Rob Huff and Jason Plato collect their BRDC Stars
Chevrolet World and British touring car drivers Rob Huff and Jason Plato attended the British Racing Drivers’ Club Awards luncheon on Monday 5th December, and collected their Gold and Silver Star Awards for their successes in 2011.
The BRDC Gold Star is the Club’s top annual award, which is presented to the top BRDC member in international motorsport, using the Club’s own scoring system. Last year the award went to Red Bull Racing Formula 1 driver Mark Webber,
Huff’s sensational season in the 2011 FIA World Touring Car Championship for Chevrolet earned him the prized award this year. Huff missed out on the drivers’ title by just three points from three-time Champion Yvan Muller, taking eight wins in 24 races and four out of 12 pole positions. The 31-year-old Briton finished ahead of Formula 1 drivers Jenson Button and Mark Webber in the BRDC points, building up an unassailable margin with three races of the WTCC to go, finishing on 323 points with Button on 283 and Webber on 256.
Rob Huff becomes the first Touring Car driver to win the BRDC Gold Star. Three-time World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx almost collected the award last season until the BMW Team RBM team were disqualified from the Japanese round of the Championship, which saw the award go to Mark Webber.
The Silver Star is awarded to national competitors, which this year went to Jason Plato, who was also recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the BRDC.
This was also the sixth time Plato has received the award. Although Plato finished third in this year’s British Touring Car Championship, coincidentally the same placing last year’s BRDC Silver Star winner Gordon Shedden had finished in the 2010 BTCC season, Plato just edged Matt Neal for the award by two points after his second place finish at the final round of the season at Silverstone, the home of the BRDC.
