Driving's Lorraine Sommerfeld named 2021 Canadian auto journalist of the year

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Driving’s own Lorraine Sommerfeld was named the 2021 AJAC Journalist of the Year – the highest accolade in Canadian automotive writing – at the 38th Annual Automobile Journalism Awards in Ajax, Ontario this week. It marks the second time she’s been awarded the title by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC).

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“As always, the judges had tough decisions but enjoyed reading through the outstanding submissions and there were two submissions that stood above the rest,” said John Lindo , Vice President, Marketing and Public Relations, Jaguar Land Rover Canada, which has sponsored the award for the past 38 years. “We would like to congratulate Lorraine Sommerfeld on her second win as Journalist of the Year.”

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The runner-up for Journalist of the Year was Kyle Patrick.

Sommerfeld was recognized for the calibre of her work as exemplified by Canadian cultural retrospectives like her “Snowmageddon revealed nature’s raw power” feature on the traffic-blocking 2010 snowstorm that blew through Lambton, Ontario; investigative analyses like “ Why do we allow money laundering in the auto industry? “, about dodgy car-related financial transactions in B.C.; and personal reflections like “ Tales from the Station Wagon ,” in which she recounts her parents’ proclivity for picking up hitchhikers.

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She was joined by a number of other Driving contributors who also earned accolades at the ceremony, including Peter Bleakney, who won the Wakefield Castrol Award for Automotive Writing for his car reviews; and Steven Bochenek, who won the Environmental Journalism Award presented by Hyundai Canada.

Driving’s Matthew Guy was runner-up to Bleakney in the above-mentioned car review category [we’re not kidding when we say Driving has the best new car reviews in Canada —Ed.] and Jil McIntosh and Stephanie Wallcraft were similarly recognized in the Road Safety Journalism Award and Adventure and Travel Writing Award categories, respectively. Justin Pritchard was named runner-up for the Photography Award presented by Mazda Canada in both the Published and Unpublished categories.