This year has been incredibly successful for Kiwis in motorsport; however, they will have to wait until 2021 if they are to have a crack at being honoured at the New Zealand Halberg Awards with this year’s celebration canned.
The annual event will be replaced by a ceremony in February to honour the nation’s top sporting feats over the last decade.
It means three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin, Bathurst 1000 winner Shane van Gisbergen, Jaguar I-Pace champion Simon Evans, Le Mans 24 Hour winner Brendon Hartley and two-time women’s Motocross World Championship Courtney Duncan will all miss out on having their 2020 achievements celebrated on the national scale this year.
Scott Dixon, who claimed a record sixth IndyCar Series title this year – the second most of all time – was also likely contender for the New Zealand Sportsperson of the Year award.
However, the Halberg Foundation announced yesterday that due to the global pandemic, the 2020 sporting year has been written off.
“With international sporting events being severely affected in 2020, the Halberg Foundation has decided it will include performances of merit this year into the 2021 sporting year,” a statement read.
The 2020 Halberg awards will celebrate sporting achievement across the last decade (2010-2019) and previous winners of each award will all vie for decade champion honours.
Fortunately for Dixon, it means he is still eligible for a decade award given he was the recipient of Sportsman of the Year in 2013.
But for McLaughlin, van Gisbergen and Co, they will now have to hope the judges have long memories with their accomplishments this year going up against the 2021 cohort which will feature athletes from the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Recipients of the last ten Supreme Awards will be eligible to be the join the Supreme Decade Champions list.
Formula 1 world champion Denny Hulme (1967) and six-time motorcycle speedway champion Ivan Mauger (1977 & ’79) are the only two winners of the Supreme Award to have come from the motorsport discipline.
The public will get to vote for New Zealand’s favourite sporting moment of the last decade.
What a load of SHIT. Halberg have shown over the years you don’t support motorsports in any way. Now was a great opportunity for you to choose one and you just give them all the one finger salute.
Totally agree with Rodney these sports people train as much as any athlete and compete in just as many events as any athlete. This decision is an absolute disgrace and an insult to all 2020 sports people who have in most instances have endured more than in other years. Teams relocating to Australia, not seeing there families for months, not being able to train as they normally would, not being able to see specialist people when they needed specialist advice and in the case of Scott Dixon competing in consecutive days numerous times