In front of a capacity audience at the Royal Automobile Club in London, which included HRH Prince Michael of Kent, Guild President Nick Mason and BRDC President Derek Warwick, 27 awards were presented on the night, including several with multiple categories. Some writers scooped more than one award and there were many first-time award winners too.
The biggest award of the night was for the Renault UK Journalist of the Year. The category was as hotly fought as ever. Alistair Weaver was revealed as the 2014 winner for a series of films he made for ITV on the history of the British Touring Car Championship. Writers Ben Oliver and Mark Tisshaw were joint runners up.
Weaver also scooped the Mercedes-Benz Award for the Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy, with Davide Bassoli and Gordon Bruce as runners up.
New and young writers were well represented at the event. Stephen Kilbey collected the Sir William Lyons Sponsored by Jaguar Award after an outstanding social media campaign over the past few weeks. There was a high-profile announcement on stage for Stephen, too – his prize, for the first time, would include a place on the 2015 Mille Miglia event.
The Phil Llewellin Student of the Year Sponsored by CAR Award was won by Emma-Louise Pritchard and presented with the help of Phil's widow, Beth Llewellin.
For these writers, the headlineauto Young Writer of the Year Award represents the next step in the Guild's development programme, and was won this year by Hal Ridge.
Blogger John Redfern was awarded the first Motoring Research Breakthrough Blogger of the Year Award, while professional new media expertise was recognised with the Newspress New Media Award, won by Chris Davies.
The PFPR Editor of the Year proved to be a tough call in 2014 – so tough, judges found it impossible to split the top two. Both What Car? Editor Jim Holder and Motor Sport Editor Damien Smith thus shared the prize and the title.
The Rider and Driver of the Year awards were presented by Derek Warwick and Guild Chairman Guy Loveridge, with former winner Tom Sykes scooping the Rider trophy and Jolyon Palmer winning the Driver prize – the second time in Guild history that a former winner's son has also won the award. Another former Driver of the Year, Richard Noble, collected the Kia Award for Motoring, for combining educational work and boundary pushing with the Bloodhound SSC project.
John Surtees, World Champion on both two wheels and four, was awarded The Guild's President's Trophy, for his motorsport achievements and setting up the Henry Surtees Foundation. John's daughter Leonora Surtees collected the Trophy on his behalf.
The much-anticipated event at The Guild's spiritual home also saw its 70th anniversary celebrated. HRH Prince Michael of Kent helped cut a commemorative cake and a special booklet looking back through 70 years of Guild history was produced; all attendees received both to take away.
HRH Prince Michael of Kent also revealed scoop news on the night: the London Motor Show, he announced, will return in May 2016, to be held at Battersea Power Station to complement the existing Goodwood Festival of Speed Moving Motor Show and Canary Wharf Motorexpo events.
The 2014 Guild of Motoring Writers Award Winners
(click thumbnails for full-size images)
Award title |
|
Winner |
Commended |
| AA Environment |  |
Alex Grant | David Williams |
| Audi Photographic - General |  |
Nick Dimbleby (collected by John Brooks) | Alisdair Cusick |
| Audi Photographic - Motorsport |  |
Jakob Ebrey | Martyn Goddard |
| Automotive PR Consumer Journalist |  |
James Ruppert | James Foxall |
| Bentley Motors International |  |
Ben Oliver | Dale Drinnon |
| BCA Feature Writer of the Year |  |
Dale Drinnon | |
| Cummins Bus and Truck Writer of the Year |  |
Brian Weatherley | |
| Headlineauto Young Writer of the Year |  |
Hal Ridge | |
| IAM Safety Award in memory of Christopher Bullock MBE |  |
David Williams | |
| Phil Llewellin Student of the Year Sponsored by CAR |  |
Emma-Louise Pritchard (collected by Paul Nieuwenhuis) | |
| Sir William Lyons Award Sponsored by Jaguar |  |
Stephen Kilbey | |
| Market Engineering Automotive Technology |  |
William Kimberley (collected by Chris Pickering) | James Scoltock |
| Mercedes-Benz Award for the Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy |    |
1st Alistair Weaver 2nd Davide Bassoli 3rd Gordon Bruce |
|
| Motoring Research Breakthrough Blogger of the Year |
|
John Redfern |
|
| Newspress New Media |  |
Chris Davies (collected by Chris Adamson) | |
| Peugeot Motorsport Cup |  |
Maurice Hamilton | |
| PFPR Editor of the Year |  |
Damien Smith and Jim Holder | |
| Pemberton Trophy |  |
Sue Baker | |
| President’s Trophy |  |
John Surtees (collected by Leonora Surtees) | |
| Prova PR Business Writer |  |
John Maslen |
James Baggott |
| Renault UK/GoMW Journalist of the Year |
|
1st Alistair Weaver 2nd Ben Oliver 3rd Mark Tisshaw |
|
| RM Auctions Classic Writer of the Year |
|
Ben Oliver |
David Burgess-Wise David Lillywhite |
| Skoda Design Award |
|
Paul Horrell (collected by Ray Hutton) | |
| Skoda Video Award |
|
Alex Goy | |
| Rider of the Year |
|
Tom Sykes | |
| Driver of the Year |
|
Jolyon Palmer | |
| Special Award for Contribution to Motoring, sponsored by Kia Motors UK |
|
Richard Noble |
Congratulations to all those named above, and the Guild is particularly grateful to all existing and new sponsors for their support in 2014.
