Johannesburg - At a glittering function in the city on Thursday night, attended by a Who's Who of South African motorsport, seventeen-year-old Kelvin van der Linde was named the youngest Bridgestone / SA Guild of Motoring Journalists Motor Sportsman of the Year in the 50-year history of the award.
Former national karting and Volkswagen Cup champion Van der Linde was cited as the winner of the 2013 International Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup, against drivers from 24 countries.
He was the class of the field in this curtain-raiser series to the DTM (German Touring Car championship) and won five of the nine rounds, including the final round at Hockenheimring, after starting from fifth on the grid.
During 2013 he was also chosen to attend the elite FIA Institute Young Drivers Excellence Academy as Africa's representative after an exhaustive selection process.
The award was accepted on Van der Linde's behalf by his uncle, Etienne van der Linde, as he is in Germany attending official testing for the 2014 ADAC GT Masters Championship, in which he has secured a full-time drive with the Prosperia C Abt Racing team, winners of the 2013 team title.
OTHER NOMINATIONS
Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton dominated the 2013 SA rally championship on their way to a second consecutive title, with seven wins out of eight events.
Brett Cummings was recognised for his heroic performances in the 2013 and 2014 Dakar Rally in South America, where he finished 43rd and 28th respectively. In 2014 he was second in the Malle Moto class, where no service crew or any kind of assistance is permitted
Giniel de Villiers finished second overall and first in the class for petrol-engined 4x4 vehicles in the 2013 Dakar Rally and fourth overall and again first in his class in the 2014 Dakar.
Hudson Kennaugh, a former South African Superbike champion, won the 2013 British Superstock championship, one of the most hotly contested motorcycle series in Europe.
Cristiano Morgado won the DD2 Masters class at the Rotax Max World Karting Finals. It was his fourth Rotax Max world title since 2003. The entry of 72 included some of the best karters in the world, many of whom were national champions.
Riaan van Niekerk rode a factory KTM 450 Rally machine to 13th overall in the motorcycle category on his debut appearance in the Dakar Rally in 2013. He followed this up with 12th overall in the 2014 Dakar in January.
Wade Young, 17, became the youngest competitor to win a South African Enduro motorcycle championship when he took the honours in the E2 (200 cc) class in 2013 with victories in three of the six rounds. He also competed with distinction in the International Six Days Enduro in Italy as well as in two of the toughest extreme enduro events in the world, the Erzberg Rodeo in Austria and the Red Bull Romaniacs in Romania.
COLIN WATLING AWARD
The winner of the Colin Watling Award for achievement in motorsport by someone other than a competitor was Beaulah Schoeman, former managing director of Motorsport South Africa.
In a lifetime devoted to motorsport, she became the first woman to serve on the International Motorcycle Federation management committee and is a permanent member of the executive board of the FIM.
Also nominated for the Colin Watling Award was Richard Schilling. As President of the South African Cross Country Racing Commission he is responsible for one of the most successful forms of national motorsport and has helped put South Africa on the world cross country racing map.
In December 2013 he was appointed head of the FIA World Cross Country Racing Commission.