Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame

30 Australian Legends inducted into Motor Sport Hall of Fame

Among the 30 Australian icons that formed the inaugural inductee group for the Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame, no less than 29 World Championships and 50 Australian Championships are represented in individual and team competition.

The gala affair - presented by Australia’s premier motorsport website, Speedcafe.com, was attended by 500 family and friends of inductees, industry identities and motorsport enthusiasts.

Australian legends from Formula 1, circuit racing, Speedway, Rallying, off-road, drag racing, karting and motorcycling formed part of the inaugural group.

The Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame is an initiative from the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) involving Motorcycling Australia, the Australian National Drag Racing Association, Karting Australia and Speedway Australia. It is the first time that the Governing Bodies of every major discipline of motor sport in Australia has come together to produce a function like this.

The emotion in the room was raw with many stories of days gone by being told by the inductees - or those accepting on behalf of those who have departed us.

One of the most emotional moments came with the final inductee - 1980 Formula 1 World Champion, Alan Jones being presented with a replica of his FIA World Championship Trophy by Claire Williams - the daughter of Sir Frank Williams and Deputy Team Principal, Williams Formula 1. The original trophy was stolen from Jones’ collection many years ago.

Reigning FIA Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton made a surprise appearance and paid tribute to the role of Australia’s heroes in the development of the sport internationally. Current FIA World Endurance Champion Mark Webber surprised his friend - three times F.I.M. World Speedway Champion, Jason Crump by presenting him on stage with his induction medal.

The induction included many of Australia’s best known World Champions, including Sir Jack Brabham, Mick Doohan, Jason Crump, Troy Bayliss and Casey Stoner among others, along with Australian and Bathurst icons like Peter Brock, Dick Johnson, Colin Bond, Alan Moffat, Garry Rush and Stephen Gall.

Chairman of the Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame - Garry Connelly - was ecstatic with the evening and the representation of the sport across the board.

“Never before have the icons of Australian motorsport been showcased in such a spectacular fashion,” said Connelly. “To have 30 worthy inductees across every single discipline of the sport in this country represented in one room is a special feeling.

“For a country with Australia’s population to achieve what it has on the global motor sport stage is truly impressive. The achievements by Australians in motor sport in a competition sense, an engineering sense and an administrative sense is a wonderful story that as a nation, should be celebrated.

“Tonight, our inductee group includes 29 Individual and Team World Championships - including the world’s first ever motorsport World Champion - Lionel Van Praag - who won the World Speedway Championship in 1936 and Sir Jack Brabham - the only man to have ever designed and built a Formula 1 car that he would go on to drive to the World Driver’s Championship.

“Phil Irving, the man that designed the engine to power Jack to his third World Championship 50 years ago was another warmly received inductee.

“To surprise Alan Jones with the presentation of the replica World Championship trophy in front of his children was a moment that will remain with everyone for years to come, along with the emotion that was shown by every single inductee.

“The 500 people that were in attendance at the inaugural Gala could feel a sense of being swept up in the occasion they were fortunate enough to share in collectively tonight.

“The discussion has already begun as to who will be inducted at next year’s Hall of Fame Gala, because it is obvious that there are many worthy inductee that should have been included tonight, but it was impossible to honour more than 30 people appropriately in one evening.”

The full list of inductees and detailed biographies available at the official Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame website at http://www.speedcafe.com/halloffame.


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