SRO Awards evening honours Cooper, Avon champions
The 2011 Avon Tyres British GT champions, Jim and Glynn Geddie, and the 2011 Cooper Tires British F3 Series champion, Felipe Nasr, have been honoured at the SRO awards evening in Oxfordshire. Cooper Avon has enjoyed another successful season of supporting the events, celebrating a joint landmark with the British Formula Three International Series – Cooper Avon’s thirtieth and the championship’s sixtieth – and seeing busy grids for the GT series. Cooper Avon is signed up with both championships until at least 2014.
The Geddies from Aberdeen became the first father and son pairing to clinch the Avon Tyres British GT Championship title. Their third-place finish at Silverstone, the final round of the season, was enough to protect their advantage in the points. The average entry for British GT events this season was 27 cars, with a high of 31 at Brands Hatch and Silverstone. Among the exciting models making their debut on the grid this year were the Mercedes SLS, Ferrari 458, while the new-for-2011 McLaren MP4-12C made a guest appearance too.
Glynn Geddie said, “In an ideal world, we would have loved to have gone out and won our final race of the season but third was enough for us to take the title. This victory should now create new opportunities for me in the seasons ahead, but I need to plan carefully for my future. I’m willing to consider any suitable offers but I’d like to think I’ll be back in British GT alongside dad as defending champion.”
Carlin Motorsport driver, Felipe Nasr, secured the 2011 championship title for the Cooper Tires British F3 Series at Rockingham earlier this year. The 19-year old Brazilian became the 12th of his countrymen to claim the crown, following in the footsteps of Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna who also previously triumphed in the prestigious championship. Nasr claimed the title with six rounds still left in the season, taking an impressive 17 podium finishes in total.
Runner-up, Kevin Magnussen, champion Nasr and third-place driver Carlos Huertas were handed their awards in Oxford by MSA chief executive Colin Hilton. All three will be further rewarded next month with a free half-day test in Spain in a Renault 3.5 World Series car.
Nasr said, “It’s great, grabbing the title early on was just amazing. It’s been a lot of work, a lot of dedication from the team, and it’s very special.
“I know that many big names came from British Formula Three and I am sure that I have done this step really well and now things are just going to get better for me. I think the best moment of the year for me was Monza, when I won two races. I will never forget that weekend; it was the best feeling ever.”
Last year’s championship winner, Jean-Eric Vergne, the first Frenchman to win the Cooper Tires British F3 title, finished as runner-up in the Renault World Series and made his Formula One debut at the Yeongam track in Korea, where he drove Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso during the opening Friday practice session.
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