De Villiers, who finished third overall and first in the class for petrol-engined 4×4 vehicles in the 2012 Dakar Rally, was the overall winner at the ceremony awards held this week in Midrand.
He outnumbered four other nominees to bag the fiercely contested award.
During the Dakar Rally, he was driving a South African-built Toyota Hilux in the all-South African Imperial Toyota team’s first attempt at the world’s longest and toughest motor race.
In his own words, de Villiers said:” Although how exhausting the race can be on someone, I and my crew soldiered on for the sake of our country, although we came third,” he said with a broad smile.
“As for the award, I’m happy for being rewarded for our efforts and what we try to achieve for the country locally and internationally. This truly means a lot to other guys.”
Wade Young, the youngest winner of the Roof of Africa, Duncan Vos and Rob Howie who won the Absa South African Off Road Championship, Kelvin van der Linde, who won the Engen Volkswagen Cup in his first year of senior circuit racing to become the youngest ever VW Cup and senior circuit racing national champion and Darryl Curtis, a multiple former off road and enduro motorcycle champion, were recipients of the Bridgestone prestigious awards.
The Colin Watling Award went to Glyn Hall, leader of the Toyota Motorsport team and Clare Vale a racing driver who is chairperson of the Women in Road Safety Forum, an organisation she founded in 2011.
