One month down and 11 remain in the year 2023. For the first month of the year, there are a number of significant events. It is a smashing start to the year, especially as many more of our favorite events are still to come. A few endurance races are behind us, as are a few rallies. However, things could be better in some areas, and we start this year with a few new ideas.
Dakar's Green Jersey
Another Dakar Rally concluded this month, and the bike class was a sensational battle from start to finish. Halfway through the race, there were eight riders within eight minutes of one another at the top. The bike battle went to the final day with the top three entering the final stage with only a minute and 31 seconds covering them, and on the final stage, Kevin Benavides came from behind to win the Dakar Rally.
Not every class was that thrilling, and that is part of the Dakar. It is a two-week endurance race. There is a lot of time to lose over the competition, and if one team limits its stoppages and mistakes, it can be a runaway. That was the case in the car class. Nasser Al-Attiyah won by over an hour and 20 minutes over Sébastien Loeb, and Al-Attiyah's lead was over an hour for the final nine stages.
In the quad class, Alexandre Giroud led by 35 minutes and 31 seconds after the third stage and that was the closest it was over the final 12 stages. Light prototypes, SSV and Trucks were rather class for most of the race only for the tide to turn late, but I think there is a way can turn each stage into more of a competition.
Loeb won six consecutive stages in the second week of this year's Dakar, but over those six stages, Loeb never got closer than an hour and 21 minutes to Al-Attiyah. All credit to Al-Attiyah, but there is a way to make those stage victories mean something.
In the Tour de France, there is a green jersey for a points classification. Each stage awards points to the top finishers and there are intermediate points over the course of a stage where points are awarded. It is a competition within a competition. The Tour de France and Dakar have the same organizer, Amaury Sport Organisation. The Dakar could easily adopt this concept, using the FIA points system to award the top ten finishers at each stage and give competitors a chance to compete for something to the very end without have one or two disastrous stages leave them racing for pride alone.
Here is what the points classifications would look like based on the 2023 Dakar results for bikes and cars.
Bikes (Difference to overall finish):
1. Toby Price - 151 (+1)
2. Kevin Benavides - 134 (-1)
3. Skyler Howes - 129 (-)
4. Daniel Sanders - 113 (+3)
5. Luciano Benavides - 110 (+1)
6. Pablo Quintanilla - 97 (-2)
7. Adrien Van Beveren - 87 (-2)
8. Mason Klein - 81 (Withdrew)
9. Joan Barreda - 67 (Withdrew)
10. Ross Branch - 64 (+13)
Cars:
1. Sébastien Loeb - 223 (+1)
2. Nasser Al-Attiyah - 176 (-1)
3. Guerlain Chicherit - 154 (+7)
4. Mattias Ekström - 111 (+10)
5. Yazeed Al-Rajhi - 108 (+32)
6. Henk Lategan - 100 (-1)
7. Carlos Sainz - 88 (Withdrew)
8. Jakub Przygoński - 62 (+9)
9. Lucas Moraes - 57 (-6)
10. Vaidotas Žala - 54 (Withdrew)
There would be some changes. Price and Loeb would each have won green jerseys. Benavides and Al-Attiyah would each be second. Some forgotten performances would get highlighted. Audi was not that bad in the car class as the overall results suggest. There were a few accidents and mechanical problems, but the Audi was quick. Ekström was in the top four of the final six stages. Sainz was in the top three in five of the first eight stages prior to his retirement.
In 2022, Seth Quintero won 12 of 13 stages, but 17 hours lost in stage two due to mechanical failures and penalties meant that he was 16th overall and was left with nothing more than a spot in the record books. Not a bad place to be, but not necessarily receiving the recognition one should get in the moment.
We would still have the overall classification, and that would remain the big prize, but something else to play for could bring more intrigue into those final stages, and give the competitors something else to shoot for.
Can we find a better date for the Race of Champions?
Race of Champions took place this past weekend. One problem? It was the same weekend as the 24 Hours of Daytona.
The Race of Champions once had a good place for itself in the middle of December. The Formula One season had been over for a few months, and testing for the next season wouldn't start until the start of January. IndyCar was in its offseason. NASCAR had just finished its season. Sports cars had been off for months. The World Rally Championship would be in the middle of its offseason, closer to the next season opener, Rallye Monte-Carlo, than the previous season finale. It was a great time.
Then the world changed. Formula One's schedule expanded. The end of the season inched closer to December and then into December. The FIA World Endurance Championship developed and would race into November in some cases. Formula E emerged and would stage races of its own in December. ROC now takes place after the Dakar Rally, not before. The World Rally Championship doesn't have the same pull. Touring car racing doesn't have the same pull. The December date got squeezed out, and ROC was moved into the new year for some breathing room, but here it was taking place on the same weekend as another major event in the motorsports calendar.
This year's event took a step back in quality of entrants. For the last seven or eight editions, the field is becoming more dependent retirees. Tom Kristensen has run 15 consecutive Race of Champions. David Coulthard has competed in 15 of the last 16 ROCs, missing only 2010. Mika Häikkinen ran this year. Petter Solberg is an ROC regular. All have been successful drivers, champions in their own right, but in 2023, are they the champions of the moment?
There were six champions in this year's ROC, in line proportionally with most years since the event moved to stadiums in 2004, but the W Series, Extreme E, eTouring Car World Cup and Nitro Rallycross champions aren't really the upper-echelon of the motorsports world.
The Formula One title-holder has not competed since 2012, same as the MotoGP title-holder. The most recent WRC title-holder to compete was Sébastien Loeb in 2010! The only WEC title-holder to compete was Timo Bernhard in 2018. The only Formula E champion to compete was the first Formula E champion, Nelson Piquet, Jr. in 2015, oh, and there happened to be a Formula E doubleheader to clash with this year's ROC weekend as well. Australia's Supercars champion hasn't appeared since 2014 and the NASCAR Cup champion hasn't appeared since 2007! That was Jimmie Johnson's second Cup title in case you wanted some context how long ago that was.
Race of Champions has never been a collection of all the top champions from that season. It averages about five title-holders, about 27.8% of the field, a good mix. Not all great drivers end up being champion that year, but some good ones are being missed, and this weekend didn't help. Location might also be a problem. As fun as it might be to race on ice, it is hard to sell anyone on a trip toward the Arctic Circle this time of year.
It is difficult to place Race of Champions when the winter has become cluttered with other series, but avoiding one of the biggest endurance races in the world, one that has been held at the same time of year for over six decades, would be a wise first choice.
This event has incredible potential, it always has and once was a buzzing event, but in the last 20 years, it lives down to what it could be, and that is a great shame. Hopefully once everyone thaws out they can reassess and improve for 2024.
February Preview
The Bathurst 12 Hour returns to February after being canceled in 2021 and moved to May in 2022. After travel restrictions made last year's race less international, this year's race sees the return of many notable drivers and teams.
SunEnergy1 Racing won last year and it will be back with Jules Gounon, Luca Stolz and Kenny Habul in the #75 Mercedes-AMG, looking to become the first drivers to win this race in consecutive years since Christopher Mies and Darryl O'Young in 2011 and 2012. Mies will be in this race in the pro-am #777 Audi for Team MPC with Ricardo Feller and Yasser Shahin.
Mercedes-AMG has a deep bench of entries alongside the SunEnergy1 team. Triple Eight race has Shane van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney paired with Maximilian Götz in the #888 Mercedes, and the #88 Mercedes has Jamie Whincup, Richie Stanaway and Prince Jeffri Ibrahim in a pro-am entry. Craig Lowndes leads another pro-am Mercedes, this being the #222 Scott Taylor Motorsports entry with Alex Daivson, Geoff Emery and Mr. Scott Taylor himself.
There are also a few international heavy lineups. Philip Ellis, Nicky Catsburg and Daniel Juncadella will drive the #77 Mercedes for Theodore Racing with Craft-Bamboo while GruppeM Racing has entered the #999 Mercedes for Maro Engel, Mikaël Grenier and Raffaele Marciello. Ellis replaces Lucas Auer, who suffered a back injury in practice ahead of the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Last year was Mercedes-AMG's second Bathurst 12 Hour victory, nine years after its first.
Porsche's only Bathurst 12 Hour victory was in 2019, and it will have two cars entered. Manthey EMA Motorsport is the lone pro-class Porsche, the #912 for Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet and Thomas Preining. Earl Bamber Motorsport and Grove Racing will run the #4 Porsche for Anton De Pasquale, Brenton Grove and Stephen Grove in pro-am.
Audi has three Bathurst 12 Hour victories and it looks to tie Mazda for the all-time lead in this race. Beside the #777 Audi, Team MC has the #74 Audi in the pro-class with Christopher Haase, Patric Niederhauser and Mattia Drudi entered. A pair of pro-am Audi to watch will be the #9 Hallmarc Racing entry with Lee Holdsworth, Dean Fiore and Marc Cini, and the #55 Schumacher Motorsports Fuchs Racing Audi with Frédéric Vervisch, James Golding and Brad Schumacher.
Audi's most recent victory came in 2018 with Team WRT, and Teams WRT is back but this time fields a pair of BMWs. Dries Vanthoor was one of the winning drivers five years ago and he will drive the #32 BMW with his usual GT World Challenge co-driver Charles Weerts and 2022 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champion Sheldon van der Linde. Team WRT's other car sees the debut of Valentino Rossi at Mount Panorama with Augusto Farfus and Maxime Martin joining the two-wheel legend in the #46 BMW.
BMW has never won the Bathurst 12 Hour in the GT3-era. The Bavarian constructor's most recent victory in 2010 was with a BMW 335i touring car.
Bathurst again hosts the opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge championship on February 5. It will be a quick turnaround as the second round of the championship is the Kyalami 9 Hour February 25. Round three takes place over July 1-2 at the 24 Hours of Spa. The Indianapolis 8 Hour is the penultimate round on October 7 with the Gulf 12 Hours from the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi hosting the finale for the second consecutive year on December 10.
This year's Bathurst 12 Hour will begin at 1:45 p.m. Eastern on February 4 in the United States.
Other events of note in February:
NASCAR is back in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Clash and then it has the Daytona 500.
Formula E has two races scheduled for new venues, Hydrabad and Cape Town.
World Superbike season begins in Philip Island.
