Australians Dr Matthew Croxford and Barry Habgood have been awarded top honours at the prestigious FIA Prize Giving Ceremony in St Petersburg.
Dr Croxford was named the FIA Best Chief Medical Officer Official of the Season, while Habgood the FIA Best Chief Scrutineer Official of the Season as part of the FIA Annual Awards for Volunteers and Officials.
Since first joining CAMS in 1998, Dr Croxford has worked at every level of motor sport in the medical field including circuit, rallies, and off-road events both in Australia and overseas.
In 2013 Dr Croxford also became the Chief Medical Officer of Rally Australia where he now hosts extrication and other training to a medical team of more than 80 people ahead of each event.
Despite being a very deserving recipient of the award, it will still a shock for Dr Croxford that he was regarded the best in the world.
“I was amazed when (CAMS President) Andrew Papadopoulos called me to inform me that I had won,” Dr Croxford said.
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“I certainly wasn’t expecting it but it was very nice to get the recognition for what we have been doing in the medical field.
“I have been doing this for a while now but I never considered that I would ever be awarded with an award of such importance – it hadn’t even crossed my mind.”
Like Dr Croxford, the initial phone call from the CAMS President surprised Habgood, despite working in the industry for almost 30 years.
“I couldn’t believe it when I was told and I was speechless,” Habgood said.
“It’s something I knew existed but I never thought about it as I never thought I would win, but it’s incredible because there are probably a million scrutineers in this world and I got the award.
“I have been doing this for an awfully long time and there are a number of people I dedicated this award to including former FIA technical director Jacques Berger and Jerome Toquet – those two blokes got me on this path.
“However, in reality, the people I really need to thank are all the scrutineers around this country who I have worked with over the past two decades.
“All of those people who are committed to doing a good job is what gets people like me into this position and now I can say I’ve become really good friends with of them.”
Habgood first began his involvement in motor sport during the early 1990s and not long after was appointed as Technical Delegate for the CAMS Australian Rally Championship, a role he holds to this day.
In 2013 he became the Chief Scrutineer for the WRC round of Rally Australia, a position he held for two years before stepping aside in 2016 to provide support and mentorship.
Dr Croxford and Habgood join fellow CAMS officials Roger Chirnside, Dr Brent May, Belinda Taylor, Adrian Stafford, Ewan Cole, Dr Rik Hagen, Steve Chopping, and Dr Michelle Gatton as recipients of FIA awards in recent years.
Meanwhile, the FIA also confirmed CAMS Director – Racing Operations, Tim Schenken OAM, was inducted as President of Honour of the Circuits Commission following his retirement as the sitting President.
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