The Motorsport Australia 2022 awards season has officially begun with Tasmania the first state to hold its virtual awards ceremony.
 
Celebrating last year’s many championship winners and honouring selected individuals with special awards, the virtual presentation was hosted by Cameron van den Dungen and was broadcast via Motorsport Australia’s website and social media channels.
 
Watch a replay of the Tasmanian State Awards, presented by Shannons Insurance here.
   
While the presentation gave a platform for the champions of 2022 to reflect on their titles, winners of special individual awards were also announced.
 
Taking out the State Motorsport Event of the Year was the Baskerville Foundation for its popular Baskerville Historics.
 
Courtesy of a record entry list of 224 entries, that included 62 Interstate competitors across all categories, the Historics has gone on to be a regular on the national events calendar having grown significantly over the past 10 years.
 
Within the circuit community, there were a number of individuals recognised for their efforts in 2022 including Tasmanian Circuit Racing Person of the Year Bradley Sherrif and Phil Ashlin, who was awarded the Police Commissioner’s Award for Outstanding Achievement.
 
A highly successful driver in Holden HQs, Ashlin has claimed six titles and over 100 race wins in his famous yellow HQ over the past decade, with his 2022 season seeing him become just the second Tasmanian to win the HQ Nationals outside of the state.
 
Off track, Paul Giddings was named as the Tasmanian Circuit Official of the Year.
 
Competing regularly in Tasmanian Circuit Racing Championship events, Giddings always finds the time to make his way back to the dummy grid in between his own racing duties to ensure all drivers are all safely ready to go.
 
Giddings wasn’t the only official from within the circuit racing community to receive an accolade, with Melanie Beets named as the outright State Official of the Year.
 
A dedicated member of the Hobart Sporting Car Club, Beets has held many roles as a volunteer official for a number of years, including her club's administrator for many years and as a fire marshal at the Australian Grand Prix.
 
A reliable hard worker, Beets has been making plenty of progress as an official as she has served as a communicator for race meetings and is currently training to be a Clerk of Course.
 
“I feel lucky and honoured to be nominated and I couldn’t do what I do without a whole team of officials working alongside me,’ Beets said in her video acceptance speech.
 
“Let’s keep working together in 2023 and hope we have another great year.”
 
The rally community also had a fair share of award winners, including Steph Peters who was the Tasmanian Rally Official of the Year and long-time Targa official Chris Campbell receiving a Service Award.
 
Peters is considered a fundamental contributor to rallying in Tasmania and has been integral to the running of the Tasmanian Rally Championship last year, having been Clerk of Course at two of the three events, as well as being heavily involved with his club.
 
Like Peters, Campbell has also been an important supporter of his chosen discipline, having spent many years in a range of roles at Targa Tasmania such as stage director, Control In, Line Up Official, Starter, communicator or whatever other role may need to be filled.
 
A mentor to new officials, Campbell is highly regarded and well respected by the whole Targa community.
 
From two stalwarts in the Tasmanian community to two at the start of their respective careers, rally rookies Aidan Peterson and Jaidyn Gluskie both won outright awards.


Winner of the Peter Bondy Trophy, an award given for displaying determination, Peterson has been a regular fixture in the Motorsport Australia Rally Championship, where he has battled hard with a small budget in the past two years against the best in Australia.
 
Just as fresh in his rally career, young Gluskie was named as the Tasmania Future Star. Since entering rally in 2021, Gluskie stood on the 2022 Targa High Country podium as a co-driver, secured a class podium in his debut state rally championship and secured a spot in FIA Rally Star Asia-Pacific Finals last year.
 
Watch a replay of the Tasmanian State Awards, presented by Shannons Insurance here.
  
The next event as part of the Motorsport Australia 2022 awards season will be the National Awards Dinner, presented by Shannons Insurance, which takes place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 18 February.