Hamilton gains Young Rally Driver of the Year nomination
Michael Hamilton has been nominated for this year’s Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver Award for his performances in September and October.
The 23 year-old from Miltown Malbay, Co Clare, drove his Honda Civic to class victories in the Sligo and Clare Stages Rallies, finishing in a tremendous 12th place overall in Sligo and 15th in Clare, despite lateness penalties in his home rally which dropped him from a possible 13th position, incurred while having to change a driveshaft in the service area. Earlier in the day, Michael and his co-driver Dylan Donoghue held tenth overall after the fourth of nine stages, matching the times set by much more powerful cars.
He only contested four rallies during the year, but problems forced him to retire from both the Circuit of Kerry and the recent Donegal Harvest events.
Michael intends modifying his car to contest the Junior section of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship next year, in line with recently announced technical regulations for the Junior class.
He began rallying in September 2016 in the Clare Stages Rally and immediately showed his pace, taking a comfortable class win, almost twelve minutes ahead of his closest rival.
