Monday, June 14 2010
TT racer Paul Owen, who hails from Llangollen, Wales, has been awarded the inaugural PokerStars ‘Spirit of the TT’ award.
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This award is awarded to individuals that have displayed a selfless act of contribution to the success of the TT event.
The winning of the award is based upon individuals who display qualities of innovation, teamwork, integrity, respect, and leadership. Anyone who makes a contribution to the TT event is eligible for the award; this includes contributors such as riders, volunteer workers, and marshals. The judges for the ‘Spirit of the TT’ award include representatives from the ACU, the government on the Isle of Man, PokerStars (TT sponsors), Newspapers on the Isle of Man, and Manx radio.
Owen was awarded the prize for a sacrificial act of assistance, where sacrificed his own race ambition to help a marshal following an accident on the track. As Owen was following his close friend, New Zealander Paul Dobbs in the SuperSport two race, Dobb’s had an accident at Ballagarey, which prompted Owen to dismount his bike to assist the marshals attending the accident. Owen took the flag from the marshal and told the marshal to attend to his friend while he took over waving the flag. By this selfless act, Owen sacrificed his own opportunity in the race and retired from the TT Zero Electric Bike competition.
Geoff Corkish, political figure for the Isle of Man Tourism remarked that Owen’s actions were typical of the sense of community that we esteem at the TT races on the Isle of Man and that Owen well deserved the inaugural award.
