Inside the industry with Michael McAleer
INDUSTRY AWARD: The Maxol Motor Industry Person of the Year 2002 is Dorothea Dowling. She received the award for her outstanding work, which was voluntary, as chairperson of the Motor Insurance Advisory Board. There were 10 nominees in all. Judges were Tom Noonan, chief executive of Maxol Limited; Brian Murphy, managing director of the Belgard motor group; Cyril McHugh, chief executive of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry; Paul O'Grady, editor of Irish Motor Industry magazine; Noel Smyth of RMI, Northern Ireland and Andrew Hamilton, The Irish Times. The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, presented Dorothea Dowling with her award at a lunch in the Guinness storehouse on Monday.
GORDON BENNETT CENTENARY: Next year is the centenary of the famous Gordon Bennett race, the first international motor race to be held in Britain or Ireland. The day-long marathon in 1903 took place on a 327-mile circuit which embraced Athy, Kilcullen, Kildare, Portlaoise and Stradbally. It was won by Mercedes-Benz driver Camille Jenatzy, a Belgian whose red beard and excitable nature earned him the nickname of Red Devil. A book, Triumph of the Red Devil has just been published by journalist Brendan Lynch. Sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, it gives a comprehensive lap-by-lap account of the race. The book retails at €24.50 or £14.95.
HIS AND HERS: England soccer captain David Beckham and his wife, former Spice Girl Victoria, are test-driving a pair of armour-plated BMWs worth nearly €525,000. They're considering adding the BMWs to their automotive stable - which includes two Ferraris, an Aston Martin and a Lincoln Navigator - after an alleged plot to kidnap Victoria and sons Brooklyn and Romeo was foiled three weeks ago. A BMW spokesman confirmed that, at the Beckhams' request, the German automaker was loaning them a fully-armoured 750iL, worth up to €396,000, and a lighter 540i, which sells for €143,000. Earlier in the week British papers had reported that security staff for the Beckhams were looking at the four-wheel-drive X5.
F1 JOBS GO: The Ford-owned Jaguar Formula One team is to axe between 40 and 60 jobs in the face of a global economic downturn which has left smaller rivals struggling to raise funds. Team spokesman Nav Sidhu said a restructuring was underway after an evaluation of the team's activities. Team sources said that between 40 and 60 of Jaguar's total workforce of around 370 would go in the next few weeks.
DIT DATE: Motor fans will be gathering next Monday at DIT Bolton St for what promises to be a most entertaining and enlightening night. Though we are sworn to secrecy as to who will address the invited audience, we can let you know that the Dominick Tuite Memorial Lecture will be well worth attending. The event starts at 7.30 pm.