisin win the prize, they will receive a full test with the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 team, £200,000, full membership of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, an Arai helmet and a Jordan Bespoke personalised helmet bag. F3 race-winner Taylor Barnard and F4 contender Arvid Lindblad are the other two finalists.
Each driver conducted simulator sessions with the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team ahead of two days of on track assessments at Silverstone in October, with the quartet getting behind the wheel of MSV F2, United Autosports Ligier LMP3 and Beechdean Aston Martin GT3 machinery. Fitness assessments then followed, allowing a complete package of information to be passed onto the judging panel.
BRDC Vice President Derek Warwick was once again the head of the judging panel, which also included F1 race winner Johnny Herbert, previous Award winners Dario Franchitti, Darren Turner, Andrew Kirkaldy and Alexander Sims, successful Lola and McLaren designer Mark Williams, Le Mans-winning engineer Leena Gade, leading commentator Ian Titchmarsh and Autosport Chief Editor Kevin Turner.
“The whole thing was such a privilege and I’m proud to have done enough to be there” Loake told Autosport.
“My pursuit run and F2 qualifying were strong and I know I was quick in the wet. I was nervous because the last two wet GB3 rounds hadn’t gone well, but Silverstone in the wet is good for me. It would have been nice to drive the GT3 and LMP3 in the dry to see what they could do, but it was still cool to drive them.
“It’d be incredible to win the Award and prove to myself that I can achieve more in motorsport. The prizes are good, but the biggest thing would be having my name on the winners’ list.”
GB3 champion Voisin, like Loake, a first-time finalist, added: “It’s a weird experience because you don’t know how other people are doing. The environment was completely different, but I liked it.
“The last run we got in the F2 car in the wet felt really good. The first run didn’t go so well but the second was a big step – I got the tyres switched on and it was a night-and-day different.
“I really enjoyed the LMP3 – it was faster and more nimble than I expected – and the GT3 was cool. The number of buttons in that car!
“The Award was something I’ve had in the back of my mind and I really wanted to show what I can do.”
The official GB3 website will share news should either Loake or Voisin scoop the prize on Sunday evening.