Finalists named for 2023 Sexton Trophy Young Racing Driver of the Year award
On Thursday, nine hopefuls tackled the interview process for the 2023 Sexton Trophy Young Racing Driver of the Year award. After a day of scrutiny under a panel of judges, three names have emerged as finalists for the award. Jack Byrne (20) from Co. Wexford, Co. Wicklow’s Max Hart (22), and Brandon McCaughan (19) of Co. Antrim are the three drivers deemed to represent the best-of-the-best of this year’s talent.
It was a bumper crop of nominees this year with the other six drivers (Jonathan Browne, Kayleigh Cole, Ronan Doherty, Logan Hoey, Harry McGovern, Kian O’Brien) having provided excellent interviews and giving the judges a tough task at the end of the day when it came to ranking their choices. In the end, three names emerged from the deliberation process and finally a winner was chosen. Both Byrne and Hart have been finalists in each of the last two years, while McCaughan secured his first finalist spot in this the first year he was nominated.
Byrne has gone from strength to strength racing in the Mini Challenge in the UK over the last few years with a string of strong results, netting third overall in the championship.
Hart is a Hyundai junior customer driver, fresh off a win at Macau in the TCR China series, with ambitions towards building on his recent form towards a larger campaign in 2024.
McCaughan’s first appearance as a finalist comes on the back of impressive performances in Formula Ford, and a recent MSVR scholarship award.
The Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year award and the historic Sexton Trophy are presented to the individual who has demonstrated the most potential to represent Ireland at home and internationally both on the track as well as in the public eye. The winner will receive a €50,000 support package to help develop their motor racing career. This year, the Sexton Trophy celebrates the 75th anniversary of the award, with the inaugural edition having been won by Dudley Colley in 1948.
The overall winner of the 2023 award will be announced at the Champions of Irish Motorsport Awards ceremony, which takes place on Wednesday December 6th at the Crowne Hotel Plaza, Santry, Dublin. The award is presented annually and is supported by Sport Ireland and Motorsport Ireland.
