RRDC MEMBER NEWS: RAHAL EARNS “SPIRIT OF COMPETITION” AWARD

RRDC PRESIDENT RAHAL EARNS “SPIRIT OF COMPETITION” AWARD

RRDC president Bobby Rahal was presented with the 7th annual “Spirit of Competition” Award at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia on Oct. 29, at a dinner hosted by the Museum’s founder and Executive Director Fred Simeone. RRDC member Bill Warner was the M.C., and RRDC members in the audience included George Wintersteen, Archie Urciuoli and Judy Stropus. Warner and Simeone led a Q&A with Rahal, discussing his stellar racing career as a driver, team owner and father of IndyCar racer and RRDC member Graham Rahal.

Previous recipients of the award include RRDC members Mario Andretti, Janet Guthrie, John Fitch, Sam Posey and Hurley Haywood. www.simeonemuseum.org

DANIEL SEXTON GURNEY AWARDED EDISON-FORD MEDAL 

Thanks to RRDC member Murray Smith for providing us this report:
On Wednesday, Oct. 29, Dan Gurney was presented the Edison-Ford Medal for his ingenuity and innovative achievements at a very special ceremony held at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. Several hundred guests, friends and family attended the event in a specially designed section of the Museum, featuring several of the most famous automobiles from Dan’s career, including the Lotus 38 with which Jimmy Clark won the Indy 500 and with which Dan was intimately involved – together with, in pride of place, the Ford Mk 4 with which Dan and A.J. Foyt won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967.

In addition to the Gurney family and Edsel Ford, many members of the RRDC were on hand, amongst them Sir Jackie Stewart, Roger Penske, Peter Brock, Rob Dyson, James King, Charles Nearburg, Roger Bailey, Harley Cluxton, Murray Smith, Bobby Akin, and, of course, Alex Gurney. http://www.racer.com/more/historic/item/110368-why-dan-gurney-won-the-edison-ford-medal

WERNER ANNOUNCES TORQUE.TV AGREEMENT WITH CBS SPORTS NETWORK

RRDC member Roger Werner, Chairman and Founder of Torque.TV, announced that Torque.TV has reached a multi-year agreement with CBS Sports Network to bring more than 130 hours of Torque.TV’s motorsports event programming exclusively to CBS Sports Network each year. Beginning in 2015, CBS Sports Network will air in primetime the following race series: Pirelli World Challenge, British Touring Car Championship, DTM, Blancpain GT Sprint Championship, Blancpain Endurance Championship, SKUSA Superkarts, and other series to be announced. http://www.racer.com/international-racing/item/110596-relaunched-torque-tv-announces-agreement-with-cbs-sports-network

WORLD CHALLENGE

Speaking of Pirelli World Challenge, RRDC member Corey Fergus will move over to the TC class of the reconfigured Pirelli World Challenge Series in 2015, which will air on CBS Sports Network. There will be three separate races, and Corey will compete in a Porsche Cayman for first overall in the TC/TCA/TCB race group. Other groups include GT (RRDC member Johnny O’Connell is the 2014 champion) and GTS (RRDC member Jack Baldwin is the 2013 champion). http://www.world-challenge.com/

YOUNG GUNS AND SONS OF MEMBERS

Harrison Newey, the 16-year-old son of Red Bull Formula 1 technical guru and new RRDC member Adrian Newey, will make his UK single-seater race debut in the BRDC Formula 4 Winter Series. Harrison will drive for the frontrunning HHC Motorsport team in the two-round series, which kicks off this weekend with four races at Snetterton. He made his race debut in the French F4 series last month at Circuit Paul Ricard, has undertaken multiple tests in a BRDC F4 car and was run by HHC for the first time at Snetterton last week. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116625 – http://www.racer.com/international-racing/item/110585-adrian-newey-s-son-to-race-in-formula-4

Skylar Robinson, 18-year-old son of Chip Robinson, who moved up from go-karts to race Formula Fords in the BRSCC Avon Tyres Championship in 2013, then the F2000 Championship this year, has made his mark in an impressive fashion. He missed the F2000 championship by two points, scoring four wins, nine podiums, five poles, five fastest race laps, two qualifying lap records, and two race lap records over 14 races. Skylar has also competed in the annual Spina Bifida charity six-hour go-kart race in Jacksonville, Fla., with RRDC members Jack Baldwin, Buz McCall and Judy Stropus. http://f2000series.com/

David Murry‘s 14-year-old son Dylan, who won three go-kart championships in 2013 (Double National WKA Championship and GSKA & Southeastern Divisional Championship), will race only his U.S. Legends car in 2015, as he moves up the motorsports racing ladder. http://www.dylanmurry.com/Home/

RRDC SUPPORTS TEAM USA SCHOLARSHIP

Talented up-and-coming race car drivers Aaron Telitz from Birchwood, Wis., and Michai Stephens from Evanston, Ill., carried the colors of the RRDC and SAFEisFAST.com while playing starring roles in the recent Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch and the Walter Hayes Trophy events at Silverstone in England. The American duo were the latest winners of the Team USA Scholarship which was founded by RRDC member Jeremy Shaw in 1990. Past winners have included Jimmy Vasser, Bryan Herta, Buddy Rice, Andy Lally, JR Hildebrand, Dane Cameron, Conor Daly and Josef Newgarden. www.TeamUSAScholarship.org.