Autosportfoto

Rally Australia officials lauded

Two Kennards Hire Rally Australia stalwarts were honoured at the FIA prize giving ceremony in St Petersburg last weekend.

Dr Matthew Croxford (above) was named the best chief medical officer while Barry Habgood (below) was honoured as the best chief scrutineer in the FIA’s seasonal awards for volunteers and officials.

Both work under the auspices of the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), which Dr Croxford joined in 1998. Habgood has worked in the sport for almost 30 years.

Dr Croxford became chief medical officer for the rally in 2013 and now hosts extrication and other training to a medical team of more than 80 people ahead of the event.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting it but it was very nice to get the recognition for what we have been doing in the medical field,” he said.

“I have been doing this for a while now but I never considered that I would ever be awarded with an award of such importance, it hadn’t even crossed my mind.”

Habgood admitted he was ‘speechless’ when told he had won the award.

“It’s something I knew existed but I never thought about it as I never thought I would win, but it’s incredible because there are probably a million scrutineers in this world and I got the award,” he said.

“I have been doing this for an awfully long time and there are a number of people I dedicated this award to including former FIA technical director Jacques Berger and Jerome Toquet - those two blokes got me on this path.”

Habgood first began his involvement in motor sport during the early 1990s. In 2013 he became chief scrutineer for Rally Australia, a position he held for two years before stepping aside in 2016 to provide support and mentorship.

Zdroj: wrc.com