Derek Warwick elected new president of the BRDC

Former Formula 1 driver and BTCC driver and team owner Derek Warwick has been elected the new president of the British Racing Driver’s Club, succeeding Damon Hill who had announced his decision to step down back in June.

Warwick, already a serving member on the BRDC Board of Directors, has been announced as the new BRDC President after an election at the club’s Annual General Meeting yesterday.

Warwick, the 1978 British Formula 3 champion, competed in Formula 1 from 1981 to 1993, with his best results coming in 1984, a pair of podium finishes with the V6 turbocharged Renault RE50.

After Formula 1, Derek Warwick along with Ian Harrison formed Triple Eight Race Engineering in 1996, winning the contract to run the works Vauxhall team from 1997, after RML switched to running the Vodafone Nissan programme. Warwick raced for the team alongside John Cleland up until 1998, taking his first win at Knockhill that year in the Vectra, before standing down and signing Yvan Muller to replace him for the 1999 season.

Warwick sold his stake in the team to Harrison in 2002, the second year the team took the BTCC drivers’ and manucturers’ title in the middle of a dominant run for the factory backed team.

“First and foremost I would like to thank Damon for the loyalty and commitment he has shown to the BRDC during his time as President,” said Warwick.

“He steered us through some difficult, but ultimately successful times and my aim is to continue where Damon left off. The BRDC and Silverstone face an exciting future. We now have a 21st century race circuit with 21st century facilities; over the next 5-10 years we have the opportunity to continue developing Silverstone into the best motor sport venue in the world.”