Legends have decided 2014 will be their final season but as they leave another batch of young drivers will step up to leave their mark. Here is where we honor those he made the deepest impression on the 2014 motorsports season.
Racer of the Year
Description: Given to the best racer over the course of 2014.
And the Nominees are:
Marc Márquez
André Lotterer
Lewis Hamilton
Sébastien Ogier
Jaime Whincup
And the winner is... Marc Márquez
For the second consecutive year Marc Márquez comes out on top. No one else came close to Márquez and no one else controlled a championship like he did in 2012. Remember prior to the season opener at Qatar when he said it would have been foolish to pick him to win that race because he was recovering from a broken leg just six weeks prior? It would have been foolish to pick anyone but Márquez to win each of the eighteen rounds of the MotoGP season.
He didn't only prove himself wrong in the first race but in the following nine. He won the first six races from pole position. He scored fastest lap in eight of the first ten. He would fool us on starts, dropping from pole back to sixth, by the end of the first sector and sometimes as far back as tenth but the end of lap one, only to always find a way back to the point. Sometimes he was challenged but most of the time he would retake the lead and never look back as he won ten consecutive races for the sixth time in the history of 500cc/MotoGP.
Eventually Márquez was defeated but at that point it didn't matter. The championship was his for the taking. He could take risks. He could have won Aragón if he stopped for rain tires sooner but he decided to push the limit on slicks. Along with Aragón, he could have won at Phillip Island if he doesn't fall while in a commanding lead. He won a single-season record setting 13th victory at the season finale at Valencia but Márquez could have put records further out of reach for challengers to come. It very well could have been 15 had it not been for two falls.
Along with his 13 victories, Márquez had 13 pole positions, 12 fastest laps and led 214 of 449 laps. Did I forget to mention that he is only 21? His second title showed he was no fluke and a third consecutive title will have him squeezing in at the table with the all-time greats.
On the other nominees: André Lotterer's 2014 season featured the most diversity of success with the German picking up his third Le Mans victory as he and teammates Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler finished second in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Lotterer finished third in the Super Formula championship with two victories and he became the first Le Mans winner since Johnny Herbert in 1991 to make a Formula One start. Sure, Lotterer's Formula One career was destined to be brief as he was given the opportunity by Caterham and the car let him down after one lap around Spa. However, diversity in motorsports during this age of specialization should be acknowledged and if offered, many of us would take Lotterer's season.
Lewis Hamilton won his second world championship with 11 victories, 16 podiums, seven pole positions and seven fastest laps from nineteen races. Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's battle for the title will be one we will remanence about when they are calling an end to their Formula One careers. Mercedes produced the best car but they let their drivers race each other. There was no number one. It was comparable to Ayrton Senna vs. Alain Prost or Mario Andretti vs. Ronnie Peterson or Phil Hill vs. Wolfgang von Tripps. You never knew who was going to come out on top at each race.
Sébastien Ogier won his second consecutive world championship in dominating fashion, winning seven rounds and finishing on the podium in nine of thirteen rallies. Ogier won the power stage at six rallies. Like Mercedes in Formula One, Volkswagen was the class of the field but Ogier had the edge over his teammates Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen. Other than in Germany and France, the Frenchman very rarely put a wheel wrong.
Jamie Whincup won a record sixth V8 Supercars championship but about halfway through the season that appeared in doubt. Mark Winterbottom appeared to be his main challenger but Whincup turned it on as his challengers faltered. He won 14 of 38 races with 21 podiums and 10 pole positions. He clinched the title with a round to go. It was his fourth consecutive title and all of Whincup's six have come in the last seven seasons. At only 31 years old, Whincup has plenty of time to pad his records and climb the ranks as one of the greatest racers from Australia.
Past Winners
2012: Kyle Larson
2013: Marc Márquez
Race of the Year
Description: Best Race of 2014.
And the Nominees are:
Indianapolis 500
Aragón motorcycle Grand Prix
Pro Mazda race 2 from Sonoma
Bathurst 1000
Canadian Grand Prix
And the winner is... Bathurst 1000
Despite red flags for pavement issues, 1000 kilometers have never held my attention more than this race. Jamie Whincup had to start 23rd but was up to fifth in thirteen laps but as if that hill wasn't high enough to overcome, an accident and penalty for unsafe release in the pit lane put Whincup and co-driver Paul Dumbrell a lap down. The battle at the front was mostly between the #33 Volvo of Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Prémat and the #97 Holden of Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb but McLaughlin hit the wall and Van Gisbergen had the start motor fail him on the final pit stop with 10 laps to go.
Whincup had worked his way back on to the lead lap and found himself in contention with teammate Craig Lowndes, Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert, who started in 25th, last on the grid after his time was disallowed for passing under red flag conditions in qualifying. Whincup was stretching his fuel mileage as Lowndes and Winterbottom got together, ending both their hopes. Mostert chased down Whincup as he tried to nurse it home. Ultimately, Whincup didn't have enough and Mostert passed him on the exit of Forest's Elbow, heading down The Chase one final time. Mostert and co-driver Paul Morris won the most famous race in the southern hemisphere from last on the grid and only led one lap, the final lap. Between them, Mostert and Morris has three combined victories and Morris' lone victory came at Calder Park a track that is being reclaimed by nature in 2001. It was Mostert's second Bathurst start. Whincup coasted fifth as the #360 Nissan of James Moffat and Taz Douglas, #22 Holden of Nick Percat and Oliver Gavin and #9 Mercedes of Will and Alex Davison would pass Whincup.
To top it all off, on the podium Mostert gave us motorsport's quote of the year when commenting on his pursuit of Whincup: "I kept screaming on the radio in the cockpit – cough you bastard, cough!"
On the other nominees... For another year the Indianapolis 500 provided a thrill for 200 consecutive laps. The first three-quarters of the race went without a caution as Ryan Hunter-Reay worked his way to the front from 19th on the grid and took the lead by halfway. Lead changes were nearly half from the year prior but the action was still fierce. Going into the final 25 laps, at least eight drivers had a shot of victory but they thinned out quickly as Ed Carpenter and James Hinchcliffe got together and Townsend Bell had an accident. The final seven laps were a duel between Hunter-Reay and Hélio Castroneves, who was looking for his fourth Indianapolis 500 victory. They traded positions a few times before Hunter-Reay took the lead once and for all on the inside of turn three with four laps to go as he held off the Brazilian by 0.060 seconds, the second-closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history.
Aragón was as unpredictable as they come. Andrea Iannone started third and was up to second but was out after a second lap accident. Valentino Rossi fell from fourth on lap four. The battle was between Márquez, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa as rain bared down. When the rain arrived, it was a matter of who was going to blink first. Neither of the three immediately dove in to switch bikes even as the condition clearly became more than they could handle on slicks. Lorenzo blinked with four to go and Pedrosa fell in turn one while Márquez continue. You would have thought Honda and Márquez would have been smart enough to pit immediately after Pedrosa fell but they weren't and Márquez was down the next lap. Both were able to continue but the race was handed to Lorenzo while Aleix Espargaró benefitted from being one of the first to switch to come home second, holding off a hard charging Cal Crutchlow. Márquez and Pedrosa were able to limp home, 13th and 14th respectively, each having gone one lap too long on slicks.
Not often does a junior formula race break into the conversation of best of the year but the Pro Mazda season finale begs to differ. After losing the championship lead in race one the previous day, Spencer Pigot had to chase down Scott Hargrove for the title. Hargrove was on pole with Pigot second and Pigot's championship hopes were nearly dashed in the first few corners as Neil Alberico (Hargrove's teammate) got into Pigot and his teammate Kyle Kaiser. Pigot dropped outside the top fifteen as Hargrove continued to lead. Pigot picked off one driver after another as he tried to resurrect his championship hopes but it appeared he had run out of steam once he reached seventh with six to go. With four to go, Kaiser caused a caution, bunching up the field for one final restart with three laps to go. Hargrove had lead every lap until a mechanical failure ended his day, handing the lead to Pigot's other teammate, Jose Gutierrez. Hargrove retired and Pigot brought the car home in fifth, more than enough to take the title.
Just when it appeared Mercedes was going to go undefeated in Formula One, it all came crashing down at Montreal. Rosberg and Hamilton pushed each other to the limit at every turn and Hamilton's brakes went, ending the Brits day. After leading the first 413 laps of the Formula One season, Mercedes conceded the race lead to Felipe Massa but he had to pit and Rosberg, Sergio Pérez, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel would go on by. Pérez rode Rosberg's coat tails but fell back as his brakes started to go. Ricciardo was able to pass the Mexican and chase down Rosberg, taking the lead with three to go. The battle was then for third as Pérez was holding on as Vettel and Massa were all over him. Heading into turn one on the final lap, Vettel passed the Mexican and Massa made a move but Pérez made contact with the Williams and both went sliding off into the barriers. The safety car was deployed and Ricciardo ended up victorious, the first of his Formula One career.
Past Winners
2012: Indianapolis 500
2013: British motorcycle Grand Prix
Achievement of the Year
Description: Best success by a driver, team, manufacture, etc.
And the Nominees are:
Marc Márquez: Winning ten consecutive race.
Marc Márquez: Setting the record for most wins in a premier class season with thirteen.
Lewis Hamilton: Becoming the all-time winningest British driver in Formula One history.
Jamie Whincup: Winning a record-breaking sixth V8 Supercars championship.
Max Verstappen: Landing a Formula One Ride at 17 years old.
And the winner is... Marc Márquez: Setting the record for most wins in a premier class season.
Of all the records Marc Márquez has set, this one might stand for the longest. To win the most races ever in a season shows the strength of a racer from the time the lights first go out until the final checkered flag. To break a record that was held by a legend such as Mick Doohan is setting Márquez up to be in the conversation as one of the all-time greats many years from now. For someone to better that mark, they will need to string to results with next to no problems. Just one or two bad results could separate a rider from breaking this record and not. Think about how close Márquez was to not breaking this record? As close as this record could have been 15 victories, it very well could have been 9 victories.
On the other nominees... Márquez won ten consecutive races, the sixth time that happened in 500cc/MotoGP history and there were a few races in which that streak could have been halted. What if Jorge Lorenzo doesn't have an accident on lap one at Qatar? What if Lorenzo doesn't jump the start at Austin? What if Lorenzo holds on and doesn't allow Márquez by on the final lap at Mugello? With a streak such as Márquez's, fortune is going to have to break your way a few times and Márquez was no different.
Think about all the great British drivers to have race in Formula One. Lewis Hamilton has won more Grand Prix than all of them. Granted this is a different era. Jim Clark never had a 19 races schedule. The most he ran in a season was 11 and he left this earth at aged 32. He could have done another two or three seasons had he not gotten in that accident on that fateful day in Hockenheim. Even more amazing is Hamilton reached this mark in 2014. He started the year tied with Damon Hill for 13th all-time in victories with 22. He was third amongst active drivers in victories, only two ahead of Kimi Räikkönen. He ends 2014 with 33 victories, fifth all-time, second amongst active drivers, one ahead of Fernando Alonso and six behind Sebastian Vettel. If Mercedes repeats their dominance in 2015, Hamilton without a question will pass Vettel and Hamilton could pass his idol, Ayrton Senna for third all-time in victories.
When you consider the history of V8 Supercars and it's roots back to Australian Touring Cars, Jamie Whincup setting the record for most championships is comparable to Jimmie Johnson winning an eighth NASCAR Cup Series title. He broke a record held with Ian Geoghegan, who won all his titles between 1964-1969, similar to Whincup who has won all of titles since 2008, second all-time in race victories and six-time Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Skaife and Dick Johnson, a long-time presence in the series who continues to be involved as a team owner. Whincup is young enough to completely rewrite the record books and he doesn't appear to be stopping anytime soon.
Say what you want with Red Bull's driver development system, to get a Formula One team to put you in a car with only one season of experience in a race car and to do it without bringing any money is impressive. Max Verstappen didn't even win the FIA European Formula Three championship yet the 17-year old will be on the Formula One grid in 2015 while the champion Esteban Ocon and runner-up Tom Blomqvist will have to continue in junior formulas. What were you doing when you were 17? I was working two part-time jobs while trying to balance my junior year of high school and start figuring out what universities to apply to. That is a hell of a long way from the Formula One grid.
Past Winners
2012: DeltaWing
2013: Sebastian Vettel for winning nine consecutive races on his way to a fourth consecutive title
Moment of the Year
Description: The Most Memorable Moment in the World of Racing during the 2014 season.
And the Nominees are:
U.S. F2000 and Pro Mazda Sonoma Weekend.
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton making contact at Spa-Francorchamps.
Post races at the Charlotte and Texas Chase races.
Sebastien Vettel Leaving Red Bull.
Formula E makes it's debut from Beijing
And the winner is... Post race at the Charlotte and Texas Chase races.
The skirmishes between Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth and Keselowski and Jeff Gordon got NASCAR the attention it wanted it. It was leading off SportsCenter in the United States during American football season. To give a comparison, imagine something usurping the Germany national team's run at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil on the German equivalent to SportsCenter. Don't get me wrong, this wins Moment of the Year for all the wrong reasons. No one cared about who won the race. It was all about the extracurriculars. NASCAR got it's attention but not because of the product being something that drew in viewers and kept them glued to the screen, rather needing it's drivers to go to schoolboy antics to get anyone to notice.
On the other nominees... We covered the Pro Mazda championship battle but U.S. F2000 championship was just as crazy. R.C. Enerson entered the final race with the championship lead after Florian Latorre retired from race one. Enerson had led the most laps in race two and had a comfortable lead over Latorre before Enerson went off course and Latorre swept on by and in doing so won the race and the championship just a day after it appeared he had lost it.
The contact on lap two of the Belgian Grand Prix between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg changed the entire flow of the 2014 World Drivers' Championship. Hamilton retired from the race while Rosberg went on to win. The German held a 29-point lead but Hamilton felt he had been done dirty by his teammate and that just might have set a fire under the Brit. Hamilton would win the next five races and six of the final seven. Mechanical issues found Rosberg, bitting him at Singapore, ending his night after 13 laps and once again at Abu Dhabi where all he could do was manage to limb home while Hamilton took the crown that appeared to be Rosberg's just three months earlier.
When the press release came at Suzuka saying Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat would be Red Bull Racing's 2015 drivers, a sense of shock came across the motorsports world. After one bad year, one year where the world title was not going to be returning to Milton Keynes, one year in which his teammate was better, Sebastian Vettel was leaving the team he built. Red Bull is nothing without Vettel. The German made an energy drink company the best race team in the world, better than Ferrari, better than McLaren and better than Mercedes. It is a divorce that ten months earlier no one would believe we would ever see happen and then it did and it set off the Formula One silly season dominoes that have just finished falling.
Formula E might not be fast, it might be different from what we are use to be I liken the series to the early automobile races. To the 10-mile AAA-sanctioned races held at horse racing tracks here in the United States or the early grands prix on public roads creating a circuit over 20 miles in length. These were the building blocks for the foundation of what Formula One is today and what IndyCar is today. A century from now that race in Beijing with an average speed just over 60 MPH could be looked upon as a building block for whatever motorsports series is leading the way.
Past Winners
2012: Alex Zanardi
2013: 24 Hours of Le Mans
Pass of the Year
Description: Best pass of 2014.
And the Nominees are:
Scott McLaughlin on Jaime Whincup in the last corner at Adelaide.
Ryan Blaney on Germán Quiroga for the victory in the final corner at Mosport
Ryan Hunter-Reay on Hélio Castroneves on the inside of turn three, ultimately the Indianapolis 500 winning pass.
Gianmaria Bruni from 4th to 2nd in turn one at Bahrain.
And the winner is... Ryan Blaney on Germán Quiroga
As dirty as road course racing can be in NASCAR, the Ryan Blaney-Germán Quiroga showed how great a race can be when two drivers treat each other with respect. Quiroga could have pushed Blaney off course. Blane could have spun Quiroga. Neither did that. They gave each other room and Quiroga took advantage when Blaney left an opening and Blaney capitalized when Quiroga left the door open and Blaney came out on top. NASCAR road course races don't have to be sloppy affairs where track limits don't exist and drivers treat each other more like they are in bumper cars and not sophisticated race cars. Blaney and Quiroga showed what a NASCAR road course race can be when drivers respect one another.
On the other nominees... The entire final lap battle between Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup was fantastic. Like Blaney-Quiroga, McLaughlin and Whincup respected one another. Whincup could have put McLaughlin in the barrier and easily cruised to a second place finish but he didn't. He gave McLaughlin just enough room for both to continue. Just when you though Whincup had McLaughlin beat for second, the Kiwi dove on the inside as Whincup went wide and beat Whincup to the line.
No one had made a passing on the inside going into turn three before Ryan Hunter-Reay overtook Hélio Castroneves with four to go. At least no one went as low as Hunter-Reay did. He couldn't have gotten any closer to the grass. It was the type of move he had to make to catch Castroneves slightly off guard. If Hunter-Reay was willing to make a move that nuts, what else would he be willing to try? It ultimately was enough as Hunter-Reay would lead the final four laps to take his first Indianapolis 500 victory.
This is why Gianmaria Bruni is a back-to-back World Cup for GT Drivers champion. He stalked the Porsche of Patrick Pilet and Aston Martin of Darren Turner and just when it looked like Turner would get the position, Bruni used the draft to swoop by both on the inside as he and Toni Vilander would go on to win their fourth race of the year and clinch the GT world title.
Past Winners
2012: Simon Pagenaud at Baltimore
2013: Robert Wickens at Nürburgring and Peter Dempsey in the Freedom 100
The Eric Idle Award
Description: "When You're Chewing on Life's Gristle, Don't Grumble, Give a Whistle, And This'll Help Things Turn Out For The Best, and... Always Look On The Bright Side of Life."
And the Nominees are:
Martin Truex, Jr.: Losing his ride at Michael Waltrip Racing because he lost his sponsor because Clint Bowyer decided to "take a dive" and ending 2014 with five top tens, a third of his 2013 total.
Romain Grosjean: For 7th to 14th in Formula One, scoring four points in 2014, 128 less than 2013, a year in which he ended on the verge of his first victory.
Matt Griffin: For losing a possible second consecutive ELMS GTE title after lap one contact and the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari of Andrea Bertolini, Sergey Zlobin and Viktor Shaitar winning the final race, which they had to do to have any hope of winning the title.
Tom Sykes: For losing a possible second consecutive World Superbike title in the final race.
Alexander Rossi: For having seat after seat ripped out from underneath him and with nowhere to go.
And the winner is... Alexander Rossi
Alexander Rossi could have gotten any closer to making his Formula One debut in 2014 and not made it. First it was Caterham where he got a few Friday drives but ultimately the California left when the team was sold by Tony Fernandes. He landed at Marussia in a reserve role but it appeared Rossi was going to make a breakthrough. It was an announced Rossi would have a race seat for the Belgian Grand Prix only to have that taken from him between first and second practice. After the Jules Bianchi accident it appeared Rossi was set to make his debut at Austin after the team didn't not run Bianchi's car at Sochi. However, Marussia went into administration prior to Austin and the team never made it back on the Formula One grid. Rossi's career is now up in the air and it is likely that he will never start a Formula One Grand Prix despite being so close at Spa.
On the other nominees: Martin Truex, Jr. couldn't have been screwed over anymore by Michael Waltrip Racing. Actions done by Clint Bowyer cost Truex his ride. It is despicable how that entire situation was handled and Truex deserved better. The good news is he was getting better results toward the end of 2014 and Furniture Row Racing is a decent team that has made the Chase before and with making the Chase being as easy as winning a race, it is very possible Truex could qualify next season.
Romain Grosjean got caught in a situation where the car was dreadful and he did the best he could with a turd. Hopefully the switch to Mercedes engines in 2015 puts the Frenchman and Lotusback in contention for race victories like he was at the end of 2013.
A perfect storm kept Matt Griffin from winning back-to-back ELMS GTE titles. First was the accident but that wasn't the end of the world as the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari had to win to take the championship. Of course, that is exactly how it played out as the Russian team came from almost out of nowhere to take the title.
Tom Sykes didn't lose the World Superbike title as much as Sylvain Guintoli won it. The Frenchman won three of the final four races and didn't finish worse than second in the final eight races. Sykes had one retirement all season. As easy as it would be to pin the championship on that one retirement from Sepang, Sykes has nothing to hang his head about. Guintoli was just a little bit better.
Past Winners
2012: Ben Spies
2013: Sam Hornish, Jr.
Comeback of the Year
Description: The Best Comeback in the 2014 season.
And the Nominees are:
Williams F1
Dean Stoneman to full-time single-seater racing
Juan Pablo Montoya to IndyCar
Lewis Hamilton at Germany and Hungary
Alex Tagliani at Road America
And the winner is... Juan Pablo Montoya to IndyCar
Nearly fourteen years after last being in an IndyCar and seven years since being in an open-wheel car, Juan Pablo Montoya returned to the series that jump started his career and made it look like he never left. He did struggle to get his footing in the first few races but by the time Indianapolis 500 rolled around, Montoya was challenging for victories. He stretched fuel mileage longer than anyone else and had it not been for a pit lane speeding penalty, the Colombian would have been in contention for his second Indianapolis 500 victory in his second start in the famed race.
Victory would come his way, at Pocono where Montoya won from pole position, the first driver to win from pole in the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Montoya scored 342 points in the six IndyCar oval races, more than any other driver. He finished fourth in the championship with 586 points. He led 167 laps, only Will Power, Tony Kanaan, Hélio Castroneves and Ryan Hunter-Reay led more. Montoya has room for improvement in 2015 but he certainly raised a few eye brows in 2014.
On the other nominees... What else can you say about Williams F1? Getting the Mercedes engine certainly played into their favor but that wasn't an automatic guarantee for success. You still need to build a car capable of competing at the front and it had been sometime since Williams produced a car of this caliber. Since BMW left the team after the 2005 season, Williams had three podiums over eight season. The team scored nine podiums in 2014. After only scoring 5 points in 2013 and finishing ninth in the Constructors' Championship, Williams scored 320 points behind only Mercedes and Red Bull and ahead of Ferrari, McLaren and Force India, teams that had trounced Williams in recent seasons. Valterri Bottas came of age and Felipe Massa resuscitated his career. The Finn scored in 17 of 19 races and Massa won pole position at Austria, the only pole position that wasn't snagged by a Mercedes driver. Massa challenged for the victory at Abu Dhabi but came home second with Bottas in third, the first time both Williams finished on the podiums since the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix when Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber finished second and third respectively. They might not have won in 2014 but don't rule them out in 2015.
If you don't know the story of Dean Stoneman, it is as uplifting as they come. In 2010, Stoneman won the Formula Two championship over Jolyon Palmer and secured a test with Williams F1 for the end of that year. He was set to move to Formula Renault 3.5 in 2011 but Stoneman was diagnosed with severe testicular cancer forcing him out of the car. He nearly lost his legs and had he not gotten treatment when he did, he would not be here today. He didn't race at all in 2011 or 2012. He returned to competition in Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain in 2013 and swept his first race weekend at Brands Hatch. After finishing fifth in that series, Stoneman got a ride in the 2013 GP3 season finale at Abu Dhabi where he finished sixth and second in his first races in a single-seater since winning the 2010 F2 title. He got a full-time GP3 ride in 2014 and won a series-leading five races and finished second in the championship. Now Stoneman looks toward moving up the European ladder or coming to the United States and IndyCar. Stoneman is as uplifting of a story and we can only hope he continues to find success wherever he goes in 2015.
Lewis Hamilton had to start from 20th at Hockenheim and from the pit lane at Hungaroring. In both races, Hamilton put together calculated drives to the front and those very well could have decided the championship. Had Hamilton not gone from 20th to 3rd at Hockenheim and from the pit lane to 3rd at Hungaroring, Nico Rosberg could have been world champion. They were drives that defined Hamilton's season despite him not ending up on the top step of the podium.
Alex Tagliani ran out of fuel while leading the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Road America under caution with five laps to go and dropped him to 23rd for the final restart. Tagliani switched to slick tires as the track was drying as the field prepared for a green-white-checkered finish. Tagliani picked apart the field as he went from 23rd to second in two laps and finished second to Brendan Gaughan by only 0.820 seconds. It was as impressive as you can get as Tagliani made the field appear amateur as he nearly pulled off what arguably would have been the greatest green-white-checkered comeback in it's recent history of use in NASCAR.
Past Winners
2013: Michael Shank Racing at the 24 Hours of Daytona
Most Improved
Description: Racer Who Improved The Most from 2013 to 2014.
And the Nominees are:
Aleix Espargaró: From 11th to 7th in MotoGP, scoring 33 points more than 2013, while picking up his first career pole position and podium.
Chaz Mostert: From 17th to 7th, scoring 1003 points more than 2013 and winning two races including the Bathurst 1000.
Daniel Ricciardo: From 14th to 3rd in Formula One, scoring 218 points more than 2013, winning three races and scoring eight podiums.
Edoardo Mortara: From 21st to 5th in DTM, scoring 65 more points than 2013 and two podiums after his best finish was ninth in 2013.
Valtteri Bottas: From 17th to 4th in Formula One, scoring 182 points more than 2013 and finished with six podiums
And the winner is... Chaz Mostert
Besides his Bathurst victory, Chaz Mostert was a feature at the front of many V8SC races and Mostert ended up finishing ahead of many more veteran V8SC drivers including former champion Garth Tander as well as Fabian Coulthard, Will Davison and Jason Bright. He was the second best Ford driver, finishing only behind his Ford Performance Racing teammate Mark Winterbottom. Look for Mostert to challenge his teammate a little more in 2015.
On the other nominees... Aleix Espargaró did a lot considering he was on an "Open" class bike. His one podium at Aragón came in the wet and he took pole position at Assen. He moves to the factory Suzuki team in 2015 and could become an even bigger threat for getting more podiums possible victories.
Daniel Ricciardo did improve as he moved to Red Bull from Toro Rosso. He was not intimidated by his four-time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel and beat the German in almost every statistic category. He has become the clear number one as he looks to challenge Mercedes even more in 2015.
The Italian Edoardo Mortara has had a roller coaster of a career in DTM. After winning two races and finishing fifth in his second season in the series in 2012, he scored only three points all of 2013 but turned it around in 2014 where he got two podiums and finished in the points in six of ten races.
We already touched on Valterri Bottas a little bit but when you considered he scored two fewer points than Esteban Gutiérrez in 2013 and finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso in 2014, he had a big turn around. Sure the car and engine had something to do with it but you still have to go out and get the results. The Finn proved his worth and he finished fourth in the world championship in his second season in Formula One.
Past Winners
2012: Esteban Guerrieri
2013: Marco Andretti
That will do it for the 2014 For the Love of Indy Awards. Congratulations to all those on a wonderful 2014 season. The 2015 season is just around the corner. Soon we will be talking about the Dakar Rally and the next round of the Formula E championship. Testing will pick up for the 24 Hours of Daytona and other endurances races such as the Dubai 24 Hours and Bathurst 12 Hour give us our fix. While we will miss motorsports, we need this down time. We need this time to be with families and reflect on the year. Everyone needs a break and while it will feel long, it is much shorter than we realize. Eventually the cycle will start all over and we will be back into a rhythm in no time at all.
Description: Best Race of 2014.
And the Nominees are:
Indianapolis 500
Aragón motorcycle Grand Prix
Pro Mazda race 2 from Sonoma
Bathurst 1000
Canadian Grand Prix
And the winner is... Bathurst 1000
Despite red flags for pavement issues, 1000 kilometers have never held my attention more than this race. Jamie Whincup had to start 23rd but was up to fifth in thirteen laps but as if that hill wasn't high enough to overcome, an accident and penalty for unsafe release in the pit lane put Whincup and co-driver Paul Dumbrell a lap down. The battle at the front was mostly between the #33 Volvo of Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Prémat and the #97 Holden of Shane Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb but McLaughlin hit the wall and Van Gisbergen had the start motor fail him on the final pit stop with 10 laps to go.
Whincup had worked his way back on to the lead lap and found himself in contention with teammate Craig Lowndes, Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert, who started in 25th, last on the grid after his time was disallowed for passing under red flag conditions in qualifying. Whincup was stretching his fuel mileage as Lowndes and Winterbottom got together, ending both their hopes. Mostert chased down Whincup as he tried to nurse it home. Ultimately, Whincup didn't have enough and Mostert passed him on the exit of Forest's Elbow, heading down The Chase one final time. Mostert and co-driver Paul Morris won the most famous race in the southern hemisphere from last on the grid and only led one lap, the final lap. Between them, Mostert and Morris has three combined victories and Morris' lone victory came at Calder Park a track that is being reclaimed by nature in 2001. It was Mostert's second Bathurst start. Whincup coasted fifth as the #360 Nissan of James Moffat and Taz Douglas, #22 Holden of Nick Percat and Oliver Gavin and #9 Mercedes of Will and Alex Davison would pass Whincup.
To top it all off, on the podium Mostert gave us motorsport's quote of the year when commenting on his pursuit of Whincup: "I kept screaming on the radio in the cockpit – cough you bastard, cough!"
On the other nominees... For another year the Indianapolis 500 provided a thrill for 200 consecutive laps. The first three-quarters of the race went without a caution as Ryan Hunter-Reay worked his way to the front from 19th on the grid and took the lead by halfway. Lead changes were nearly half from the year prior but the action was still fierce. Going into the final 25 laps, at least eight drivers had a shot of victory but they thinned out quickly as Ed Carpenter and James Hinchcliffe got together and Townsend Bell had an accident. The final seven laps were a duel between Hunter-Reay and Hélio Castroneves, who was looking for his fourth Indianapolis 500 victory. They traded positions a few times before Hunter-Reay took the lead once and for all on the inside of turn three with four laps to go as he held off the Brazilian by 0.060 seconds, the second-closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history.
Aragón was as unpredictable as they come. Andrea Iannone started third and was up to second but was out after a second lap accident. Valentino Rossi fell from fourth on lap four. The battle was between Márquez, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa as rain bared down. When the rain arrived, it was a matter of who was going to blink first. Neither of the three immediately dove in to switch bikes even as the condition clearly became more than they could handle on slicks. Lorenzo blinked with four to go and Pedrosa fell in turn one while Márquez continue. You would have thought Honda and Márquez would have been smart enough to pit immediately after Pedrosa fell but they weren't and Márquez was down the next lap. Both were able to continue but the race was handed to Lorenzo while Aleix Espargaró benefitted from being one of the first to switch to come home second, holding off a hard charging Cal Crutchlow. Márquez and Pedrosa were able to limp home, 13th and 14th respectively, each having gone one lap too long on slicks.
Not often does a junior formula race break into the conversation of best of the year but the Pro Mazda season finale begs to differ. After losing the championship lead in race one the previous day, Spencer Pigot had to chase down Scott Hargrove for the title. Hargrove was on pole with Pigot second and Pigot's championship hopes were nearly dashed in the first few corners as Neil Alberico (Hargrove's teammate) got into Pigot and his teammate Kyle Kaiser. Pigot dropped outside the top fifteen as Hargrove continued to lead. Pigot picked off one driver after another as he tried to resurrect his championship hopes but it appeared he had run out of steam once he reached seventh with six to go. With four to go, Kaiser caused a caution, bunching up the field for one final restart with three laps to go. Hargrove had lead every lap until a mechanical failure ended his day, handing the lead to Pigot's other teammate, Jose Gutierrez. Hargrove retired and Pigot brought the car home in fifth, more than enough to take the title.
Just when it appeared Mercedes was going to go undefeated in Formula One, it all came crashing down at Montreal. Rosberg and Hamilton pushed each other to the limit at every turn and Hamilton's brakes went, ending the Brits day. After leading the first 413 laps of the Formula One season, Mercedes conceded the race lead to Felipe Massa but he had to pit and Rosberg, Sergio Pérez, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel would go on by. Pérez rode Rosberg's coat tails but fell back as his brakes started to go. Ricciardo was able to pass the Mexican and chase down Rosberg, taking the lead with three to go. The battle was then for third as Pérez was holding on as Vettel and Massa were all over him. Heading into turn one on the final lap, Vettel passed the Mexican and Massa made a move but Pérez made contact with the Williams and both went sliding off into the barriers. The safety car was deployed and Ricciardo ended up victorious, the first of his Formula One career.
Past Winners
2012: Indianapolis 500
2013: British motorcycle Grand Prix
Achievement of the Year
Description: Best success by a driver, team, manufacture, etc.
And the Nominees are:
Marc Márquez: Winning ten consecutive race.
Marc Márquez: Setting the record for most wins in a premier class season with thirteen.
Lewis Hamilton: Becoming the all-time winningest British driver in Formula One history.
Jamie Whincup: Winning a record-breaking sixth V8 Supercars championship.
Max Verstappen: Landing a Formula One Ride at 17 years old.
And the winner is... Marc Márquez: Setting the record for most wins in a premier class season.
Of all the records Marc Márquez has set, this one might stand for the longest. To win the most races ever in a season shows the strength of a racer from the time the lights first go out until the final checkered flag. To break a record that was held by a legend such as Mick Doohan is setting Márquez up to be in the conversation as one of the all-time greats many years from now. For someone to better that mark, they will need to string to results with next to no problems. Just one or two bad results could separate a rider from breaking this record and not. Think about how close Márquez was to not breaking this record? As close as this record could have been 15 victories, it very well could have been 9 victories.
On the other nominees... Márquez won ten consecutive races, the sixth time that happened in 500cc/MotoGP history and there were a few races in which that streak could have been halted. What if Jorge Lorenzo doesn't have an accident on lap one at Qatar? What if Lorenzo doesn't jump the start at Austin? What if Lorenzo holds on and doesn't allow Márquez by on the final lap at Mugello? With a streak such as Márquez's, fortune is going to have to break your way a few times and Márquez was no different.
Think about all the great British drivers to have race in Formula One. Lewis Hamilton has won more Grand Prix than all of them. Granted this is a different era. Jim Clark never had a 19 races schedule. The most he ran in a season was 11 and he left this earth at aged 32. He could have done another two or three seasons had he not gotten in that accident on that fateful day in Hockenheim. Even more amazing is Hamilton reached this mark in 2014. He started the year tied with Damon Hill for 13th all-time in victories with 22. He was third amongst active drivers in victories, only two ahead of Kimi Räikkönen. He ends 2014 with 33 victories, fifth all-time, second amongst active drivers, one ahead of Fernando Alonso and six behind Sebastian Vettel. If Mercedes repeats their dominance in 2015, Hamilton without a question will pass Vettel and Hamilton could pass his idol, Ayrton Senna for third all-time in victories.
When you consider the history of V8 Supercars and it's roots back to Australian Touring Cars, Jamie Whincup setting the record for most championships is comparable to Jimmie Johnson winning an eighth NASCAR Cup Series title. He broke a record held with Ian Geoghegan, who won all his titles between 1964-1969, similar to Whincup who has won all of titles since 2008, second all-time in race victories and six-time Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Skaife and Dick Johnson, a long-time presence in the series who continues to be involved as a team owner. Whincup is young enough to completely rewrite the record books and he doesn't appear to be stopping anytime soon.
Say what you want with Red Bull's driver development system, to get a Formula One team to put you in a car with only one season of experience in a race car and to do it without bringing any money is impressive. Max Verstappen didn't even win the FIA European Formula Three championship yet the 17-year old will be on the Formula One grid in 2015 while the champion Esteban Ocon and runner-up Tom Blomqvist will have to continue in junior formulas. What were you doing when you were 17? I was working two part-time jobs while trying to balance my junior year of high school and start figuring out what universities to apply to. That is a hell of a long way from the Formula One grid.
Past Winners
2012: DeltaWing
2013: Sebastian Vettel for winning nine consecutive races on his way to a fourth consecutive title
Moment of the Year
Description: The Most Memorable Moment in the World of Racing during the 2014 season.
And the Nominees are:
U.S. F2000 and Pro Mazda Sonoma Weekend.
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton making contact at Spa-Francorchamps.
Post races at the Charlotte and Texas Chase races.
Sebastien Vettel Leaving Red Bull.
Formula E makes it's debut from Beijing
And the winner is... Post race at the Charlotte and Texas Chase races.
The skirmishes between Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth and Keselowski and Jeff Gordon got NASCAR the attention it wanted it. It was leading off SportsCenter in the United States during American football season. To give a comparison, imagine something usurping the Germany national team's run at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil on the German equivalent to SportsCenter. Don't get me wrong, this wins Moment of the Year for all the wrong reasons. No one cared about who won the race. It was all about the extracurriculars. NASCAR got it's attention but not because of the product being something that drew in viewers and kept them glued to the screen, rather needing it's drivers to go to schoolboy antics to get anyone to notice.
On the other nominees... We covered the Pro Mazda championship battle but U.S. F2000 championship was just as crazy. R.C. Enerson entered the final race with the championship lead after Florian Latorre retired from race one. Enerson had led the most laps in race two and had a comfortable lead over Latorre before Enerson went off course and Latorre swept on by and in doing so won the race and the championship just a day after it appeared he had lost it.
The contact on lap two of the Belgian Grand Prix between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg changed the entire flow of the 2014 World Drivers' Championship. Hamilton retired from the race while Rosberg went on to win. The German held a 29-point lead but Hamilton felt he had been done dirty by his teammate and that just might have set a fire under the Brit. Hamilton would win the next five races and six of the final seven. Mechanical issues found Rosberg, bitting him at Singapore, ending his night after 13 laps and once again at Abu Dhabi where all he could do was manage to limb home while Hamilton took the crown that appeared to be Rosberg's just three months earlier.
When the press release came at Suzuka saying Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat would be Red Bull Racing's 2015 drivers, a sense of shock came across the motorsports world. After one bad year, one year where the world title was not going to be returning to Milton Keynes, one year in which his teammate was better, Sebastian Vettel was leaving the team he built. Red Bull is nothing without Vettel. The German made an energy drink company the best race team in the world, better than Ferrari, better than McLaren and better than Mercedes. It is a divorce that ten months earlier no one would believe we would ever see happen and then it did and it set off the Formula One silly season dominoes that have just finished falling.
Formula E might not be fast, it might be different from what we are use to be I liken the series to the early automobile races. To the 10-mile AAA-sanctioned races held at horse racing tracks here in the United States or the early grands prix on public roads creating a circuit over 20 miles in length. These were the building blocks for the foundation of what Formula One is today and what IndyCar is today. A century from now that race in Beijing with an average speed just over 60 MPH could be looked upon as a building block for whatever motorsports series is leading the way.
Past Winners
2012: Alex Zanardi
2013: 24 Hours of Le Mans
Pass of the Year
Description: Best pass of 2014.
And the Nominees are:
Scott McLaughlin on Jaime Whincup in the last corner at Adelaide.
Ryan Blaney on Germán Quiroga for the victory in the final corner at Mosport
Ryan Hunter-Reay on Hélio Castroneves on the inside of turn three, ultimately the Indianapolis 500 winning pass.
Gianmaria Bruni from 4th to 2nd in turn one at Bahrain.
And the winner is... Ryan Blaney on Germán Quiroga
As dirty as road course racing can be in NASCAR, the Ryan Blaney-Germán Quiroga showed how great a race can be when two drivers treat each other with respect. Quiroga could have pushed Blaney off course. Blane could have spun Quiroga. Neither did that. They gave each other room and Quiroga took advantage when Blaney left an opening and Blaney capitalized when Quiroga left the door open and Blaney came out on top. NASCAR road course races don't have to be sloppy affairs where track limits don't exist and drivers treat each other more like they are in bumper cars and not sophisticated race cars. Blaney and Quiroga showed what a NASCAR road course race can be when drivers respect one another.
On the other nominees... The entire final lap battle between Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup was fantastic. Like Blaney-Quiroga, McLaughlin and Whincup respected one another. Whincup could have put McLaughlin in the barrier and easily cruised to a second place finish but he didn't. He gave McLaughlin just enough room for both to continue. Just when you though Whincup had McLaughlin beat for second, the Kiwi dove on the inside as Whincup went wide and beat Whincup to the line.
No one had made a passing on the inside going into turn three before Ryan Hunter-Reay overtook Hélio Castroneves with four to go. At least no one went as low as Hunter-Reay did. He couldn't have gotten any closer to the grass. It was the type of move he had to make to catch Castroneves slightly off guard. If Hunter-Reay was willing to make a move that nuts, what else would he be willing to try? It ultimately was enough as Hunter-Reay would lead the final four laps to take his first Indianapolis 500 victory.
This is why Gianmaria Bruni is a back-to-back World Cup for GT Drivers champion. He stalked the Porsche of Patrick Pilet and Aston Martin of Darren Turner and just when it looked like Turner would get the position, Bruni used the draft to swoop by both on the inside as he and Toni Vilander would go on to win their fourth race of the year and clinch the GT world title.
Past Winners
2012: Simon Pagenaud at Baltimore
2013: Robert Wickens at Nürburgring and Peter Dempsey in the Freedom 100
The Eric Idle Award
Description: "When You're Chewing on Life's Gristle, Don't Grumble, Give a Whistle, And This'll Help Things Turn Out For The Best, and... Always Look On The Bright Side of Life."
And the Nominees are:
Martin Truex, Jr.: Losing his ride at Michael Waltrip Racing because he lost his sponsor because Clint Bowyer decided to "take a dive" and ending 2014 with five top tens, a third of his 2013 total.
Romain Grosjean: For 7th to 14th in Formula One, scoring four points in 2014, 128 less than 2013, a year in which he ended on the verge of his first victory.
Matt Griffin: For losing a possible second consecutive ELMS GTE title after lap one contact and the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari of Andrea Bertolini, Sergey Zlobin and Viktor Shaitar winning the final race, which they had to do to have any hope of winning the title.
Tom Sykes: For losing a possible second consecutive World Superbike title in the final race.
Alexander Rossi: For having seat after seat ripped out from underneath him and with nowhere to go.
And the winner is... Alexander Rossi
Alexander Rossi could have gotten any closer to making his Formula One debut in 2014 and not made it. First it was Caterham where he got a few Friday drives but ultimately the California left when the team was sold by Tony Fernandes. He landed at Marussia in a reserve role but it appeared Rossi was going to make a breakthrough. It was an announced Rossi would have a race seat for the Belgian Grand Prix only to have that taken from him between first and second practice. After the Jules Bianchi accident it appeared Rossi was set to make his debut at Austin after the team didn't not run Bianchi's car at Sochi. However, Marussia went into administration prior to Austin and the team never made it back on the Formula One grid. Rossi's career is now up in the air and it is likely that he will never start a Formula One Grand Prix despite being so close at Spa.
On the other nominees: Martin Truex, Jr. couldn't have been screwed over anymore by Michael Waltrip Racing. Actions done by Clint Bowyer cost Truex his ride. It is despicable how that entire situation was handled and Truex deserved better. The good news is he was getting better results toward the end of 2014 and Furniture Row Racing is a decent team that has made the Chase before and with making the Chase being as easy as winning a race, it is very possible Truex could qualify next season.
Romain Grosjean got caught in a situation where the car was dreadful and he did the best he could with a turd. Hopefully the switch to Mercedes engines in 2015 puts the Frenchman and Lotusback in contention for race victories like he was at the end of 2013.
A perfect storm kept Matt Griffin from winning back-to-back ELMS GTE titles. First was the accident but that wasn't the end of the world as the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari had to win to take the championship. Of course, that is exactly how it played out as the Russian team came from almost out of nowhere to take the title.
Tom Sykes didn't lose the World Superbike title as much as Sylvain Guintoli won it. The Frenchman won three of the final four races and didn't finish worse than second in the final eight races. Sykes had one retirement all season. As easy as it would be to pin the championship on that one retirement from Sepang, Sykes has nothing to hang his head about. Guintoli was just a little bit better.
Past Winners
2012: Ben Spies
2013: Sam Hornish, Jr.
Comeback of the Year
Description: The Best Comeback in the 2014 season.
And the Nominees are:
Williams F1
Dean Stoneman to full-time single-seater racing
Juan Pablo Montoya to IndyCar
Lewis Hamilton at Germany and Hungary
Alex Tagliani at Road America
And the winner is... Juan Pablo Montoya to IndyCar
Nearly fourteen years after last being in an IndyCar and seven years since being in an open-wheel car, Juan Pablo Montoya returned to the series that jump started his career and made it look like he never left. He did struggle to get his footing in the first few races but by the time Indianapolis 500 rolled around, Montoya was challenging for victories. He stretched fuel mileage longer than anyone else and had it not been for a pit lane speeding penalty, the Colombian would have been in contention for his second Indianapolis 500 victory in his second start in the famed race.
Victory would come his way, at Pocono where Montoya won from pole position, the first driver to win from pole in the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Montoya scored 342 points in the six IndyCar oval races, more than any other driver. He finished fourth in the championship with 586 points. He led 167 laps, only Will Power, Tony Kanaan, Hélio Castroneves and Ryan Hunter-Reay led more. Montoya has room for improvement in 2015 but he certainly raised a few eye brows in 2014.
On the other nominees... What else can you say about Williams F1? Getting the Mercedes engine certainly played into their favor but that wasn't an automatic guarantee for success. You still need to build a car capable of competing at the front and it had been sometime since Williams produced a car of this caliber. Since BMW left the team after the 2005 season, Williams had three podiums over eight season. The team scored nine podiums in 2014. After only scoring 5 points in 2013 and finishing ninth in the Constructors' Championship, Williams scored 320 points behind only Mercedes and Red Bull and ahead of Ferrari, McLaren and Force India, teams that had trounced Williams in recent seasons. Valterri Bottas came of age and Felipe Massa resuscitated his career. The Finn scored in 17 of 19 races and Massa won pole position at Austria, the only pole position that wasn't snagged by a Mercedes driver. Massa challenged for the victory at Abu Dhabi but came home second with Bottas in third, the first time both Williams finished on the podiums since the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix when Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber finished second and third respectively. They might not have won in 2014 but don't rule them out in 2015.
If you don't know the story of Dean Stoneman, it is as uplifting as they come. In 2010, Stoneman won the Formula Two championship over Jolyon Palmer and secured a test with Williams F1 for the end of that year. He was set to move to Formula Renault 3.5 in 2011 but Stoneman was diagnosed with severe testicular cancer forcing him out of the car. He nearly lost his legs and had he not gotten treatment when he did, he would not be here today. He didn't race at all in 2011 or 2012. He returned to competition in Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain in 2013 and swept his first race weekend at Brands Hatch. After finishing fifth in that series, Stoneman got a ride in the 2013 GP3 season finale at Abu Dhabi where he finished sixth and second in his first races in a single-seater since winning the 2010 F2 title. He got a full-time GP3 ride in 2014 and won a series-leading five races and finished second in the championship. Now Stoneman looks toward moving up the European ladder or coming to the United States and IndyCar. Stoneman is as uplifting of a story and we can only hope he continues to find success wherever he goes in 2015.
Lewis Hamilton had to start from 20th at Hockenheim and from the pit lane at Hungaroring. In both races, Hamilton put together calculated drives to the front and those very well could have decided the championship. Had Hamilton not gone from 20th to 3rd at Hockenheim and from the pit lane to 3rd at Hungaroring, Nico Rosberg could have been world champion. They were drives that defined Hamilton's season despite him not ending up on the top step of the podium.
Alex Tagliani ran out of fuel while leading the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Road America under caution with five laps to go and dropped him to 23rd for the final restart. Tagliani switched to slick tires as the track was drying as the field prepared for a green-white-checkered finish. Tagliani picked apart the field as he went from 23rd to second in two laps and finished second to Brendan Gaughan by only 0.820 seconds. It was as impressive as you can get as Tagliani made the field appear amateur as he nearly pulled off what arguably would have been the greatest green-white-checkered comeback in it's recent history of use in NASCAR.
Past Winners
2013: Michael Shank Racing at the 24 Hours of Daytona
Most Improved
Description: Racer Who Improved The Most from 2013 to 2014.
And the Nominees are:
Aleix Espargaró: From 11th to 7th in MotoGP, scoring 33 points more than 2013, while picking up his first career pole position and podium.
Chaz Mostert: From 17th to 7th, scoring 1003 points more than 2013 and winning two races including the Bathurst 1000.
Daniel Ricciardo: From 14th to 3rd in Formula One, scoring 218 points more than 2013, winning three races and scoring eight podiums.
Edoardo Mortara: From 21st to 5th in DTM, scoring 65 more points than 2013 and two podiums after his best finish was ninth in 2013.
Valtteri Bottas: From 17th to 4th in Formula One, scoring 182 points more than 2013 and finished with six podiums
And the winner is... Chaz Mostert
Besides his Bathurst victory, Chaz Mostert was a feature at the front of many V8SC races and Mostert ended up finishing ahead of many more veteran V8SC drivers including former champion Garth Tander as well as Fabian Coulthard, Will Davison and Jason Bright. He was the second best Ford driver, finishing only behind his Ford Performance Racing teammate Mark Winterbottom. Look for Mostert to challenge his teammate a little more in 2015.
On the other nominees... Aleix Espargaró did a lot considering he was on an "Open" class bike. His one podium at Aragón came in the wet and he took pole position at Assen. He moves to the factory Suzuki team in 2015 and could become an even bigger threat for getting more podiums possible victories.
Daniel Ricciardo did improve as he moved to Red Bull from Toro Rosso. He was not intimidated by his four-time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel and beat the German in almost every statistic category. He has become the clear number one as he looks to challenge Mercedes even more in 2015.
The Italian Edoardo Mortara has had a roller coaster of a career in DTM. After winning two races and finishing fifth in his second season in the series in 2012, he scored only three points all of 2013 but turned it around in 2014 where he got two podiums and finished in the points in six of ten races.
We already touched on Valterri Bottas a little bit but when you considered he scored two fewer points than Esteban Gutiérrez in 2013 and finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso in 2014, he had a big turn around. Sure the car and engine had something to do with it but you still have to go out and get the results. The Finn proved his worth and he finished fourth in the world championship in his second season in Formula One.
Past Winners
2012: Esteban Guerrieri
2013: Marco Andretti
That will do it for the 2014 For the Love of Indy Awards. Congratulations to all those on a wonderful 2014 season. The 2015 season is just around the corner. Soon we will be talking about the Dakar Rally and the next round of the Formula E championship. Testing will pick up for the 24 Hours of Daytona and other endurances races such as the Dubai 24 Hours and Bathurst 12 Hour give us our fix. While we will miss motorsports, we need this down time. We need this time to be with families and reflect on the year. Everyone needs a break and while it will feel long, it is much shorter than we realize. Eventually the cycle will start all over and we will be back into a rhythm in no time at all.
