Matt Parry, 19, from Bury St Edmunds, was presented with the much coveted 2013 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award last night at the annual Autosport Awards in London.  

The prize includes £100,000, a McLaren F1 test drive, BRDC membership and an Arai GP-6 RD carbon helmet.

Highly commended runners-up, who all deserve congratulations, are Formula Renault NEC frontrunner Jack Aitken, BRDC Formula 4 champion Jake Hughes and his rivals Seb Morris and Charlie Robertson, and Formula Renault BARC champion Chris Middlehurst.

Kevin Turner, Autosport’s member of the judging panel, commented: “Deciding this year’s winner was harder than ever. Matt Parry is an exceptional young driver and we’ve been watching him with great interest over the last few years.

“The other five finalists should also be proud of their achievements.  The judging process is now very tough and sophisticated, as is motor racing in general.  We will be following and supporting all of our finalists in the forthcoming season.”

The six contenders were judged on their previous race data, simulation and fitness tests, and track runs at Silverstone in their own F2 car, a DTM Mercedes C-class coupe and a McLaren MP4-12C GT3, as well as interviews.

The tough decision was made by a judging panel that includes ex-F1 racer and BRDC president Derek Warwick, BTCC star Jason Plato, team boss and former GT racer Andrew Kirkaldy, McLaren head of vehicle engineering Mark Williams, leading circuit commentator Ian Titchmarsh, and Autosport's Kevin Turner.

The McLaren Autosport BRDC Award was inaugurated in 1989, when future Formula 1 star David Coulthard won.

The aim is to boost the prospects of young British racing talent and the list of former winners includes David Coulthard, 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button, Force India driver Paul di Resta, multiple IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti, DTM aces Gary Paffett and Jamie Green, and sportscar stars Anthony Davidson, Oliver Gavin, Jonny Kane, and Darren Turner.

The annual Autosport Awards is a much awaited end-of-season highlight of the motor racing calendar, and attract a high profile industry-only audience of 1200 guests and celebrates the motorsport season as well as the lifetime achievements of some of its heroes.

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