Later this week, Tipperary’s Nicole Drought will fly to the US to meet her new CJJ Motorsport Team. The team, set up by Irish expat John Campion, selects promising Irish drivers and assists them in their careers, CJJ recently announced that they will be backing the Roscrea lady as she competes in the high profile Britcar Endurance Car Championship in the UK this year.
Before all that though, Nicole will live every Irish race driver’s dream, when she takes the wheel of the team’s Jordan 192 Formula 1 at the Palm BeachInternational Raceway. Drought has, of course, tasted F1 power before, when she Tested John Campion’s Guinness March 811 car at the Mondello Park Historic Festival last August.
In tribute to his Irish heritage through his lifelong passion for motorsports, internationally recognised car collector John Campion last week announced the evolution of CJJ Motorsports into an international racing organisation. The organisation, as conceived by Campion himself, will support the next generation of Irish racers, giving them the tools they need to compete globally with the world’s pre-eminent motorsports teams.
“The rich history of motor racing is replete with Irish names, a legacy that I am proud to carry forward,” Campion said. “After lending years of support to Motorsport Ireland and serving as an ambassador for Team Ireland, the natural next step was to establish a motorsports program that would give promising Irish racers all the tools they would need to further their status in the sport.”
Nicole joins Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the Year James Roe Jr and Nicci Daly’s Formula Female programme on the programme, which will be managed by International GT Racer, Matt Griffin, the newly named Senior Development Officer for CJJ Motorsports.Nicole “I am absolutely over the moon. It is every Irish racing driver’s dream to take the wheel of a Jordan Formula 1 car, and to be lucky enough to travel to the US to do it, is just so exciting. I can’t thank John Campion enough for this incredible opportunity.”Once Nicole returns from the US, full details of her UK racing programme will be announced.
