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10 Dec 2025
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10 Dec 2025
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Nicole Drought following her win at Silverstone earlier this year
Tipperary racing driver Nicole Drought was announced as the recipient of the Rosemary Smith Award at the Motorsport Ireland Champions of Irish Motorsport Awards 2025 in Dublin.
The award was commissioned in 2024, and it honours the legacy of Rosemary Smith. It is presented annually to a female driver who carries on her spirit and legacy.
Smith was a winner on the race circuits and rally stages, not just in Ireland but on the European and the World stage during her glittering career. Long after she had retired from competitive competition, she was invited by Renault to test drive their F1 car in France and, aged 88 at the time, she remains the oldest person ever too drive an F1 car.
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There are a number of parallels between Nicole and Rosemary as Nicole, now a multiple champion and accomplished race driver, has also achieved success in other disciplines, twice taking the class championship in Endurance Trials and adding a class win on her rally debut in the Killarney Historic Rally back in 2021.
She too has sampled F1 power, testing a March 811 at Mondello Park in 2021 and a Jordan F193 at the Palm Beach International Raceway in the US the following year.
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The Tipperary driver took five wins in three different countries in 2025, including on the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in April.
Nicole says, "I'm really happy with this award. Rosemary was an inspiration to me growing up and I was lucky enough to meet her on a number of occasions in more recent times. We had lunch a few times in Dublin and she always offered me advice and support. We even starred together in a TV Ad for Tesco for International Women's Day back in 2020.
"I have been lucky enough to collect quite a few awards during my motorsport career but I really do think this one tops them all. I would like to say a sincere thank you to Motorsport Ireland and the MI Womens' Commission for recognising my achievements this far and giving me an award I will treasure".
Nicole is backed by Gem Oils, ITM Naas, Siltex Safety, Joe Mallon Motor Group, RAC Air Conditioning, Mondello Park and IEC Solutions.
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