Eleven nominees for Bridgestone SA / SAGMJ “Motor Sportsman of the Year”
There are eleven nominations for the 2014 Bridgestone SA / SA Guild of Motoring Journalists “Motor Sportsman of the Year” award, which will be announced at a special function in Johannesburg on February 18. There are two nominees for the Colin Watling Award, which recognises significant contribution and achievement by a non-competitor in motor sport.
This is the 22nd year that Bridgestone SA has sponsored the most prestigious award in local motor sport, which dates back to 1964 and recognises and rewards outstanding and remarkable achievements by South African motor sport competitors.
The nominees, in alphabetical order, are:
Motor Sportsman of the Year:
BRAD BINDER (18)
One of the stars of the Moto3 GP series is Brad Binder riding his Indian Mahindra racing motorcycle. Brad has led many Moto3 Grands Prix outright and has been on the podium for a second and third position from a field that sees anything up to eight riders going for a win at the finishing line. 2015 sees him ride for the KTM works team. He is starting to shine at the very top level in the world, and with his new team is a favourite for the world championship title in 2015.
ELVENE COETZEE
As navigator to Leeroy Poulter, Elvéne Coetzee is the first female navigator to rewrite the history books since 1960 and won the 2014 South African Rally Navigator’s Championship as part of the Castrol/Toyota works team.
GINIEL DE VILLIERS
Giniel de Villiers have over the past twelve years established himself as one of the greatest International Motorsport Stars to hail from South Africa. Finishing Dakar is considered a fantastic feat, winning it almost has no equal in global motorsport. To consistently finish on the podium as Giniel have been doing is rare, and lately these podiums have come through a proudly South African venture with the locally developed Hallspeed Hilux. Dakar is not just about budget, it is about heart. 2015 saw him finish the Dakar in a highly creditable second positon overall and win the petrol class overall.
JAYDE KRUGER
Popular South African Formula Ford and Volkswagen GTi Champion, Jade Kruger went to the UK and won the ultra-competitive Dunlop British Formula Ford Championship at Brands Hatch in the last race of the season – a very significant title he shares with the likes of Ayrton Senna.
JONATHAN WING (17)
Jonathan Wing from Hilton College in KZN won the 2014 Handikart World Championship held in torrential rain in France. The only karter in South Africa who rides with a prosthetic left leg against able-bodied competitors, he started the final round of the World Championships in second place and opened up a gap of 4.5 seconds to give South Africa our the first Handikart World Championship.
JORDAN PEPPER (18)
As a “Rookie of the Year” in the 2013 International VW Sirocco Cup, Jordan went to Europe in 2014 and won the Volkswagen Sirocco Cup against drivers from 23 other countries. He won with a round to go. He also won the 2014 FIA Institute of Young Drivers Excellence Academy Award for Africa against drivers from twelve other countries.
KELVIN VAN DER LINDE (18)
In his matric year in 2014, our reigning Bridgestone SA / SAGMJ Motor Sportsman of the Year went back to Germany and in competition with some of the finest sports car and F1 drivers in the world won the GP Masters Title in his Audi RS8 with his partner, Rene Rast. In 2015 Kelvin will be driving for the official Audi factory team.
LEEROY POULTER
Adding to his many championship titles in world and local karting, saloon cars, off-road racing and rallying, Leeroy won the 2014 South African Rally Championship, with navigator Elvéne Coetzee, to make him one of the finest all-rounders this country has produced. This gave Toyota their first rally championship title in twenty years. His most recent motorsport accolades also include coming second in the Toyota Desert 1000 Cross country championship in Botswana, sixteenth overall at the 2015 Dakar including placing second overall in Stage 12 (Rosario to Buenos Aires).
SA KARTING TEAM
The SA Karting Team won the Rotax Max Challenge in Valencia in Spain in 2014 beating fifty other countries and 270 drivers in heavy rain. 15,000 Max Challenge Karters from all over the world compete for a place in the grand finals making this championship one of the most competitive in the world.
The team consist of Kohen Bam and Jordan Sherratt (Junior Max); Eugene Denyssen and Luke Herring (Senior Max); Benjamin Habig and Bradley Liebenberg (DD2); Cristiano Morgado, Erwin Sterne and Richard van Heerde (DD2 Masters)
SHELDON VAN DER LINDE (15)
Sheldon at 15, with two South African karting championships behind his name, won the 2014 Engen Volkswagen Polo South African National championship at his first attempt from a large highly competitive field.
WADE YOUNG
Wade Young (18) won the 2014 National Enduro Motorcycle Championship (overall) and also won the E1 (200cc) Class Championship for the second consecutive season. Whilst winning the E1 Class Championship at each event, he took five of the six overall victories during 2014. He also won the 2014 Roof of Africa in Lesotho for the second time against some of the toughest competition from around the world. While competing in South Africa, Wade also participated in various extreme enduro motorcycle races internationally and claimed great results beating some of the world’s top riders who specialise in extreme enduro racing.
Apart from coming third in the Red Bull Romaniacs, fourth in the Red Bull Sea to Sky and thirteenth against 500 starters (and only 31 finishers) in the Red Bull Erzberg Rodeo, Wade won the 2014 King of the Hill extreme enduro event in Romania as well as the 2014 Ukupacha Enduro (Ecuador). Wade has established himself as one of the youngest and best riders in the world and is a name to be reckoned with.
Colin Watling award:
GLYN HALL
Glyn Hall is the inspirational leader of the Toyota Motorsport team who won both the South African Donaldson cross country and SA Rally championship. Eighteen Toyota HiLuxes built at his Hallspeed workshops competed in the 2015 Dakar. Including Giniel de Villiers and Leeroy Poulter who finished second and sixteenth respectively after a dramatic two-weeks of racing in South America.
TOBY VENTER
CEO of Porsche South Africa bought the Kyalami Grand Prix racing circuit and saved this iconic treasure for South African motorsport.