WILL DENDY WINS PRIZE MINI CHALLENGE DRIVE WITH PIRELLI
The winner of a competition organised by Pirelli to win a one-off prize drive in the MINI Challenge – which runs exclusively on Pirelli tyres – is diplomat Will Dendy from Northampton, who impressed a judging panel of motorsport experts with his answers in a Facebook competition, and then in a top 10 shoot-out held at Thruxton with a series of driving challenges.
Contestants had to answer the question ‘Are you raceworthy?’ with up to five photos and captions posted on Pirelli UK’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/PirelliUK. The top 10 entrants went through to the shoot-out at Thruxton, with the overall winner getting a prize drive in the MINI Challenge round at Brands Hatch on September 13-14.
Will Dendy, a lifelong race fan who has run five marathons (including the London Marathon, wearing a race suit and helmet) impressed the judges throughout all the assessments at Thruxton: Porsche Caymans, single-seaters, skid pan, face-to-face interviews, reactions on the batak board, and a go-kart race.
Outside of racing, the 26-year-old works as diplomat for the British government, having recently returned from Uzbekistan and visited 46 countries to date. “I still can’t quite believe it now,” said Dendy. “The standard was incredibly high, so to get through is more than a dream come true. It’s the biggest opportunity I’ve ever had in racing and I’m absolutely determined to make the most of it. My ambition is to take part in a racing series one day and I’m hoping that this could be the springboard to my goal. Massive thanks to Pirelli for this amazing opportunity.”
The panel of judges, which included television presenter and former grand prix driver Tiff Needell, were looking for natural racing talent and the ability to progress, rather than just experience and outright speed.
Pirelli’s Motorsport Operations Manager Matthew Corby, who sat on the judging panel, commented: “Will had everything we were looking for, with plenty of natural speed as well. We’re sure that he’s going to be a great ambassador for Pirelli and most importantly, thoroughly enjoy the weekend. However, it was still very hard to make a decision as there were a number of very strong candidates. So we’d like to thank everybody who entered, and came down to Thruxton.”
The MINI Challenge round at Brands Hatch in September uses the full grand prix circuit and supports the Dutch Supercar Challenge, which is also supplied exclusively by Pirelli.
