Nesbitt wins NI Motorsport award
ARMAGH'S Andrew Nesbitt has been announced as winner of the Northern Ireland
Motorsport Award at Monday night's ANICC awards ceremony in Portadown.
Formerly known as the Northern Ireland Motorsport Personality of the Year
award, Nesbitt's name joins the list of other highly esteemed winners such as
Eddie Irvine and the late Bertie Fisher.
In recent years, the Armagh rally ace has propelled himself to the pinnacle
of Irish Rallying. After taking his first Tarmac Championship victory on the
1996 Donegal International Rally in a Toyota Celica GT4, a second victory
followed on the same event two years later. But the Armagh man really started
to shine in 2000 when four victories at the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRC
ensured his first Irish Tarmac Championship title.
After a long layoff due to Foot and Mouth Disease in 2001, Nesbitt returned
to the stages for the first round of the Irish Tarmac Championship in 2002.
Picking up where he left off in 2000, he continued his winning ways and
victories on the Circuit of Ireland, Killarney, Jim Clark, Ulster and Cork
rallies ensured a second championship title.
Andrew Nesbitt dominated the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship in 2002. Few
could threaten the Tarmac Champion's stage times. In fact, he finished
runner-up on just one occasion and that was the Manx International Rally
where Manxman Mark Higgins took victory. It was an unlucky weekend for
Nesbitt as he lost two minutes due to a timing error - the crew were eating
burgers instead of checking in at a time control!
Other award finalists included Kris Meeke, Garry Jennings and Eugene
Donnelly, all of whom have made fantastic progress throughout 2002.
Nevertheless, with such domination of the Irish Tarmac Championship, there
could only be one Northern Ireland Motorsport Award winner - Andrew Nesbitt
Jonathan McDonald
