The winners of the 2015 Sydney Allard Media Awards have been announced. The awards, sponsored by MQQNEYES this year, celebrate the importance of the media in promoting drag racing along with the crucial role played by the late Sydney Allard as the 'Father of British Drag Racing'. The awards will be presented at the forth-coming British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Awards Dinner on November 21st.
Photo Journalism
There were over 85 entries for the Phto Journalism Award from 18 different photographers. Independent judges were Octane Magazine designer Robert Hefferon, Octane Editorial Director David Lillywhite, and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. The top three choices were photos by Jeni Long, Julian Hunt, and Callum Pudge. The outright winner was Jeni Long of Yawning Cat Photography with her flame burn-out photo of Bob Hawkins taken at Shakespeare County Raceway, which she entitled 'Sharing a Toast'. The photo was taken using a Nikon camera and published in American Car Magazine in November 2014.
Written Journalism
There was a broad spread of entries for the Written Journalism Award ranging from published articles to blogs, online race reports and books. It made judging particluarly difficult this year and Head Judge Guy Loveridge, Chairman of the Guild of Motoring Writers, spent several weeks going through them.
A Mike Collins series of colour features, sponsored by American Autoparts, was 'highly commended'. He has put together work which shows great skill in choosing and captioning each image used so as to tell a carefully thought-out story.
But the winner of the Sydney Allard Media Award for Written Journalism is Rodger Attaway - on of the organizers of the legendary Belle Vue Rod & Custom Shows of the 1970s and '80s now living in Spain. His limited edition self-published book Street Rod & Custom Showtime takes a concentrated look at the evolution of the indoor drag and custom shows in Britain: from their beginnings in the early '60s, through the explosive growth of the '70s and into the '80s.
It impressed the judge because it condenses an entire "scene" into a book, which is no small task. It took him back to reading 'Custom Car' and 'Street Machine' while at school and dreaming of the events he could not go to, but one day would and the cars he could not drive but wished he could. He thought it well-researched and presented take on a side of the sport that arguably brought more people in than any 5 second quarter ever did. More details from www.streetrodandcustomshowtime.net. (Photos Rodger Attaway)