March breathes some life into the season. Nearly every championship has started. A few historic events have taken place. The weather is getting nicer. Coats are becoming thinner. Daylight is more abundant in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a good time. There are a few cooler days, but nothing that is freezing to the core. There is a sense that we have made it.
Best So Far
In terms of events, the first quarter of the calendar year is the appetizer, a small sample size of what is to come. Though there are fewer events than what we will see over the second and third quarter of the year, there are still a few notable moments that should be highlighted and will likely still be on the highlight reel when the year is coming to a close.
This is a chance to look at the best of what has happened so far in 2023, and some stuff that is good now but could fade as the year wears on.
Clubhouse Leaders
António Félix da Costa's passes Jean-Éric Vergne in the Cape Town ePrix
Da Costa made a few noteworthy passes in the inaugural Cape Town ePrix, but the most head-turning of them came with two laps to go when the Portuguese driver slipped up the inside of Jean-Éric Vergne in the fast turn eight.
It was a move where the gap was closing and if da Costa waited a slip-second longer, Vergne shuts that space off, forces da Costa to lift and the Frenchman would likely hold on for victory. Instead, da Costa took the lead and was able to close out the race, taking his first victory of the season and first victory with Porsche.
Fernando Alonso-Lewis Hamilton battle in the Bahrain Grand Prix
The Fernando Alonso revival at Aston Martin has been talk of the first two rounds this Formula One season, but the first sign of Alonso's specialness came in the opening round of the season in Bahrain.
Alonso found himself behind Lewis Hamilton in sixth position on lap 38. The Spaniard had been hounding his former teammate for a few laps. A pivotal point for Alonso's final result, it appeared Hamilton may to keep Alonso at bay, which would have kept Alonso off the podium.
When there was an opening on the inside into the tight left-handed turn ten, Alonso went for it and took the position, moving up to fifth and allowing Alonso climb into third in the final result. It was a move that looks tempting at Bahrain, but no one tries it, and most of those who do end up taking out the car ahead of them, likely leading to a reprimand. In this case, Alonso pulled it off.
Eli Tomac's comeback victory in Anaheim I
The 2023 Supercross season opener looked to be settled early. Eli Tomac was running away from the field, and it looked like he was set to begin his title defense in convincing fashion. Then Tomac took a tumble on lap nine, lost the lead and was down to fifth, eight seconds off the leaders.
In many cases, the victory is gone. Perhaps a podium position could be salvaged, but any damage to the bike or hurt pride could cause a rider to slip further down the field and make the night even worse.
Instead, Tomac stayed up. He kept clawing out time as other riders fell into trouble. Tomac clawed back the lead at the end of lap 18. In ten laps he went from eight seconds back to the top position. Tomac went on to win by over four seconds. The night was lost but Tomac's recovery made it appear it was never in doubt.
Winward Racing's comeback at the 24 Hours of Daytona
Winward Racing looked to be one of the cars to beat in the GTD class for the 24 Hours of Daytona. The team qualified on pole position in class and was faster than the entire GTD Pro field as well. All of the Mercedes-AMG were threatening, but Winward led the way.
In opening practice on the Thursday before the race, Lucas Auer spun the #57 Mercedes-AMG into the inside wall separating pit lane exit and the infield portion of the course. The accident caused a fractured lumbar for Auer. The car was destroyed.
Despite being down a driver and a car, Winward scrambled and had the back-up car delivered from Pasadena, Texas to Daytona. Daniel Morad was drafted into the lineup. Winward spent all of Friday preparing the new car for the race. The car was moved to the back of the grid for the 24 Hours of Daytona.
In an un-tested car, Winward drove to the front and was one of the best GTD cars the entire race. The team looked set to possibly win the class, at least finish on the podium, but contact with the #3 Corvette in turn one put the #57 Mercedes-AMG into the same interior wall that Auer hit in practice. Winward had suspension damage and its race was over with less than an hour remaining.
The race did not end as Winward had hoped, but the team displayed incredible determination and resilience over the entire Daytona weekend. They deserve recognition though the final result was not spectacular.
2023 Dakar Rally - Bike Class
The bike class in this year's Dakar Rally was remarkably competitive. At the halfway point, stage eight, the top eight riders were covered by less than eight minutes. In the first eight stages, the overall lead change in bikes changed four times.
In the final half of the rally, the bike class became a three-rider race. Skyler Howes was on top at the halfway point but Kevin Benavides and Toby Price remained on his heels. Benavides took the overall lead after stage ten, a minute and 29 seconds ahead of Howes and 2:10 clear of Price At the end of stage 12, Price took a 28-second lead over Howes and Benavides was 2:40 back.
Price's gap was down to 12 seconds ahead of Benavides and 1:31 ahead of Howes after the penultimate stage. In the final stage, Benavides came back and won the Dakar Rally by 43 seconds over Price. Howes dropped to 5:04 behind Benavides, settling for third.
After thousands of miles of competition over two weeks, for less than a minute to decide the winner is stunning. Benavides deserves all the praise, but Price and Howes put up valiant efforts in their respective defeats.
Good for Now
12 Hours of Sebring
There were a pair of races this month that were good, but flawed. There were memorable moments, but the entire race was not without blemish.
Case #1: The 12 Hours of Sebring.
The shocking finish that saw the top three overall runners taken out with 15 minutes to go when the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura was knocked off course and collided with the #6 Porsche and collected the #7 Porsche was something unseen in the seven-plus decade of the great endurance race. With the dominoes down, the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac of Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken took an unexpected victory.
Sebring had some wonderful moments in every class. The last two hours were brilliant. However, Sebring had a lull in the middle. All five classes were spread out, there was not much action. It is an endurance race. It happens, but it felt dull. Even the finish is shaky. Once the top three were taken out, the race was decided. There were two cars left on the overall lead lap. It was the #31 Cadillac and the #25 BMW, which somehow made it that far, but the #31 Cadillac was not going to face much of a challenge.
NASCAR Cup Race at Austin
Case #2: NASCAR's third race at Circuit of the Americas saw a slight change from the other two.
The recent Austin race was the first NASCAR Cup event without a scheduled stage caution since the 2016 Homestead season finale, as NASCAR made a rules amendment removing the stage caution for road courses in hopes of having an increase variety in strategies.
For the first 90% of the race, it was fantastic. Tyler Reddick ran a three-stop strategy to perfection, overtaking William Byron and the rest of the two-stoppers for the lead on the racetrack, and giving Reddick control of the race despite deciding to make an extra pit stop. It was a refreshing change of pace from the monotony of strategy with stage cautions forcing teams to either stop before the caution or under the caution.
Strategy aside, there was some really good racing between cars and respectable racing.
Then the final ten laps happen, and by final ten laps, I mean the final 18 laps because this race saw three overtime attempts. The race devolved into a demolition derby. At the front, drivers were rather courteous and not plowing into one another, but from about ninth on back, drivers were making wistful dive-bomb moves hoping to get from 26th to sixth in a corner. Instead, it led to accidents and debris littering the course from destroyed vehicles limbing around the circuit.
With each restart, it felt inevitable Reddick was going to lose this race despite having been the fastest car all race. Fortunately, Reddick held on and won. It was a good race, arguably a great race, until it wasn't.
April Preview
In the United States, Easter Monday is not a holiday. People return to work on that Monday and life continues onward until the next holiday, Memorial Day weekend in May.
However, in Europe, Easter Monday is a holiday and many regional or national series will hold races on Easter Monday. I always enjoy putting on a race or two that morning. It changes the pace of what is just another Monday on this side of the pond.
This year, the British GT Championship all be racing at Oulton Park. There will be two races on Easter Monday. The first will be at 5:50 a.m. ET and the second will be at 10:50 a.m. ET. Each race will be one hour in length.
If you are thinking, "Why should I tune in for British GT?" You will know a few drivers. Jules Gounon, Ross Gunn and Jonny Adam will all compete and have raced in IMSA and/or the FIA World Endurance Championship before. Gounon just won in the 24 Hours of Daytona in the GTD Pro class. Raffaele Marciello will also be in this race. Martin Plowman, who won in Indy Lights and made a few IndyCar starts, including the 2014 Indianapolis 500, runs in British GT. Plowman also won the LMP2 class at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Those are a few notable names to keep an eye on should you tune in on Easter Monday, and you may learn a name or two as well.
Other April events of note:
Formula One will run in Melbourne and then take three weeks off before running in Azerbaijan.
IndyCar has Texas, a week off, Long Beach, a week off and then Barber.
NASCAR is short track heavy, Richmond, Martinsville and then the Bristol dirt race. Talladega and Dover close out the month.
Formula E returns to Berlin.
MotoGP visits the Americas, Argentina and the United States specifically, before returning to Spain.
The European Le Mans Series starts its season in Barcelona.
The Japanese racing season begins with the Super Formula and Super GT seasons getting underway.
