Sam Sunderland :
IN THE
SPIRIT
OF
ADVENTURE
“Spirit of Adventure”, an outstanding demonstration of
transportation by land, air or water – the Segrave Trophy.
Awarded to any British national who demonstrates ‘out-
standing skill, courage and initiative on land, water or in
the air’ the trophy honours one of the first true greats of
adventure, of motorsport, of transportation; Sir Henry
Segrave.
Determined to honour
Segrave’s legacy the tro-
phy was first devised by
his wife, Lady Doris, after
he became the first per-
son to hold both the land
and water speed records.
Segrave was also first to
break the 200 miles per
hour barrier on land.
The inaugural trophy
was awarded to Austra-
lian born aviator, Charles
Kingsford-Smith in 1930,
for his achievement of
becoming the first to fly
across the Atlantic Ocean.
Amy Johnson was award-
ed the trophy two years
later for flying solo from
London to Cape Town.
You could suggest that the Segrave Trophy could be
awarded to any British motor racer since its inception
however, this isn’t the case, in fact if the Royal Automo-
bile Club deems no worthy recipient for a year, it simply
isn’t awarded. It is a prestigious award for outstanding
achievement and is respected as such.
It came as no surprise when the RAC announced that
the first Brit to winner the Dakar Rally, Sam Sunderland,
was the winner of the 2017 trophy.
“Sam’s bravery, speed, navigation skills and adaption to
temperatures, terrain and altitude are all the qualities that
Lady Segrave wished to celebrate and Sir Henry would’ve
admired,” explained Chairman of the RAC, Tom Purves,
on presenting the award to
Sunderland.
Sunderland took victo-
ry of the 2017 Dakar after
taking charge on stage five
when team mate, Austra-
lian, Toby Price was forced
out due to an accident.
Sunderland stepped up
to the challenge, adapted
to the conditions and fin-
ished the world’s toughest
rally in the lead.
Just
nine
previous
Segrave Trophies have
been awarded to motor-
cyclists, Sunderland is
indeed in an elite group;
Pic: Red Bull
Geoff Duke (1951), Pe-
ter Collins (1976), Bar-
ry Sheene (1977 & 1984),
Mike Hailwood (1979), Steve Webster (1991), Carl Fogarty
(1994), Joey Dunlop (2000), John Surtees (2012), and John
McGuiness (2015).
TRAVERSE 9