Carey listed for Young Driver award

Ratoath's Cian Carey is among three finalists in the running to win one of the most prestigious awards in Irish motorsport.

Twenty-two year old Carey has been named alongside 16-year-old Jordan Dempsey, from Mullingar, Westmeath, and Andy O’Brien (22), from Tempelogue in Dublin, as a finalist in the Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year award.

The 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. The winner will also receive a €50,000 support package to help develop their motor racing career.

All three finalists will be included in the Team Ireland development programme run by Motorsport Ireland to nurture and support young drivers.

The three finalists were drawn from six candidates who were nominated during the course of the year. They were selected from a range of track racing disciplines and underwent a rigorous selection process in front of a judging panel made up from representatives of the racing community and the media.

This year Carey won the BOSS Ireland championship. Leaving Cert student  Dempsey competed in the Formula Ford 1600 class both in Ireland and the UK, securing several notable finishes in his first year in the car, while O’Brien was crowned the 2016 Tool Dynamics Supercar champion on the back of seven wins and four additional podiums out of 14 races.

The Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year award provides a major career boost for its winner. This year the 2013 winner Niall Murray made history by becoming the first driver ever to complete a clean sweep of the three most prestigious prizes in Formula Ford 1600 in one season.

Not only was Murray crowned as the British National Formula Ford 1600 Champion but he also won The Martin Donnelly Trophy, The Neil Shanahan Memorial Trophy at the Brands Hatch Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy in Silverstone. Neil Shanahan himself was a previous winner of the Sexton Trophy.

The overall winner of the 2016 award will be announced at the Irish Motorsport awards ceremony which will take place on Tuesday 13th December. The award is presented annually and is supported by Sport Ireland and Motorsport Ireland.