Hankey and Meadows win Carrera Cup GB Scholarship
Euan Hankey and Michael Meadows have been selected from six young racing driver finalists as the winners of the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholarship Programme.
The two winners of the coveted scholarship, now in its second year, will receive £50,000 from Porsche Cars GB to use as a significant element of their budget for the 2010 Carrera Cup GB season.
A panel of expert judges selected Hankey and Meadows from the six finalists after a demanding two-day evaluation process at the Porsche Experience Centre, Silverstone. This included driving the 420bhp 911GT3 Cup car on the Silverstone National circuit as well as media exercises, panel interviews and a challenging fitness competition. Both drivers impressed the judges in and out of the car against very strong opposition from the other four finalists; Rory Butcher, Andrew Herron, Joe Osborne and Tom Sharp.
"The standard was exceptionally high and it was a very tough decision to make," said Marion Barnaby, Carrera Cup GB championship manager. "Any one of the six finalists would have made a first class scholarship winner and the judges deliberated for a long time over their final choice. I'm really excited about seeing Euan and Michael on the Carrera Cup grid when the 2010 season starts next April."
Euan Hankey; aged 22 from Taunton, Somerset, has extensive single-seater experience up to Formula 3 and contested selected Formula Renault races towards the end of the 2009 season.
"I'm shocked, thrilled and exhilarated about being selected by Porsche, said Hankey. ”I'm really surprised as I was the least experienced in terms of this type of car, but the judges have given me a chance. I'm really happy about it. Now I've got to get on with meeting teams and making a plan. It's unbelievable; I wanted to do this last year and now I can really make a career for myself in GT racing."
Michael Meadows; aged 21 from Banbury, made the switch from single-seaters to GT cars and raced in British GT before taking the 2009 season out of racing to concentrate on his university studies.
"I'm still shaking about the decision," said Meadows. "Now I'm just so happy to be recognised by Porsche as a good driver and a good ambassador. It's a huge deal for both of us. Euan and I raced together in junior single-seater categories and now we're going to be together again in a big boys' class. I can't wait for the new season. It's a very good feeling and now I know I'm on my way there. The standard of drivers in the Carrera Cup is very high and that's the benchmark."
