The Hopkirks ‘keep it in the family’ as another member becomes an IAM RoadSmart advanced driver

Another member of race and rally legend Paddy Hopkirk’s family has passed their advanced driving test, with his daughter Katie Adlington becoming the latest to reach the level.

Paddy Hopkirk, now 86, is a legend in race and rally circles, having won the Monte Carlo and Acropolis Rallies at the wheel of a Mini, as well as a second place in the fearsome 1968 London-Sydney Marathon – only losing the win when he and his co-driver Alec Poole stopped to rescue a competitor from their burning car.

Since becoming Mature Driver Ambassador for IAM RoadSmart, the UK’s biggest independent road safety charity, he has taken the Mature Driver Review and the Advanced Driving Test (27 years after taking it for the first time).

Paddy’s son Patrick, 47, also took and passed the advanced test last October. And not content with that, in May both Paddy and Patrick trained to reach Masters level, the highest civilian level of driving possible.

Both of them achieved their Masters with Distinction.

Now Paddy’s daughter Katie has become the latest member of the Hopkirk family to become an advanced driver.

Our picture shows Katie receiving her advanced driving certificate from Chris Miller, chairman of Basingstoke Advanced Driving Group. Katie received her assessments from Chris Stone.

Katie said: “After my dad and brother took and passed their advanced tests, I could hardly not do it myself! I enjoyed the learning process, and could see how it would make my driving more enjoyable as well as safer.”

Paddy remains an active promotor of IAM RoadSmart in his work for various organisations around the country.  Most recently he made an appearance on the IAM RoadSmart stand at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

ENDS

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IAM RoadSmart has a mission to make better drivers and riders in order to improve road safety, inspire confidence and make driving and riding enjoyable. It does this through a range of courses for all road users, from online assessments through to the advanced driving and riding tests. IAM RoadSmart is the trading name of all businesses operated by the UK’s largest road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and was formed in April 2016 combining the IAM, IAM Drive & Survive, PDS and IAM Driver Retraining Academy. The organisation has 92,000 members and campaigns on road safety on their behalf. At any one time there are over 7,000 drivers and riders actively engaged with IAM RoadSmart’s courses, from members of the public to company drivers, while our Driver Retraining Academy has helped 2,500 drivers to shorten their bans through education and support programmes.

To find out more about IAM RoadSmart products and services visit the new website www.iamroadsmart.com                   

To find out the name of your own local IAM RoadSmart group please visit: https://wwwiamroadsmart.com/local-groups               

ENDS ALL