Shell and the world's greatest drivers

From over 2,500 entries, Simon Banks was crowned V-Factor Best Driver in Britain for 2008 but his title didn’t come easy...

On a wet, freezing mid-November day, 16 finalists arrived at Dayton Milton Keynes for the first half of the V-Factor 2008 finals. This was the elite group that had made it through to the final day of the six-month search for Britain’s Best Driver but as practice got underway, almost everybody seemed to be spending more time pointing the wrong way up the track, spinning continuously in the tricky conditions.

All except Adrian McDowell, the undoubted star of the first part of the finals, the only driver not to put a foot wrong, taking time in the warm-up to master the conditions and driving faultlessly to win both heats. It was a great start to the event and as if his two victories weren’t enough, Adrian’s fastest lap was almost a full second faster than the next quickest driver.

Eventual V-Factor 2008 winner, Simon Banks, began his march to the title with third place in the karting, a good start but once he arrived at Birmingham NEC for part two, Simon really got into his stride. Adrian, Simon and second place finisher in the karting, James Stables, all faced three tests of skill and precision in the Top Gear Live arena, each at the wheel of the new Alfa Romeo Mito.

All three finalists gave outstanding performances in each test but it was Simon who impressed instructor (and Top Gear stunt driver) Paul Swift the most.

“Simon had great feel, great touch and listened to instruction carefully. Overall, he is a worthy winner from what I saw today,” said Paul afterwards.

And after an initial entry of over 2,500 people, three tough quiz rounds, two challenging kart races and those thrilling driving stunts, who are we to argue?

 

How you can win with V-Factor 2008

The V-Factor contest may be over for 2008, but if you hurry you can still win tickets to Top Gear TV and we’ve got some great Top Gear gift packs to give away, including: a 12-month subscription, two T-shirts, the 2009 Big Book of Top Gear, a Stig poster, a Stig mug, a keyring and a cap. We’ve got 10 gift packs to give away, but hurry: once they’ve gone, they’ve gone.

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