Loughrea’s Alex O’Grady is among the firts round of nominees for the 2026 Sexton Trophy celebrating the best young racing drivers in Ireland.
Alex O’Grady has been competing in motorsport since his early karting days at just four years old. Now, Alex finds himself atop the British GB4 Championship in his second season racing in Britain, after a previous season in Formula 4 France.
The 17-year-old netted his nomination for the Sexton Trophy this year thanks to a superb May month, and only built on that with a championship win in September.
O’Grady already had three wins and seven pole positions when he was nominated. Last month he crowned an already great year by winning the British GB4 Championship for aspiring F1 driver.
Alex is one of three people nominated for the Sextion trophy so far alongside 21-year-old Charlie McKillen from Co. Wicklow and Dublin’s Sean McGovern, also 21.
The Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of the Year award and the historic Sexton Trophy are presented to the individual who has demonstrated the most potential to represent Ireland at home and internationally both on the track as well as in the public eye.
This year, the structure of the award has changed, whereby the winner will receive a €42,500 support package to help develop their motor racing career, but for the first time, monetary prizes are awarded for the first and second runners-up at €5,000 and €2,500 respectively.
The overall winner of the 2026 award will be announced at the Motorsport Ireland Champions Awards Lunch in December. The award is presented annually and is supported by Sport Ireland and Motorsport Ireland.
