ROSSI WINS AWARD
13 December 2006 - Guild of Motoring Writers

Cheques and trophies galore at the GoMW Awards Dinner

At its Awards Dinner on 29 November, the Guild of Motoring Writers played host to guests from the automotive industry and distributed its highly regarded annual awards to members. It’s a glamorous affair in grand surroundings, complemented this year by Clive Jacobs as a witty and extremely entertaining MC.

In homage to his father, Grace was said by Ian, third Lord Strathcarron of Banchor, son of the Guild’s late and much-missed President.

After the excellent meal, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu rose to deliver the Loyal Toast, and the evening was a great opportunity for Guild chairman John Kendall to congratulate him on his recent 80th birthday.

John went on to announce a number of initiatives for next year. Among them are the introduction of training courses for members, plus two dates for members’ diaries: the BMW-sponsored Guild Classic car run to Brittany (7-10 June) and the Mazda-sponsored UK Classic (5-7 October), to be held in Wales.

In addition, John announced that next year the Guild will hold a Summer Ball for members and partners plus Guild guests on 07.07.007 at Pinewood Studios, where the theme is to be James Bond. As a result, next year’s formal winter dinner will be replaced by a Christmas Cocktail party at the RAC Club on 13 December.

On to the gongs and wedge handed out to our worthy winners. The 2006 roll call, comprising cash prizes totalling £18,500 and a number of virtually priceless trophies, is as follows:

RIDER OF THE YEAR (Trophy)

Valentino Rossi

ASTON MARTIN INTERNATIONAL TROPHY (Trophy + £1,500)

Ed McDonough

BRITISH CAR AUCTIONS FEATURE WRITER (Silver salver + £1,500)

Martyn Morgan Jones

FORD MOTOR CO AWARD FOR THE TIMO MAKINEN TROPHY (Silver cup + £1,000)

David Tremayne

HYUNDAI PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS (Trophy + £500 each)

Jakob Ebrey (motor sport)

Martyn Goddard (general motoring)

THE IAM SAFETY AWARD (new) (Trophy + £1,000)

James Foxall

JEEP CONSUMER JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR AWARD (Silver cup + £1,000)

Tim Pollard

THE PHIL LLEWELLIN STUDENT AWARD (new) (Trophy & book + £1,000)

Alex Grant, Cardiff University

THE SIR WILLIAM LYONS AWARD (Trophy + cheque)

Dimitri Pesin

MARKET ENGINEERING AWARD FOR AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY (Trophy + £1,000)

Tony Lewin

MERCEDES-BENZ AWARD FOR THE MONTAGU OF BEAULIEU TROPHY (Trophy, plate + £1,000)

Ian Wagstaff

MITSUBISHI MOTORS REGIONAL MOTORING JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR (Trophy + £1,500)

Melissa Terry

Trophy: John Swift

PEMBERTON TROPHY (Tankard & clock)

Paul Frere

PEUGEOT AWARD FOR THE ROOTES GOLD CUP (Cup + £1,000)

Tony Dron

RENAULT UK JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR (Trophy + £2,000)

Jesse Crosse

SAAB YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR (Trophy + £1,000)

James Baggott

VOLVO COMMERCIAL VEHICLE WRITER (new) (Trophy + £1,500)

Will Shiers

DRIVER OF THE YEAR (Trophy by Bentley)

Sebastien Loeb

Finally, John appointed two new Friends of the Guild, an honour offered to motoring PRs who have gone beyond the call of duty in their support of the Guild. Congratulations to Peter Frater of PFPR and Andrew Didlick of Peugeot.

Heartiest slaps on the back to all the above. Should you fancy finding out more about what the prizes are for and maybe entering next year, full details of their criteria can be found on the Guild website at www.gomw.co.uk. Note that, aside from the Sir William Lyons award, only members are eligible. And, as if by magic, application forms to join are at www.gomw.co.uk as well.

www.gomw.co.uk

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