RACING driver Oliver Turvey was named Cumbria Sports Personality of the Year at the Cumbria Sports Awards’ 25th anniversary annual presentation dinner on Friday evening.

Turvey, from Penrith, has had a truly outstanding 2008, having recently been named as Formula 3 driver of the year by the Racing Steps Foundation, which provides vital financial support to young drivers.

This accolade came during a debut F3 season in which he has won twice at Oulton Park and Spa and also gained eight podium finishes.

He finished a magnificent second in the 2008 British Formula 3 Championship after being cruelly denied the title by Spain’s Jaime Alguersuari.

During the year he was also named the Formula 3 Challenge Cup Champion, and is hoping to make the next step up to Formula 2 for the 2009 season.

He is jetting off all over the world working as a test driver, and his ultimate ambition is to drive in Formula 1.

Almost 300 guests, including Charles Allen from the 2012 Olympics organising committee, and former first-class cricketer and guest speaker Andy Hayhurst, congratulated winners at the event at the Low Wood Hotel, Windermere.

Golf player Gary Lockerbie, from Penrith, walked away with the Performance Award after winning the Kazakhstan Open, the most lucrative event on the European Challenge Tour.

He won the event with a score of 15 under par, winning by two clear shots. The victory guaranteed him a place back on the Full European Tour for 2009 where he will compete against the best golfers in Europe on a weekly basis.

The First XV Rugby Union Team from Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith, won Junior Team of the Year after they reached the final of the Daily Mail Vase at Twickenham.

Other awards went to: Team of the Year – Barrow FC (football); Special Award – Kendal Law (bowls); Service to Sport Award – Geoff Grainger (youth football); Volunteer of the Year – Frank Davidson (athletics); Performance Award for People with a Disability – Paula Johnson (wheelchair basketball); Coach of the Year – Peter Nicholson (hockey); Junior Sports Personality – Laura Park (athletics/fell running); Rising Stars – Sam Hall (sailing), Richard Houghton (cycling), Danneika Borthwick (tennis), Hannah Bewthwaite (fell running/cross country) and Gemma Bell (orienteering).

Guest speaker Andy Hayhurst said: “It was an honour to attend the Cumbria Sports Awards and celebrate the great achievements in sport throughout Cumbria. I am really impressed with the standard of talent in Cumbria and would especially like to praise this year’s rising stars that I am sure will go on to achieve great things in their chosen sport!”

Eddie Edge, partnership director at Cumbria Sport, said: “The awards were a superb event and an excellent opportunity to celebrate the enormous effort and talents of the sporting stars of Cumbria.

“We had some excellent nominations for the awards this year, and I know that our judging panel had a real task to choose all this year’s deserving winners. It just goes to show what great talent and dedication to sport that we have in the county.”