Over the past few days I’ve been spending a lot of time travelling, jumping from Sydney Australia to Los Angeles and now I’ve just landed in Vancouver. While long haul flights and jetlag have proved a constant battle (what would we do without coffee and energy drinks?), I’m starting to get on top of waking up when I should be asleep and sleeping when I should be awake. Although I was only in LA for three days, I spent some valuable time meeting up with Rod, Mike Garrett, Linhbergh, Larry Chen and Formula D champ Vaughn Gittin Jr.

I arrived at my Vancouver hotel at midnight, with the first thing on my agenda to write the December editorial.

It’s become a Speedhunters tradition for December to be a reflection on the year: the accomplishments, the upsets, the pivotal moments. It’s also the month when we look back over at the photographs we’ve immortalised over the past 12 months…

…The poignant images that capture what 2010 was all about. Over the coming weeks the entire Speedhunters team will be digging through the tens of thousands of images we’ve seen through the lens, and hand-pick the finest examples for your viewing pleasure.

It’s certainly going to be a difficult task for us to select the images that we feel were the best!

This year we’ve decided not to do season wrap-ups, instead we’ll be beefing up our annual Speedhunters Awards. This year, expect no less than 14 awards with each winner chosen by you, the people.

We’ll be asking you to vote for which cars you feel were the standouts in 2010, starting off with Pro Drift Car of the Year.

One category that is sure to be hotly contested is Street Drift Car of the Year, where we’ll be choosing finalists from all corners of the world.

Which car should be crowned the 2010 Race Car of the Year? Queen St’s controversial 2000hp, gold-plated quad rotor BMW is sure to be one of the contenders.

This year, Race Car of the Year will include Time Attack racers.

Perhaps its 414.5mph run will be enough for the Spirit of Rett to claim the award?

Best New Car of 2010? The decision will be yours to make…

Whenever major aftermarket shows like Tokyo Auto Salon and SEMA roll into town, there’s always anticipation of what wicked creations will be unveiled. These demo cars are often more than just vehicles to show off a company’s latest wares; they can also inspire trends, innovation and new thought processes. Will this year’s Demo Car of the Year come from one of the established players, or will it come from a new, emerging tuner?

One of the categories we’re most excited about is Rat of the Year…

…Which had a surprise winner last year.

Which of the old school rides do you think should be finalists for Retro Machine of the Year?

There will no doubt be plenty of discussions, opinions and competition for Street Car of the Year, with so many mouth-watering examples shown over the past 12 months.

A new category for 2010 is also sure to be a great one: Readers Car of the Year.

In the coming days we’ll be putting a call-out for readers to submit their own cars (and yes, it has to be your personal ride). The Speedhunters team will select the finalists and then put the vote back onto you to choose the winner!

The winners of each of the above categories will then become contenders for an all new award, a ‘best of the best’ to decide who should be crowned the first Speedhunters Car of the Year.

Our awards will extend beyond car genres, and we’ll be asking you to choose the defining Moment of the Year.

Such as when Mark Webber crashed out of the Korean Grand Prix, surrendering the points lead and making the F1 championship go right down to the wire.

Perhaps the defining moment was when the DANDY RX-7 was destroyed, breaking thousands of hearts around the world in the process.

The people will also elect their Event of the Year, which can be from any series (or show for that matter)…

…The question is, what makes the ‘perfect’ event? Is it the cars, the organisation, the spectacle, or the atmosphere?

Who was your Champion of the Year? Was it Sebastian Vettel, the youngest ever driver to win the Formula 1 Championship?

Maybe your favourite champion was Vaughn Gittin Jr, who saw off a star-studded Formula D line-up.

A popular award is Personality of the Year, a ‘people’s champion’ so to speak.

A mini-theme that will be running throughout December will be on Collectables, which seems a fitting inclusion in the lead up to Christmas.

The Speedhunters team will be hunting down rare model cars, explore the RC universe and present to you some killer books, magazines and memorabilia.

Although most of the events and races have already wrapped up, rest assured the crew will be out in force covering what’s left before the new year. Linhbergh will be at the Fatlace Word Up event, where he will be trying his hand at drifting Fatlace creator Mark Arcenal’s S14 Silvia! For those of you heading to the event, make sure you ask Linhbergh for some Speedhunters stickers – he’ll have a limited batch on hand!

In Japan Dino will be covering Super Lap Battle, one of the most important dates on the Time Attack calendar.

Dino will also be taking you behind closed doors for the setup of the Mooneyes show…

…As well as the Nismo Festival and AE86 Festival!

Alok Paleri will be off to Luxembourg for the International Motorshow, where Vaughn Gitten Jr will also be doing some demonstrations…

…Meanwhile Paddy was planning to fly out to Dubai for the UAE Drift event, however with the huge snow storms that have hit the UK, he might not be able to get out of Ireland…

Australian Casey Dhnaram will also be presenting a behind the scenes look at his first trip to Japan…

…Which was a non-stop journey of discovering Japan’s rich car culture.

As you can see, there’s plenty in store for December. Let’s end 2010 with a bang!

– Charles Kha