The winners of the inaugural TopGear South Africa Awards were announced last night, 7 December, at Steyn City Helistop in Johannesburg.
Twenty-four awards were handed out on the evening. All recipients, except the Reader’s Choice Awards, were chosen by the TopGear South Africa team. Eight of the 24 awards are unique to TopGear South Africa.
These categories include;
Noise of the Year; Instant Icon Award; Motoring Moment of the Year; PR of the Year; Driving Academy of the Year; All the Car You Need, Bargain of the Year and Fun Car of the Year.
The winners
Hot-Hatch of the Year - Honda Civic Type RFamily SUV of the Year - Kia SportageHatch of the Year - Volkswagen Polo Reader's Choice Award - Beijing X55 Supercar of the Year - Porsche 911 GT3 RSLuxury Car of the Year - Range RoverPerformance Car of the Year - Honda Civic Type RManufacturer of the Year - Ford South AfricaUrban Crossover of the Year - BMW X1Bakkie of the Year - Ford Ranger RaptorMPV of the Year - Kia CarnivalEfficiency Award - Renault Duster dCiBargain of the Year - GWM OraEV of the Year - BMW iX3Fun Car of the Year -Toyota GR86Instant Icon Award - Porsche 911 DakarMotoring Moment of the Year -Ford South Africa - 100 YearsNoise of the Year - Alfa Romeo Stelvio QAll the Car You Need - Audi RS6 AvantPR of the Year - Christo Kruger - Porsche, Lamborghini and Kyalami Grand Prix CircuitFleet Manager of the Year - John Mulder Motoring Personality of the Year - Leyton FourieDriving Academy of the Year - AMG Driving AcademyLifetime Achievement Award - Athol Van Heerden – Volkswagen South AfricaJudging
Judging for the TopGear South Africa Awards is a process that takes place throughout the year as the TopGear South Africa team evaluates cars through its review process.
The finalists are then selected before another evaluation and judging process takes place before determining the winners for each category.
Winners must score highly using TopGear South Africa’s evaluation system that measures cars on all aspects of performance, ownership, quality, design, and innovation.
“Our awards are simply about context and experience. We need to have driven the cars in order to evaluate them and that is how they are eligible for nomination. None of these awards are going to cars that we have not driven. In terms of the people awards, we are celebrating people that have shown exceptional excellence in what they do,” says Avon Middleton, publishing partner at TopGear South Africa.