Gold, gold, gold to Supercar stars past and present
6/12/2000 12:42 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - Australian Touring Car stars past and present have been honoured with an Australian Sports Medal.
The honour roll reads like a “who’s who” of Australian Motor Racing. 192 names synonymous with the sport over the past century were recognised, including a number of V8 Supercar luminaries.
Among the current crop of drivers to be honoured were Craig Lowndes, John Bowe, Paul Morris, John Cotter, Greg Crick, Marcos Ambrose and Neal Bates.
Touring Car legends Peter Brock, Kevin Bartlett, Harry Firth, Alan Grice, Dick Johnson and Fred Gibson were also commemorated. As were Shell Series Race Director Tim Schenken, AVESCO’s Ray Robbins and Series Commentator Barry Oliver.
The award, part of the Australian honours system, was inaugurated this year by the Governor General.
Supercar stalwart John Bowe was over the moon to receive the commemoration.
"I was extremely surprised to receive such an honour," 46-year-old Bowe said.
"I have always strived to achieve the best results possible, you never really think about awards like these, but it is certainly nice to be recognised in this manner.”
"It is also great for someone in our sport to be honoured like this, but I am still in a bit of a state of shock that I was selected,” he said.
Nominations for the Australian Sports Medal came from the Prime Minister, Sports Ministers, members of the upper and lower house, and sports administrations bodies – of which Motorsport governors CAMS played an important role.
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