Another win to Craig Lowndes
August 31st 2007 15:35
Courtesy of the official V8 Supercar website, V8 Supercars Australia
ABC TV’s Australian Story program “A Red Hot Go” on Craig Lowndes has won the Best Current Affairs Documentary or Special at the 2007 Queensland Media Awards.
Judges comment:
“The winner was considered a consummate piece of journalism, combining personal relationships with the quest for success and respecting and remembering a mentor – Peter Brock. The camera work was a big factor in creating he overall feeling of the piece.”
Statement from the producer of the program, Roger Carter:
“I would like to thank Craig and Nat Lowndes for their honest and candid involvement in the story. I would also like to thank Frank Lowndes, Mark Skaife, Neil Crompton, Bev Brock and Rick Kelly. I was especially impressed that Craig Lowndes’ main rival, Rick Kelly, continued with his commitment to be interviewed even after the most controversial finish in the V8 Supercars Championships history.
I would also like to thank the motor sport fraternity for their support of this story, from the fans who watched on the night through to the organisers and officials who allowed us close access to the sport. Cole Hitchcock, Media Manager of V8 Supercars, and David Segal, Craig Lowndes’ manager, deserve special mention for their support and assistance during the making of the program.
I would also like to thank our crew on the story: cameraman Marc Smith did a superb job capturing all the action, along with David Guppy on sound. Kelly Williams and Trudy McRobert also assisted enormously.
The Craig Lowndes story was a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun. I thought motor racing was dangerous but that danger paled into insignificance when we arrived at the Lowndes’ household. We were confronted with the mountain that was Craig’s backyard and we wanted to get to the top to film a sunset sequence with Craig and his son. Craig provided us with a six wheel buggy. I think he called it an alligator, and continued to tell us to take it easy as the brakes weren’t that crash hot.
So to cut a long story short, the three of us, Marc Smith, David Guppy and myself loaded up the gear and followed Craig up a very steep heavily eroded path. I can honestly say we thought we were going to die. The soft edges of the path dropped away as we made our way up and I thought if we slid off the side we weren’t going to stop until we hit the bottom. Craig and his son shot to the top on his quad and had a great time watching us make our way up. Maybe he thought if we didn’t survive he wouldn’t have to do the interview scheduled for the next day.
We finally made it to the top and filmed a lovely sequence that unfortunately ended up on the cutting room floor. We survived the journey down only by having all our weight over the back wheels where the brakes were. Even then, there was a certain amount of uncontrolled sliding.
I suppose to end the story, I’d say we survived - which meant Craig and his wife Nat had to put up with us for another day and could no longer avoid doing their interview.
Craig and Nat spoke openly and with affection, which was appreciated by our audience. It’s hard to tell the whole story in a half-hour program. There was a lot of good material that didn’t get to air but that’s always the case.”
ABC TV’s Australian Story program “A Red Hot Go” on Craig Lowndes has won the Best Current Affairs Documentary or Special at the 2007 Queensland Media Awards.
Judges comment:
“The winner was considered a consummate piece of journalism, combining personal relationships with the quest for success and respecting and remembering a mentor – Peter Brock. The camera work was a big factor in creating he overall feeling of the piece.”
Statement from the producer of the program, Roger Carter:
“I would like to thank Craig and Nat Lowndes for their honest and candid involvement in the story. I would also like to thank Frank Lowndes, Mark Skaife, Neil Crompton, Bev Brock and Rick Kelly. I was especially impressed that Craig Lowndes’ main rival, Rick Kelly, continued with his commitment to be interviewed even after the most controversial finish in the V8 Supercars Championships history.
I would also like to thank the motor sport fraternity for their support of this story, from the fans who watched on the night through to the organisers and officials who allowed us close access to the sport. Cole Hitchcock, Media Manager of V8 Supercars, and David Segal, Craig Lowndes’ manager, deserve special mention for their support and assistance during the making of the program.
I would also like to thank our crew on the story: cameraman Marc Smith did a superb job capturing all the action, along with David Guppy on sound. Kelly Williams and Trudy McRobert also assisted enormously.
The Craig Lowndes story was a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun. I thought motor racing was dangerous but that danger paled into insignificance when we arrived at the Lowndes’ household. We were confronted with the mountain that was Craig’s backyard and we wanted to get to the top to film a sunset sequence with Craig and his son. Craig provided us with a six wheel buggy. I think he called it an alligator, and continued to tell us to take it easy as the brakes weren’t that crash hot.
So to cut a long story short, the three of us, Marc Smith, David Guppy and myself loaded up the gear and followed Craig up a very steep heavily eroded path. I can honestly say we thought we were going to die. The soft edges of the path dropped away as we made our way up and I thought if we slid off the side we weren’t going to stop until we hit the bottom. Craig and his son shot to the top on his quad and had a great time watching us make our way up. Maybe he thought if we didn’t survive he wouldn’t have to do the interview scheduled for the next day.
We finally made it to the top and filmed a lovely sequence that unfortunately ended up on the cutting room floor. We survived the journey down only by having all our weight over the back wheels where the brakes were. Even then, there was a certain amount of uncontrolled sliding.
I suppose to end the story, I’d say we survived - which meant Craig and his wife Nat had to put up with us for another day and could no longer avoid doing their interview.
Craig and Nat spoke openly and with affection, which was appreciated by our audience. It’s hard to tell the whole story in a half-hour program. There was a lot of good material that didn’t get to air but that’s always the case.”
| 42 |
| Vote |









Add Comments
Read More

Comments (2)

