There were plenty of historic moments in motorsports in 2023. Records were shattered. We saw achievements for the first time in decades. There were standout races and racers from all around the globe. New formats were adopted and new places were visited. There were tears for those that came short, and cheers for those clutching silverware. It was a complete year with plenty of reasons to celebrate what happened over the last 12 months.
We close another year recognizing the best that made up this motorsport season, from those competing to the races themselves. There are many moments that standout in our heads from this year and we will do our best to capture what was the best of the 2023 season.
Racer of the Year
Description: Given to the best racer over the course of 2023.
And the Nominees are:
Ritomo Miyata
Max Verstappen
Jett Lawrence
Ben Keating
Álex Palou
And the winner is... Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen had already made a fair amount of history in 2022. Off a second consecutive championship, one that was convincing and left little doubt who the best driver was that season, it was going to be difficult to follow that up with something better.
Verstappen did just that. He didn't just put 2022 to shame, he made us forget about it entirely. The Dutchman's 2023 season was historic beyond belief.
Everyone knew Red Bull would be the team to beat. I don't think anyone thought Red Bull would be this untouchable. The manufacturer won 21 of 22 races, but Verstappen was the clear top dog in the team, winning 19 times, a record. He won ten consecutive races, every race from Miami in May to Italy in September, another record. He was only a few days away from a perfect summer when he finished fifth in Singapore.
It wasn't just the victories, but the way he was winning. He left the field in his dust most of the time.
11.987 seconds in Bahrain.
27.921 seconds in Monaco.
24.090 seconds in Barcelona.
33.731 seconds in Hungary.
22.305 seconds in Spa-Francorchamps.
19.387 seconds in Suzuka.
10.073 seconds in Austin.
13.875 seconds in Mexico City.
17.993 seconds in Abu Dhabi.
Nearly half of his victories were by more than ten seconds! At one point, he led 248 consecutive laps from lap 48 in Miami through lap 24 in Austria, nearly two full months later. It is the third longest streak in Formula One history. Verstappen led 1,003 laps total in 2023. He led 75.70% of the laps run this season. Both are records. Verstappen started on pole position 12 times this season and won all 12 times. Again, another record.
It will be hard to look back and find a more flawless season in Formula One history. Verstappen never finished worse than fifth. He was on the podium in 21 of 22 races, another record.
At no point did Verstappen step over the line. At no point did a mistake cost him precious seconds or a position or, more importantly, a victory. While a fair number attempt to discredit his ability and boil it down to just the race car, Verstappen makes it hard to ignore the driver. He has shown us an incredible ability to stomp the competition. While he was gone, the rest of the field was close. Teammate Sergio Pérez found himself among Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren more times than not. The Red Bull was an incredible car, but only Verstappen could extract its highest potential.
Verstappen might not be the most lovable personality, but he comfortably expressed himself throughout the season as a race car driver, unafraid to voice dissatisfaction with course selection as more street courses going the schedule, nor when questioning the existence of sprint weekends. He might not be the most sociably driver, but Verstappen does have a passion for racing, and he believes it is the most important part of Formula One.
I would hate to say we will never see this again, but knowing Verstappen and Red Bull, it feels unlikely their dominance will vanish in 2024. For all the records broken in 2022 and then broken again in 2023, Verstappen is poised for another staggering run in 2024, and no one would be surprised if Verstappen ended up surpassing himself. At the moment, he looks like the only person who possibly could.
On the other nominees:
Miyata had a breakout year in Japan. In Super Formula, he picked up his first career victory, but better than that he won twice and never finished worse than fifth in a race. With 114.5 points to his name, Miyata claimed the champion, the first title for a Team TOM'S driver since Nick Cassidy in 2019. In Super GT, Miyata and co-driver Sho Tsuboi won three races, including the final two events, claiming the GT500 title with 89 points. Miyata became the fifth driver to win the Super Formula and Super GT championships in the same year. Now, he will be off to Formula Two, competing with Carlin in 2024, while also running in the European Le Mans Series.
Lawrence has been an outstanding motocross rider for the last few years now, but 2023 saw the Australian move from the 250cc class to the 450cc class. After winning the 250 West Supercross championship with six victories and an average finish of 1.44, Lawrence swept the 2023 AMA Motocross 450 season, winning all 22 races, the third rider to ever go undefeated in a season, and he did it in his rookie year. He closed out the season taking the inaugural SuperMotocross 450 championship. At 20 years old, he has already made a place for himself in history, and there is still a long time to go.
Gentlemen drivers are not thrown into the mix as ever being the best, but Keating has stood out as one of the best amateur drivers in the world today. Keating returned to the FIA World Endurance Championship to defend his GTE-Am championship, but this time driving a Corvette instead of an Aston Martin. In IMSA, Keating drove full-time in an LMP2 entry. In WEC, Keating with co-drivers Nicky Catsburg and Nicolás Varrone won the championship with two races to spare. The trio won three races, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Keating's second consecutive victory in the event. In IMSA, Keating and PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports co-driver Paul-Loup Chatin won once and finished no worse than fourth over the six championship races, taking the LMP2 championship.
Despite it appearing his IndyCar career would be heading elsewhere in 2024, Palou put together one of the most dominant championship performances the series has seen since reunification. The Spaniard went on a tear, opening the season with nine top five finishes in the first ten races, including four victories, three of which were on the spin from June into July. With a worst finish of eighth, Palou was able to claim the championship in style, winning in Portland and clinching the trophy with a race to spare. Palou ended with the lowest average finish for a champion since reunification, and he will continue onward with Chip Ganassi Racing into 2024 and beyond.
Past Winners2012: Kyle Larson2013: Marc Márquez
2014: Marc Márquez
2015: Nick Tandy
2016: Shane van Gisbergen
2017: Brendon Hartley
2018: Scott Dixon
2019: Marc Márquez
2020: Lewis Hamilton
2021: Kyle Larson
2022: Max Verstappen
Race of the Year
Description: Best Race of 2023.
And the Nominees are:
Dakar Rally - Bike Class
Portland ePrix
12 Hours of Sebring
Singapore Grand Prix
World Superbike at Portimão, Race Two
And the winner is... 12 Hours of Sebring
This year's 12 Hours of Sebring could not get anymore chaotic. All five of the classes were close for majority of the race. In the final hour, at least four of the five were nail-bitters.
For the overall victory, every manufacturer was in the mix. For most of the race, it was Acura and Cadillac trading the lead, with the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac and the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura being the main players. Wayne Taylor Racing got in the mix with the #10 Acura, and then #01 Cadillac retired due to a mechanical issue. As the sun started to set, the Germans arrived on the season. Both Porsches and the #25 BMW led the race.
Late cautions bunched the field, and it set up for a wild dash to the finish. Mathieu Jaminet and Filipe Albuquerque came together heading into turn three while battling for the lead. Albuquerque slid through the inside of the corner and hit Jaminet again. As those two cars came to a halt, the #7 Porsche of Felipe Nasr had nowhere to go and hit Albuquerque, taking out the third-place runner as well.
This allowed Pipo Derani to inherit the lead with only minutes remaining in the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac. The only other car on the lead lap was the #25 BMW, but the BMW could not match the Cadillac, and Derani along with Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken took the victory.
That would normally be enough, but in LMP2, Tower Motorsport overcame an accident halfway through the race to win the class with Scott McLaughlin holding off Mikkel Jensen and Paul-Loup Chatin in the final hour.
In LMP3, the class leading #30 Jr. III Racing Ligier-Nissan of Garett Grist hit some debris, damaging the car and allowing Riley Motorsports with Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga and Josh Burdon to take the victory.
In GTD Pro, six cars from six different manufacturers were on the lead lap. Pfaff Motorsports held over the VasserSullivan Lexus with the WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG in third. Iron Lynx brought a Lamborghini in fourth ahead of the factory Corvette and the Risi Competizione Ferrari.
BMW went 1-2 in GTD with Paul Miller Racing ahead of Turner Motorsport as the top ten in the pro-am class finished on the lead lap.
For 12 hours, some of sports cars and motorsports best drivers slugged it out and when it got to the finish, nearly nothing separated any of them. It forced drivers into errors and left many wondering what could have been if it was for one or two different decisions. For 12 hours, you could not look away from this race, and it did not disappoint.
On the other nominees:
One of the most grueling races in the world, the Dakar Rally separates the weak from the strong. This year in the bike class, the strong were many. Halfway through the rally, less than eight minutes covered the top eight riders. The class lead had already changed four times in the first eight stages. In the second half of the race, it became a three-way battle between Skylar Howes, Kevin Benavides and Toby Price. The class lead changed four more times over the final six stages, with Benavides overcoming a 12-second deficit in the final stage to win the Dakar Rally over Price and Howes.
For the first time in the United States, Formula E raced on a permanent circuit, the 1.967-mile Portland International Raceway, famous for its IndyCar racing. The track produced the liveliest Formula E race to date. Due to the nature of the circuit, and lack of opportunities for regeneration, drivers looked to remain in the draft, and not in the lead. A total of 403 passes took place, an average of 12.6 a lap, as drivers kept cycling through positions. It was about positioning for the final run to the line. Nick Cassidy ended up winning from tenth on the grid ahead of Jake Dennis and António Félix da Costa. Mitch Evans went from 20th to fourth, Sébastien Buemi from 16th to fifth. The top ten points finishers were covered by 4.3 seconds. Different from every previous Formula E race, this one had everyone in contention for the entire 32-lap affair.
It was the one race Red Bull got wrong, and it opened the door for an intense battle between Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes at Singapore. Carlos Sainz, Jr. led from pole position, but he had Lando Norris and teammate Charles Leclerc keeping him honest. The Mercedes went for the two-stop strategy, going to the medium tire compounding, allow George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to carve their way forward. The Mercedes drivers were up to third and fourth, but Sainz, Jr. backed up Norris to slow the Mercedes drivers' progress with fresher rubber while putting Norris within DRS range and canceling out the benefit to the Mercedes drivers. On the final lap, the top four were all within two seconds. Russell brushed the entering turn ten, allowing Hamilton to slide up to third, but Sainz, Jr.'s driving was enough to hold off Norris for the victory.
It was a two-man race in the World Superbike Championship in 2023, but they put on a few shows for us, most notably, the capper to the Portimão weekend. Toprak Razgatlioglu was on pole position and hoping to take some points out of the gap to Álvaro Bautista before heading to the final round at Jerez. Razgatlioglu started on pole position and led the first four laps, but he could not shake Bautista. The Spaniard took the lead on lap five and led the next five circuits. Over the final 11 laps of the race, neither rider led more than two consecutive laps and the lead changed seven times. Bautista went on to beat Razgatlioglu to the checkered flag by 0.126 seconds, Bautsita's fifth sweep of the weekend and one that added some cushion to his championship lead.
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
2019: Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
2020: Turkish Grand Prix
2021: Monaco ePrix
2022: British Grand Prix
Achievement of the Year
Description: Best success by a driver, team, manufacture, etc.
And the Nominees are:
Max Verstappen breaking the record for highest winning percentage in a Formula One season
Every manufacturer in IMSA's GTP class winning in the first year of the class
Jett Lawrence's Perfect Motocross Season
The NASCAR Garage 56 Effort
Revival of North Wilkesboro Speedway
And the winner is... Max Verstappen breaking the record for highest winning percentage in a Formula One Season
There were many records we could have chosen this year from Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, but this one stands out because of its longevity. It almost felt unreachable.
With 19 victories from 22 races, Verstappen ended the year having won 86.363% of the Formula One races this season. That didn't just break a record, it shattered the previous mark, and one that stood since the early days of Formula One.
In 1952, Alberto Ascari won six of eight races, a 75% winning percentage. For 71 years, that record stood, and looked a little unobtainable. Plenty of great drivers had come since Ascari and fallen short.
Jim Clark. Jackie Stewart. Alain Prost. Ayrton Senna. Michael Schumacher. Sebastian Vettel. Lewis Hamilton.
They all had great seasons, some had expectations that they would break Ascari's record and fallen short. It almost felt like 75% was just too much to beat. Then Verstappen and Red Bull put together the most dominant season in Formula One history.
Verstappen didn't just eek over the line with 17 victories, earning him 77.27% and the lowest victory total possible to get the record in 2023. Verstappen crushed the record. He went over 11% better than Ascari's mark. He bypassed the 80% club and started the 85% club. He had a winning streak of ten races and a winning streak of seven races in the same season!
If Ascari's mark looked untouchable, Verstappen's record is as distant as the stars in Orion's Belt. It will take something truly remarkable to beat Verstappen's 86.363%. It appears like the only thing that will beat it is perfection.
On the other nominees:
It was a banner year for IMSA, as its GTP class debuted and provided close competition across all four manufacturers. It was not a one-make runaway in year one. A few manufacturers struggled, but they all worked through the issues. Each became competitive, and all four won. At one point, each won once in a four-race stretch. There were many reservations about this season, and there could have been a lot of work to do before year two, but IMSA and the manufacturers (Acura, Cadillac, Porsche and BMW), could not have started on a better note.
Perfect season. No defeats. Only victories. That is what Jett Lawrence accomplished in the 450cc AMA Motocross season, and it was his rookie season! Lawrence had mastered the 250cc machinery. He was ready for the next step, and he showed how talented he is at such a young age. The moment was not to grand for him, and the veteran competition did not spook Lawrence. A perfect rookie season does not leave many places for him to go, but it suggests we will see more great things to come.
Announced in March 2022, the Garage 56 effort for the 100th anniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans would be an adapted NASCAR Cup car. There was much interest in this effort. A NASCAR stock car had competed at Le Mans before, but it was almost 50 years removed, and the current generation of vehicle differs greatly. Under Hendrick Motorsports operation, the NASCAR Garage 56 effort modified the Chevrolet Camaro body style used in the Cup Series to maximize aerodynamics and mechanical grip on the eight-plus mile Circuit de la Sarthe. Weighing 525 pounds less than a normal Cup car, the Garage 56 effort ended up qualifying over 4.5 seconds faster than the GTE-Am pole-winning Corvette. With Jimmie Johnson, Jenson Button and Mike Rockenfeller, the car ran toward the front of the GTE-Am class the entire race until a gearbox issue put it in the garage for an extended period. It was able to return to the circuit and completed 285 laps.
North Wilkesboro Speedway was left for dead after the last NASCAR Cup race there in 1996. With races moving to Texas Motor Speedway and New Hampshire International Raceway, North Wilkesboro was shuttered and slowly was grown over. Nothing was torn down, but Mother Nature did her work, collapsing ceilings and snapping bleacher seating. Weeds grew through the surface. For nearly 30 years, the track was left to die. However, in 2022, after receiving funding from the state of North Carolina, North Wilkesboro began a renovation projection that led to an announcement to bring the NASCAR All-Star Race to the facility in May 2023. After months of work, NASCAR returned to a North Wilkesboro that looked brand new and yet still possessed a charm of yesterday. Arguably the hottest ticket of the NASCAR season, each night of All-Star weekend was full, and they even got to see some racing despite some rain. It appears after being left for dead, North Wilkesboro has a long, second life ahead of it on the NASCAR calendar.
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.
2019: Joe Gibbs Racing setting single-season record for most Cup victories by a in NASCAR's modern-era.
2020: Donald Davidson for 55 years of service to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500
2021: Team WRT's championship success across multiple series and disciplines
2022: Max Verstappen achieving the most grand prix victories in a single season
Moment of the Year
Description: The Most Memorable Moment in the World of Racing during the 2023 season.
And the Nominees are:
Ferrari wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Robert Wickens with the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR Class championship with Harry Gottsacker
Kyle Kirkwood's tire flying over the catchfence at the Indianapolis 500
Shane van Gisbergen winning the NASCAR Cup race at the Chicago street course
Jack Harvey making the Indianapolis 500
And the winner is... Shane van Gisbergen winning the NASCAR Cup race at the Chicago street course.
NASCAR's first street race in its modern era was not off to a dream start. Heavy rainstorms washed out half of Saturday's action and significantly delayed the proceedings on Sunday. Many were worried about what would happen if the rain did not let up to allow for competition on Sunday.
There was a break in the weather, and NASCAR was able to get the Cup race started. One of the drivers competing, making his Cup debut, was Shane van Gisbergen. The Supercars champion made a highly anticipated cameo with Trackhouse's Project 91 effort meant to bring international drivers to NASCAR. While van Gisbergen had only had a brief shakedown of the car at Charlotte, many were curious to see how the New Zealander would do, as the current generation Cup car shared more similarities with a Supercars machine than any ever before. Van Gisbergen's had a wealth of street course experience while a street course was foreign to nearly every other driver competing in Chicago.
Van Gisbergen topped the Saturday practice session and was third in qualifying. He kept the car pointing in the correct direction at the start of the race in wet conditions. However, van Gisbergen was coming to life as the track dried out. He did suffer a setback when he made his pit stop at the end of the second stage and NASCAR announced the race would be shortened to 75 laps from the scheduled 100 laps to do pending darkness. With 26 laps remaining, van Gisbergen restarted in the middle of the field, but he went to work.
In 16 laps, van Gisbergen drove up to third. He clearly had more speed than the leader Justin Haley and Chase Eliott in second. A caution for Martin Truex, Jr. getting into the tires erased the deficit, but van Gisbergen didn't need the help. With the disadvantage gone, van Gisbergen took no time taking the lead in turn two.
A few more late incidents set up a green-white-checkered finish, a prime moment for van Gisbergen to lose the race due to another driver's tactics, but van Gisbergen was untouchable. He drove away from the field in the final two laps and became the first debutant winner in the NASCAR Cup Series since Johnny Rutherford in 1963.
It was one of the greatest performances in NASCAR history. Van Gisbergen had tremendous pace in a car he had little time driving, and he found a way to be blindingly quicker than the competition, especially in the back-half of the circuit from turn seven through turn 11. His turned everybody's head, and even had Max Verstappen left in awe.
On one July Sunday evening, the motorsports world was left astonished when a highly respected talent went out and won in a different discipline against unknown competition. It was a humbling moment on one end, but a defining moment on the other.
On the other nominees:
Ferrari is the most recognizable automobile company in the world. Nearly 60 years had passed since its most recent Le Mans victory, and in the 100th anniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Italian manufacturer was back looking to recreate past Le Mans glory. The Ferrari 499P had the pace, but had the tried-and-true Toyota to battle, which had won five consecutive years at Le Mans. At the end of 24 hours, the #51 Ferrari of James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Giovinazzi was on top, a historic result for a monumental race.
There were plenty reasons to celebrate in 2022 with the return of Robert Wickens to full-time competition nearly four years after his spinal injury. In the IMSA's Michelin Pilot Challenge series' TCR class, Wickens won two races and showed competitive speed on a regular basis. What did Wickens do for an encore? He won the TCR championship with Gottsacker. The duo did not win a race, but they finished runner-up in six of ten races with another third mixed in and the team's worst finish was sixth! It was another case of Wickens dazzling us and showing there is no limit to what is possible.
This year's Indianapolis 500 was an incredible race. It was open for any of about ten drivers to win, and in the closing laps, it felt like we were set up for a grandstand finish. There had been only two cautions in the first 184 laps, and the race was in a full sprint to the finish. Felix Rosenqvist was running in the top five when he brushed the barrier exiting turn one. It brought out a caution, but Rosenqvist was trying to keep the car straight. The Swede's Dallara broke loose into the path of Kyle Kirkwood. Kirkwood attempted to avoid Rosenqvist, and mostly did, only for Rosenqvist's car to catch the left rear tire of Kirkwood. The tire was sheared from the chassis and flew over the catchfence. For a brief moment, it felt like this was about to be the final Indianapolis 500, as we prepared to see a tragedy amongst the spectators. However, the greatest relief was finding out the tire went over the catchfence, but missed the grandstand and all it did was damage a car in the parking lot. No one was hurt. There was a great sigh of relief, but it was closer than anyone hoped for.
There was much drama in Speedway, Indiana long before we even got to race day. With 34 entries, one car would miss the race, and the four cars relegated to the last row qualifying session on the final qualifying day were the #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda of Christian Lundgaard, the #51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda of Sting Ray Robb, the #30 RLLR Honda of Jack Harvey, and the #15 RLLR Honda of Graham Rahal. RLLR had its back against the wall with three of its four cars in this session, and it looked highly likely one of its cars would miss the race. Graham Rahal sat in the 33rd spot after the first run through while Jack Harvey was on the outside. Harvey made a second attempt late and did not have the speed to bump his way in. When he pulled into the pit lane, Harvey still had a few minutes left on the clock. After a quick adjustment, Harvey went back to the track in a desperation attempt. It worked. Harvey made the race with a four-lap average at 229.166 mph compared to Rahal's 229.159 mph. Harvey was joyous. Rahal was despondent. We were all left stunned.
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
2019: Kyle Kaiser and Juncos Racing knocking out Fernando Alonso and McLaren and Penske Purchasing Hulman & Co.
2020: March 12-13
2021: The entire Formula One season
2022: Ross Chastain's final corner at Martinsville
Pass of the Year
Description: Best pass of 2023.
And the Nominees are:
And the winner is... António Félix da Costa on Jean-Éric Vergne in turn eight of the final lap of the Cape Town ePrix
This was the toughest category to select this year. All five nominees could have won. Da Costa's move stands out because of how close to disaster it could have been.
In the closing laps of the Cape Town ePrix, da Costa was on the heels of Vergne. On the penultimate lap, da Costa had a run down the straightaway out of turn seven. However, turn eight was a slight and quick right-hander just prior to a quick correction to the left for turn nine.
Da Costa went to the outside of turn eight and then squeezed his car ahead of Vergne on the inside of turn nine and made it stick on exit.
This could have been a gnarly accident if da Costa was a half-inch further to the left going through turn nine. Clipping the inside of the barrier takes him out and takes out Vergne. If da Costa was too quick on exit of turn nine, he likely would have slapped the outside barrier and Vergne would have taken the victory. Da Costa had to be pinpoint precise to make this move work. He was.
There was another lap after da Costa made this pass. The opportunity presented itself for Vergne to duplicate the move da Costa had just pulled off. Vergne never took a chance attempting it, and da Costa was able to hang on for the victory.
On the other nominees:
The Barber IndyCar race might have been the best of the season, and for most of that race it was Romain Grosjean against Scott McLaughlin. After the final round of pit stops, McLaughlin leapfrogged ahead of Grosjean, but Grosjean had the preferred tire at the opening of the stint. Grosjean hounded McLaughlin. The Frenchman could not get to McLaughlin's inside in turn 13, but Grosjean backed off early in the corner to increase acceleration into turn 14. He got to McLaughlin's outside which allowed Grosjean to have the inside in to the 15th and final corner. Grosjean exited with the lead with such a daring move. Of course, McLaughlin had the tires over the long run and would overtake Grosjean and eventually win the race, but Grosjean gave it his all.
Unexpectedly, DeFrancesco qualified fifth for the second IndyCar race on the IMS road course. We have seen some quizzical qualifying performances before at that track, but Andretti Autosport also had a good track record at the circuit, so perhaps it should not have been a surprise. What was a surprise was the move DeFrancesco made at the start of the race. He settled back in fifth position, but approaching turn one, DeFrancesco went to the outside and kept up his speed. He passed three cars and was on Graham Rahal's outside on corner exit. DeFrancesco was able to get the power down before turn two and take the lead. It was incredible, something no one expected from DeFrancesco. Unfortunately, DeFrancesco must have used up everything to make that one pass because he soon started to fall down the order and ended up finishing 19th, one lap down, with no apparent issue with the car.
The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix proved to be a spine-tingling race with cars able to make numerous overtakes down the fast straightaways. Leclerc had battled most of the race with Max Verstappen for the lead, but Red Bull had the power and the strategy to not only put Verstappen in first but placed Pérez in second in the closing stages. Verstappen pulled away but Leclerc was making a push for second on Pérez. Driving down the Las Vegas Strip toward turn 14 on the final lap, Leclerc had the DRS advantage on Pérez and took his chance. Leclerc braked later than imaginable and went up the inside of Pérez. The Ferrari stuck on exit and Leclerc had the spot. The Monegasque driver held off the counter move from Pérez on the run to the line and Leclerc dispatched the Red Bull 1-2.
After 24 hours, the LMP2 class at Daytona saw the first two cars within touching distance. Ben Hanley had the #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca-Gibson in front while James Allen chased in the #55 Proton Competition Oreca-Gibson. Exiting the chicane for the final time, Allen had the benefit of the draft, which was increased thanks to an LMP3 car also on the banking. Exiting the banking, momentum was on Allen's side as he picked up the tow off Hanley. Entering the tri-oval, Allen slipped to the outside and had enough speed to beat Hanley to the line by 0.016 seconds, the sixth closest finish in IMSA history. Talk about timed to perfection.
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
2019: Álex Rins on Marc Márquez in the final corner at Silverstone in the British motorcycle Grand Prix
2020: Pipo Derani on Ricky Taylor into turn one at Road Atlanta
2021: Shane van Gisbergen from fourth to second at Sandown
2022: Ross Chastain's final corner at Martinsville
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:
Nyck de Vries
Eli Tomac
Robert Mau
Stefan Wilson
Chase Elliott
And the winner is... Eli Tomac
Eli Tomac was on the precipice of his third Supercross championship. With two races remaining in the season, Tomac had an 18-point lead over Chase Sexton in the championship and he had a chance to lock up the championship in his home race in Denver if he left with a 26-point lead. Even with a good day in Denver, Tomac could leave with at least a hand on the trophy heading to the Salt Lake City season finale.
Denver's main event started out in Tomac's favor. He had an early lead while Sexton was running in third. However, three minutes into the race, Tomac pulled off course and rode straight to the medical truck. He ruptured his Achilles tendon, ending his race. Sexton ended up winning the Denver race, taking a seven-point championship lead and effectively winning the championship as his closest competitor, Tomac, was done for the season.
Without the injury, Tomac likely takes the title in his backyard with a race to spare. Even if he had fallen behind Sexton in the Denver main event, he likely would have gone to the finale just needing to 12th or better, something he had easily done in every race prior to the penultimate round. This injury caused Tomac to miss the Motocross season and the inaugural SuperMotocross championship. He will return in 2024 and look to make up for the championship lost.
On the other nominees:
After scoring points on an unexpected Formula One debut in 2022, de Vries earned a call from AlphaTauri to be the full-time driver for 2023. If he could score points with Williams in a cameo, what could he do as a full-time AlphaTauri driver? Well... unfortunately, the 2019 Formula Two champion did not score any points. He was only unclassified in one of the first ten races. Teammate Yuki Tsunoda only had two points in that span, but AlphaTauri had seen enough, and de Vries was out of the rider before Formula One had even reached the summer break.
The name Robert Mau might sound familiar, but you cannot place where you heard it. Mau was the LMP3 driver that plowed into the back of the #6 Porsche while behind the safety car at the 12 Hours of Sebring. The #6 Porsche was able to be repaired and continue in the race, but it was a setback. On the other hand, Mau did not compete in another IMSA race in 2023.
Wilson cannot seem to have a peaceful experience at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He famously sacrificed his seat in the 2017 Indianapolis 500 to allow Fernando Alonso to attempt in a fifth Andretti Autosport entry. After a two-year hiatus, he returned in 2021 with Andretti Autosport, only to have an accident entering the pit lane. In 2022, Wilson was the 33rd and final entry as there was a scramble to materialize a entry with DragonSpeed. The car didn't get on track until late in the week and the engine failed morning of qualifying, leaving Wilson as the default 33rd starter. How did 2023 go? Wilson qualified comfortably in 25th. Everything was looking fine until Monday practice when a collision between Katherine Legge and Wilson led to an accident in turn one. Wilson suffered a fractured vertebra and had to withdraw from the race. Can Wilson ever have a normal month of May?
It is not easy being the most popular driver in NASCAR. It is worse when you break your leg two days prior to the third race of the season in a snowboarding accident, which is what Elliott did, forcing him to miss six races. It happened early enough in the regular season that Elliott still had a good chance of making the playoffs either through victory or points. He returned and had good results, until he intentionally wrecked Denny Hamlin in the Coca-Cola 600, leading to a one-race suspension. Elliott was unable to win a race, nor could he amass enough points to make the playoffs. A consolation victory in the final ten races did not come either, and 2023 marks the low point for his still relatively young career.
Past Winners
2012: Ben Spies
2013: Sam Hornish, Jr.
2014: Alexander Rossi
2015: McLaren
2016: Toyota
2017: Nick Heidfeld
2018: Brett Moffitt
2019: Dennis Lind
2020: Marc Márquez
2021: Liam Lawson
2022: Linus Lundqvist
Comeback of the Year
Description: The Best Comeback in the 2023 season.
And the Nominees are:
Eli Tomac in the Anaheim Supercross season opener
McLaren's 2023 Formula One Season
Enea Bastianini: From Injury to Victory
Tower Motorsports winning LMP2 at the 12 Hours of Sebring
Dani Pedrosa: Finishing seventh and fourth in two MotoGP races, five years removed from last competing full-time.
And the winner is... McLaren's 2023 Formula One Season
The 2023 season did not begin on a great note for McLaren. At the opening round in Bahrain, Oscar Piastri could not get out of the first round of qualifying and Lando Norris could not get through round two. Piastri retired and engine issues plagued Norris' race. McLaren continued to struggle for points. There were a few good races, but McLaren was not close to a competitive car.
Through the first nine races, McLaren had one top five finish and had 29 points. McLaren was averaging 3.222 points per race and on pace for 70 points for the entire season.
In the final 11 races, McLaren had seven runner-up finishes and nine total podium finishes. Piastri and Norris went 1-2 in the Qatar sprint race. After having one race in the first nine where both cars finished in the points, both McLaren drivers scored points in eight of the final 11 events.
When the season was over, McLaren finished on 302 points and fourth in the constructors' championship, ahead of Aston Martin. McLaren went from averaging 3.222 points per race to 13.727 points per race. At its original pace, McLaren was looking at seventh in the constructors' championship. Instead, McLaren ended up with its highest points per race since the 2012 season.
On the other nominees:
Tomac had opened a respectable lead in the Anaheim season opener. However, on lap eight, he took a spill and dropped back to fifth, over eight seconds off the lead. Tomac clawed his way back and reclaimed the lead on lap 18. He held on to win the season opener despite being down in the dirt nearly halfway through the race.
There were plenty of reasons for Bastianini to be excited before the start of this season. After winning multiple races with Gresini Racing, he moved to the factory Ducati outfit. However, his season was plagued with injuries, missing the first five races and then injuring himself on the initial start at Barcelona and forced to miss four more races. Many thought Ducati would move on from Bastianini, especially as Jorge Martín was putting up a championship fight. However, Bastianini ended his season with five points finishes in the final six grand prix, including a victory in Malaysia, and Bastianini will continue with Ducati for another season.
Halfway through the 12 Hours of Sebring, Tower Motorsports was done. Kyffin Simpson had a massive accident exiting turn one. However, Simpson was able to drive back to the pit lane and most of the damage was cosmetic. The Tower crew kept the car in the race and with John Farano and Scott McLaughlin and the #8 Oreca was back in the lead for the final hour. McLaughlin held off late challenges from Paul-Loup Chatin and Mikkel Jensen to win the LMP2 class and finish third overall.
Pedrosa was once one of the best riders in MotoGP, but he stepped away from full-time competition after the 2018 season. Outside of a wild card appearance at the Red Bull Ring in 2021, Pedrosa had not seen much competition, but he returned as a wild card for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. He qualified sixth, finished sixth in the sprint race and was seventh in the grand prix, only 6.371 seconds off the winner Francesco Bagnaia. Pedrosa returned for a second wild card appearance at Misano, and he finished fourth in both races that weekend, only a few weeks before his 38th birthday.
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.
2019: MotoE: For getting to the grid after fire destroyed every motorcycle prior to the first round of the season
2020: The #7 Acura Team Penske: Coming from last in the championship to winning the IMSA DPi championship
2021: Kyle Busch's victory at Pocono
2022: Robert Wickens
Most Improved
Description: Racer, Team or Manufacture Who Improved The Most from 2022 to 2023.
And the Nominees are:
Jorge Martín: From ninth on 152 points to second on 428 points with four victories and eight sprint victories in MotoGP
Marco Bezzecchi: From 14th on 111 points to third on 329 points with three victories and a sprint victory in MotoGP
Chris Buescher: From 21st on 729 points with one victory to seventh with three victories in the NASCAR Cup Series
Nick Cassidy: From 11th on 68 points with one victory to second on 199 points with four victories in Formula E
Fermín Aldeguer: From 15th on 80 points to third on 212 points with five victories in Moto2
And the winner is... Jorge Martín
Through his first two MotoGP seasons, Martín had shown bursts of speed. As a rookie, he won a few pole positions and even won at the Red Bull Ring in a season where he missed four races due to injury. In his sophomore season, Martín again had mostly good days and scored a fair number of points, but of the eight Ducati riders, he finished fifth best of that group, and he was fourth best of the five riders on the 2022 bike.
With Ducati's success in 2022, it was going to be a tough season for any Ducati rider to stand above the best in 2023, no matter which bike the rider was on. For Martín, he started slow with two retirements in the first three races, but took his consistency to a new level as the season went on. He scored five consecutive top five finishes for the first time in his career after his previous longest streak was two. His sprint race results lifted him up the championship as well.
Martín kept the pressure on Francesco Bagnaia as the season wore on, and it did not appear as if Martín would slip up. For a brief moment, in Indonesia, the championship lead was Martín's, but an accident saw the lead go back to Bagnaia. Martín stayed in the fight to the final round. A poor set of tires in Qatar forced himself to face an even greater uphill battle in Valencia. It may not have ended the way Martín had hoped, but even without a championship trophy, he earned greater respect and appreciate for his 2023 season.
On the other nominees:
Bezzecchi had a great sophomore season in MotoGP. He struggled to score points in sprint races, and that might have held him back in a championship push. But Bezzecchi was one of the most competitive riders for most of this season. He made an early push for the championship, and while it did not stick, he was one of the top three riders this season.
Buescher led a bounce back for RFK Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. The turnaround started in late 2022 with a victory at Bristol, but it carried into 2023. Along with three victories, Buescher tripled his best season in top five finishes from three to nine. He had 17 top ten finishes, his most ever in a season. He had his best average finish in a season, 12.1, over five positions better than his previous best. It led to Buescher making the semifinal round and finishing seventh in the championship, the first top ten championship finish for the team since 2014.
Cassidy had some success in his first two Formula E season, but far from the lofty success he experience in Japan. Year three saw Cassidy make great strides. After scoring four podium finishes in his first two seasons, the New Zealander had eight podium finishes in 2023 alone. He was in the points in 12 of 16 races and he went to the final round with a chance at the championship, finishing second to Jake Dennis.
Aldeguer had some good moments, but had some rough moments in his first full season in Moto2 in 2022. In 2023, Aldeguer made incredible strides, and he ended on the highest notes. Victory and 11 points finishes in the first 13 races aside, Aldeguer ended with four consecutive victories and six consecutive podium finishes. In the final six races, he went from 11th on 88 points to third on 212 points.
Past Winners
2012: Esteban Guerrieri
2013: Marco Andretti
2014: Chaz Mostert
2015: Graham Rahal
2016: Simon Pagenaud
2017: DJR Team Penske
2018: Gary Paffett
2019: Cooper Webb
2020: Joan Mir
2021: Francesco Bagnaia
2022: Scott McLaughlin
And that will do it. What a tremendous year this was! While it felt like 2023 went a little quicker than previous years, 2024 will be here soon enough. Competition will begin shortly and soon another batch of spectacular memories will be made. There will be plenty of new things we will see as well as historic moments we will be grateful to witness. For now, let's enjoy this holiday season.
Soon, we will be making predictions and handing out some Christmas presents.
