Five-time IMSA champion Jim Downing, one of the creators of the HANS Device, is the latest recipient of the Road Racing Drivers Club’s Bob Akin Trophy. The award was presented by RRDC president Bobby Rahal and committee chair Archie Urciuoli. Each year the Akin Trophy honors the driver who best embodies the qualities of sportsmanship and fair play that made the former RRDC president, killed in a testing accident at Road Atlanta in 2002, a favorite of all.
Downing’s essential humility was evident in his remarks after accepting the award: “I knew Bob through racing, and I did a little bit of investigating the facts of his accident. In this business you often have to do that, and it was very sad. I am deeply honored to receive this award.”
The permanent trophy is on display at the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and each recipient receives a smaller, engraved version of the award.
Also honored by the RRDC, as the recipient of its Phil Hill Award, was Bob Bondurant. The popular Bondurant was a key figure in the Shelby American Cobra effort that earned the 1965 FIA Manufacturers Championship, as well as being the founder of the groundbreaking racing school that bears his name.
The Hill Award commemorates America’s 1961 World Champion with a detailed sculpture of the Ferrari 156 that the recently deceased Hill drove to the title. For more information about the RRDC, visit www.rrdc.org.
