Journalists and photographers from around the country have been recognised for the stunning images and compelling words they produce which convey news of New Zealand motorsport to fans at home and overseas.
The New Zealand motorsport media awards were presented during MotorSport New Zealand annual awards night at Te Papa in Wellington on Saturday 28 May, an evening which saw more nearly 60 awards, trophies and certificates presented to competitors, officials, volunteers and media at all levels of four-wheeled motor sports in New Zealand.
MotorSport New Zealand CEO Brian Budd says: “The overarching goal of the MotorSport New Zealand media awards is to promote and recognise the coverage of New Zealand motorsport news and imagery in the media, particularly mainstream media.
“We value our relationship with the media enormously and aim to continue building these relationships to foster further coverage of motorsport in New Zealand, which will please our hundreds of thousands of fans who are always asking to see more of their favourite motor sports on television, in newspapers and news websites.”
The finalists for Motorsport News Journalist of the Year were Television New Zealand’s OneNews sports reporter Martin Tasker, Bay of Plenty Times motorsport editor Colin Smith and MediaWorks’ Newshub sports reporter Shaun Summerfield.
The award went to Tasker with the independent judge saying that his entries demonstrated the strengths and options open to each style of journalism. They showed diversity and empathy for a range of motorsport from coverage of the Le Mans 24-Hour race, the 40-year history of Bay Park, the Leadfoot Festival in Coromandel and GT racing. “Tasker’s news items were a powerful cocktail of information, pictures and a flow of language to attract readers and viewers,” said the independent judge.
The Feature Journalist of the Year had independent television producer David Hedge of Volt TV and NZ AutoNews columnist Rob Scott as finalists with the award going to Hedge.
Of Hedge’s entry, the judge said: “His winning submission had a gem of a short feature piece where Toyota Racing Series champion, 16-year-old Lando Norris meets Kiwi racing legend Kenny Smith, age 73. The item had context, interest, insight and a narrative that spanned decades. Our winner captured the essence of two racers, lifetimes apart in everything, except wanting to win.”
The New Zealand motorsport media awards have two photography categories – the President’s Award for the best single shot and the Photographer of the Year for the best portfolio, at least two of which have to have been published in the media. The finalists across both categories were Aucklanders Simon Chapman and Steve Ritchie, Napier’s Bruce Jenkins, Christchurch’s Terry Marshall, and Hamilton’s Geoff Ridder.
In selecting Steve Ritchie as the winner of the President’s Award for the best single shot, the judges said: “Often timing and instinct dictate the outcome of a brilliant motorsport photo. This year’s winning captured a premise moment of a rally car up on its front corner with little hope of recovery and a humorous windscreen sticker fitting of the moment.”
Renowned motorsport photographer Geoff Ridder took out the Motorsport Photographer of the Year title for fourth time. The judges said: “The competition for the best portfolio was very close this year and we brought in additional photographer colleagues to consider the final round of judging. Our winning portfolio from Geoff Ridder was chosen because it comprises a strong and diverse selection of images which also highlights the photographer’s technical abilities.”
A new award for Motorsport PR Communicator of the Year was created this year in recognition of the fact that without the many public relations people who work with motorsport teams, events and sponsors around New Zealand, the level of media coverage of motorsport would be considerably less than it is now.
Two finalists were selected by the independent judge – John Coker, an account director with Wright Communications who oversaw the publicity for the 2016 Toyota Racing Series, and Catherine Pattison, public relations consultant to Subaru of New Zealand.
In selecting Coker as the inaugural winner of the Motorsport PR Communicator of the Year, the judge said: “We received some strong entries for this category, with the winning pieces judged as topical and well written. The angles
for each piece were key, the best example being the “Piquet father and son” story which transformed a motorsport story into a national and international news story of interest. The coverage for the stories was wide in reach and the images supplied with the stories were used extensively, this being key these days in expanding online coverage.”
“My sincere congratulations to our motorsport media award winners,” says Budd. “You have delivered a fantastic array of motorsport images and stories for the overall betterment of our sport.”
Media were free to enter whichever category they felt best suited their work and Budd says he was encouraged by the larger number and diversity of this year’s entries.
Budd adds: “We also ask our media colleagues to nominate the person they feel has made an outstanding contribution during the past year both in their relationships with the media and to New Zealand motorsport for the Motorsport Media Personality of the Year award.
“We were overwhelmed with nominations for Kiwi world rally star Hayden Paddon so we are delighted to confirm Hayden as the Motorsport Media Personality of the Year.”
Among the comments about Paddon’s nomination for this award, the media said that this year’s award is in recognition of Paddon’s continued efforts to put New Zealand on the motorsport map internationally. They also
commented that he exudes personality both in and out of the car, he’s a genuinely nice guy and is very easy to deal with. Add to this is his responsiveness to his fans, dedicating a lot of time to his supporters here in New Zealand.
The awards evening also trophies presented to 2015-16 race, rally, hillclimb and clubsport champions from around the country, as well as an array of certificates and awards acknowledging the contributions of volunteers, officials and media. See www.motorsport.org.nz for a full list of this year’s MotorSport New Zealand awards.
