It is a week until Christmas and pretty much every racing series is in hiatus. We all sit and wait for the next season, which will be here soon, but now is a time for reflection. This is a chance to honor the best of the year, from the stand out drivers to the orderly organizations, the passes that made us say wow to the moments that left us in tears. The 2019 calendar year gave us the best moments of motorsports but we also had some of the worst.
With this we close the 2019 season, recognizing what will be remembered for years to come.
Racer of the Year
Description: Given to the best racer over the course of 2019.
And the Nominees are:
Lewis Hamilton
Marc Márquez
Jonathan Rea
Scott McLaughlin
Nick Cassidy
And the winner is... Marc Márquez
For the third time in eight seasons it goes to the Catalan rider and this might have been his best season yet.
Márquez won the first ten races in 2014 and 13 total. In 2019, he may have not had scored the same number of victories and he may have fallen just 0.1111 points shy of matching his average points per race total from 2014 but this season was remarkable.
Let's just go through race-by-race: Second, first, retirement, first, first, second, first, second, first, first, second, second, first, first, first, first, first, second and first.
The lone retirement might be most telling of all. It came after Márquez fell from the lead at Austin, ending a streak of 12 consecutive victories in the United States, ten of which were in the premier class. Even Márquez's one mistake all season was historic.
This season was progression for Márquez. He was already great, talented beyond measure with the ability to do anything on a bike but this year we saw the savviness of Márquez take a few victories. He will haunt Fabio Quartararo's dreams for the entire offseason. Twice Márquez ripped a first career MotoGP victory away from the Frenchman, first at Misano but the second time was most painful in Buriram. While Márquez whizzed across the finish line, sealing his eighth world championship, Quartararo could only punch his bike in dismay. Both of Quartararo's hands were on the trophy and he was left holding air while Márquez sunk the eight ball in the corner pocket with hardware by his side.
Márquez was a factor in every race and even crazier is if you gave Márquez three-tenths of a second he could have a dazzling number of victories. He was second to Andrea Dovizioso by 0.023 at Qatar, second to Danilo Petrucci by 0.043 seconds at Mugello, second to Dovizioso by 0.213 seconds at Red Bull Ring and second to Álex Rins by 0.013 seconds at Silverstone. He may not have had a 16-victory season but damn it, Márquez was always a factor.
There are a few other competitors in the world of motorsports who have a stranglehold in their respective championships but no one has a grip as tight as Márquez. There was no off day for him in 2019, even with the fall in the Austin. He has redefined the limits a rider can go. For years he overstepped the boundary in practice and qualifying to perfect his craft. He had to make a mistake to improve. In 2019, those mistakes were few but he still continued to get better, faster and no one is keeping up. There is no sign of him stopping.
On the other nominees:
Lewis Hamilton was hands down the best driver in Formula One this season and easily took a sixth world championship. Hamilton scored points in every race; he won 11 of the 21 races and stood on the podium 17 times. There were a few blemishes. In Germany, he threw away a race in the wet and only got points because both Alfa Romeos received 30-second penalties for using driver aids at the start. In Brazil, he bowled into Alexander Albon and the five-second penalty knocked him down to seventh. While not perfect, Hamilton was level headed, no one got under his skin and he pulled out victories time and time again while others made mistakes around him.
Here is one awards ceremony where Jonathan Rea will be recognized. Rea's fifth World Superbike championship not only put alone for most all-time but it came from behind. Rea did not win any of the first 11 races but he was on the podium for all of them. He had only two victories in the first 16 races but in the final 21 races Rea won 15 times, was runner-up five times and his worst finish was fifth. His championship rival Álvaro Bautista could not keep up despite having his dominant start to the season. Are the records a little inflated because of the introduction of the SuperPole race? Yes but Rea was the most consistent rider and proved to beat him one may not make any mistakes.
Scott McLaughlin is quickly lifting himself up the echelon of Team Penske greats. Not only did McLaughlin win his second consecutive Supercars championship but the New Zealander broke the record for most victories in a season with 18, one of which included the Bathurst 1000. McLaughlin has 35 victories for Team Penske, now fourth all-time after starting 2019 in ninth. The only drivers to win more for Team Penske are Brad Keselowski, Mark Donohue and Rusty Wallace. Wallace will certainly be passed. If McLaughlin stays in Australia he very well could get the top spot but an IndyCar test is on his horizon and his future may be in the United States.
Nick Cassidy broke through and won the Super Formula championship on the final day of the season, reversing the results of a year earlier. In Super GT, Cassidy again finished in the vice-champion position. This New Zealander has found success in sports cars and single-seater competition. He got a taste of IMSA competition in the 24 Hours of Daytona and he made two starts in the Intercontinental GT Challenge. He is making his name in Japan but at his rate he will soon become known in many other corners of the world.
Past Winners
2012: Kyle Larson
2013: Marc Márquez
2014: Marc Márquez
2015: Nick Tandy
2016: Shane van Gisbergen
2017: Brendon Hartley
2018: Scott Dixon
Race of the Year
Description: Best Race of 2019.
And the Nominees are:
British motorcycle Grand Prix
Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Petit Le Mans
3 Hours of Barcelona
Super Formula at Okayama
And the winner is... Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Caution-free race, margin of victory of 0.093 seconds and the top three finishers started eighth, sixth and tenth... at Mid-Ohio? The race can only be described as phenomenal.
The difference in Firestone's alternate and primary tire led to a mixture of strategies. The question was when to use the alternate tire and whether to do a two stops or three. The alternate tire had speed early but faded. Combine that with two stops or three stops and it dictated who was going to be at the front and who would be fighting to just finish in the top five.
Will Power, Alexander Rossi, Josef Newgarden all committed to the two-stop strategy, starting on the alternate tire before switching to the primary. The problem is the three-stoppers stopped earlier and could get within the pit delta. Add to it many of those three-stoppers did not start on the alternate and could take it while the two-stoppers committed to the slower but more durable compound.
This led to Scott Dixon and Ryan Hunter-Reay moving to the front but the lead was Felix Rosenqvist, who was on the two-stop strategy but started on the primary before going on the alternate. While the Swede had a comfortable lead, it was slowly disappearing when the tires started to wear and the team called an audible, shorting stinting Rosenqvist, getting him off the alternate tire but maintaining his advantage in track position.
Dixon inherited the lead and to the surprise of no one Dixon was the one driver who could make the alternate tire last for the entirety of a stint. He was not dropping off at the rate of others and this split strategy allowed Chip Ganassi Racing to hold the top two spots without much pressure from the rest of the field.
The one questionable call was Dixon doubled up on the alternate tire on his final two stints while Rosenqvist and pretty much the rest of the field had the primary tire on. It worked for Dixon once but the second stint on the alternate saw more tire wear than his first stint on alternate tires and his gap started to shrink.
Rosenqvist clawed away at the difference to his teammate and benefited from lapped traffic slowing Dixon even more. It became a hunt, the predator going after its prey but knowing it could escape to safety if he is not quick enough. Rosenqvist got there but overtaking his teammate was going to be much harder. His best chance came on the final lap into the keyhole, Rosenqvist made the move on the inside and made contact with Dixon, both cars remained on the racetrack and Dixon maintained the lead.
After the failed attempted, Rosenqvist re-gathered himself and got back in Dixon's shadow hoping for one more chance to strike but each second saw less and less asphalt in front of them. Rosenqvist had one last chance for a lunge at the line but fell 0.093 seconds short. Dixon pulled off another exhilarating and masterclass Mid-Ohio victory, a victory only Dixon could have pulled off.
Meanwhile, Josef Newgarden made a similar move to Rosenqvist into the keyhole on Hunter-Reay for third only for Newgarden to spin because of the contact and end up stalled in the gravel. It was a shock to the championship. It was points lost for Newgarden on a day when it appeared he would add some insurance.
Throughout the field there were great battles with cars moving up and down the order as teams searched for the right combination of tire and fuel strategy. Each team had to do something slightly different from the rest and it led to a chaotic 90-lap event at a place many do not consider the most accommodating to great racing.
It exceeded the expectations any of us had for Mid-Ohio. Is that what we want from a race? Is that what greatness is, being better than any of us could have expected?
On the other nominees:
Silverstone provided one of the great MotoGP battles and it lasted for all 20 laps. The largest the lead ever got was 0.529 seconds at the end of lap three. That was the only lap where the lead was greater than a half-second. The largest gap between first and third was 2.888 seconds on lap seven. Marc Márquez may have led the first 18 laps from pole position but it did not go unchallenged from Álex Rins and Maverick Viñales. Rins remained on Márquez's back wheel the entire race and gave it a go on the final two laps. After a pair of unsuccessful attempts to maintain the lead, Rins made one final run up the inside exiting the final corner and beat Márquez to the line by 0.013 seconds.
For the second consecutive year, Petit Le Mans produced a thriller down to the final lap. For the second consecutive year, it had a class leader running out of fuel on the final lap and not even finishing on the podium. This time it was not for the overall victory but in the GT Daytona class, a class battle that did not let up for ten hours. Felipe Fraga ran out of fuel early on the final lap allowing Bill Auberlen, Robby Foley and Dillon Machavern to take the victory in the #94 Turner Motorsport BMW. The overall victory had drama of its own. The #5 Action Express Cadillac retired from the lead after brake failure with 30 minutes to go. Its teammate the #31 Cadillac took the lead but Felipe Nasr had the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac breathing down its neck with Jordan Taylor hoping to win in his final race for his team's team. The #31 Cadillac took the victory by 0.996 seconds.
There is nothing like a title going to the final race but in the case for the Blancpain Endurance Series and Blancpain GT Series finale it was the longest of long shots coming through. The #563 Orange1 FFF Racing Team Lamborghini entered the final race trailing the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari by 24 points with 26 points left on the table. Problems would bite the #72 Ferrari early with a flat tire dropping the team down the order. Contact with a Bentley led to a drive-through penalty. Meanwhile, the #563 Lamborghini was at the front and leading the race. A late safety car period bunched up the field in the final minutes. The #563 Lamborghini held on while the damage had been down to the #72 Ferrari and it could not get into the points. Orange1 FFF racing Team Lamborghini took the championship, which seemed nearly improbable at the start of the race.
Super Formula had introduced new tire regulations prior to the Okayama round after teams would use a loophole and only have to use the second compound for one lap of a race either at the start or the end of the race. This led to several different strategies in Okayama but a race shaken up through multiple incidents. A lap 8 accident for Nirei Fukuzumi saw a few drivers stay out and a few drivers dive into the pit lane. Pole-sitter Ryō Hirakawa stayed out when the pit window opened on lap 11 but Kenta Yamashita led the group of drivers that had made their stop. Hirakawa led Nick Cassidy but Cassidy made an aggressive move to take the lead. The one problem was Cassidy and Hirakawa could not open a gap large enough to Yamashita. When they made their pit stop Yamashita inherited the lead while those two fell down the order. Yamashita took the victory from 16th on the grid while Cassidy made contact with Kamui Kobayashi while battling back through the field and Hirakawa dropped to 12th after a slow pit stop.
Past Winners
2012: Indianapolis 500
2013: British motorcycle Grand Prix
2014: Bathurst 1000
2015: Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
2016: Spanish Grand Prix
2017: All the races at the World Superbike/World Supersport weekend at Phillip Island
2018: Petit Le Mans
Achievement of the Year
Description: Best success by a driver, team, manufacture, etc.
And the Nominees are:
Kyle Busch reaching 208 NASCAR national touring series victories
Joe Gibbs Racing setting single-season record for most Cup victories by a team in NASCAR's modern-era
Jonathan Rea's fifth World Superbike championship
Colton Herta becoming the youngest IndyCar winner and pole-sitter
Romain Dumas breaking the Goodwood Festival of Speed record in the Volkswagen I.D. R
Scott McLaughlin's Record-Breaking Supercars Season
And the winner is... Joe Gibbs Racing setting single-season record for most Cup victories by a in NASCAR's modern-era.
Nineteen victories in 36 races. That is over 50%. There have been other great seasons in NASCAR but this has to rank very close to number one.
Not only did Joe Gibbs Racing win 19 races but it won the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500. Joe Gibbs Racing had seven 1-2 finishes and four 1-2-3 finishes, including 1-2-3 finishes in the season opener at Daytona and the season finale at Homestead. The team had all four drivers win a race. The team had the driver that won the most races, the second-most races and the third-most races. Kyle Busch won the championship, Martin Truex, Jr. was second and Denny Hamlin was fourth.
There was always going to be a Joe Gibbs Racing car in contention. No other team could match that level of consistency. Team Penske started strong but could not keep up. Hendrick Motorsports is still off. Stewart-Haas Racing is just Kevin Harvick.
Joe Gibbs Racing took everything that was one the table in 2019. It was an outstanding year.
On the other nominees:
Kyle Busch's success in NASCAR's national touring divisions shows the change in the sanctioning body. NASCAR is no longer one division with 56 races a year but three divisions with each having at least two-dozen races. These are not all Cup victories but these are victories in competitive series, each with teams with dedicated crews and resources. He picked up his 200th victory at Fontana in the Cup Series and got his 201st in a Truck race at Martinsville. Busch is a driver. He wants to spend his time behind the wheel of a race car, doesn't matter what it is and he is going to find a way to win.
We touched upon Rea above but he stands alone now in World Superbike history. He has surpassed Carl Fogarty's record that had stood for 20 years. The man has been strung together five terrific seasons. He deserves all the credit in the world.
Colton Herta entered IndyCar and immediately found speed. It was not a flash in the pan. Herta's first career victory may have come with fortunate circumstances but he ran away with it when given the chance. Herta had his low points, some were out of his control, a few he played a hand in, but Herta never looked out of his elements in IndyCar. He won three pole positions and then pulled off another victory, a dominant display to close his rookie season in Laguna Seca. We have seen young drivers come to IndyCar, win early and then just be ok. Herta feels different and there feels like much more is to come.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed record was always a bit of a myth. It is an exhibition of sorts. People are not developing cars for this 1.16-mile strip of tarmac. Some take it seriously, others are there for fun and there is no grand prize for being fastest. Volkswagen had already shattered the Pikes Peak record with the I.D. R and it went to Goodwood looking to do the same. While others were there for champagne and chat, Volkswagen was there for speed and in practice broke the record with a run of 39.9 seconds, 1.7 seconds faster than Nick Heidfeld's record set in 1999 in a McLaren MP4/13. The record was going to fall at some point. No one expected it to be done like this with an all-electric vehicle. The future is here.
Like Rea, we touched on McLaughlin above. It seemed like every weekend you knew McLaughlin was going to get at least one victory. He started the season with four consecutive victories, stubbed his toe before the fifth race and then won the next two. The record had stood for 23 years, which Craig Lowndes set. McLaughlin may benefit from a bloated schedule but he the Supercars schedule has had a massive number of races for over a decade now. If it were easy the record would have been broken years ago.
Past Winners
2012: DeltaWing
2013: Sebastian Vettel for winning nine consecutive races on his way to a fourth consecutive title
2014: Marc Márquez: Setting the record for most wins in a premier class season.
2015: Justin Wilson Memorial Family Auction
2016: Jimmie Johnson for his seventh NASCAR Cup championship
2017: Jonathan Rea: For becoming the first rider to win three consecutive World Superbike championships.
2018: Robert Wickens for winning IndyCar Rookie of the Year despite missing the final three races.
Moment of the Year
Description: The Most Memorable Moment in the World of Racing during the 2019 season.
And the Nominees are:
Snow at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
The end of the Canadian Grand Prix
Penske Purchasing Hulman & Co.
Kyle Kaiser and Juncos Racing knocking Fernando Alonso and McLaren out of the Indianapolis 500
The Belgian Grand Prix Weekend: From the start of the Formula Two race through the end of the Belgian Grand Prix.
And the winner is... a tie! Kyle Kaiser and Juncos Racing knocking out Fernando Alonso and McLaren and Penske Purchasing Hulman & Co.
We have another tie in the award show, the first time since 2013.
On the racetrack, nothing can top when the little team of Juncos Racing slain McLaren. Juncos Racing was done. Kyle Kaiser wrecked a car during Friday practice when it appeared Kaiser would have the speed to make the race. The team was reset to zero, it had to get together a backup car, a car that had previously raced at Austin and was not at all ready for the 2.5-mile oval that is Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Meanwhile, McLaren struggled to find speed. Fernando Alonso had an accident on Wednesday. The team did not have the backup car ready on Thursday because it was the wrong shade of orange. It got back on the track Friday but continued to struggle.
On Saturday, Juncos Racing continued to struggle for speed while McLaren was knocking on the door but fell 0.020 MPH short of locking Alonso into the field on Saturday.
Come Sunday, it was a six-car shootout for the final three spots between Max Chilton, Patricio O'Ward, Sage Karam, James Hinchcliffe, Alonso and Kaiser. After a lengthy detail, the session got started and while Alonso successfully qualified ahead of Chilton and O'Ward, he found himself in 33rd position with Kaiser taking to the track as the final qualifier.
A lot can happen over ten miles, the distance of a qualifying run, and Kaiser did not put a wheel wrong. He did not blink. He did not come up gasping for air. Kaiser ran four smooth laps and he completed his ten miles 0.019 MPH faster than Alonso or 0.0129 seconds faster than the Spaniard. Kaiser was in the Indianapolis 500 and Alonso was going home. The minnow had vanquished the shark. The Hail Mary was successful. Indianapolis provided another stunning result.
Nearly six months later, Indianapolis Motor Speedway was another site for news and this was of unthinkable proportions. Roger Penske had bought Hulman & Co. Roger Penske had bought Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar and everything else that comes with it.
For decades we have heard the rumors of the Hulman-George family selling the track but for decades it has never happened. Many possible suitors have come and gone and the track remained in the family. It never felt like the family was going to sell. Mari Hulman George had passed away but Tony George was in charge and fit the position. George's sisters were also instrumental in the facility and the grandchildren were groomed to lead the Speedway for the next few decades.
Then on one cool Monday morning in November the track released a statement about the sale. There was no speculation for days, weeks or months. There wasn't even speculation for 12 hours. There was no leaked story. There was no scrambling from the Speedway and Penske to stay on top of this. The news came, the motorsport's world jaw shatter from hitting the floor and we saw a monumental transaction play out in front of us.
Penske purchasing Hulman & Co, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and everything else is the motorsports story of the century. Nothing is going to top that in the next 81 years. The Hulman-George family had owned the track for 74 years. It seemed the family would always be there. Just like that they turned over their kingdom to the most successful man to every step onto that property.
It was fitting. It was sad. It was revolutionary. We wait and see what the rest of the 21st century has in store for the greatest racetrack in the world.
On the other nominees:
Maybe it is because Christmas is upon us but I keep thinking back to the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps back at the beginning of May. We talk about how you can experience all four seasons in a day at Spa-Francorchamps and most times that is an exaggeration but in this case it actually happened. The penultimate round of the 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship season had everything. Sun, rain and snow. It has snowed before at a racetrack but this was a different level. This was the highest level of sports car racing in it, LMP1 cars in it and it is a sight we may never see again. It was beautiful.
Sebastian Vettel appeared to be set for victory in Montreal before an off-track excursion and impeding Lewis Hamilton led to a five-second penalty. Vettel was irate, he could not open a five-second gap to Hamilton and at the same time he nearly backed himself up to Charles Leclerc and it could have dropped him to third. The aftermath is what will be remembered. Vettel did not drive to the podium places and simply walked back to Ferrari hospitality. He wanted nothing to do with the podium ceremony, violated all the decorum of the event and risked further penalty. Vettel started making his way to the podium but before getting there he switched the signage, moving the first place board away from the front of Hamilton's car and replacing it with the second place board. It was showmanship. Theatre. There was a tad displeasure in regulations but what we remember are the theatrics.
Unfortunately, moments are not always positive and this year some a dark moment take over the motorsports community. Anthoine Hubert lost his life in the Formula Two feature race from Spa-Francorchamps. It was a devastating loss of a promising young driver. From the start, we knew the accident was not good. We knew this was not going to be something we could move on from quickly and it was the absolute worst outcome for everyone.
The remaining Formula Two activities were cancelled and the Formula One community properly honored Hubert before the Belgian Grand Prix. In this dark moment, the motorsports community came together and paid respect to him. Our prayers continue to go out to the Hubert family and our prayers continue to go to Juan Manuel Correa, who continues to heal from injuries suffered in that accident.
This accident was a reminder that despite all the safety advancements that have been made that have protected drivers and in some cases prevented fatal injuries there is always going to be the chance of death. Sanctioning bodies will continue to work to make sure the cars are safer and make sure every man and woman that competes can step out of the cars when the checkered flag is waved.
Past Winners
2012: Alex Zanardi
2013: 24 Hours of Le Mans
2014: Post-race at the Charlotte and Texas Chase races.
2015: Matt Kenseth vs. Joey Logano
2016: Toyota Slows at Le Mans
2017: Fernando Alonso announcing his Indianapolis 500 ride
2018: Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson battle at Chicagoland
Pass of the Year
Description: Best pass of 2019.
And the Nominees are:
Simon Pagenaud on Scott Dixon for the victory in turn nine at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis
Lucas di Grassi on Pascal Wehrlein at the line of the Mexico City ePrix
Matt Campbell on Jake Dennis into the "Elbow" with 9 minutes to go in the Bathurst 12 Hour
Max Verstappen on Charles Leclerc on lap 69 of the Austrian Grand Prix
Álex Rins on Marc Márquez in the final corner at Silverstone in the British motorcycle Grand Prix
And the winner is... Álex Rins on Marc Márquez in the final corner at Silverstone in the British motorcycle Grand Prix.
This race was spectacular. Rins, Márquez and Maverick Viñales were in touch distance for most of the race. Márquez led most of it but Rins did not let him get away. He kept the pressure on and each rider had to be precise.
It became clear neither rider was going to make a mistake. Márquez was not going to throw this race away and Rins was not going let Márquez get away easy.
With two laps to go, the two Spaniards traded the lead. Rins took it from Márquez in Aintree, Márquez took it back in Brooklands. Coming to the line to start the final lap Rins retook the lead on the outside of Woodcote but lost it after running wide on the front straightaway.
It could have been game over and Márquez could have pulled away but Rins fought back and positioned himself for one final go. Rins was on Márquez's back wheel into Brooksland, ran a little wide in Luffield but got the power now, keep it close to Márquez and was able to swoop to the inside of Woodcote.
Rins was on the throttle while Márquez had to lift a tad exiting the final corner. Rins had the drive and took the victory by 0.013 seconds.
Márquez did nothing wrong. He did not botch the corner. He did not make a mistake. Rins timed a move perfectly and it was enough to get to the checkered flag in first position.
On the other nominees:
Simon Pagenaud went on a tear in the closing laps at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and he was better than Scott Dixon in those closing laps. He made an audacious pass on Dixon in turn nine for the lead. It is a spot no one would try in the dry and Pagenaud made it stick in the wet and ran away with it.
Lucas di Grassi didn't have to make that pass on Pascal Wehrlein. Wehrlein was penalized for cutting the course and the penalty was going to drop him behind di Grassi anyway but di Grassi went for it on the racetrack and he did it in tight quarters. Wehrlein was out of energy and coasting, di Grassi forced his way through and took the checkered flag in first place, giving him the victory on the racetrack and not having to worry about getting the trophy after the assessment of penalties.
Matt Campbell had a breakout 2019 season and it all started in his homeland on arguably Australia's most famous racetrack. Campbell was going forward and it was clear he was going to factor in for the victory in the Bathurst 12 Hour. Jake Dennis did his best to keep Campbell at bay but the Australia would not be stopped and he took his chance in the tight Elbow corner on the Mount Panorama Circuit. Campbell was gone from there.
Charles Leclerc looked to be set for his first career victory in the Austrian Grand Prix but Max Verstappen put up a charge to get to the Monegasque driver. Here were two of Formula One's youngest stars battling for a race victory on a beautiful circuit. One was desperate for a breakthrough; the other was looking to continue to move himself up the driver pecking order. Verstappen made the move up the inside, a move we have seen plenty of times before and not come off but Verstappen kept it clean, took the inside and forced Leclerc to lift and run wide. Victory was for Verstappen after that worthy pass.
Past Winners
2012: Simon Pagenaud at Baltimore
2013: Robert Wickens at Nürburgring and Peter Dempsey in the Freedom 100
2014: Ryan Blaney on Germán Quiroga
2015: Laurens Vanthoor from 4th to 2nd on the outside in the Bathurst 12 Hour
2016: Scott McLaughlin on Mark Winterbottom at Surfers Paradise
2017: Renger van der Zande: From second to first on Dane Cameron at Laguna Seca
2018: Alexander Rossi for all his passes in the Indianapolis 500
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:
James Hinchcliffe: For being dragged along by McLaren
#7 Toyota: For not changing all the tires when the car came in from the lead with a flat in the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Keating Motorsport: For its great 24 Hours of Le Mans GTE-Am victory only for disqualification for exceeding permitted fuel capacity
Jorge Lorenzo: For switching to Honda only to have a season hampered with injuries leading to retirement
Tom Blomqvist: For being kept from the 24 Hours of Daytona due to visa issues only to have his entry win the GTLM class
Kuno Wittmer: For accidentally hitting the pit speed limit button coming to the finish line in the Michelin Pilot Sports Car Challenge race at Road America and losing the race to Robin Liddell by 0.070 seconds.
Dennis Lind: For missing the final round of the Blancpain Endurance Series due to illness only for his team, the #563 Orange1 FFF Racing Team Lamborghini of Andrea Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli to win the finale and the championship.
And the winner is... Dennis Lind
Drivers lose championships all the time but to lose a championship not because you were beaten on track but because you were ill and unable to participate meanwhile your teammates win and you are not included in the record books because you could to run is painful.
There is nothing that can be done. We cannot include Lind just because he was there for the other rounds. We cannot put an asterisk. We cannot go back into time and move the race up a weekend to make sure Lind could have been there or pushed it back a week to make sure he would be returning to the racetrack after having an illness. It is done.
All we can do is be vigilant and remember Lind was there for nearly the entire championship before life caught him out and kept him from claiming a title.
On the other nominees:
James Hinchcliffe is looking for work. He was a made that seemed to be set in IndyCar, seemed to have a great home at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and then McLaren entered. It was clear Hinchcliffe was not going to be McLaren's guy but the team dragged him on for months before sending him to the curb. Now Hinchcliffe is fighting upstream without a paddle.
The #8 Toyota got all the attention but it appeared the #7 Toyota of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López would get its day at Le Mans after being second fiddle for so long. The team should have pulled off a victory. It was the better car and a flat tire happens but the team mishandled it. It did not cover all the bases and sent a car out without changing the flat. From there, the #7 Toyota was done. The #8 Toyota got its second consecutive Le Mans victory, the #7 Toyota had to settle for second fiddle again.
Keating Motorsport took a popular victory. The first, and what seems to be the only, customer Ford GT program took a Le Mans victory. It was a fitting end to the Ford GT program. Days later the violation became public, the victory was stripped and Ben Keating handled it with class. Keating did not go about kicking and screaming. He was very professional through it all.
Jorge Lorenzo seemed to be given another chance at MotoGP success when moving to Honda after having a slight resurgence the year prior at Ducati. However, Lorenzo struggled with pace, got injured again and then Lorenzo announced he was walking away. Lorenzo started the decade joining Yamaha, pushing Valentino Rossi to the limit before sending Rossi to Ducati and was one of the best of the 2010s. His career is ending sooner than many of us would have predicted. It is sad to see it end so soon.
Tom Blomqvist is not the first driver to be kept from racing due to visa issues, he wasn't the only other driver kept from the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona. Mike Conway could not make it to Daytona because of visa issues. Conway's team didn't win its class at the 24 Hours of Daytona. BMW was not favored to win at Daytona. If the rain didn't come or if the race had not gone through all the caution periods and red flags Blomqvist might not be ruing this day. The way everything played out what would have been Blomqvist's entry was leading the GTLM class when the checkered flag ended the race. It was the only victory for the #25 BMW all season. Ouch!
Kuno Wittmer simply made a mistake at the wrong time. It wasn't showboating, it wasn't ego coming out and costing him, it was a simply mistake. Wittmer is a talented driver but he is human and his mistake came at the worst time. I do have to give credit to Robin Liddell because he was fourth entering Canada Corner on that lap and won the race. Liddell does deserve credit for putting himself in that position.
Past Winners
2012: Ben Spies
2013: Sam Hornish, Jr.
2014: Alexander Rossi
2015: McLaren
2016: Toyota
2017: Nick Heidfeld
2018: Brett Moffitt
Comeback of the Year
Description: The Best Comeback in the 2019 season.
And the Nominees are:
Takuma Sato: For all that went wrong at Pocono, falling two laps down at Gateway only to rally and take a surprise victory.
Sebastian Vettel: From 20th to second in the German Grand Prix.
MotoE: For getting to the grid after fire destroyed every motorcycle prior to the first round of the season
Robert Kubica: For returning to the grid of a grand prix and scoring one point driving for Williams F1.
Dempsey-Proton Racing: For losing every point after a technical infringement halfway through the championship only to win three of the final four races and finishing second in the Endurance Trophy for GTE-Am Drivers
And the winner is... MotoE: For getting to the grid after fire destroyed every motorcycle prior to the first round of the season
MotoE nearly died before it could ever get started.
The teams had concluded a test day from Jerez and everything was on course for the series to debut at the Spanish Grand Prix held at Jerez in May.
Shortly after midnight, a short circuit set the facility housing all the bikes into flames, destroying everything.
In this developing time period when electric forms of transportation and race vehicles are emerging this was a catastrophic blow to the series. It seemed the series was gone. The dream of a 2019 debut was ash in Andalusia.
However, there is an incredible resolve in human beings when faced with adversity. Yes, this is just a motorsports series, there are far greater travesties in the world than this motorsports series that need to be taken care of but this was the livelihood for many people from mechanics to riders to marketing people to truck drivers. A lot of people could have been sent to the curb if MotoE did not take place in 2019.
There would have been good reason if no season happened but the series re-grouped. The season opener at Jerez and the second round at Le Mans were cancelled. The season would open in Germany, race in Austria, have a doubleheader in Misano and a doubleheader in Valencia would make up for the lost rounds in Jerez and Le Mans.
Just over four months after the fire, the first MotoE race when green at the Sachsenring. All four rounds and six races of the inaugural season were held and Matteo Ferrari was the inaugural champion. The grid for the 2020 season was just released.
This is an incredible story, one we have not talked about enough and one deserves much more recognition than it has gotten. It is a small series. It is still learning to crawl and is not quite ready to walk but the fact it is crawling at all is something to celebrate.
On the other nominees:
Takuma Sato's week leading up to Gateway was difficult. Sato got a lot of criticism for his driving the week before at Pocono. It did not help that he started fifth in this race and then walked up the racetrack and nearly took out four cars again on the opening lap. Add to it that he quickly fell to the back and lost a lap but cautions fell his way. He got waved around and then gambled, stretching his fuel as long as he could and then another caution came. This cycle Sato to the lead and he trapped most of the field a lap down. He needed one clean stint and had to hold off a charging Ed Carpenter for the victory but he got it a week after many had torched him.
Sebastian Vettel was not having a great home weekend. Vettel had to start at the back after a turbo issue. Ferrari was having a poor weekend but in the wet-to-dry conditions, Vettel drove a smart race. He didn't push it over the limit while many in front of him did. When the checkered flag came, Vettel was second; an impressive drive after a weekend had taken a turn for the worst on Saturday.
Robert Kubica's Formula One career appeared over after a rally accident in 2011. Kubica came back to racing, running in more rallies and some sports cars but Formula One seemed to be something that was too far out there for him to achieve. The results were not great. The Williams entry was never going to produce much but Kubica returned, ran all 21 races and scored a point, with some help from Alfa Romeo penalties, but he still did it. Kubica may not have returned to where was when he last raced in Formula One nine years ago but just making it back and doing it is an achievement in itself.
We need to be clear, Dempsey-Proton Racing cheated. It manipulated the data for re-fueling time. It was guilty. However, the team rallied and this goes back to Matt Campbell. Campbell carried this entry but he was also paired with Christian Ried, who has been one of the best amateur drivers for years, and Julian Andlauer, another up-and-comer. The team did something wrong but the drivers were remarkable and to get to second in the championship, to have still have a shot at the championship entering the finale despite being reset to zero points with four races to go deserves acknowledgement.
Past Winners
2013: Michael Shank Racing at the 24 Hours of Daytona
2014: Juan Pablo Montoya to IndyCar
2015: Kyle Busch
2016: Max Verstappen from 15th to 3rd in the final 18 laps in the wet in the Brazilian Grand Prix
2017: Kelvin van der Linde: From third to first after a botched pit stop in the final 20 minutes in the 24 Hours Nürburgring
2018: Billy Monger: Returning to racing after losing his legs and finishing sixth in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship with four podium finishes and a pole position at Donington Park.
Most Improved
Description: Racer, Team or Manufacture Who Improved The Most from 2018 to 2019.
And the Nominees are:
Álex Márquez: From fourth with no victories and six podium finishes in Moto2 to Moto2 champion with five victories and ten podium finishes.
Denny Hamlin: From 11th in the championship with no victories and 10 top five finishes to fourth in the championship with six victories, including the Daytona 500, and 19 top five finishes.
Nico Müller: From tenth on 96 points and two podium finishes to second on 250 points with three victories, 11 podium finishes and scored points in 16 of 18 races.
Cooper Webb: From ninth in Supercross on 181 points to Supercross champion with 379 points with seven victories after only two podium finishes in his prior two seasons in the 450cc class.
Mazda Team Joest: From fourth in the DPi manufactures' championship with three podium finishes with the entries finishing eighth and tenth in the championship to third the DPi manufactures' championship with three victories, eight podium finishes including two 1-2 finishes and having its entires finishing fifth and sixth in the championship.
And the winner is... Cooper Webb
Anytime you can go from afterthought to champion it has been a great year.
For two seasons, Cooper Webb showed speed but inconsistency. He threw away many good races. He could get a great jump but could not turn it into a complete A-Main.
A switch flipped in 2019. Maybe the switch to KTM had something to do with it but after the success of Ryan Dungey and the presence of Marvin Musquin at the sharp end of the field it appeared Webb was going to be the number two ride in the team. However, Webb won a race and then another and then was in the championship lead and nobody really could mount a challenge.
Musquin could not answer his teammate's pace. Eli Tomac had been the best rider in Supercross the previous few seasons but could not put together a season worthy to take the title. In 2019, Tomac was far from his previous self. He was not in the discussion. Defending champion Jason Anderson was hurt. Ken Roczen returned from injury, was running well but could not breakthrough for a victory.
Meanwhile, Webb was crisp. He did not make mistakes. He did not fall while leading three minutes into an A-Main. He didn't put himself in vicarious situations. He was smart, smooth and ended up taking a surprising championship in his debut season with KTM.
On the other nominees:
Álex Márquez was kind of being undersold after last season. It is hard to succeed when you are constantly compared to an older sibling and one that is actively achieving great things. It didn't seem like Álex Márquez was anywhere near MotoGP at the start of 2019. However, he put together a world championship season, stood out above the rest of the Moto2 grid and he will join his brother Marc with Honda in MotoGP next year.
We were ready for 2019 to be the final year for Denny Hamlin at Joe Gibbs Racing. It seemed like his time was up after a winless season in 2018. There was no reason to expect a grand turnaround but it happened. It started with an emotional victory at the Daytona 500 and five more victories followed. Hamlin went from afterthought to championship-contender. When put into a must-win situation at Phoenix, Hamlin pulled it out. The season did not end in a championship but Hamlin saved his career.
Prior to 2019, Nico Müller had run five seasons in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. He had one victory and seven podium finishes in his first 84 races, his best championship finish was ninth and the most points he scored in a season was 96. In 2019 alone, Müller picked up three victories, more than doubled his podium finishes and scored 250 points after having scored a combined 301 points in his first five seasons. Not bad from Müller.
Mazda Team Joest was a feel-good story of 2019. We have seen the Mazda prototype program struggle for years. A lot of good people put in a lot of hard work but the results were not coming. Mazda had some good days but lost them but 2019 was different. Mazda had its breakthrough, won three consecutive races and you could not feel anything but happy for this group.
Past Winners
2012: Esteban Guerrieri
2013: Marco Andretti
2014: Chaz Mostert
2015: Graham Rahal
2016: Simon Pagenaud
2017: DJR Team Penske
2018: Gary Paffett
And there you have it. Congratulations to all the champions, race winners and award recipients from this season. While motorsports is taking some time off remember this is a time to spend with the people we love, family, friends, and colleagues. Enjoy these days. Do not worry too much about missing motorsports. There are things more important that it. Motorsports will return but make the most of the time you have been given with those you love.
Predictions will be coming in the next few days and will be spread out until the end of the year. We will have our annual Christmas list come out next week. I thank everyone who takes the time to read what I post. There are many things out there to view and it is an honor you choose to read this. More is to come in 2020.
