750 Motor Club is delighted to announce the return of the John Miles Young Driver Award, in honour of the late vehicle dynamics guru and former F1 racer. The John Miles Award continues to offer a helping financial hand to nurture promising up and coming talent within the Club, and the winner receives a £1000 cash prize - from the total donated by family, friends, Club members and former colleagues of Miles - which is matched by the 750 Motor Club with £1000 credit against entry fees for the driver’s subsequent season.
Before the pandemic the nominated judging panel had narrowed applicants to a shortlist of talented 750MC racers - taking into account technical prowess as well as racecraft – after which Covid put the brakes on proceedings and the award was put on hold. In the two seasons since, one of those original shortlisted drivers has subsequently progressed from being a frontrunning circuit novice showing great promise, to securing an inaugural championship title in one of the Club’s biggest and most competitive one-make grids – the Toyota MR2 Championship. That Aaron Cooke not only went on to successfully defend that first 2020 title in 2021 against a four-time champion, but chose to switch to a different generation of the mid-engined roadster over winter to further heighten the challenge, only cemented the Hertfordshire-based driver’s impressive adaptability behind the wheel.
The John Miles Young Driver Award winner was announced at the 750MC Annual Awards night at Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday 26th February; the cheque being presented to a delighted Cooke who was in attendance to collect his Class C and Overall 2021 MR2 Championship trophies.
Applications Open for 2022
The John Miles Young Driver Prize will return at the next 750MC Annual Awards Night, following judging that will take place across the 2022 season.
In order to qualify for this year’s award, the driver must be aged 30 or under on 1st March 2022, be competing at a minimum of five 750 Motor Club race meetings this season, and have no more than three years of circuit racing experience as of 1st March 2022. Interested drivers looking to put themselves forward for consideration should enter via email with a racing ‘CV’ and photo of their current racecar to
giles@750mc.co.uk
John Miles & The 750 Motor Club
Prior to his move towards a long and successful career in road testing and automotive development for both road and race cars at Lotus, Aston Martin, and Multimatic, John’s achievements as a driver were of considerable repute. Having graduated from Formula 3 and GT racing at Team Lotus, he went on to compete in the European Touring Car Championship as well as international sportscar racing, winning the 1971 RAC British Sports Car Championship along the way. This was in addition to his F1 period; starting a total of 15 Grand Prix with a best finish of 5th place in the 1970 South African GP.
John’s fondness for the 750 Motor Club was a constant throughout his life. From his early competition history and Austin Seven developments, he remained active throughout retirement until his sad passing in 2018; not only with his presence at various race events throughout the season but also generously donating time to vehicle dynamics education with lectures and mentoring.
In accordance with family wishes at both the funeral and online, in excess of £3000 was generously donated by family, friends, Club members and former colleagues of Miles as part of a fund-raising appeal to continue the award with 750MC.