I first came across Jenson’s design-a-helmet competition last year when it was originally launched for the 2008 British Grand Prix. It was something very different and I had a lot of fun thinking through designs I could enter and trying them out. Sadly I didn’t get any prizes last year, but when I noticed they would be launching the competition again for the 2009 British Grand Prix the combination of the winning prize and the fact that it was so simple and fun to take part in made me want to have another go.

This year the designs needed to be of a UK theme, so I wanted to incorporate the Union Jack and I also liked Jenson’s previous Union Jack themed helmet. The design I eventually thought of was slightly tricky with the tools they give you, and just the touchpad on my laptop, and it did take me a few attempts but didn’t take too long to complete. Sadly you could only submit one entry, otherwise I may have come up with a few other ideas.

When I opened the email telling me I had come third I was totally shocked. I hadn’t expected to get anything as there had been so many entries, so it came as a bit of a surprise and made me very happy. Initially it didn’t really sink in, but knowing Jenson had chosen the top three himself was almost reward enough.

I love my prizes, I think they are really unique and being a massive Jenson / Honda / Brawn GP fan I’m not sure I could have asked for more. They are certainly something I will treasure for a very long time. I wasn’t expecting the cap to be personally signed either so that was yet another welcome surprise and is now very precious to me.

I think these sort of creative competitions are brilliant and more teams and drivers should certainly try and do similar things. They are great fun to take part in, and I think they give a greater sense of reward than maybe winning competitions by answering a few easy questions would. You feel that it has more importance, and the prizes mean so much more because they require more effort and are judged by people in the public eye you look up to, e.g. the driver. I believe a few drivers have had similar competitions on their sites and I think it’s something that should really be encouraged, especially as they are generally free to enter.