The 2022/23 WASDA season officially came to a close last night as the annual awards evening was held at the Aloft rooftop bar, with well over one hundred and twenty guests in attendance.
DTN’s own Jason Sutton would host the evening, beginning with acknowledgements for the drivers, officials and sponsors who made the evening possible.
The first official award for the evening would be the prestigious Fran Shugg Sportsmanship Award, with Fran coming up the front to present Phil Moore with the trophy for his effort behind the scenes assisting in any way he could.
Next up the front would be Gavin Migro, discussing the season that was at the Perth Motorplex, what is coming up for season 2023/24 and then discussing the Perth Motorplex Track Championship winners. Kaiden Manders, Beau Doyle and Daniel Golding had already received their top three trophies at the Motorplex awards night, but Migro would then present the Graham Jones Racing Division Two Track Championship bonuses, with Cory Smith third, Patrick Watson second and Beau Doyle the winner.
This would be followed immediately after by the Division Two Heat race awards, with rookie Aron Sharp coming in third, while Patrick Watson was again second and Doyle declared the winner. The overall Heat Race points would see Dan Golding in third while Daniel Harding and Kaiden Manders would tie for the win with 93 points apiece. Kaiden would also receive the feature race points trophy, defeating Harding and Golding.
Manders and Harding would then remain up the front, each receiving the Grand Slam Award for winning all the races on any given night during the season, Manders achieving the feat at the Perth Motorplex on the 26th of December 2022, while Harding did it at Bunbury Speedway on the 14th of January 2023.
Kai Stephens, the WASDA Chief Steward would be next to move forward, presenting the Chief Stewards Award to Patrick Watson, while Watson was also presented with the Ma Heath Award for being the first Division Two driver across the line in the WA Title, where he came home third, his first ever podium finish.
Kaiden Manders would then return to the front once again, claiming both the John Fenton Top Dog Award for the most feature wins in the season (six) as well as the John Day Chequered Flag Award. He would be followed by his father Vaughan, who received the Graham Jones Most Improved Award.
Lee Redmond and the Redmond Motorsport #52 team would be invited up the front next, receiving both the Ron Chell Best Presented Car Award and the Best Presented Crew Award while Matt Watkins, Daniel Harding and Joel Watson were all welcomed to the Upside Down club. The final award of the segment before dinner was the Encouragement Award, with Aron Sharp and Declan Minchin voted joint winners.
The final round of the Awards would begin with the coveted Rookie of the Year trophy, presented by Bennett Motorsports, Daniel Harding officially the winner.
This would be followed by the Stan Kinloch Awards, the Division Two Cup going to Beau Doyle for the second year in a row while Kaiden Manders received the overall Medal for the fourth time.
Club Secretary Jody Crombie was next on stage, emotional as she was presented with the Bob Farmer Memorial Most Outstanding Club Person, while the prestigious Michael Figliomeni Medal for the Drivers Driver was then presented to Kaiden Manders.
Next would be two very special awards, with Neville Lance and Wayne Cover with receiving a special acknowledgement from the club for their forty years of continuous, active WASDA membership. Both drivers started in the 1982/83 season, Wayne besting Neville for the coveted Rookie of the Year trophy, but both going on to have illustrious careers. Neville was presented with his award first, receiving a standing ovation as he made his way to the front, lost for words as he reflected on his achievements.
Unfortunately, Wayne was unable to be present on the night as he is still recuperating in hospital, however with a visit to him earlier in the week, his raw emotion was captured on video, and that, along with his thankyou speech was played to the crowd last night.
The final awards of the night would be the Presidents Cup. First up would be Beau Doyle, receiving the Doc Parton Award as the highest placed Division Two driver. He would be followed by Daniel Harding being announced as third place, Daniel Golding as second overall and Kaiden Manders who claimed the overall President’s Cup win.
This would officially bring the night, and the 2022/23 season, to a close. A big thankyou to all those who made the night and indeed the season, possible. We now look forward to a bigger and better 2023/24 season!
Release by DTN Media.
Pics Courtesy Peter Roebuck.