Dan Trent writes:
Working on a forthcoming learner driver section for MSN Cars means I’ve been immersing myself in all things related to the subject. And as part of that on Friday I went along to the Auto Trader Young Driver of the Year final at Rockingham to watch one lucky winner drive home with a Ford Fiesta and a year’s insurance.
Only I wasn’t there as a spectator for the various driving challenges the finalists would be taking part in. “You’re the benchmark by which we’ll be judging the contestants,” was the cheery greeting I got from event organiser Caroline. No pressure then!
What a great bunch they were too, and about as diverse a group of youngsters as you could ever hope to meet. But they were all very switched on to the challenges and dangers facing young drivers and were all very appreciative of the chance to get some experience of Rockingham’s wet handling area. None of them had ever tried anything like this before and all expressed amazement that such valuable experience isn’t included as part of the test or the learning process.
Having done this kind of thing a few times before my honour was satisfied but the young upstarts showed me up on the ‘formula finesse’ exercise that tests smooth driving by keeping a ball within a bowl on the car’s bonnet while going through a slalom. My time was good, but the eventual winner of the event – car design student Jed Sheahan – was quicker by a couple of seconds.
Left to right: finalists Matt, Hayley, James, Jade, Jed, Andrew and Janina
He and runner up Jade Hansle deserve congratulations but all the finalists would have made worthy winners and I was glad I wasn’t the one having to choose between them. My hero of the day was self professed white van man Matt Bieliauskas, who seemed on a one-man crusade to prove the stereotypes aren’t necessarily true.
For more about Auto Trader’s campaign to raise standards among young drivers see www.autotraderyoungdrivers.co.uk
Dan
Young Driver of the Year announced
| 03 June 2008 by Adrian Hearn Jed Sheahan has beaten nearly 2,500 motorists to be named Auto Trader’s first Young Driver of the Year. The 17-year-old from Newport, Wales, was among the top seven scorers in a special theory test to be invited to take part in a set of driving challenges at the Rockingham race track in Northamptonshire, matching the theory score set by the original Stig, Perry McCarthy. He pipped 18-year-old Londoner Jade Hansle to second place in the event to win a Ford Fiesta and a year’s free car insurance with Jade picking up a cheque for £2,000. At the event in Rockingham, the seven drivers aged between 17 and 24 had to complete a string of skill-based challenges testing vehicle handling and control, distraction driving and using a wet-grip track. Jed, who has been driving for five months and passed his test first time with just one minor fault, was presented with his trophy by Trader Media Group’s head of partnerships Tom White. Jed said: “I’m shocked and delighted to win the competition. The Young Driver of the Year completed Auto Trader’s ‘Don’t Wreck the Ride’ safety campaign where alarming research showed road crashes are the leading cause of death for people aged between 15 and 24. Tom White added: “A huge congratulations goes out to Jed for becoming Auto Trader’s 2008 Young Driver of the Year. “We are extremely proud of the success our Young Driver Safety campaign in educating young people about the consequences of taking risks on the road. “We hope we have gone some way to draw the attention to the awful and growing statistics of young driver deaths.” For more information check out the Auto Trader Young Drivers website |
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