'PH Hero' is usually a car but here we're talking about people - the true heroes in the world of PH and the kind of folk that define the world of PHness. And we've got a real cross section, from humble engineers to fighter pilots turned landspeed record holders. A tough category for sure - browse the nominees and vote for your winner below!
Tada-san
An apparently shy engineer plucked from the depths of Toyota City and presented to the media as 'Mr GT86', Tetsuya Tada is, just possibly, the man to rescue us from the over-powered, over-tyred and tech-obsessed 'performance' cars steadily relegating once keen drivers to bystander status. Whether or not he really is the visionary that sneaked the project past Toyota's endless committees or a PR construction isn't immediately obvious but, upon meeting him, his clear-headed passion for affordable rear-wheel drive and accessible, real-world fun deserves recognition. (Dan)
Andy Green
Wing Commander Andrew Green is a man it'd be very easy to hate. Day job flying (alright now overseeing) fast jets, weekend hobby sticking himself at the front of obscenely fast ground based rockets with wheels. I expect he'd define both better than I have, because he's also a massive brained, very articulate and very likeable chap. Andy hopes to be the man to take his own landspeed record by breaking the 1,000mph barrier in 2014 with Bloodhound SSC, and it is for that specific endeavour that we nominate him. It is a fundamentally PistonHeads-esque ambition, it is an entirely British proposition, it makes absolute sense as a project if you hear him talk about it for more than 30 seconds and yet, somewhere in the back of our minds, we can't work out if he's a visionary genius we'd love to be, or just a bit unhinged. We're going with the former. (Stuart)
Ben Bowlby
There will always lurk the suspicion that people like Ben Bowlby's real talent lies in their power to convince people of a concept through expert language and beguiling delivery rather than any real engineering genius. Having driven the Deltawing I can only conclude that all the detractors are sadly wrong - the bloke sees problems differently to other people, and has the conviction to deliver on his interpretations. Of course without Nissan the Deltawing would have been another ill-fated Indycar concept, but if you meet the bloke you get the distinct feeling he has the zeal to make his ideas reality- someday, somehow. Ben is the journalist's engineer beyond all others: his explanation of the Deltawing in the DRIVE video this year was one of the stand-out moments of 2012 for me: passionate, articulate and despite dumbing-down his creation for idiots like us to understand, in no way patronising. He gets my vote any day. (Chris Harris)
Alex Zanardi
I defy anyone not to be moved to tears at the display of strength shown by Alex Zanardi this year. To many of us, losing both legs (as Alex did following a motor racing accident in 2001) would signal the end of our lives as we knew them; to him it was the start of a new and challenging life. A few years ago, Alex took up handbiking with a personal aim of representing Italy at the London 2012 Paralympics. He went on to win gold in two events and silver in another. In October he helped 17-year-old quadriplegic Eric Fontanari complete the Venice Marathon by physically towing the chap through many of the 26 race miles, despite a catalogue of mechanical issues on both bikes. At the end he pulled Eric a centimetre from the line, got out of his bike and pushed him over the line because 'I wanted him to be first to pass the finish line'. What an amazing, incredible, inspirational and frankly astonishing fellow. (Paul)
Fernando Alonso
Never did the villain of the piece become the hero quite so remarkably as in the 2012 F1 season. As the season progressed, a sentiment emerged that was echoed across the land: 'I'm not his biggest fan, but he can't half make that dog of a Ferrari go quickly'. Some will say the Ferrari's nature was much underestimated. Others will tell you that 'Nando just got lucky. But to finish so close to the championship winner with a car that was widely reckoned to be a bit of a boat is a feat that can only be admired. However you may feel about the guy, you can't deny his achievement is worthy of hero status. (Alex)
PH awards 2012 categories: