Motorsport UK is delighted to announce that Matt Kew and Lou Johnson have won its Young Journalist and Photographer of the Year awards, respectively.

Matt and Lou will each receive a trophy and cheque for £1000 at the Motorsport UK Night of Champions at the Royal Automobile Club later this month. They also win a year’s provisional membership of the Guild of Motoring Writers (GoMW), the world’s largest association of automotive editorial professionals.

The 2019 competition was particularly tough with judges impressed by the quality of the submissions.

Matt, aged 23 from Lincolnshire, is in his second year working full-time for Autosport as the magazine’s Editorial Assistant. He covers the British Touring Car Championship and is editor of its Historics supplement. The judges praised his perspective and 3D knowledge of motorsport and his ability to put current sporting news into historical context. He’s brought the BTCC to life this season in Autosport.

Matt said: “I am delighted to follow in the path of many of my Autosport colleagues by winning this award. It truly is an honour, so a massive thank you to the judges. I’m also very grateful to the massively diverse and interesting motorsport scene in this country, which allows you to jump from the British Touring Car Championship to historic racing and to Formula Ford meetings from one weekend to the next. I’m thrilled that Motorsport UK has recognised my work from 2019 and I look forward to kicking on and improving this coming season.”

Lou, aged 29 from Kent, works for Spacesuit Media and covers the ABB FIA Formula E Championship for Mahindra Racing. The judges commented that her photographs were on “another level” and that every image made them stop and look.

Lou said: “I’m not entirely sure the news has sunk in just yet, I’m delighted to have won this award. It’s been an ambition of mine since I started motorsport photography, and am honoured to have been chosen, there are so many great young motorsport photographers out there and this was quite unexpected. It’s a wonderful way to end 2019, I’m already excited to see what 2020 brings.’

Autosport’s Alex Kalinauckas and Lucy Morson were highly commended for their work in the journalism category, while freelance photographers Stephen Fisher and Rajan Jangda were highly commended for their photographs. Each wins a year’s provisional membership of the GoMW.

Image: Mahindra Racing M6 Electro Launch courtesy of  Lou Johnson.