VELOCITY SCORE A DOUBLE AT THE MOTORSPORT AUSTRALIA AWARDS

Velocity Motorsport Magazine has won both the photo and story of the year for Darin Mandy and John Morris respectively.

Darin’s image of Lee Holdsworth’s Bottle-O Mustang encased in sparks at the Perth Supercars SuperNight took out the best Photo Image prize at the awards ceremony.

John’s exclusive interview with Alex Peroni, where he discussed his Monza accident and subsequent recovery took the honours in the Motorsport Story print and online prize.

“The awards are a huge honour and are a testimony to the effort that Darin and all the staff at Velocity Motorsport Magazine apply to their work,” editor John Morris said. “We are proud of the way that the magazine has grown over the past three years, which could not take place without the support of advertisers such as DPO, HMO Customer Racing, Pitstop Karting, Half Price Parts, Aussie Racing Cars, Queensland Touring Car Championship, KCK Lubricants, Phil Gilberts Motor Group, McElrea Racing, Liam McAdam Motorsport, Matt Chahda Racing and Richardson Racing in the UK and many others.

We are also grateful for our readers, both through our print magazine as well as our electronic pages and social media network.

Alex Peroni’s story appears in Velocity 35 and only a few copies remain in stock . Order yours today via the Velocity Motorsport Magazine website, or take out a twelve month subscription and never miss out on our award winning stories and images.

The two awards received this evening add to the five which have been awarded previously to the staff at Velocity Motorsport Magazine.

Congratulations to all award winners on the night. See the full list below.

MEDIA RELEASE/Motorsport Australia (formally CAMS)

Motorsport’s best celebrated

The 2019 Motorsport Australia awards season has officially come to a close with the National Awards Gala Dinner, presented by Burson Auto Parts at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Hosted by Greg Rust, the special evening honoured both the champions behind the wheel and individuals that are part of the passionate and dedicated 10,000 Motorsport Australia officials family.
 
While champion winners from circuit, tarmac and gravel rallying, off road and karting all got their time in the spotlight to receive their silverware and thank those close to them, there were many other individuals honours revealed. 

Taking out the prestigious Official of the Year award was former Queensland State Council Chairman Paul Overell. The decorated motor race official has contributed a lot to Australian motorsport in Queensland, working hard at race meetings or as an active member on multiple council and training teams.

As Overell was celebrated for his service after more than 40 years, teenager Edan Thornburrow was named as the Young Driver of the Year after having a big season in the NSW Production Touring Car Series where he enjoyed seven class victories. He also became the youngest ever driver to win a class in the state’s Porsche Club super sprint championship.

It was a busy event for another young driver as Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia’s Harry Bates found himself on stage three times throughout the night. The 23-year-old received the Possum Bourne trophy for winning the Motorsport Australia Rally Championship title, as well as being named as the prestigious Peter Brock Medal recipient, awarded to the sport’s rising stars.
 
It was a deserving accolade for Bates, who had a brilliant year behind the wheel of the Neal Bates Motorsport prepared Toyota Yaris AP4, where he claimed a clean sweep of victories throughout the ARC season.
 
The ARC champion also featured as part of a star-studded panel to discuss the 2019 season, which included Supercars Champion Scott McLaughlin, carsales TCR Australia Series winner Will Brown, FIA Motorsport Games medalist Brenton Grove and Australian Women in Motorsport Commission Chair Jessica Dane from Triple Eight Racing.
 
Grove wasn’t the only individual to be celebrated for his efforts outside the country, with his fellow FIA Motorsport Games teammates Stephen Grove, Luis Leeds and Cody Nikola Latkovski, FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion co-driver John McCarthy and FIA Best Track or Road Marshal of the Season recipient Rob Thiry all being acknowledged for their efforts.
 
The remaining individual honours to be awarded during the gala dinner were the Media Service awards and four Motorsport Austraila Life Memberships, which were presented to Bill Bennett, Neil Crompton, John Harnden AM and Andrew Fraser.
 
Phil Irving Award recipient, the late Peter Molloy, was also acknowledged during the evening after receiving his award last July in a private ceremony.
 
A deserving winner of the award, Molloy spent 50 years in motorsport engineering and mentoring drivers for some of those most successful teams, drivers, and riders in Australian motorsport history.

With Motorsport Australia’s recent rebrand from CAMS coming into effect in January 2020, many awards were handed out with the CAMS branding, reflecting the achievements that were completed under CAMS’ sanction in 2019. At next year’s awards ceremony, all awards will be presented under the Motorsport Australia name.

Full Award Winners List:

Life Membership – Bill Bennett
Life Membership – Neil Crompton
Life Membership – John Harnden AM
Life Membership – Andrew Fraser
Service Award (Media) – Leigh Diffey
Service Award (Media) – Colin Young
Service Award (Media) – Scott Young
Service Award (Media) – Bruce Williams
Service Award (Media) – Jeff Whitten
Service Award (Media) – Peter Whitten
Service Award (Media) – Geoffrey Harris
Service Award (Media) – Bruce Newton
Motorsport Journalist of the Year – Andrew van Leeuwen 
Motorsport Story of the Year (Print/Online) – John Morris
Motorsport Story of the Year (Radio/Television) – Vanessa Milton 
Motorsport Photograph of the Year – Darin Mandy
Motorsport Photographer of the Year – Dirk Klynsmith
Phil Irving Award – Peter Molloy
Peter Brock Medal – Harry Bates
Australian Motorsport Official of the Year – Paul Overell
Young Driver of the Year – Edan Thornburrow
 
CAMS Australian Tourist Trophy
Dirk Werner
Dennis Olsen
Matt Campbell
 
Karting Australia Awards
KA2 Winner – Luke Pink 
KZ2 Winner – Troy Loeskow 
Ladies Championship Trophy – Beck Connell 
 
2019 Motor Race Champions
CAMS Australian Side by Side Champion – Jackson Evans
CAMS Australian GT Champion – Geoff Emery
CAMS Australian GT Endurance Championship – Geoff Emery and Garth Tander
CAMS Australian Formula 4 Champion – Luis Leeds
CAMS Australian Targa Champion Modern Driver – Paul Stokell
CAMS Australian Targa Champion Modern Co-Driver – Kate Catford
CAMS Australian Targa Champion Classic Driver – Mick Downey
CAMS Australian Targa Champion Classic Co-Driver – Jarrod van den Akker
CAMS Australian Touring Car / Virgin Australia Supercars Champion – Scott McLaughlin 
Dunlop Super2 Series Winner – Bryce Fullwood
TCR Australia Series Winner – Will Power
CAMS Australian Motorkhana Champion – Aaron Wuillemin
CAMS Australian Khanacross Champion – Christopher Hranger
CAMS Australian Supersprint Champion – Douglas Barry
CAMS Australian Hill Climb Champion – Malcolm Oastler
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Series Winner – Jordan Love

CAMS BFGoodrich Australian Off-Road Championship
Mark Burrows (Driver)
Matthew Burrows (Co-Driver)

Pro Buggy Class Winners
Mark Burrows (Driver)
Matthew Burrows (Co-Driver)

Prolite Buggy Class Winners
Craig Pankhurst (Driver)
Penny Pankhurst (Co-Driver)

Sportlite
Steven Graham (Driver)
Daryl Graham (Co-Driver)

Production 4WD Class Winners 
Geoff Pickering (Driver)
Dylan Watson (Co-Driver) 

SXS Turbo Class Winners
Roydn Bailey (Driver)
Luke Shadbolt (Co-Driver)

Extreme 2WD Class Winners 
Jamie Knight (Driver)
Symon Knight (Co-Driver)

SXS Sport Class Winners
John Wisse (Driver)
Adrian Weeding (Co-Driver)

Extreme 4WD Class Winners 
Joshua Nurrish (Driver)
Luke Kenyon (Co-Driver)

Super 1650 Buggy Class Winner
Declan Cummins (Driver)
Karin Ann Barker (Co-Driver)
Liam Peters

CAMS Australian Rally Championship
Outright Winners
Harry Bates (Driver)
John McCarthy (Co-driver

2WD Rally Winners 
Ethan Pickstock (Driver)
Lisi Phillips (Co-Driver)

Australian Rally Manufacturers’ Champion
Toyota

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