How Mostert stormed to thrilling Jim Richards Award win

The inaugural Jim Richards Award will go down in Supercars history, with two-time Bathurst winner Chaz Mostert the first ever recipient of the prestigious accolade.

The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver won the first ever Jim Richards Award in a thrilling count on Monday night at the 2024 Supercars Gala Awards in Adelaide.

Similar to the AFL's Brownlow medal, votes are cast by select members of Supercars and Motorsport Australia competition personnel on a race-by-race basis. Mostert ultimately came out on top with 102 votes ahead of champion Will Brown and Broc Feeney.

It was a remarkable count, with 10 different drivers tallying the most votes in a race in 2024. Of the 24 full-time drivers on the grid, 13 tallied 10 or more votes, highlighting the quality of the field.

To little surprise, the top four in the championship filled the top four positions, but there were several other standouts across the course of the 24-race, 12-round season.

Notably, Nick Percat topped the votes for the races he won in Melbourne and Tasmania, Andre Heimgartner was a unanimous winner on the day he crushed the field in New Zealand, Bryce Fullwood was recognised for his stunning Tasmania podium, and rising star Matt Payne topped three races.

Outgoing veteran Mark Winterbottom, meanwhile, took home the most points in the second Grand Prix race, where he powered to the podium.

Through the first four rounds and 10 races, Brown led with 53 votes ahead of Mostert (40) and Feeney (36). Mostert was outstanding in the middle of the season, leading with 85 votes ahead of Brown (68) and Feeney (64) heading to the enduros.

The performance of Brodie Kostecki in Bathurst and Surfers Paradise shook up the leaderboard, with Feeney vaulting back into contention with five straight podiums. Heading into the final race, the top three were covered by three votes, with Mostert emerging on top after dominating the final race of the season.

While Brown recovered from an early spin to win the finale, Mostert was recognised for holding off Feeney after taking the lead early, with Feeney later taking Mostert out on lap 62. Mostert then held off a hungry pack in the closing laps to clinch second, defining his fighting spirit and earning him the first ever Jim Richards Award.

"First of all, to be the first recipient of this award is something pretty amazing. Gentleman Jim is someone that was probably a little bit out of my generation of looking up to, but saying that, everyone knew what he was capable on the track and off the track," Mostert said on Monday.

"Basically saying the pack of nice guys, globally, across all of Australia on live TV, it pretty much speaks massively of the bloke.

"I just want to thank all the drivers in our sport because I've been coming to these Gala Awards for over 10 years now, and been racing hard every year. Every driver that comes that I've looked up to, a couple of guys are obviously leaving us this year, full-time drivers, to young drivers coming in, in the next generation.

"This sport is something very, very special, and for me, my dream was always to be a Supercar driver, and I know a lot of guys in this room was to be a Supercar driver, and I've been lucky enough to achieve that."

The quest for the 2025 Jim Richards Award will commence at the Sydney 500 next February. Tickets for the event are on sale now.

2024 Jim Richards Award leaderboard (top 10)

Most votes per race

Races topped in 2024