Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear champion Jack Hawksworth is among the six finalists for the 2012 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

The award, established in 1989 to reward and recognize young racing drivers from the UK, is supported by McLaren, motorsports magazine Autosport and the British Racing Drivers' Club. Previous winners include Dario Franchitti (1992), Alex Lloyd (2003) and Stefan Wilson (2007).

The winner, who will be announced at the Autosport Awards in December in London, will receive a cash award of 100,000 British pound sterling (about 162,000 U.S.), a McLaren F1 test drive, full BRDC membership and a TW Steel watch.

Hawksworth, who clinched the Star Mazda title Sept. 8 ago at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, closes out the season next month at Road Atlanta. He also is expected to participate in the Road to Indy Open Test Oct. 10-11 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Hawksworth’s championship run is unparalleled in series history, setting a Star Mazda record for the most wins (eight) and poles (11) in a season. His title-clinching victory comes with scholarship funding from the Mazda Road to Indy worth more than $600,000 to move up to compete in Firestone Indy Lights -- the series where last year's Star Mazda champion, Tristan Vautier, claimed the championship Sept. 15.

“As INDYCAR’s official driver development program, the Mazda Road to Indy aims to attract the best young driving talent from around the world," said Jason Penix, director of INDYCAR grassroots initiatives. "We congratulate one of our elite drivers, Jack Hawksworth, on his McLaren Autosport BRDC finalist nomination. 

"We are excited to see what Jack can do as moves on to Firestone Indy Lights in 2013 and look forward to watching him progress to the IZOD IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 in the years to come.”

Also among the finalists are Formula Renault NEC front-runners Jake Dennis, Josh Hill and Jordan King, Formula Renault Eurocup podium finisher Melville McKee and Formula Renault BARC title contender Josh Webster.

All six will be assessed in a test at Silverstone in November by a panel of judges that includes ex-Formula 1 racer and BRDC president Derek Warwick, two-time BTCC champion Jason Plato, DTM driver Jamie Green, McLaren head of vehicle engineering Mark Williams, circuit commentator Ian Titchmarsh, and Autosport's Kevin Turner and Marcus Pye.