4 November 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n BEING a central figure in the successful reinstatement of New Zealand as a stop on this year\u2019s World Rally calendar has put Peter \u2018PJ\u2019 Johnston in the winner\u2019s seat with Kiwi motoring commentators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well-known and highly regarded in business and motorsport, notably in his involvement in furthering the careers of some title-winning world-class Kiwi drivers, the Aucklander has become the latest recipient of a prestigious prize presented by the New Zealand Motoring Writers\u2019 Guild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Neil Nelson Award is presented to the person judged to have made a significant contribution to the motoring industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe New Zealand Motoring Writers\u2019 Guild is proud to name Peter as the 2022 recipient of this very special award,\u201d says Guild president Richard Bosselman, Palmerston North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Neil Nelson Award is not just about achievement. It\u2019s about going that extra mile. To be nominated it\u2019s not enough to just do your job or your calling \u2013 it requires passion and commitment above and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his capacity as Rally New Zealand chairman, Peter Johnston and his team had demonstrated just that and more in realising the return, on September 29-October 2, of the World Rally Championship to New Zealand for the first time since 2012 and in an effort to secure the four-day event a biennial place on the competition\u2019s calendar.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Said Bosselman: \u201cThey worked tirelessly, including during this year\u2019s Repco Rally New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDuring the very moments when the world\u2019s best rally teams were taking on the world\u2019s best rally roads here in New Zealand, they were working to convince WRC Promoter and stakeholders to bring the event back in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In accepting the award, Johnston made clear it was a team effort. \u201cWe had a powerful, wonderful team of volunteers who were driven by their passion for this event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Said Bosselman: \u201cKiwi interest in the event was massive; the challenging weather for much of the event did not dissuade them heading into the country and, specifically, to Jack\u2019s Ridge in their thousands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe WRC television broadcast was seen by more than 70 million viewers globally and, of course, the crews were effusive in their praise of the roads, the scenery and the hospitality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWRC has deep roots here and the 2022 rally reminded us how special this event is for our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another strong positive from the rally came from how it embraced technologies that Kiwi motorists were keen to uptake into their daily lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs Peter has noted, this was the first FIA World Championship motorsport event to be held in New Zealand featuring hybrid electric vehicles and using fully sustainable fuel; a new age of motorsport,\u201d said Bosselman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt also provided a global showcase for the ground-breaking fully electric rally car developed by our biggest international name, the supremely talented Hayden Paddon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Guild admired that the return of international rallying had a deeply personal connection for Johnston, as in 1969 his father, Reg, drove in the inaugural Rally of New Zealand, finishing ninth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Johnston\u2019s adult involvement in motorsport has been diverse. He headed the team that helped launch Scott Dixon’s career in the United States, where he is now a legend of the NTT IndyCar Series. He also backed Brendon Hartley through Formula One and into Le Mans and world title-winning sports car racing programmes with Porsche and now Toyota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Guild\u2019s award started in 1998, honours the memory of the late Neil Nelson of Palmerston North, a former president of the Guild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the 10 previous recipients are ex-Formula One driver, the late Chris Amon, motor retail supremo Colin Giltrap, and V8 Supercar hero, Greg Murphy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feature photo: New Zealand Motoring Writers\u2019 Guild president Richard Bosselman and Peter \u2018PJ\u2019 Johnston, recipient of the Neil Nelson award for realising the return of the World Rally Championship to New Zealand this year. They are pictured with a 1970 Ford Escort RS1600, a car synonymous with early rallysport in NZ. (Photo: Ed Finn, Amped PR<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MEDIA RELEASE 4 November 2022 BEING a central figure in the successful reinstatement of New Zealand as a stop on this year\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3729"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3729"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3734,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3729\/revisions\/3734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzmwg.co.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}