The Mike Kable Young Gun Award, formally known as the Mike Kable Rookie of the Year Award, is dedicated to the memory of Australia's best known and widely respected motoring journalist Mike Kable.

Background

Mike Kable will forever be known as a legend of motorsport journalism. His passing in May 2000 after bravely fighting cancer led the then AVESCO Chairman Tony Cochrane to name the new award in his honour.
"Mike Kable will forever remain an inspiration for his vision and unwavering support of young drivers and his contribution to the V8 Supercar category," Cochrane said.

"Mike was both a friend and unabashed publicist to a host of up-and coming motor racing talent from Craig Lowndes, to Mick Doohan and Sir Jack Brabham," he said.

"He was always looking for the next great driver and I am honoured to name this prestigious award after him," he concluded.

The award includes a $15,000 sponsorship grant to aid in the development of the recipient. The award largely replaced the Bathurst 1000

Bathurst 1000

The Bathurst 1000 is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia...

 rookie of the year award which ceased being used at around the same time.

Criteria

The medal is awarded to the Rookie of the Year for the season in either main series and/or development series in V8 Supercars. It is voted on by the motor sport media, Mike Kable’s former colleagues, which gives it extra significance as it represents an independent perspective on who has been the best rookie throughout the V8 Supercars season.

Previous Winners

Year	Recipient
2000	Matthew White
2001	Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ambrose is a championship winning Australian racing car driver. He currently drives the #9 Stanley Black & Decker Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series...
2002	Rick Kelly Rick Kelly Rick Kelly is a current V8 Supercar racing driver, currently living in Melbourne, Victoria. He is the younger brother of former Bathurst 1000 champion, Todd Kelly...
2003	Mark Winterbottom Mark Winterbottom Mark "Frosty" Winterbottom, is a racing driver who has competed in the V8 Supercar category since 2003. He currently drives for the Ford Performance Racing team...
2004	Warren Luff Warren Luff Warren Luff born 21 April 1976 in Sydney Australia, is best known as a race driver, stunt driver and driver training instructor. He is the son of well known driver training instructor Ian Luff...
2005	Grant Denyer Grant Denyer Grant Denyer is an Australian television reporter, personality and motor racing driver.-Television career:In 1997, Denyer began his career in the media, he gained a position at Prime Television in Wagga Wagga as a news reporter and journalist...
2006	James Courtney James Courtney James Courtney is an Australian racing driver who competes in the V8 Supercar Championship. He is the current Australian Touring Car Champion after winning the 2010 title for Dick Johnson Racing....
2007	Dale Wood Dale Wood (racing driver) Dale Wood is a V8 Supercar racing driver, currently living in Melbourne, Victoria. He commenced his full time V8 Supercar career in 2009 with the newly formed team Kelly Racing team, having raced previously for the Tasman Motorsport aligned Greg Murphy Racing Fujitsu series squad...
2008	Karl Reindler Karl Reindler Karl Reindler is a racing driver from Perth, Western Australia. Reindler will compete in the V8 Supercar series in 2010.Reindler won the 2004 Australian Formula 3 Championship, beating Chris Gilmour by only 3 points....
2009	James Moffat James Moffat (racing driver) James Moffat is an Australian racing driver who currently competes for the Dick Johnson Racing team in the 2011 International V8 Supercars Championship....
2010	Tim Blanchard Tim Blanchard Tim Blanchard is an Australian championship-winning motor racing driver. Blanchard has been a race winning driver in several motor racing series, including racing in Europe, as well as winning the 2007 Australian Formula Ford Championship.Blanchard presently races in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar...