Alan Gow has tonight received the 'Motorsport Hero' accolade at the 2017 Autocar Awards for his contribution to global motorsport over the course of an exceptional career so far.

The honour was presented at the annual event attended by luminaries from the world of motoring, motorsport and beyond.

Autocar says:

Our love of cars naturally embraces motorsport — we are proud sponsors of the British Touring Car Championship, and love sharing stories with our readers of the cars and characters in all competitions, from Formula 1 to rallying.

Our motorsport hero this year is a man who has completely overhauled the most important national motorsport series in this country — twice.

He has returned the British Touring Car Championship to its rightful position at the pinnacle of UK motorsport, having first taken it there in the 1990s.

As chairman of the Motor Sports Association he has worked tirelessly to improve the health and prosperity of all British motorsport, and was an important player in the government’s very welcome decision to allow events to be run on closed public roads.

Our winner is Alan Gow.