For the final week of 2013 a list of predictions of what could happen in a few different motorsport series in 2014 will be posted and today we look at many different racing series around the world, from two wheels to four. Let's start with MotoGP.
1. Valentino Rossi Retires
The Doctor has accomplished plenty in his career. Nine championships, one hundred and six victories, twenty-six records and a Suzuka 8 Hours victory, the thirty-four year old Italian shouldn't have many regrets when it comes to his career. He is one of the all-time greats and it is time. As with Tom Kristensen in sports cars, he has nothing left to prove. He can move on to full-time rallying and try and make a career out of that. He will be missed but we should be thankful for the memories.
2. The Spanish Renaissance Will Continue
Marc Márquez, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa lead the charge with Álvaro Bautista, Pol and Aleix Espargaró and Héctor Barberá filling out the MotoGP fleet while Esteve Rabat, Nicolás Terol, Maverick Viñales, Luis Salom and Jordi Torres are all contenders in Moto2 with Álex Márquez, Álex Rins and Isaac Viñales competing in Moto3. This type of dominance by one nation has not been seen in Grand Prix Motorcycle racing in over fifty years and even then this Spanish dominance feels completely different as all their riders are succeeding at ages younger than ever.
3. Open Class Bikes Won't Be Threatening But Will Find Success
The two seasons of Claiming Rule Teams saw a progression where CRT bikes were breaking into the top ten of qualifying on occasions and I expect the same to continue in 2014. The "open" class features many talented riders with veterans Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards, Hiroshi Aoyama, Michael Laverty and Héctor Barberá leading young riders such as Scott Redding, Aleix Espargaró and Danilo Petrucci. I don't see any "open" class bikes stealing a victory or podium but don't be surprised if they are competitive at times in 2014.
4. On to DTM: The Favorites Are BMW
Mike Rockenfeller may have won the title last year but BMW took home their second consecutive manufactures' title in their second season back in DTM and won half the races, including the final three. BMW's roster features young drivers such as Marco Wittmann, António Félix da Costa and Maxime Martin as well champions Bruno Spengler and Martin Tomczyk and veterans Timo Glock, Augusto Farfus and Joey Hand. Now, Audi and Mercedes-Benz should field respectable line-ups with champions and veterans and talented young drivers but the momentum is on BMW's side heading into 2014.
5. Paul di Resta Returns With Mercedes
After two respectable years in Formula One, the Scotsman di Resta found himself without a chair when the music stopped and I am sure he is high on Mercedes' wish list for drivers. He would surely give them a boost after Mercedes finished a distant third in the manufactures' championship. Mercedes should keep veteran leader Gary Paffett while Robert Wickens and Christian Vietoris where bright sides of the 2013 season. Should di Resta return to DTM he would return as a championship favorite after leaving the series a champion in 2010.
6. World Rally Championship: Volkswagen Dominance Continues
It's hard to see any outcome of the 2014 World Rally Championship not ending in Volkswagen dominance. They are coming off a very successful return in 2013, winning ten of thirteen rounds and both the drivers' and manufactures' championships. They retain the pairing of Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala while each other manufacture shuffled their line-ups over the winter. Citroën will field Kris Meeke and Mads Østberg who combine for one career rally victory. The M-Sport Fords are led by Mikko Hirvonen who finished fourth in the 2013 championship standings and his teammate will be rookie Elfyn Evans. Robert Kubica will fill out a third entry.
Hyundai look to replicate the feats of Volkswagen of winning the title in their return season with drivers Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo. Sordo picked up his first career win last year in Germany while Neuville finished second to Ogier in the championship after ending with seven podiums.
While Hyundai has put together a formidable pair to take on Volkwagen, I think the Polo will be hands down the best car in 2014.
7. Indy Lights: There Will Be More Than Ten Full-Time Entries
After a season where Indy Lights struggled to get more than eight full-time participants, I expect the 2014 to have double digit grid at every race. The good news is seven entries have already been announced for the 2014 season: two Andretti Autosport (Matthew Brabham, Zach Veach), Belardi Auto Racing (Alexandre Baron), Bryan Herta Autosport/Jeffery Mark Motorsport (Lloyd Read), Fan Force United (Scott Anderson), Schmidt Peterson Motorsport (Jack Harvey) and Team Moore Racing (Zack Meyer).
Sam Schmidt normally has three to four full-time entries so if he meets his normal quota the field should be fine not to forget mentioning another entry possibly from Belardi and Team Moore.
8. V8 Supercars: Jamie Whincup Wins His Record-Setting Sixth Title
It's not a prediction out of left field and actually feels like a lazy prediction but what can I say? Whincup has won the last three titles, five of the last six. He won eleven of thirty-six races last year, his third consecutive year with double-digit wins and he has picked up nine wins or more in his last six seasons. He will face tough opposition from his teammate Craig Lowndes and Ford driver Mark Winterbottom but they need to show more if they want to end Whincup's stranglehold on the championship.
9. Formula E: Expect A Roller Coaster Ride
New series, especially international ones, have had trouble getting solid footing. A1GP had a short run before the series ran out of money. The FIA GT and GT1 Championships struggled but their legacies live on in the FIA GT Series which is doing well but it's future isn't set long term. Superleague Formula failed to keep teams on the grid and eventually shut down.
The bright side for Formula E is it appears to have more support behind it than all the series listed above did combined. There are teams and names from all across the globe investing into the electric championship but it will show growing pains. It already has had to change some events on it's schedule. Rio de Janeiro replaced Hong Kong and the initial schedule included Rome and Bangkok which were replaced by Punta del Este, Uruguay and Monaco.
I am not sure how these events will draw or if they will make any money but you have to be interested in what this series looks like when the first race takes place on Saturday September 13, 2014.
10. World Touring Car Championship: Citroën Will Lead The Way
The entrance of Citroën to the World Touring Car Championship comes at a time where Chevrolet has pulled factory support leaving the French manufacture to go head-to-head with Honda and Lada. While Honda will have Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro, Citroën not only have four-time WTCC champion Yvan Muller but Argentine and former USF1 driver José María López who has won three TC2000 titles in his native Argentina and won the second race of the 2013 Argentina round of the WTCC season in his debut weekend. Not to forget nine-time World Rally champion Sébastien Loeb will be completing the Citroën squad. I think everything is set up for Muller to win his fifth title with López giving the Frenchman a challenge all season long.
11. One Miscellaneous Prediction: Dario Franchitti Is Not Done Racing
He will not race in 2014 but mark my words, we will see Dario Franchitti in a major auto race again. He is done with IndyCar but there is no way he is going to let his final time in a car be that accident at Houston. Injuries to the back and head haven't stop other drivers from getting back into the car for one final race to end their career on a better note.
1996 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Davy Jones suffered an severe neck injury after an accident in an IndyCar test in 1997 but after a few years off he returned to race a handful of Grand-Am races.
Cristiano da Matta ran a few Grand-Am and ALMS races after he suffered head trauma after hitting a deer at a ChampCar test at Road America.
Alex Zanardi didn't allow the amputation of his legs stop him from getting back behind the wheel of a car. He not only returned but ran the final thirteen laps around the Lausitzring in a ChampCar that he lost in 2001 and were putting up times good enough to qualify fifth for the race that weekend. Then he went on to the WTCC where he won four races in five seasons. He even went on to test a BMW Sauber F1 car with hand controls and the BMW DTM car.
Those are just three examples but also consider what Robert Kubica has gone through and Davey Hamilton and Kenny Bräck and Felipe Massa. All suffered massive accidents but returned. Now I don't think Franchitti will return to that level of competition but to think he wouldn't jump at the opportunity to be apart of a lineup of five drivers for an endurance sports car race is absurd. He will recover and will be cautious but if he is fit, he will get behind the wheel of a car for one final drive.
Franchitti will take some time off. He is done with IndyCar and any other full-time competition but mark my words, we have not seen the last of him. He will run one final race and I wouldn't be surprised if it is with his brother at a 24-hour race. Maybe Daytona or Le Mans.
Three down, two to go. With Formula One and sports car predictions available, all that remains is NASCAR and IndyCar.
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