Mike Kable Young Gun Award

Mike Kable Young Gun Award
SportTouring car racing
Competition
Awarded forBest performing rookie over the course of the Supercars, Super2 or Super3 season
LocationSydney, New South Wales, Australia
History
First winnerMatthew White (2000)
Most recentCameron McLeod (2023)

The Mike Kable Young Gun Award (also called the Mike Kable Rookie of the Year)[1] is an annual motor racing award honouring the achievements of a rookie driver under the age of 30 who competes in either the Supercars Championship, the second-tier Super2 Series or the third-tier Super3 Series.[a][3][4][5] Tony Cochrane, the chairman of the championship's organising body Australian Vee Eight Supercar Company (AVESCO),[b][6] instigated the accolade in June 2000.[4][7] It is named after Mike Kable, an Australian motoring journalist, motorsport publicist, and mentor to young racing drivers.[7] The award is presented to the rookie driver adjudged to have performed the best over the course of their first season in either championship following a vote by a panel of motorsport experts.[8][9] The recipient receives a sponsorship grant of A$15,000 to help develop themselves.[4] The winner is announced at the series' end-of-season gala in Sydney.[3]

The inaugural winner was Matthew White in 2000.[10] The following year, the Stone Brothers Racing driver Marcos Ambrose won the award.[11] Ambrose, James Courtney, Rick Kelly, Scott McLaughlin and Mark Winterbottom are the five recipients who have gone on to win either the Supercars Championship and/or the Bathurst 1000 in their careers.[12] Australian drivers have won 21 times and New Zealanders twice. No one has won more than once; drivers from the second-tier championship have been honoured 14 times and Supercars competitors have won on 7 occasions. The 2023 recipient was Cameron McLeod, who finished in third place in the Super3 Series drivers' standings.[5]

  1. ^ "Fitting tribute". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 June 2000. p. 26. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Dale, Will (31 July 2020). "The Four Greatest Races From Super2 Series History". V8 Sleuth. AN1 Media. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference 2017Winner was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c Whittaker, Jason (10 June 2000). "Kable honoured with naming of new award". FastLane.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 September 2003. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b O'Brien, Connor (28 November 2023). "McLeod out to emulate grandfather's Bathurst methods". V8 Slueth. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
    Miles, Thomas (28 November 2023). "McLeod 'humbled' to get special Supercars honour". Auto Action. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b "No more AVESCO". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 15 November 2005. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Prize Honours Journalist". The Canberra Times. 11 June 2000. p. 98. ProQuest 1012339550. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020 – via ProQuest.
  8. ^ "Courtney named V8 Supercar Rookie of the Year". V8 Daily Dump. 17 December 2006. Archived from the original on 14 April 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2010Winner was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2000Winner was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2001Winner was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2014Winner was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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