Sydney Allard Media Awards to be presented again at 2016 BDRHoF Gala

The Sydney Allard Media Awards for Written and Photographic Journalism will be presented for the third consecutive year at the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame Gala Awards Dinner on Saturday 19th November at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel, Heathrow Airport.

The Hall of Fame is delighted to announce that this year’s Allard Awards will be sponsored by Mintex, manufacturers of brake pads since 1908 and one of the sponsors of the 1964 Dragfests. Lawrence Bleasdale from Mintex said “Having been ‘in at the start’ supporting Sydney Allard from his very beginnings as a manufacturer?, Mintex are delighted to support these awards given by BDRHoF in his name”.

Established in 2014 in memory of the founding father of British drag racing, the Allard Awards celebrate the best of the past year’s written and photographic drag racing journalism and salute the vital contribution of the media to the sport’s wellbeing and success. Entries are now invited from writers and photographers, amateur or professional, to reflect coverage of British drag racing and associated activities during the year ending July 2016. Entries will close at the end of July. The winning entrant in each category will be invited, together with a companion, to attend the Hall of Fame Gala in November and receive a crystal trophy in recognition of his or her achievement.

The Written Journalism Award will be presented to the author of the year’s best article, feature, book or blog, published or unpublished, in print or online, in the judges’ opinion. The Photographic Journalism Award will be presented for the best picture taken during the same period and under the same criteria. The judging panel will include Guy Loveridge, Chairman of the Guild of Motoring Writers, motoring connoisseur and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, and the Editor of Octane Magazine, David Lillywhite.

Writers and photographers may make multiple entries but each entry must be accompanied by a separate entry form to enable the judges to collate them accurately. Full entry details are available on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame website at http://www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk/allard-award-entries/.

Previous winners:

Written Journalism:

2014:  Nick Brooke-Langham – “The Invasion Begins” (International Drag Festival 1964)

2015:  Rodger Attaway – “Street Rod & Custom Showtime”.

Photographic Journalism:

2014:  Jon Spoard – “Slingshot And Sun”.

2015:  Jeni Long – “Sharing A Toast”.

News about the Gala and other events will be published on the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame website, www.britishdragracinghof.co.uk, and at www.eurodragster.com, the sport’s premier website in Europe. The names of 2016’s inductees into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame will be announced on these sites during Santa Pod Raceway’s Dragstalgia meeting, 15th-17th July. 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the Hall of Fame’s founding and the admission of its first members. The Gala Awards Dinner was first presented in 2014.