Championship Awards Night Review

Fri 03 Feb 2012

Saturday evening saw the 4th Annual GT Cup Championship Awards take place at the Haynes International Motor Museum, situated in the heart of the Somerset countryside.

 

A who's who of GT Cup racing turned out for this prestigious black tie event.  Dressed in all their finery drivers, teams their guests, sponsors and VIP guests enjoyed a spectacular evening amongst the museums prestigious collection of cars to celebrate the successes of the 2011 Season. The evening commenced with a magnificent reception in the museums aptly named ‘Red Room', where guests took in the stunning collection of scarlet-hued cars on display whilst sipping Champagne.

 

Before a delicious four-course meal was served in the museums Merlin Suite, which was looked resplendent decked out in the red and black GT Cup colours, Bute Motorsport's Managing Director Marc Haynes opened the evening with a welcome speech.  He emphasised how many people and partner organisations were involved in the Championship and thanked them all for their hard work and dedication to the cause of petrol heads everywhere.  He then presented bouquets to Championship Coordinator Hannah Wilson, Hospitality Manager Kirsty Simmonds and TV Presenter Charlie George.

 

GT Cup TV Presenter Charlie George was also on hand to host the evening, ably assisted on stage by the lovely Pirelli Girls Charlotte and Rachel, with overall Champion Andy Ruhan.

 

The first award of the evening was the much cherished Leadley Cup.  This unique award was created in 2010 to honour the memory of Jeff Leadley and each year the drivers vote for the winner of this ‘Drivers Driver' award which in 2011 went to Andy Ruhan.

 

Handmade Italian trophies were presented to the top three in each Championship group with each Group awarded between courses to spread the formal proceeding out over the evening.  The culmination of the formal proceedings was the awarding of the Overall Championship Trophies. Third place overall went to Tom Andrew, who also won the Group 2 Championship in his Morgan Aero 8.  David Tomlin was awarded the overall second place trophy.  Andy Ruhan, who had a busy night, was presented with the Overall 2011 GT Cup Championship Trophy along with a specially commissioned framed hand finished print of his winning Porsche 997, by motorsports artist Ian Cunningham.

 

After the presentations, newly appointed Competition Manager Phil Boland unveiled the 2012 calendar and revealed exciting plans for the coming season, which include opening the championship to GT3 cars and a new format for race weekends.

 

After the awards, speeches and festivities were finished, guests partied on with drinking and dancing into the small hours before specially chartered private coaches arrived to whisk the revellers back to the nearby Hollies hotel where the partying continued for many of the guests.  A great time was had by all and everyone agreed it was a fitting way to celebrate the 2011 season and launch the new season ahead.

 

Overall Champions		Group Champions
		Group 1
1st place	Andy Ruhan	1st Place	Andy Ruhan
2nd place	David Tomlin	2nd Place	David Tomlin
3rd place	Tom Andrew	3rd Place	Rupert Martin
Group 2		Group 3
1st Place	Tom Andrew	1st Place	Barclay Dougal
2nd Place	Francis Galashan	2nd Place	Mark Radcliff
3rd Place	Sean Winder	3rd Place	Adam Hayes
Leadley Cup	Andy Ruhan