2008 ALEXANDER SIMS
OTHER FINALISTS Wayne Boyd, Adam Christodoulou, Jason Moore, Aaron Steele, Dean Stoneman
He says: “The Award is still the most incredible experience that I have had in motorsport. I remember driving to Snetterton and stopping at a carwash on the A14 as I wanted to make sure there wasn’t a ‘bad mark’ against me in even the cleanliness of my car!
“I vividly remember asking the DTM head engineer about the gear usage in the DTM car and he just replied with, ‘You tell me after the session.’ That was an incredible moment and I remember feeling a rush of responsibility. I’d never driven carbon brakes or with tyre warmers, I had to get on it in 10 laps on a damp track knowing I was being judged, and I didn’t even know which gears to use! Obviously you work it out pretty damn quickly but that feeling of anticipation when I was in the pits waiting to go was immense.
“After the first run I remember coming in for a set of new tyres and going again. On lap four of the run the onboard camera mount broke and it was flying around the passenger side of the cockpit and I pondered whether I should come in or not, but quickly thought the tyres wouldn’t work as well again so I’d lose a chance and so cracked on.
“As well as the DTM there was an Aston Martin GT4 and the Carlin-run F3 car. I really enjoyed both of them. I think I only drove the Aston in the wet and, with the ABS it had, I think it was very much a road-car system. I remember realising that pressing the pedal too hard meant the ABS could handle it so I quickly learnt to initiate the ABS but then release the brake slightly to allow the ABS to be less active and thus slow down quicker.
“The F3 car was actually a relatively normal car for me as I’d done Formula Renault for the two years previous. That went well except I realised on my last lap that I wasn’t going to improve and so just pitted, and I remember [judge] Ian Titchmarsh not being happy that I didn’t complete the run. I just hadn’t seen any point in it as I was going slower but he felt I should have done the run as prescribed. My engineer came up with a lovely story in support of me saying that they would often tell their drivers to do that to reduce engine and tyre miles. I couldn’t say at the time but I really appreciated that.
“The F1 test was quite surreal and is by far the fastest car I have ever driven. My standout memory was leaving the pits and accelerating on the first straight and assuming that I would hit the pedal stop, but it kept going further and further away from me and the power kept increasing. It was fabulous and really great of Mclaren to take it so seriously and give a true experience in every sense.
“Now that I have been a judge for the past two years, it has made me aware of two things that others might not appreciate. Firstly, it’s shown me how open and honest the entire process is – the best and fastest driver wins. There are never any politics involved in the decision process – we look at the hard facts of all the drivers’ fitness, simulator skills, race runs, new-tyre qualifying runs, adaptability between cars, work ethic etc.
The raw pace has a slightly higher weighting as that is the fundamental skill we are looking at, but it’s no good being good at something if you don’t also work hard at it.
“Secondly it has alerted me to how much the Award relies on the goodness of many different organisations to pool their resources together and make it happen. No-one is doing it to make money – everyone gives so much time and resource that it makes me proud of what is achieved each year from all involved.” WHAT HAPPENED NEXT Won races at F3 and GP3 level, switched to GTS – winning the 2016 Spa 24 Hours – and is currently in Formula E with BMW