24h Le Mans
Yesterday, former official Porsche driver Mark Webber became an Officer of the Order of Australia. The World Endurance Champion and second at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans was given his country's highest national honour and promoted to the second highest ranking in the Order.
Very active with young, up-and-coming drivers, Mark Webber, who retired from competition at the end of the 2016 World Endurance Championship (WEC) season, was rewarded for "distinguished service to motor sport as a competitor and ambassador, and to the community through fundraising and patronage of a range of medical and youth support organisations" per his official website.
Mark Webber: "I didn’t expect it at all. It’s a bit of a surprise, but I think it’s an absolute honour to be recognised at that level. It’s been a long-term run over here. I left a long time ago, and it’s been nice to fly the flag. You don’t look back too much … but I hope I represented Australia as best I could."
Mark Webber - whose autobiography has been nominated (everyone can vote up until January 31st) in the "sporting book of the year" category in Poland - has never forgotten that without the support of David Campese, also a Queanbeyan native and world rugby champion with Australia in 1991, when he started out, his sporting career would have never taken off.
A newly appointed Porsche ambassador, the marque he joined after his retirement from F1 to participate in the LM P1 program of the 919 Hybrid, this year Mark Webber intends to compete once again in the "race across the sky," a VTT race in Colorado. The Australian also serves as a sports commentator for Red Bull TV, for which he was present at the Monte Carlo Rally last week.
Quotation from Mark Webber's official website.
Photo: Mark Webber finished fifth at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.
