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#113977
From Planet F1:

Friday 1st May 2009

Former McLaren chief executive Ron Dennis, who withdrew from Formula One in the middle of the recent Liargate scandal, won a Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday night.

Dennis, who has spent more than 40 years in motor racing, picked up the honour at the Sport Industry Awards 2009 and immediately praised his "family" at McLaren.

"My involvement in Formula One motor racing began in 1966 and, over the intervening 43 years, it's been my abiding passion," he said.

Accepting the award in London from two of his former drivers, Alain Prost and Mika Hakkinen, Dennis added: "In that time I've worked alongside some of the greatest racing drivers in the history of the sport, as well as a large number of enormously talented and extremely hard-working individuals.

"I regard my interaction with all of them as a privilege for, although it's the virtuoso performances of great racing drivers that inevitably attract all the attention, Formula One is above all a team endeavour.

"The winning is done as much by the unsung heroes as by the superstars.

"So, as far as McLaren is concerned, the word 'team' hardly suffices - I prefer the term 'family'.

"And, together with the many talented and hard-working individuals who have made up or still make up the McLaren family, I've been involved in the accruing of 138 grand prix wins, 10 Drivers' World Championships and seven Constructors' titles.

"It's particularly appropriate that those achievements should be recognised at this time, because it's only two weeks since I decided to bring my involvement in Formula One to a close."

Prost, who won three of his four World Championship titles as a McLaren driver, described Dennis as a "pivotal and inspirational figure'' in his career.

He said: "This award is just recognition for a man who has dedicated his life to motor racing and, without whom, the Formula One paddock would have been a poorer place."

Sir Frank Williams, team principal of the AT&T Williams team, said: "Ron is a man of outstanding ability and in a class of his own in Formula One.

"Over the decades he has demonstrated an ability to win consistently and indeed to do it with supreme elegance. He is infuriatingly good at what he does and I am delighted he is being honoured in this manner this evening."
#114076
Very nice to see, I still want him Knighted though

I agree. :)

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