Despite the impressive resume he has built during his time in motor sport, the humble Ciccarello was still surprised at being named the best Australian official in 2018.

“It’s very hard to pinpoint how I feel about winning this award because honestly, I feel a mixture of emotions,” Ciccarello said.

“I am happy, I am anxious, I am over the moon and I am truly humbled about the experience.

“I worried about accepting the award at the start because I didn’t think I deserved it as there are thousands of talented officials worthy of the award, but now being here with this award, I am really appreciative that I am at the top of as Castrol Official of the Year.”

Ciccarello’s love for motor sport began at 16-years-old, when he and his friends would buy old cars, make them go faster and compete in both drag and circuit racing.

However, the South Australian’s career in racing was shortlived after realising he “couldn’t drive a hot knife through butter” and he began to crew for drivers only to realise that he didn’t fit in there either.

Finally, he found his path when he was offered to join his local club and start working as an official on grassroots events, which he excelled at and of course, the rest is history.

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From working as just a general official at his local club to taking on the role of Clerk of Course at National events, spending time as a CATO and training people in Singapore, Ciccarello has a wealth of experience in the sport that has made him well known as ‘ Mr Fix it’.

It all started in the 1980s for Ciccarello, with his first major event being the Australian Touring Cars championship round at Mallala, where he had the difficult role of crowd control and from there, he gradually worked his way up the ranks.

“I remember working as crowd control on turn five in the 1980s for the Supercars event at Mallala and with thousands of people trying to jump the fences, it felt like pushing water back as the tides come in,” Ciccarello joked.

“It was a busy start to my career as an official and not long after I was working a lot of multi club meetings for the Sporting Car Club of SA, before I worked my way up to state level events and before I knew it, I was working at national events.

“Along the way I went from general official at these state levels to my current role Clerk of Course where I work at national events around the country.”

From all those years ago when the opportunity to work behind the scenes in his favourite sport arose, he has since become an important and passionate figure where he currently chairs the Australian Motor Race Commission.

The 68-year-old has achieved a lot in his life and only recently was recognised as one a few people who have worked at every Australian Grand Prix in the modern era, however for Ciccarello, the Castrol Official of the Year is the peak of his career.

“There are many things I do because I enjoy them, they may have titles associated with them but I don’t go out of my way to let people know I am this or that,” Ciccarello added.

“I just do things because I enjoy it and it can be helpful because I may have things to offer.

“I thought the biggest honour that I had was when I stood on the grid at Albert Park but I think this beats that by a country mile.

“I really do appreciate winning the award and I will treasure it for the rest of my life.”