Respected Journalist Peter McKay and Commentator Neil Crompton were honored
last night for their respective lifetimes of work in the Australian Motor
Sport Media at the third annual V8 Media Association Media Awards.
Crompton and McKay are the 9th & 10th inductees to the Association’s Hall
of Fame and were inducted to the elite group at the Association’s annual
dinner held at Sydney Olympic Park.
McKay has been long regarded as one of the Australia’s leading motoring
and motor sport writers for more than 40 years, having starting as a
Speedway Reporter in the 1960’s and moving through the ranks to
ultimately become a senior motoring and motor sport writer for Fairfax
media.
Regular contributions to key publications like Wheels Magazine and other
key industry outlets have only enhanced his reputation and level of respect
within the industry, despite what he admits as a ‘challenging’
relationship with former V8 Supercar head-honcho, Tony Cochrane.
McKay was induced by fellow hall of fame member and friend Mark Fogarty to
a standing association from the assembled media.
Neil Crompton started his working life as a Bicycle Mechanic before taking
up motor cross at a young age. Having made the move to racing cars he was
soon on his way to the top level of Australian Motor Sport and raced
competitively and successfully through the 1980s and 1990s, including
stints with Peter Brock’s HDT and Mobil 1 BMW operations, Wayne Gardner
Racing and Ford Tickford Racing, amongst others.
During that time he was exposed to the media, regularly providing live and
entertaining commentary from the driver’s seat in the early years of
Seven’s pioneering Racecam. Ultimately, a full-time move from steering
wheel to microphone beckoned that saw him become arguably the ‘voice of
V8’s’ in Australia via stints at the ABC, Seven and Channel 10 calling
Australian Touring Car and V8 Supercar Racing.
Crompton has combined his TV efforts with work in radio, print and internet
and is a popular industry spokesperson and keynote speaker at key
engagements.
Along with his Hall of Fame induction, Neil’s company Air Time Media also
won the ‘Best Feature or Promotional Video’ category for the popular
Shannons Legends of Motor Sport Series aired this year on 7Mate.
Speedcafe.com editor Stefan Bartholomaeus swept the Journalist awards,
awarded the ‘Journalist of the Year’ award. Bartholomaeus was key to
setting the news agenda for the second half of the season when he broke the
story that V8 Supercars would be moving the test day to the same weekend as
the Bathurst 12 hour. He also won for ‘Best Feature Story’ with an
insider story on the timeline involved in bringing Team Penske and Dick
Johnson Racing together.
Richard Craill became the first person to win a category three years in a
row, taking out the ‘Commentator of the Year’ award once again.
Dirk Klynsmith took out his second ‘Photographer of the Year’ award
while Mark Walker claimed two awards: ‘Best PR/Media Manager’ (For his
role with Jack Daniel’s Racing) and ‘Best On Track Photo’ for the
incredible capture of Jason Bright’s horrific crash at Clipsal.
Peter Norton took out the ‘Best Off Track Photo’, capturing James
Courtney’s celebration at the Clipsal 500 in March.
SEN Radio’s Tony Schibeci was presented the award for ‘Best Radio
Program or Podcast’ for 2014 while Nissan Motorsport received acclaim for
their Nissan Motorsport Heritage activation at Mount Panorama.
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Photos of the ceremony and awards are available for downloand from:
www.epicphoto.com.au
Password: 2014
Photo Credit: Peter Norton
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THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS:
BEST NEWS STORY
WINNER: V8 TEST POISED TO CLASH WITH BATHURST 12 HOUR – STEFAN
BARTHOLOMAEUS, SPEEDCAFE.COM
It has been one of the most talked about news topics of 2014 – the date
clash between the V8 test and the Bathurst 12 Hour. Speedcafe’s Stefan
Bartholomaeus broke the news after the Darwin V8 event.
Equal Runners Up:
Ford out! Roger Penske confirms that the Blue Oval is done with V8
Supercars – Mark Fogarty, Auto Action
Holdsworth set to leave Erebus for #18 CSR entry – Adrian Musolino,
V8X.com.au
3rd Place: SPEED determines which V8 driver is the fastest so far – William
Dale, SpeedTV.com.au
BEST FEATURE STORY
WINNER: INSIDE DICK JOHNSON’S YEAR-LONG PENSKE TALKS – STEFAN
BARTHOLOMAEUS, SPEEDCAFE.COM
Equal Runners Up:
The Empire Strikes Back – Lewis Issacs, Auto Action
In Defence of The Dude – Lewis Issacs, Auto Action
3rd Place: 1994 Bathurst Live Blog – William Dale, SpeedTV.com.au
An inside look at how one of the biggest deals in the history of V8
Supercars came together, revealing several key details of the year-long
DJR/Penske saga.
BEST OFF TRACK PHOTO
WINNER: PETER NORTON – THE RETURN OF JC
Runner Up: Dirk Klynsmith – The Taste of Victory
3rd Place: Richard Craill – Strano v Walker
BEST ON TRACK PHOTO
WINNER: MARK WALKER – JASON BRIGHT CLIPSAL CRASH SERIES
Runner Up: Daniel Kalisz – Alex Premat & Scott McLaughlin Bathurst
3rd Place: Dirk Klynsmith – Moff Jube
BEST FEATURE OR PROMOTIONAL VIDEO
WINNER: SHANNONS LEGENDS OF MOTORSPORT SERIES, – AIR TIME MEDIA
It is the TV series that got all motorsport fans – young and old –
reliving the good old days of Australian touring car racing. The
entertaining 12 part series looked back at the sport’s greatest heroes
and its biggest events, hosted by Neil Crompton, with assistance from Aaron
Noonan and Mark Oastler.
Runner Up: Jack Daniel’s Nissan on the Calder Park Thunderdome – Jack
Daniel’s Racing
3rd Place: Greg Murphy (AKA Barry Ford) takes Cameron Smith for a hot lap –
Holden Racing Team
BEST ACTIVATION
WINNER: NISSAN HERITAGE AT BATHURST NISSAN AUSTRALIA
Nissan covered all its heritage bases at Bathurst as it celebrated 30 years
since George Fury’s record-breaking pole lap at Mount Panorama in 1984.
The initiative included a retro-inspired livery change for Caruso’s car,
plus the unveiling of a matching limited-edition road-going Nissan Pulsar.
Runner Up: Evening with Jack – Jack Daniel’s Racing
3rd Place: True Colour Track Walk – V8 Supercars
BEST RADIO/ PODCAST
WINNER: ON THE GRID – SEN RADIO, TONY SCHIBECI
Runner Up: V8 Insiders/Inside Supercars/Supercar Today – Thunder Media,
Craig Revell
3rd Place: The Rev Up – Crocmedia, Matt Worland, Andrew Clarke, Cam
McConville
BEST COMMENTATOR
WINNER: RICHARD CRAILL, TRACK COMMENTARY, NETWORK TEN, SEN
Runner Up: Aaron Noonan, Seven Network
3rd Place: Neil Crompton, Seven Network
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
WINNER: DIRK KLYNSMITH
Runner Up: Mark Horsburgh
3rd Place: Daniel Kalisz
BEST PUBLIC RELATIONS / MEDIA MANAGER
WINNER: MARK WALKER, JACK DANIELS RACING
Runner Up: Grant Rowley, Nissan Motorsport
3rd Place: Peter Trevaskis, Ford Performance Racing
JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
WINNER: STEFAN BARTHOLOMAEUS, SPEEDCAFE.COM
Runner Up: Mark Fogarty, Fairfax Media, Auto Action
3rd Place: William Dale, Fox Motorsport