Hamish with his Jason Richards Memorial Award plaque and photo of Jason donated by Coopers Photography – Courtesy of IKD
New Zealand born Hamish Leighton has claimed the 2013 Jason Richards Memorial award as round five of the Rotax Pro Tour got underway in Geelong.
The event commenced with an official gala dinner held at the Mercure Geelong where in excess of 200 people gathered to honour the memory of the late Jason Richards, with the fifth round of the Pro Tour acting as the Jason Richards Memorial, an annual event that was commenced in Albury last year.
Hamish Leighton was as he described speechless at being awarded the memorial trophy, just the second winner from fellow Victorian Troy Woolston who was the inaugural winner in 2012.
The Jason Richards Memorial Trophy was established to honour a driver who displayed some of the traits that Jason held in every day of his life. It is not solely related to results, but camaraderie, mateship, interaction with fans and fostering of development of fellow competitors, all crucial aspects of becoming a marquee driver in the sport.
It is awarded to a driver who displays exceptional sportsmanship, win, lose or draw. Someone who has the hard charging attitude and always drives it like it is stolen. Someone who has the ability to win never gives up and is fiercely determined.
Someone who most importantly, is always smiling…to quote JR himself “it’s not about the man in the fight…it’s about the FIGHT in the man”.
“I cannot believe I have been given the honour to win this award, it means so much to me to be respected this highly by my fellow competitors and the Karting community alike,” Leighton said.
In addition to receiving the plaque, Hamish was given a photo of Jason competing in his Team BOC Holden V8 Supercar donated by Coopers Photography in support of the Jason Richards Memorial.
Adding to the excitement of the evening was the comedic stylings of Rob Brown, performing a stand up regime that had to be seen to be believed, enthralling the audience, completing the evening on an entertaining high.
Check out a video from the Jason Richards Memorial Award presentation below.
To follow the event throughout the weekend, like Rotax Pro Tour on Facebook, follow Rotax Pro Tour on Twitter and tune into the audio commentary via Ustream at www.ustream.tv/user/internationalkarting.
