We are in the middle of the first month of the year. The reviews and previews are behind us. A few races have come and gone but we have yet to really get into the season. Most are still bunkered down under blankets waiting for warmer days trackside to return.
It has been awhile since we took a look at IndyCar heading into the new season and now is the best time to assess where we are at two months out from the season opener.
The IndyCar offseason starts with a mad dash for seats, a long holiday lull and ends with an even paced game of musical chairs from preseason testing to the season opener at St. Petersburg. The game has become more calculated with at most a pair of full-time openings available and a dozen opponents continuing to circle the water. Others see the writing on the wall and know while they might not be well positioned in this game they start to lean out of one fight and prepare to dart to the security of an Indianapolis 500 one-off. If you can't run full-time at least make sure you will be at Indianapolis.
The truth is most of you already know the lay of the land. You know the Penske drivers, the Andretti drivers, what Coyne is doing; who is staying put and who is moving on.
It is best to break it down like this:
Where Are the Open Seats of Substance?
Carlin.
That's it for the most part. The team has been awfully quiet about its sophomore season. Neither Max Chilton nor Charlie Kimball have been confirmed as returning but neither have been dismissed from the team.
The only thing swirling around this team are rumors.
Some think Chilton will run a reduced scheduled, something similar to Ed Jones with all the road course races. Kimball isn't out of the discussion but when the season ended it seemed word on the street was Kimball's sponsorship would not be enough for a full season in 2019 but it would take care of a good chunk of the season.
The only other name linked to the team is RC Enerson, who tested with the team last year at Circuit of the Americas and the team was not vocal about that at all. Enerson has spent the better part of the last two seasons on the sidelines. The Floridian made three IndyCar starts in 2016 for Dale Coyne Racing with his best result being ninth at Watkins Glen. Enerson ran in U.S. F2000 in 2013 and 2014 with him taking vice-champion honors in the second season. He was fourth in the 2015 Indy Lights championship with a victory at Mid-Ohio and his 2016 Indy Lights season ended prematurely after eight races to focus his attention and save his money for an IndyCar opportunity.
So That's Pretty Much It For Full-Time Seats?
Yeah, pretty much. Every other full-time seat is accounted for two months before the season opener.
On the Honda side, Chip Ganassi Racing retains Scott Dixon and partners him with Felix Rosenqvist.
No changes to the Andretti Autosport lineup with Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and Zach Veach returning and the same is true for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with both Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato staying put.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Dale Coyne Racing each see one change. At SPM, Marcus Ericsson joins the team alongside James Hinchcliffe. Coyne keeps Bourdais and has added Santino Ferrucci.
Honda has added a new team with Harding Steinbrenner Racing switching over from Chevrolet. Patricio O'Ward and Colton Herta will be the team's two drivers.
Team Penske will continue to lead Chevrolet with Josef Newgarden, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud. A.J. Foyt Racing continues at the rear and it has kept Matheus Leist and Tony Kanaan onboard. Ed Carpenter Racing keeps Spencer Pigot full-time while Carpenter will share the #20 Chevrolet with Ed Jones this season. And then there are the two unannounced Carlin entries and that is it when it comes to full-time entries.
We are looking at 14 Honda entries and nine Chevrolet entries, just shy of two-dozen with 23 full-time entries on the books.
What About Part-Time Teams? Are Any Of Those Expanding?
Yes!
Meyer Shank Racing will be back with Jack Harvey and it appears the team is set to run more in 2019. Last year, MSR ran six races, St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Indianapolis, Mid-Ohio, Portland and Sonoma. Ten races has been the stated goal for the 2019 season but those races have not been announced yet.
Juncos Racing made 12 appearances in 2018 with three different drivers and the team has yet to announce anything for 2019. The team has expanded its operations into IMSA's DPi class with a Cadillac entry. Marshall Pruett said on his podcast last week that the team plans on running two cars for the Indianapolis 500.
There will be a new team on the grid in 2019. DragonSpeed will run five races with Ben Hanley. Hanley has driven for the team the last few seasons in the European Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship with DragonSpeed. The team will contest at St. Petersburg, Barber, Indianapolis, Road America and Mid-Ohio. The team will use Chevrolet engines.
And then there is McLaren, which will field a Chevrolet-powered car for Fernando Alonso in the Indianapolis 500.
Should We Be Worried About Juncos Racing?
No.
Growth is not a straight line. It is not as easy as going from one race to 12 races to all the races. There are peaks and valleys and it takes time.
If the team is having more success putting together a sports car entry then that is fine. It is how the world works. There is demand for drivers looking for sports car opportunities and Juncos is meeting that demand. Good for Ricardo Juncos and his team.
And if the team never blossoms into a full-time IndyCar entry, do not panic, do not think there is something wrong with the system or IndyCar has to do more to drive down costs. For some teams it will work and for others it will not.
You are going to win some and you are going to lose some. I would love for Juncos Racing to field full-time entries in each IMSA and IndyCar but I would be just as happy if Juncos kept its doors open, kept up its successful Road to Indy program and was in a series that made financial sense for the team.
Indianapolis 500 Entries: Where Are We Now?
In a good spot.
We listed 23 full-time entries. Add Shank, Juncos' possible two, DragonSpeed, McLaren, Ed Jones running a third Ed Carpenter Racing entry in partnership with Scuderia Corsa, Jordan King has been confirmed in a third Rahal Letterman Lanigan entry and Hélio Castroneves will be back in the #3 Chevrolet for Team Penske and we are at 31 entries and two away from the promised land.
Andretti Autosport always runs at least one additional car. A.J. Foyt Racing runs an additional car even in years when Foyt himself says the team isn't running an additional car. Coyne has run an additional car frequently. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will likely field a car and last year the team fielded two. I wouldn't count out D&R doing the same in 2019. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has a history running an additional entry.
If all the entries in the paragraph above materialize, we are looking at 37 entries; two more than last year and that seems a tad high.
Some have speculated that we could see 38-40 entries with thoughts that McLaren could run two cars, Ganassi fielding an extra entry for someone of the likes of Kurt Busch and another team, such as Carlin, fielding an additional entry for Indianapolis.
I think we are going to see bumping this year and I think we are going to see more cars bumped than in 2018 but I have a hard time thinking Honda and Chevrolet are going to pony up enough engine leases to get over three-dozen entries.
Consider that of the 31 entries will have on paper the split is currently 16 to Honda and 15 to Chevrolet. If we are talking about 40 entries then in all likelihood it will have to be a 20-20 split and while that seems within touching distance at the current moment, those four and five extra entries are difficult to get to.
Last year, Honda topped Chevrolet in terms of entries at 19-16. If we take the proposed 37 entries from a few paragraphs above the split would be 19 Honda entries and 17 Chevrolet entries. Honda is maxed out. Pretty much every Honda team runs an additional entry. The only place to expand is with a third Ganassi entry and I am not sure that happens. Chevrolet is where there is room for expansion but event that is limited. Every full-time Chevrolet team but Carlin has plans to field an extra car then you have three more Chevrolet teams coming in for Indianapolis, two of which could run two entries. It is hard to see any more than 36-37 entries.
The crazy thing is we are hemming and hawing over the possible 37th, 38th, 39th and 40th entries for the Indianapolis 500 and it was not that long ago we were stretching just hoping to get to 34. Forget a good spot, the Indianapolis 500 is in a great position in January!
What Should We Expect?
In these final two months we should expect testing and possibly another few names entering the fold and those could be names that many in IndyCar circles are not familiar with.
Jordan King was announced as the road/street course driver for the #20 Chevrolet on January 4th last year. René Binder was confirmed for four races, which eventually expanded to six, with Juncos Racing the next day. Pietro Fittipaldi's part-time schedule with Dale Coyne Racing wasn't announced until February 6th. None of those three were really on the radar when the 2017 season ended.
We aren't entirely sure what the Carlin lineup will look like, whether Chilton will be full-time and the second car will be split or whether both cars will be split amongst four or five drivers but let's expect a few drivers to be slipping in out of seats in the coming tests, whether those be at Sebring, Laguna Seca or Austin.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Monday, January 14, 2019
Musings From the Weekend: Dream Race of Champions
BMW ruined the bed in Morocco and it allowed Jérôme d'Ambrosio to get his first victory on track in his Formula E career and his first victory on track since the 2010 Monaco sprint race in GP2. There was a staggered restart and a first time winner in Supercross. German manufactures remain unbeaten in the Dubai 24 Hours. New Zealanders defended their house. Daniel Suárez got a new ride. IndyCar released its television schedule. The Dakar Rally continues on although one competitor was tossed after running over a spectator. The spectator has a broken femur but is still alive. That is a grim note to end on. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
Dream Race of Champions
Coming up this weekend is one of my favorite events of the motorsports year. It is the Race of Champions. I still haven't figured out why I like it so much or why I take it as seriously as I do but it is what it is and it is that time of year again.
Mexico hosts this year's event and as with most Race of Champions we are less than a week away and we still do not have a full entry list announced. We will be getting driver announcements on a daily basis likely from now until the start of the competition on Saturday. It is disappointingly unprofessional. It is bad enough that we don't find out the location of the next Race of Champions until two months before the event.
Race of Champions could be a bigger event if people knew the date and location at least nine to ten months in advance and the lineup should be known at least a month or two out. The entire schedule should be known. We know the matches for a World Cup six months in advance. We should be going into Race of Champions knowing who is meeting whom in the group stages and knowing what the knockout round match ups could be.
The Race of Champions needs to take it to the next level and start taking itself seriously.
How great could this event be?
It should feature 32 countries, 32 pairs of drivers. It should be a three-day event. The first day should be just the group stage of the Nations Cup with two sessions, one in the day and one at night. Day two should be the knockout stage of the Nations Cup and day three should be a 64-driver single-elimination tournament to decide the Champion of Champions.
This is what it should look like (P.S. It is a lot harder to come up with 32 countries and driver pairings than I first thought it would be but I made it work):
Group A (The Alps Group)
Germany: Sebastian Vettel and René Rast
Why These Two Drivers: Vettel is one of the best drivers in this tournament and until someone regularly beats him Vettel should always represent Germany. Mick Schumacher has already been announced for Germany this year but Rast is an underrated driver. He won the Nations Cup last year with Timo Bernhard, a DTM title in 2017 and he ended 2018 with six consecutive victories and fell short in the championship. Plus, Rast is a strong sports car driver in prototypes and GT cars.
Notable Snubs: Bernhard, Nico Hülkenberg, André Lotterer
Austria: Richard Lietz and Lucas Auer
Why These Two Drivers: Lietz has been one of Porsche's best drivers with a world championship and three class victories at Le Mans to show for it. Austria doesn't have a deep lineup but Auer did well in DTM and he moves on to Super Formula.
Notable Snub: Philipp Eng
Switzerland: Sébastien Buemi and Neel Jani
Why These Two Drivers: Switzerland has never run at the Race of Champions and it should field a team. Buemi and Jani are World Endurance Drivers' Champions, both are Le Mans winners and both have been successful in single-seaters.
Notable Snubs: Marcel Fässler, Simona de Silvestro
France: Sébastien Ogier and Jean-Éric Vergne
Why These Two Drivers: Ogier has won the Champion of Champions competition before and he has won six consecutive World Rally titles. Vergne won the Formula E title and he has had plenty of success in LMP2 competition. They got championships to their names and that is why certain Formula One drivers are not in France's lineup.
Notable Snubs: Sébastien Bourdais, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Loïc Duval, Simon Pagenaud
Group B (The North Sea Group)
England: Lewis Hamilton and Sam Bird
Why These Two Drivers: One is a five-time World Drivers' Champion and the other is regular winner in Formula E and GT competition. Also, England is lacking exciting young drivers. Norris and Russell aren't there yet.
Notable Snubs: Jenson Button, James Calado, Mike Conway, Lando Norris, George Russell
Scotland: David Coulthard and Paul di Resta
Why These Two Drivers: Coulthard is a two-time Champion of Champions winner and di Resta was vice-champion in DTM while having successful LMP2 outings with United Autosports. In a similar vain to England, not a lot of exciting young Scottish drivers coming up the pipe and it is more concerning that England.
Netherlands: Max Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen
Why These Two Drivers: Verstappen won twice last year in Formula One. Bleekemolen is one of the best GT drivers in the world not with a factory program. Someone has to wake up and get him a sweet gig although it doesn't seem to matter where he goes. He is victorious everywhere.
Notable Snubs: Robin Frijns, Renger van der Zande
Belgium: Laurens Vanthoor and Thierry Neuville
Why These Two Drivers: Vanthoor has won a lot and he is a Porsche factory driver. Neuville let the World Rally Championship slip through his fingers but he is the next best Belgian driver and you want a diverse pairing. Rally drivers do well in this competition.
Notable Snubs: Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Dries Vanthoor, Bertrand Baguette
Group C (The Americas)
United States: Alexander Rossi and Colin Braun
Why These Two Drivers: Read This...
Notable Snubs: Ryan Hunter-Reay, Josef Newgarden, Kyle Busch, Patrick Long, Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kevin Harvick
Canada: James Hinchcliffe and Bruno Spengler
Why These Two Drivers: Because Canada's most exciting driver is not able to compete. You know Robert Wickens would be the number one driver for Canada. Hinchcliffe is good, Spengler is a DTM champion and Lance Stroll isn't good enough.
Notable Snubs: Nicholas Latifi, Zachary Claman De Melo
Mexico: Sergio Pérez and Patricio O'Ward
Why These Two Drivers: I nearly had Daniel Suárez and O'Ward because Pérez slipped my mind but Pérez is the best Mexican driver in the world. Why O'Ward over Suárez? He is 20 years old, has won in Prototype Challenge, Indy Lights and was bad fast in his first IndyCar outing.
Notable Snubs: Suárez, Memo Rojas, Esteban Gutiérrez
Brazil: Hélio Castroneves and Lucas di Grassi
Why These Two Drivers: I stuck with the actually lineup for Brazil because Castroneves is sneaky good and di Grassi probably should be in Formula One. Brazil is in a place though where it could have three or four teams, however.
Notable Snubs: Felipe Nasr, Pipo Derani, Tony Kanaan, Augusto Farfus, Pietro Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet, Jr.
Group D (Scandinavia)
Sweden: Felix Rosenqvist and Johan Kristoffersson
Why These Two Drivers: Because Rosenqvist should be in Formula One and has succeeded in everything he has every gotten behind the wheel of and Kristoffersson did well last year in the Race of Champions and he just won the World Rallycross title after winning 11 of 12 races. By the way, Scandinavia is too deep to just be Team Nordic. Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway should all have their own teams.
Notable Snub: Marcus Ericsson
Denmark: Tom Kristensen and Kevin Magnussen
Why These Two Drivers: Because Kristensen has been knocking on the door of winning Champion of Champions for year and he has won the Nations Cup. I nearly had both Magnussens as a team but Kevin is coming off his best season in Formula One.
Notable Snubs: Jan Magnussen, Nicki Thiim, Michael Christensen, Christian Nielsen, Marco Sœrensen
Finland: Toni Vilander and Valtteri Bottas
Why These Two Drivers: Because Kimi Räikkönen would never do it. Vilander is a Pirelli World Challenge champion and he has plenty of victories in GT competition. Bottas drive for Mercedes-Benz in Formula One. By the way, Finland hasn't had a participant in Race of Champions since Juho Hänninen in 2011!
Notable Snubs: Räikkönen, Jari-Matti Latvala, Esapekka Lappi.
Norway: Andreas Mikkelsen and Petter Solberg
Why These Two Drivers: Because Norway does not have much else to choose from. But Solberg has won the Nations Cup and does well in this event and Mikkelsen is the best Norway has got but shout out to Porsche driver Dennis Olsen. Maybe next year bud.
Group E (The Mediterranean Group)
Italy: Raffaele Marciello and Alessandro Pier Guidi
Why These Two Drivers: Because Antonio Giovinazzi isn't match fit, Marciello won a bunch last year in Blancpain GT Series and Pier Guidi is the defending World Endurance GT Drivers' champion.
Notable Snubs: Giovinazzi, Gianmaria Bruni, Mirko Bortolotti, Davide Rigon
Spain: Fernando Alonso and Antonio García
Why These Two Drivers: It is Alonso and García won the IMSA GT Le Mans title.
Notable Snubs: Miguel Molina
Portugal: Filipe Albuquerque and António Félix da Costa
Why These Two Drivers: Albuquerque has won Champion of Champions in 2010 and since then he has become a great sports car driver. Da Costa never got a shot at Formula One and he has become BMW's hidden gem and has won in Formula E and maybe should have two victories.
Monaco: Charles Leclerc and Stéphane Richelmi
Why These Two Drivers: Because I could form a pairing of Monegasque drivers and every pairing I could get was getting added to the competition but in all seriousness, Leclerc is at Ferrari and Richelmi has had a good career in sports cars after decent success in junior formula series.
Group F (The Rugby Championship)
South Africa: Kelvin van der Linde and Sheldon van der Linde
Why These Two Drivers: They were the only two South African drivers I could think of that are a decent age and moderately successful. Kelvin could be following the footsteps of Laurens Vanthoor.
Australia: Daniel Ricciardo and Will Power
Why These Two Drivers: Why not these two drivers? Australia has a lot of great drivers. These two are head and shoulders above the rest.
Notable Snubs: Jamie Whincup, Matt Campbell, Craig Lowndes
New Zealand: Scott Dixon and Nick Cassidy
Why These Two Drivers: One is Scott Dixon and Cassidy was vice-champion in Super GT and Super Formula. Cassidy is diverse and young and the best kept secret in Japan.
Notable Snubs: Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen, Brendon Hartley, Mitch Evans
Argentina: José María López and Esteban Guerrieri
Why These Two Drivers: López turned touring car success into a Toyota LMP1 ride and Guerrieri is good in touring cars. Outside of that the pool is not deep for Argentina.
Group G (The Yeesh Group or the "I have built the table and have four extra parts" Group)
Colombia: Juan Pablo Montoya and Carlos Muñoz
Why These Two Drivers: Montoya is the best of our generation and a Champion of Champions winner. Muñoz is underrated and someone in IndyCar should give him a full-time ride.
Venezuela: Pastor Maldonado and EJ Viso
Why These Two Drivers: Because I was able to find two Venezuelan drivers and was stretching for 32 pairs. Plus, deep down you want to see what Maldonado could do in this competition and you know he could end up in the final eight or not win a race and lose each time in a different spectacular fashion.
Russia: Romain Rusinov and Mikhail Aleshin
Why These Two Drivers: Rusinov is the best driver who doesn't want to leave LMP2 competition and Aleshin is a fearless driver. Plus, I can't take Daniil Kvyat seriously.
Estonia: Ott Tänak and Ralf Aron
Why These Two Drivers: Tänak nearly won the World Rally title last year and he has developed nicely over the last few seasons. Aron has been respectable in Formula Three but it feels like he is going to end up like Tio Ellinas, Facu Regalia and Luca Ghiotto who are really good in Formula Three/GP3 and then stall out.
Group H (The Asia Group)
Japan: Naoki Yamamoto and Kazuki Nakajima
Why These Two Drivers: Yamamoto won both Super Formula and Super GT GT500 championships in 2018 and Nakajima is coming off a win at Le Mans and leads the World Endurances Drivers' Championship. Nakajima has had a great career for himself in Japan as well.
Notable Snubs: Takuma Sato, Kamui Kobayashi, Ryō Hirakawa
China: Ho-Pin Tung and Ye Yifei
Why These Two Drivers: Tung has done well in LMP2 competition. Yifei won the French F4 Championship a few years ago and he was third in Formula Renault Eurocup in 2018.
United Arab Emirates: Ed Jones and Khaled Al Qubaisi
Why These Two Drivers: Jones has shown promise in IndyCar and Al Qubaisi was in this competition last year.
Thailand: Alexander Albon and Sandy Stuvik
Why These Two Drivers: Albon is getting a Formula One drive and even if he wasn't he was set to be in Nissan's Formula E program. Albon was third in the Formula Two championship last year behind George Russell and Lando Norris. Stuvik won the Euroformula Open Championship in 2014, had two rough years in GP3 and then moved to GT3 competition where he has been slightly better.
The bracket for the knockout round held on day two would look like this:
It could set up a Germany-England meeting in the round of 16. The Americas would face Scandinavia in the first knockout round. The best of the Mediterranean would face the best of the Southern Hemisphere and a China vs. Russia match could happen in the round of 16. One other change I would make is every round would be a best-of-three with the final being best-of-five.
As for the Champion of Champions competition, how do you seed a 64-driver field?
The best thing I could come up with is super license points but even that is a bit tricky. Those with a super license do not have points and there are some drivers that participate in series that do not receive super license points, most notably the World Rally Championship. Then there are competitors that are not active or have not been active and have zero points but are clearly better than that, most notably Tom Kristensen and David Coulthard. Also, the most updated super license points I could find was prior to the 2018 season and I wasn't going to do the math and deduct the 2015 points and add in the 2018 totals so the 2017 numbers is what I use. Deal with it.
Here is what I did:
I gave all drivers with a super license 200 points, which means they are all top seeds.
I gave Sébastien Ogier 100 points, Kristensen 100 points, Coulthard 40 points and Thierry Neville, Petter Solberg and Andreas Mikkelsen all got five points.
The best way to explain this is to go seed-by-seed.
One Seeds: Lewis Hamilton, Sebastien Vettel, Max Verstappen, Lucas di Grassi
Why: The top three were no brainers and I included di Grassi, one, to make it different and reward a driver successful in something other than Formula One who still has a super license and, two, because the seeding really doesn't matter. One seeds and two seeds are about the same.
Two Seeds: Charles Leclerc, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso
Why: They all good. You put Leclerc in the same quarter as Hamilton, Bottas with Vettel, Ricciardo with Verstappen and Alonso with di Grassi. One seeds and two seeds are about the same.
Three Seeds: Sergio Pérez, Kevin Magnussen, Sébastien Buemi, Sébastien Ogier
Why: You get the super license drivers out of the way, Buemi has the most points amongst non-super licensed drivers and Ogier has won six consecutive World Rally titles.
Four Seeds: Tom Kristensen, Neel Jani, Scott Dixon, Kazuki Nakajima
Why: All these guys feel like four seeds. Kristensen and Ogier were tied on 100 points but I gave Ogier the advantage and the better seeding since he is active.
Five Seeds: Felix Rosenquvst, Sam Bird, Will Power, Nick Cassidy
Why: Like the four seeds, these all seem about right.
Six Seeds: David Coulthard, Laurens Vanthoor, Alexander Rossi, Hélio Castroneves
Why: Coulthard, Vanthoor and Cassidy were all tied and Cassidy's diversity got him in the better seed. It makes sense that Castroneves is a six-seed.
Seven Seeds: José María López, Romain Rusinov, Filipe Albuquerque, Juan Pablo Montoya
Why: Rusinov seems a bit high because he has only been an LMP2 driver and Montoya probably would have been higher if he remained active in IndyCar.
Eight Seeds: Alexander Albon, Raffaele Marciello, Ho-Pin Tung, René Rast
Why: Albon is this high from his Formula Two success and Marciello is living off his GP2 success. Tung is like Rusinov with a boost from LMP2 competition. Rast could be a bit higher.
Nine Seeds: Antonio García, Naoki Yamamoto, Stéphane Richelmi, Ralf Aron
Why: GT success is not worth that much but you would have to think Yamamoto's 2018 season would leap him up a few seeds. Aron is a bit high. When there are 64 drivers, somebody has to be in the back half and when you lay all the names out on paper you face that reality.
Ten Seeds: Richard Lietz, Jean-Éric Vergne, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Paul di Resta
Why: GT racing is not heavily weighed and Vergne slipped a bit but his Formula E title would likely have boosted him up into at least a six-seed if we had the most updated super license points. It at least sets up a high seed to make a run in the tournament.
Eleven Seeds: Thierry Neuville, Petter Solberg, Andreas Mikkelsen, Bruno Spengler
Why: Those five points gets these three rally drivers off the bottom. Spengler has been good but not as great as he once was in DTM.
Twelve Seeds: Ed Jones, António Félix da Costa, Lucas Auer, Mikhail Aleshin
Why: Because if we have learned anything from the NCAA tournament 12 seeds are dangerous and all four of these drivers could win a race.
Thirteen Seeds: Toni Vilander, Carlos Muñoz, Colin Braun, Pastor Maldonado
Why: Because Vilander and Muñoz were the final two drivers with points. Braun doesn't have any points and Maldonado has been out of Formula One for three years. No points for you.
Fourteen Seeds: Jeroen Bleekemolen, James Hinchcliffe, Patricio O'Ward, Johan Kristoffersson
Why: They all have no points but are better than the remaining drivers.
Fifteen Seeds: EJ Viso, Esteban Guerrieri, Ott Tänak, Kelvin van der Linde
Why: Tänak could be higher. The only reason I didn't give him five points was because his WRC success has not been as spread out as the other three. He is that sneaky 15-seed though and that is not a bad thing. The other three, Viso has been driving Stadium Super Trucks as his most recent gig, Guerrieri is only in touring cars and van der Linde is young.
Sixteen Seeds: Sheldon van der Linde, Ye Yifei, Khaled al Qubaisi, Sandy Stuvik
Why: These drivers are either silver-rated or only won in junior formula series. They are the sacrificial lambs for the top four.
Here is what the top half of the bracket looks like:
And the bottom half:
It seems pretty even. There isn't one quarter that is more stacked than another. But this is what Race of Champions should be. Fans should be looking ahead and seeing what the match ups could be and drivers should be thinking about this. There should be the nerves of a bracket and a top seed being caught out.
You have Verstappen and Ricciardo set up as a possible quarterfinal but Ricciardo has Tänak in the first round. If Tänak takes out Ricciardo early it opens up the bottom of that quarter. Verstappen isn't a lock for the quarterfinals. Power would be a possible round of 16 opponent and Power has a good road. He is in a trick 5v12 match but if he defeats da Costa, I think he knocks out either Jani or Braun in round two and then he has Verstappen. That is more of a toss up than most would think.
In the di Grassi quarter, you have Alonso, Montoya, Ogier and Rossi set to be chalk out of round one in the bottom of the quarter. How do you choose one of those four to make the quarterfinals? Cassidy/Jones is a 5v12 match and that could go either way but Kristensen would be waiting for either of those two and it could set up for a meeting of former Audi teammates in the round of 16 with di Grassi and Kristensen.
If there is one weak area it is the bottom of the Vettel quarter. While Vettel and Dixon could be a round of 16 match up with Yamamoto and Bird being sleepers, the bottom seems to line up perfectly for Bottas. Bottas has Guerrieri and then would face the winner of Rusinov/Pier Guidi. He seems a lock for the round of 16. As for his potential opponent, Vanthoor/Solberg is interesting but neither seems like a threat and then there is Magnussen/O'Ward, not something to be scared of either.
The Hamilton quarter is really tight. Hamilton could have to face Nakajima or Rosenqvist in the round of 16 and then could have Leclerc, Pérez or Castroneves in the quarterfinals. Hamilton could have a difficult pair of match ups between Rosenqvist and Leclerc in consecutive rounds and it would shape up to be a changing of the guard type of meeting each time. Pérez wouldn't be safe in round one. Kristoffersson could knock him off and if Kristoffersson did I think he could beat either Castroneves or Neuville.
There are many things that stand in the way of this happening: Scheduling logistics, driver contracts, time, interest, fitness but one other reason is organization. Race of Champions is relaxed in terms of promotion but it could be much bigger. The event is only as big as the level of effort the organizers put into it. The organizers are playing small ball when they have two outs in the bottom of the ninth with no one on and down a run. It is time to start swinging for the fences.
Until that changes this elaborate competition with over five-dozen of the best drivers in the world will have to remain in the pillows.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Jérôme d'Ambrosio but did you know...
The #88 Car Collection Motorsport Audi of Christopher Haase, Frédéric Vervisch, Dimitri Parhofer and Rik Breukers won the Dubai 24 Hours.
Here are the Dakar Rally class leaders with four stages to go:
Bikes: Pablo Quintanilla leads American Ricky Brabec by four minutes and 38 seconds.
Quads: Nicolas Cavigliasso has over an hour lead.
Cars: Nasser Al-Attiyah has a 37-minute lead over Sébastien Loeb and a 41-minute lead over Stéphane Peterhansel.
Trucks: Eduard Nikolaev leads Dmitry Sotnikov by ten minutes.
SxS: Gerard Farres Guell leads Sergei Kariakin by 13 minutes.
The #22 United Autosports Ligier-Nissan of Paul di Resta and Phil Hanson won the 4 Hours of Buriram. The #2 United Autosports Ligier-Nissan of Wayne Boyd, Chris Buncombe and Garett Grist won in LMP3. The #11 CarGuy Racing Ferrari of James Calado, Kei Cozzolino and Takeshi Kimura won in GT for the third consecutive race.
Liam Lawson won the bookends of the Toyota Racing Series races from Highlands Motorsports Park with Brendon Leitch winning the second race of the weekend.
Blake Baggett won the Supercross race from Glendale, his first career victory.
Olivier Panis and Andréa Dubourg split the Andros Trophy races from Isola 2000.
Coming Up This Weekend
You know about Race of Champions.
The Chili Bowl is an all-week affair.
Supercross returns to Anaheim.
Toyota Racing Series will be at Teretonga Park.
Dream Race of Champions
Coming up this weekend is one of my favorite events of the motorsports year. It is the Race of Champions. I still haven't figured out why I like it so much or why I take it as seriously as I do but it is what it is and it is that time of year again.
Mexico hosts this year's event and as with most Race of Champions we are less than a week away and we still do not have a full entry list announced. We will be getting driver announcements on a daily basis likely from now until the start of the competition on Saturday. It is disappointingly unprofessional. It is bad enough that we don't find out the location of the next Race of Champions until two months before the event.
Race of Champions could be a bigger event if people knew the date and location at least nine to ten months in advance and the lineup should be known at least a month or two out. The entire schedule should be known. We know the matches for a World Cup six months in advance. We should be going into Race of Champions knowing who is meeting whom in the group stages and knowing what the knockout round match ups could be.
The Race of Champions needs to take it to the next level and start taking itself seriously.
How great could this event be?
It should feature 32 countries, 32 pairs of drivers. It should be a three-day event. The first day should be just the group stage of the Nations Cup with two sessions, one in the day and one at night. Day two should be the knockout stage of the Nations Cup and day three should be a 64-driver single-elimination tournament to decide the Champion of Champions.
This is what it should look like (P.S. It is a lot harder to come up with 32 countries and driver pairings than I first thought it would be but I made it work):
Group A (The Alps Group)
Germany: Sebastian Vettel and René Rast
Why These Two Drivers: Vettel is one of the best drivers in this tournament and until someone regularly beats him Vettel should always represent Germany. Mick Schumacher has already been announced for Germany this year but Rast is an underrated driver. He won the Nations Cup last year with Timo Bernhard, a DTM title in 2017 and he ended 2018 with six consecutive victories and fell short in the championship. Plus, Rast is a strong sports car driver in prototypes and GT cars.
Notable Snubs: Bernhard, Nico Hülkenberg, André Lotterer
Austria: Richard Lietz and Lucas Auer
Why These Two Drivers: Lietz has been one of Porsche's best drivers with a world championship and three class victories at Le Mans to show for it. Austria doesn't have a deep lineup but Auer did well in DTM and he moves on to Super Formula.
Notable Snub: Philipp Eng
Switzerland: Sébastien Buemi and Neel Jani
Why These Two Drivers: Switzerland has never run at the Race of Champions and it should field a team. Buemi and Jani are World Endurance Drivers' Champions, both are Le Mans winners and both have been successful in single-seaters.
Notable Snubs: Marcel Fässler, Simona de Silvestro
France: Sébastien Ogier and Jean-Éric Vergne
Why These Two Drivers: Ogier has won the Champion of Champions competition before and he has won six consecutive World Rally titles. Vergne won the Formula E title and he has had plenty of success in LMP2 competition. They got championships to their names and that is why certain Formula One drivers are not in France's lineup.
Notable Snubs: Sébastien Bourdais, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Loïc Duval, Simon Pagenaud
Group B (The North Sea Group)
England: Lewis Hamilton and Sam Bird
Why These Two Drivers: One is a five-time World Drivers' Champion and the other is regular winner in Formula E and GT competition. Also, England is lacking exciting young drivers. Norris and Russell aren't there yet.
Notable Snubs: Jenson Button, James Calado, Mike Conway, Lando Norris, George Russell
Scotland: David Coulthard and Paul di Resta
Why These Two Drivers: Coulthard is a two-time Champion of Champions winner and di Resta was vice-champion in DTM while having successful LMP2 outings with United Autosports. In a similar vain to England, not a lot of exciting young Scottish drivers coming up the pipe and it is more concerning that England.
Netherlands: Max Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen
Why These Two Drivers: Verstappen won twice last year in Formula One. Bleekemolen is one of the best GT drivers in the world not with a factory program. Someone has to wake up and get him a sweet gig although it doesn't seem to matter where he goes. He is victorious everywhere.
Notable Snubs: Robin Frijns, Renger van der Zande
Belgium: Laurens Vanthoor and Thierry Neuville
Why These Two Drivers: Vanthoor has won a lot and he is a Porsche factory driver. Neuville let the World Rally Championship slip through his fingers but he is the next best Belgian driver and you want a diverse pairing. Rally drivers do well in this competition.
Notable Snubs: Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Dries Vanthoor, Bertrand Baguette
Group C (The Americas)
United States: Alexander Rossi and Colin Braun
Why These Two Drivers: Read This...
Notable Snubs: Ryan Hunter-Reay, Josef Newgarden, Kyle Busch, Patrick Long, Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kevin Harvick
Canada: James Hinchcliffe and Bruno Spengler
Why These Two Drivers: Because Canada's most exciting driver is not able to compete. You know Robert Wickens would be the number one driver for Canada. Hinchcliffe is good, Spengler is a DTM champion and Lance Stroll isn't good enough.
Notable Snubs: Nicholas Latifi, Zachary Claman De Melo
Mexico: Sergio Pérez and Patricio O'Ward
Why These Two Drivers: I nearly had Daniel Suárez and O'Ward because Pérez slipped my mind but Pérez is the best Mexican driver in the world. Why O'Ward over Suárez? He is 20 years old, has won in Prototype Challenge, Indy Lights and was bad fast in his first IndyCar outing.
Notable Snubs: Suárez, Memo Rojas, Esteban Gutiérrez
Brazil: Hélio Castroneves and Lucas di Grassi
Why These Two Drivers: I stuck with the actually lineup for Brazil because Castroneves is sneaky good and di Grassi probably should be in Formula One. Brazil is in a place though where it could have three or four teams, however.
Notable Snubs: Felipe Nasr, Pipo Derani, Tony Kanaan, Augusto Farfus, Pietro Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet, Jr.
Group D (Scandinavia)
Sweden: Felix Rosenqvist and Johan Kristoffersson
Why These Two Drivers: Because Rosenqvist should be in Formula One and has succeeded in everything he has every gotten behind the wheel of and Kristoffersson did well last year in the Race of Champions and he just won the World Rallycross title after winning 11 of 12 races. By the way, Scandinavia is too deep to just be Team Nordic. Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway should all have their own teams.
Notable Snub: Marcus Ericsson
Denmark: Tom Kristensen and Kevin Magnussen
Why These Two Drivers: Because Kristensen has been knocking on the door of winning Champion of Champions for year and he has won the Nations Cup. I nearly had both Magnussens as a team but Kevin is coming off his best season in Formula One.
Notable Snubs: Jan Magnussen, Nicki Thiim, Michael Christensen, Christian Nielsen, Marco Sœrensen
Finland: Toni Vilander and Valtteri Bottas
Why These Two Drivers: Because Kimi Räikkönen would never do it. Vilander is a Pirelli World Challenge champion and he has plenty of victories in GT competition. Bottas drive for Mercedes-Benz in Formula One. By the way, Finland hasn't had a participant in Race of Champions since Juho Hänninen in 2011!
Notable Snubs: Räikkönen, Jari-Matti Latvala, Esapekka Lappi.
Norway: Andreas Mikkelsen and Petter Solberg
Why These Two Drivers: Because Norway does not have much else to choose from. But Solberg has won the Nations Cup and does well in this event and Mikkelsen is the best Norway has got but shout out to Porsche driver Dennis Olsen. Maybe next year bud.
Group E (The Mediterranean Group)
Italy: Raffaele Marciello and Alessandro Pier Guidi
Why These Two Drivers: Because Antonio Giovinazzi isn't match fit, Marciello won a bunch last year in Blancpain GT Series and Pier Guidi is the defending World Endurance GT Drivers' champion.
Notable Snubs: Giovinazzi, Gianmaria Bruni, Mirko Bortolotti, Davide Rigon
Spain: Fernando Alonso and Antonio García
Why These Two Drivers: It is Alonso and García won the IMSA GT Le Mans title.
Notable Snubs: Miguel Molina
Portugal: Filipe Albuquerque and António Félix da Costa
Why These Two Drivers: Albuquerque has won Champion of Champions in 2010 and since then he has become a great sports car driver. Da Costa never got a shot at Formula One and he has become BMW's hidden gem and has won in Formula E and maybe should have two victories.
Monaco: Charles Leclerc and Stéphane Richelmi
Why These Two Drivers: Because I could form a pairing of Monegasque drivers and every pairing I could get was getting added to the competition but in all seriousness, Leclerc is at Ferrari and Richelmi has had a good career in sports cars after decent success in junior formula series.
Group F (The Rugby Championship)
South Africa: Kelvin van der Linde and Sheldon van der Linde
Why These Two Drivers: They were the only two South African drivers I could think of that are a decent age and moderately successful. Kelvin could be following the footsteps of Laurens Vanthoor.
Australia: Daniel Ricciardo and Will Power
Why These Two Drivers: Why not these two drivers? Australia has a lot of great drivers. These two are head and shoulders above the rest.
Notable Snubs: Jamie Whincup, Matt Campbell, Craig Lowndes
New Zealand: Scott Dixon and Nick Cassidy
Why These Two Drivers: One is Scott Dixon and Cassidy was vice-champion in Super GT and Super Formula. Cassidy is diverse and young and the best kept secret in Japan.
Notable Snubs: Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen, Brendon Hartley, Mitch Evans
Argentina: José María López and Esteban Guerrieri
Why These Two Drivers: López turned touring car success into a Toyota LMP1 ride and Guerrieri is good in touring cars. Outside of that the pool is not deep for Argentina.
Group G (The Yeesh Group or the "I have built the table and have four extra parts" Group)
Colombia: Juan Pablo Montoya and Carlos Muñoz
Why These Two Drivers: Montoya is the best of our generation and a Champion of Champions winner. Muñoz is underrated and someone in IndyCar should give him a full-time ride.
Venezuela: Pastor Maldonado and EJ Viso
Why These Two Drivers: Because I was able to find two Venezuelan drivers and was stretching for 32 pairs. Plus, deep down you want to see what Maldonado could do in this competition and you know he could end up in the final eight or not win a race and lose each time in a different spectacular fashion.
Russia: Romain Rusinov and Mikhail Aleshin
Why These Two Drivers: Rusinov is the best driver who doesn't want to leave LMP2 competition and Aleshin is a fearless driver. Plus, I can't take Daniil Kvyat seriously.
Estonia: Ott Tänak and Ralf Aron
Why These Two Drivers: Tänak nearly won the World Rally title last year and he has developed nicely over the last few seasons. Aron has been respectable in Formula Three but it feels like he is going to end up like Tio Ellinas, Facu Regalia and Luca Ghiotto who are really good in Formula Three/GP3 and then stall out.
Group H (The Asia Group)
Japan: Naoki Yamamoto and Kazuki Nakajima
Why These Two Drivers: Yamamoto won both Super Formula and Super GT GT500 championships in 2018 and Nakajima is coming off a win at Le Mans and leads the World Endurances Drivers' Championship. Nakajima has had a great career for himself in Japan as well.
Notable Snubs: Takuma Sato, Kamui Kobayashi, Ryō Hirakawa
China: Ho-Pin Tung and Ye Yifei
Why These Two Drivers: Tung has done well in LMP2 competition. Yifei won the French F4 Championship a few years ago and he was third in Formula Renault Eurocup in 2018.
United Arab Emirates: Ed Jones and Khaled Al Qubaisi
Why These Two Drivers: Jones has shown promise in IndyCar and Al Qubaisi was in this competition last year.
Thailand: Alexander Albon and Sandy Stuvik
Why These Two Drivers: Albon is getting a Formula One drive and even if he wasn't he was set to be in Nissan's Formula E program. Albon was third in the Formula Two championship last year behind George Russell and Lando Norris. Stuvik won the Euroformula Open Championship in 2014, had two rough years in GP3 and then moved to GT3 competition where he has been slightly better.
The bracket for the knockout round held on day two would look like this:
It could set up a Germany-England meeting in the round of 16. The Americas would face Scandinavia in the first knockout round. The best of the Mediterranean would face the best of the Southern Hemisphere and a China vs. Russia match could happen in the round of 16. One other change I would make is every round would be a best-of-three with the final being best-of-five.
As for the Champion of Champions competition, how do you seed a 64-driver field?
The best thing I could come up with is super license points but even that is a bit tricky. Those with a super license do not have points and there are some drivers that participate in series that do not receive super license points, most notably the World Rally Championship. Then there are competitors that are not active or have not been active and have zero points but are clearly better than that, most notably Tom Kristensen and David Coulthard. Also, the most updated super license points I could find was prior to the 2018 season and I wasn't going to do the math and deduct the 2015 points and add in the 2018 totals so the 2017 numbers is what I use. Deal with it.
Here is what I did:
I gave all drivers with a super license 200 points, which means they are all top seeds.
I gave Sébastien Ogier 100 points, Kristensen 100 points, Coulthard 40 points and Thierry Neville, Petter Solberg and Andreas Mikkelsen all got five points.
The best way to explain this is to go seed-by-seed.
One Seeds: Lewis Hamilton, Sebastien Vettel, Max Verstappen, Lucas di Grassi
Why: The top three were no brainers and I included di Grassi, one, to make it different and reward a driver successful in something other than Formula One who still has a super license and, two, because the seeding really doesn't matter. One seeds and two seeds are about the same.
Two Seeds: Charles Leclerc, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso
Why: They all good. You put Leclerc in the same quarter as Hamilton, Bottas with Vettel, Ricciardo with Verstappen and Alonso with di Grassi. One seeds and two seeds are about the same.
Three Seeds: Sergio Pérez, Kevin Magnussen, Sébastien Buemi, Sébastien Ogier
Why: You get the super license drivers out of the way, Buemi has the most points amongst non-super licensed drivers and Ogier has won six consecutive World Rally titles.
Four Seeds: Tom Kristensen, Neel Jani, Scott Dixon, Kazuki Nakajima
Why: All these guys feel like four seeds. Kristensen and Ogier were tied on 100 points but I gave Ogier the advantage and the better seeding since he is active.
Five Seeds: Felix Rosenquvst, Sam Bird, Will Power, Nick Cassidy
Why: Like the four seeds, these all seem about right.
Six Seeds: David Coulthard, Laurens Vanthoor, Alexander Rossi, Hélio Castroneves
Why: Coulthard, Vanthoor and Cassidy were all tied and Cassidy's diversity got him in the better seed. It makes sense that Castroneves is a six-seed.
Seven Seeds: José María López, Romain Rusinov, Filipe Albuquerque, Juan Pablo Montoya
Why: Rusinov seems a bit high because he has only been an LMP2 driver and Montoya probably would have been higher if he remained active in IndyCar.
Eight Seeds: Alexander Albon, Raffaele Marciello, Ho-Pin Tung, René Rast
Why: Albon is this high from his Formula Two success and Marciello is living off his GP2 success. Tung is like Rusinov with a boost from LMP2 competition. Rast could be a bit higher.
Nine Seeds: Antonio García, Naoki Yamamoto, Stéphane Richelmi, Ralf Aron
Why: GT success is not worth that much but you would have to think Yamamoto's 2018 season would leap him up a few seeds. Aron is a bit high. When there are 64 drivers, somebody has to be in the back half and when you lay all the names out on paper you face that reality.
Ten Seeds: Richard Lietz, Jean-Éric Vergne, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Paul di Resta
Why: GT racing is not heavily weighed and Vergne slipped a bit but his Formula E title would likely have boosted him up into at least a six-seed if we had the most updated super license points. It at least sets up a high seed to make a run in the tournament.
Eleven Seeds: Thierry Neuville, Petter Solberg, Andreas Mikkelsen, Bruno Spengler
Why: Those five points gets these three rally drivers off the bottom. Spengler has been good but not as great as he once was in DTM.
Twelve Seeds: Ed Jones, António Félix da Costa, Lucas Auer, Mikhail Aleshin
Why: Because if we have learned anything from the NCAA tournament 12 seeds are dangerous and all four of these drivers could win a race.
Thirteen Seeds: Toni Vilander, Carlos Muñoz, Colin Braun, Pastor Maldonado
Why: Because Vilander and Muñoz were the final two drivers with points. Braun doesn't have any points and Maldonado has been out of Formula One for three years. No points for you.
Fourteen Seeds: Jeroen Bleekemolen, James Hinchcliffe, Patricio O'Ward, Johan Kristoffersson
Why: They all have no points but are better than the remaining drivers.
Fifteen Seeds: EJ Viso, Esteban Guerrieri, Ott Tänak, Kelvin van der Linde
Why: Tänak could be higher. The only reason I didn't give him five points was because his WRC success has not been as spread out as the other three. He is that sneaky 15-seed though and that is not a bad thing. The other three, Viso has been driving Stadium Super Trucks as his most recent gig, Guerrieri is only in touring cars and van der Linde is young.
Sixteen Seeds: Sheldon van der Linde, Ye Yifei, Khaled al Qubaisi, Sandy Stuvik
Why: These drivers are either silver-rated or only won in junior formula series. They are the sacrificial lambs for the top four.
Here is what the top half of the bracket looks like:
It seems pretty even. There isn't one quarter that is more stacked than another. But this is what Race of Champions should be. Fans should be looking ahead and seeing what the match ups could be and drivers should be thinking about this. There should be the nerves of a bracket and a top seed being caught out.
You have Verstappen and Ricciardo set up as a possible quarterfinal but Ricciardo has Tänak in the first round. If Tänak takes out Ricciardo early it opens up the bottom of that quarter. Verstappen isn't a lock for the quarterfinals. Power would be a possible round of 16 opponent and Power has a good road. He is in a trick 5v12 match but if he defeats da Costa, I think he knocks out either Jani or Braun in round two and then he has Verstappen. That is more of a toss up than most would think.
In the di Grassi quarter, you have Alonso, Montoya, Ogier and Rossi set to be chalk out of round one in the bottom of the quarter. How do you choose one of those four to make the quarterfinals? Cassidy/Jones is a 5v12 match and that could go either way but Kristensen would be waiting for either of those two and it could set up for a meeting of former Audi teammates in the round of 16 with di Grassi and Kristensen.
If there is one weak area it is the bottom of the Vettel quarter. While Vettel and Dixon could be a round of 16 match up with Yamamoto and Bird being sleepers, the bottom seems to line up perfectly for Bottas. Bottas has Guerrieri and then would face the winner of Rusinov/Pier Guidi. He seems a lock for the round of 16. As for his potential opponent, Vanthoor/Solberg is interesting but neither seems like a threat and then there is Magnussen/O'Ward, not something to be scared of either.
The Hamilton quarter is really tight. Hamilton could have to face Nakajima or Rosenqvist in the round of 16 and then could have Leclerc, Pérez or Castroneves in the quarterfinals. Hamilton could have a difficult pair of match ups between Rosenqvist and Leclerc in consecutive rounds and it would shape up to be a changing of the guard type of meeting each time. Pérez wouldn't be safe in round one. Kristoffersson could knock him off and if Kristoffersson did I think he could beat either Castroneves or Neuville.
There are many things that stand in the way of this happening: Scheduling logistics, driver contracts, time, interest, fitness but one other reason is organization. Race of Champions is relaxed in terms of promotion but it could be much bigger. The event is only as big as the level of effort the organizers put into it. The organizers are playing small ball when they have two outs in the bottom of the ninth with no one on and down a run. It is time to start swinging for the fences.
Until that changes this elaborate competition with over five-dozen of the best drivers in the world will have to remain in the pillows.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Jérôme d'Ambrosio but did you know...
The #88 Car Collection Motorsport Audi of Christopher Haase, Frédéric Vervisch, Dimitri Parhofer and Rik Breukers won the Dubai 24 Hours.
Here are the Dakar Rally class leaders with four stages to go:
Bikes: Pablo Quintanilla leads American Ricky Brabec by four minutes and 38 seconds.
Quads: Nicolas Cavigliasso has over an hour lead.
Cars: Nasser Al-Attiyah has a 37-minute lead over Sébastien Loeb and a 41-minute lead over Stéphane Peterhansel.
Trucks: Eduard Nikolaev leads Dmitry Sotnikov by ten minutes.
SxS: Gerard Farres Guell leads Sergei Kariakin by 13 minutes.
The #22 United Autosports Ligier-Nissan of Paul di Resta and Phil Hanson won the 4 Hours of Buriram. The #2 United Autosports Ligier-Nissan of Wayne Boyd, Chris Buncombe and Garett Grist won in LMP3. The #11 CarGuy Racing Ferrari of James Calado, Kei Cozzolino and Takeshi Kimura won in GT for the third consecutive race.
Liam Lawson won the bookends of the Toyota Racing Series races from Highlands Motorsports Park with Brendon Leitch winning the second race of the weekend.
Blake Baggett won the Supercross race from Glendale, his first career victory.
Olivier Panis and Andréa Dubourg split the Andros Trophy races from Isola 2000.
Coming Up This Weekend
You know about Race of Champions.
The Chili Bowl is an all-week affair.
Supercross returns to Anaheim.
Toyota Racing Series will be at Teretonga Park.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
2019 Dubai 24 Hour Preview
For the 14th time the Dubai 24 Hour takes place at the crack of a New Year and breaks the slumber of winter. This twice-around-the-clock endurance race features a variety of automobiles but this preview will focus on the top class of GT3 machinery, split between A6-PRO and A6-AM. Seventeen previous overall winners are in the top class for this year's race. Between A6-PRO and A6-AM there are 23 cars representing seven manufactures.
A6-PRO
#2 Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Abdulaziz Al Faisal, Hubert Haupt, Yelmer Buurman, Saud Al Faisal, Adam Christodoulou
Why this car could win: This team won last year! Albeit it Saud Al Faisal replaces Gabriele Piana in the lineup. Al Faisal, Haupt and Buurman won this race together in 2015 and also had a third place finish in this race in 2017. Black Falcon has won this race four times in the last seven years. Chrisodoulou is a late addition to his car and he won four races last year in the A6-AM class running with Charlie Putman, Charles Espenlaub and Joe Foster.
Why this car won't win: Repeating is hard to do and while it has occurred twice in the short history of this event, including once with Black Falcon, it is easier said than done and there are plenty of equal competition, including its sister car.
#3 Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Luca Stolz, Khlaed Al Qubaisi, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Ben Keating, Manuel Metzger
Why this car could win: See above. It is Black Falcon. This team has won this race before. It seems likely one of these two cars will end up on the podium. This team has had a car on the overall podium in this race for eight consecutive years. Al Qubaisi and Bleekemolen have won this race twice. Bleekemolen, Keating and Stolz are all familiar with one another from the IMSA North American Endurance Championship races. Stolz also won the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup championship in 2018.
Why this car won't win: Its sister car. A few other cars could top this one but I think this is one of the top contenders for the overall victory.
#7 WRT Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Mohammed Saud Fahad Al Saud, Michael Vergers, Christopher Mies, Dries Vanthoor
Why this car could win: This team has won this race before. Mies has won many endurance races before. He is a two-time 24 Hours Nürburgring winner and a two-time Bathurst 12 Hour winner. Mies and Vanthoor were co-drivers in the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup last year.
Why this car won't win: It might be too top heavy with Mies and Vanthoor and I am not sure those two can carry the load.
#9 BWT Mücke Motorsport Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Markus Winkelhock, Mike-David Ortmann, Andreas Weishaupt, Stefan Mücke, Ricardo Feller
Why this car could win: Winkelhock has won the Spa 24 Hours twice and the 24 Hours Nürburgring three times. Mücke has plenty of success with the factory Aston Martin and factory Ford program.
Why this car won't win: It is a good lineup but not a great lineup.
#11 Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha Ferrari 488 GT3
Drivers: Jirí Písarík, Josef Kral, Matteo Malucelli
Why this car could win: On paper, none of these drivers standout to you but Scuderia Praha won three 24H Series races in 2017 and three in 2018. The team has skipped the Dubai 24 Hours the last two years.
Why this car won't win: It would not be a surprise at all if this car won the race. It is a deep class.
#18 V8 Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6-ZR1
Drivers: Luc Braams, Wolf Nathan, Duncan Huisman, Nicky Pastorelli, Finlay Hutchison
Why this car could win: A pretty stable lineup that we see year in and year out with the same automobile.
Why this car won't win: This team has not had much success at Dubai and the Corvette just cannot compete with the German cars.
#23 KCMG Nissian GT-R Nismo GT3
Drivers: Alexandre Imperatori, Oliver Jarvis, Edoardo Liberati, Philipp Wlazik
Why this car could win: A semi-impressive driver lineup with endurance race tested Imperatori and Jarvis. Jarvis has won at Le Mans in the LMP2 class, he was an Audi factory driver and he won the Suzuka 1000km.
Why this car won't win: A semi-unknown driver lineup with Liberati and Wlazik. Liberati won the GT Asia championship in 2016 but he does not have much endurance race experience. Wlazik has had success in Lamborghini Super Trofeo but this is another animal.
#24 GPX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R
Drivers: Frederic Fatien, Jean-Pierre Valentini, Jordan Grogor, Nicky Pastorelli, Stuart Hall
Why this car could win: All of these drivers are 24H Series experienced drivers and have run Dubai before. Hall has experience with the factory Aston Martin driver.
Why this car won't win: The competition is too strong. This car was re-classified from an A6-AM. I am not sure it would finish ahead of the top five A6-AM finishers.
#35 KCMG Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3
Drivers: Katsumasa Chiyo, Tsugio Matsuda, Joshua Burdon, Shaun Thong, Andrea Gagliardini
Why this car could win: Matsuda is a Super GT champion, Super Formula champion and he has won in an LMP2 car in the WEC for KCMG. Chiyo has won the Bathurst 12 Hour and he was a Blancpain Endurance Cup champion. Burdon won in the Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 class with KCMG.
Why this car won't win: Similar to the other KCMG entry, half the driver lineup you are impressed with and the other half is unknown and you are not sure what to expect. Thong did win a GT Asia GT3 Pro-Am title but like Liberati, his endurance racing experience is limited.
#63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3
Drivers: Mirko Bortolotti, Christian Engelhart, Rolf Ineichen, Mark Ineichen
Why this car could win: GRT Grasser Racing Team has had plenty of endurance racing success. Bortolotti and Engelhart won the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup title in 2017 and Bortolotti and Rolf Ineichen won the GTD class last year at the 24 Hours of Daytona and last year this combination of drivers finished third overall at Dubai. Engelhart and the Ineichens won this race in 2014 driving for Stadler Motorsport.
Why this car won't win: A German manufacture has won every edition of the Dubai 24 Hour. This team could win the race. It is one of the favorites.
#66 Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Patrick Kujala, Adrian Amstutz, Kelvin van der Linde, Mattia Drudi, Stanislav Minsky
Why this car could win: Van der Linde is a rising young Audi driver with a 24 Hours Nürburgring victory and an ADAC GT Masters championship. Amstutz won the Dubai 24 Hour in 2014 with Stadler Motorsport and he and Kujala were champions together in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe's Pro-AM class.
Why this car won't win: It is a missing a veteran. If Christopher Haase or Christopher Mies was in this car or if Audi brought René Rast or Robin Frijns and put either in this car it would be a contender for the overall victory. I think it will be up there but would not be surprised if it fell just shy.
#88 Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Dimitri Parhofer, Christopher Haase, Frédéric Vervisch, Rik Breukers
Why this car could win: Haase is one of Audi's best GT3 drivers and is coming off a victory in the California 8 Hours. He has two victories in the 24 Hours Nürburgring, a victory in the Spa 24 Hours and a victory in the Sepang 12 Hours. Vervisch has been good in GT3 competition but not great. He and Haase have experience together as co-drivers.
Why this car won't win: This isn't even the best Audi with a driver named Christopher.
#99 Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Stanislav Minsky, Klaus Bachler, Nicholas Foster, Steijn Schothorst, Marvin Dienst
Why this car could win: This is a young but successful team. Foster won the Australian Porsche Carrera Cup championship in 2015, has raced in the WEC and he is still only 25 years old. Dienst won twice last season in the WEC. Schothorst finished third in his first season of Blancpain GT Sprint Cup competition and he won at Zolder. Bachler has raced in the WEC and Porsche Supercup regularly.
Why this car won't win: This team is good on paper but I think it lacks the chemistry needed to win a 24-hour race.
A6-AM
#10 Hofor-Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Michael Kroll, Chantal Prinz, Alexander Prinz, Kenneth Heyer, Christiaan Frankenhout
Why this car could win: Hofor-Racing is a perennial 24H Series AM class race winner. It has won plenty of races. It has won its class at Dubai before.
Why this car won't win: The Pro class is too deep to win overall but it would not be surprising if this car ended up in the top five overall and won the A6-AM class.
#12 Target Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3
Drivers: Dennis Lind, Giacomo Altoé, Timur Boguslavskiy, Stefano Costantini, Alex Autumn
Why this car could win: Lamborghini has produced a lot of successful GT3 entries.
Why this car won't win: This is a team of relative unknowns and it will not finish in the top five of the A6-AM class let alone on the top step of the overall podium.
#19 MP Motorpsort Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Daniël de Jong, Bert de Heus, Henk de Jong
Why this car could win: It is a Mercedes-AMG, which has success at Dubai. Daniël de Jong had minor success in single-seaters.
Why this car won't win: It isn't a deep lineup compared to the rest of the grid.
#25 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Alexander Hrachowina, Martin Konrad, Bernd Schneider, Indy Dontje, Brice Bosi
Why this car could win: Schneider has won this race overall and he has won in almost everything he has drive. Dontje has been a quick, young driver for some time. HTP Motorsport has won in many different series across GT3 racing. Hrachowina and Konrad ran together in the International GT Open.
Why this car won't win: Hrachowina and Konrad are an amateur pair without much success against a grid of this capability.
#26 SAINTELOC Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Christian Kelders, Pierre-Yves Paque, Daniel Desbrueres, Nyls Stivenart, Simon Gachet
Why this car could win: Stivenart won the Blancpain GT Series Pro-Am title with Markus Winkelhock last year and Gachet finished 11th in the overall Blancpain GT Series with Christopher Haase as his co-driver for every race but the Spa 24 Hours.
Why this car won't win: Mostly amateurs that have not had success on their own.
#33 Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Simon Reicher, Murad Sultanov, Martin Berry, Klaus Koch, Philipp Sager
Why this car could win: It is a team that has 24H Series experience.
Why this car won't win: Here...
#34 Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Johannes Dr. Kirchhoff, Gustav Edelhoff, Elmar Grimm, Ingo Vogler
Why this car could win: Edelhoff, Grimm and Vogler won twice in the A6-Am class during the 2018 season.
Why this car won't win: The field is too deep for this entry to win.
#85 CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Charles Putman, Charles Espenlaub, Joe Foster, Shane Lewis
Why this car could win: Putman, Espenlaub and Foster have had success in many different classes across the 24H Series. Those three won four races last year in the A6-AM class. Lewis is the one change from the line-up, in for Adam Christodoulou.
Why this car won't win: It would not be crazy if this car won in class. If this entry does not win the class it is because there are three or four better cars in this given race.
#91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R
Drivers: Daniel Allemann, Ralf Bohn, Robert Renauer, Alfred Renauer
Why this car could win: This team won at Dubai in 2017 and that year it won four of seven 24H Series races. Last year, the team took a slight step back and only won two of eight 24H Series races.
Why this car won't win: It doesn't have Brendon Hartley like it did in 2017.
#92 Team Porsche Centre Hong Kong Porsche 911 GT3 R
Drivers: Frank Yu, Jonathan Hui, Antares Au, Kevin Wing Kin Tse
Why this car could win: It is on the grid and there is a chance all the other cars break down.
Why this car won't win: There are 22 other cars on the entry list.
Porsche leads all manufactures with five victories in this event. Last year was Mercedes-Benz's fourth victory. BMW has three victories but does not have a car entered in the A6 class this year. BMW has not won this event since 2011. Audi's only victory was in 2016.
Last year's race saw the winning Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG complete 606 laps, the third most in the history of the event. Second most was done in 2010 when IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche completed 608 laps. Black Falcon set the record for most laps completed in 2012 with 628.
Fifteen different nationalities have won this event overall. No driver has won this race more than twice. Al Faisal, Haupt, Buurman, Al Qubaisi and Bleekemolen are all two-time winners entered in this year's race and all drive for Black Falcon.
The 14th Dubai 24 Hour starts at 6:00 a.m. ET on Friday January 11th.
A6-PRO
#2 Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Abdulaziz Al Faisal, Hubert Haupt, Yelmer Buurman, Saud Al Faisal, Adam Christodoulou
Why this car could win: This team won last year! Albeit it Saud Al Faisal replaces Gabriele Piana in the lineup. Al Faisal, Haupt and Buurman won this race together in 2015 and also had a third place finish in this race in 2017. Black Falcon has won this race four times in the last seven years. Chrisodoulou is a late addition to his car and he won four races last year in the A6-AM class running with Charlie Putman, Charles Espenlaub and Joe Foster.
Why this car won't win: Repeating is hard to do and while it has occurred twice in the short history of this event, including once with Black Falcon, it is easier said than done and there are plenty of equal competition, including its sister car.
#3 Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Luca Stolz, Khlaed Al Qubaisi, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Ben Keating, Manuel Metzger
Why this car could win: See above. It is Black Falcon. This team has won this race before. It seems likely one of these two cars will end up on the podium. This team has had a car on the overall podium in this race for eight consecutive years. Al Qubaisi and Bleekemolen have won this race twice. Bleekemolen, Keating and Stolz are all familiar with one another from the IMSA North American Endurance Championship races. Stolz also won the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup championship in 2018.
Why this car won't win: Its sister car. A few other cars could top this one but I think this is one of the top contenders for the overall victory.
#7 WRT Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Mohammed Saud Fahad Al Saud, Michael Vergers, Christopher Mies, Dries Vanthoor
Why this car could win: This team has won this race before. Mies has won many endurance races before. He is a two-time 24 Hours Nürburgring winner and a two-time Bathurst 12 Hour winner. Mies and Vanthoor were co-drivers in the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup last year.
Why this car won't win: It might be too top heavy with Mies and Vanthoor and I am not sure those two can carry the load.
#9 BWT Mücke Motorsport Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Markus Winkelhock, Mike-David Ortmann, Andreas Weishaupt, Stefan Mücke, Ricardo Feller
Why this car could win: Winkelhock has won the Spa 24 Hours twice and the 24 Hours Nürburgring three times. Mücke has plenty of success with the factory Aston Martin and factory Ford program.
Why this car won't win: It is a good lineup but not a great lineup.
#11 Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha Ferrari 488 GT3
Drivers: Jirí Písarík, Josef Kral, Matteo Malucelli
Why this car could win: On paper, none of these drivers standout to you but Scuderia Praha won three 24H Series races in 2017 and three in 2018. The team has skipped the Dubai 24 Hours the last two years.
Why this car won't win: It would not be a surprise at all if this car won the race. It is a deep class.
#18 V8 Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6-ZR1
Drivers: Luc Braams, Wolf Nathan, Duncan Huisman, Nicky Pastorelli, Finlay Hutchison
Why this car could win: A pretty stable lineup that we see year in and year out with the same automobile.
Why this car won't win: This team has not had much success at Dubai and the Corvette just cannot compete with the German cars.
#23 KCMG Nissian GT-R Nismo GT3
Drivers: Alexandre Imperatori, Oliver Jarvis, Edoardo Liberati, Philipp Wlazik
Why this car could win: A semi-impressive driver lineup with endurance race tested Imperatori and Jarvis. Jarvis has won at Le Mans in the LMP2 class, he was an Audi factory driver and he won the Suzuka 1000km.
Why this car won't win: A semi-unknown driver lineup with Liberati and Wlazik. Liberati won the GT Asia championship in 2016 but he does not have much endurance race experience. Wlazik has had success in Lamborghini Super Trofeo but this is another animal.
#24 GPX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R
Drivers: Frederic Fatien, Jean-Pierre Valentini, Jordan Grogor, Nicky Pastorelli, Stuart Hall
Why this car could win: All of these drivers are 24H Series experienced drivers and have run Dubai before. Hall has experience with the factory Aston Martin driver.
Why this car won't win: The competition is too strong. This car was re-classified from an A6-AM. I am not sure it would finish ahead of the top five A6-AM finishers.
#35 KCMG Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3
Drivers: Katsumasa Chiyo, Tsugio Matsuda, Joshua Burdon, Shaun Thong, Andrea Gagliardini
Why this car could win: Matsuda is a Super GT champion, Super Formula champion and he has won in an LMP2 car in the WEC for KCMG. Chiyo has won the Bathurst 12 Hour and he was a Blancpain Endurance Cup champion. Burdon won in the Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 class with KCMG.
Why this car won't win: Similar to the other KCMG entry, half the driver lineup you are impressed with and the other half is unknown and you are not sure what to expect. Thong did win a GT Asia GT3 Pro-Am title but like Liberati, his endurance racing experience is limited.
#63 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3
Drivers: Mirko Bortolotti, Christian Engelhart, Rolf Ineichen, Mark Ineichen
Why this car could win: GRT Grasser Racing Team has had plenty of endurance racing success. Bortolotti and Engelhart won the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup title in 2017 and Bortolotti and Rolf Ineichen won the GTD class last year at the 24 Hours of Daytona and last year this combination of drivers finished third overall at Dubai. Engelhart and the Ineichens won this race in 2014 driving for Stadler Motorsport.
Why this car won't win: A German manufacture has won every edition of the Dubai 24 Hour. This team could win the race. It is one of the favorites.
#66 Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Patrick Kujala, Adrian Amstutz, Kelvin van der Linde, Mattia Drudi, Stanislav Minsky
Why this car could win: Van der Linde is a rising young Audi driver with a 24 Hours Nürburgring victory and an ADAC GT Masters championship. Amstutz won the Dubai 24 Hour in 2014 with Stadler Motorsport and he and Kujala were champions together in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe's Pro-AM class.
Why this car won't win: It is a missing a veteran. If Christopher Haase or Christopher Mies was in this car or if Audi brought René Rast or Robin Frijns and put either in this car it would be a contender for the overall victory. I think it will be up there but would not be surprised if it fell just shy.
#88 Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Dimitri Parhofer, Christopher Haase, Frédéric Vervisch, Rik Breukers
Why this car could win: Haase is one of Audi's best GT3 drivers and is coming off a victory in the California 8 Hours. He has two victories in the 24 Hours Nürburgring, a victory in the Spa 24 Hours and a victory in the Sepang 12 Hours. Vervisch has been good in GT3 competition but not great. He and Haase have experience together as co-drivers.
Why this car won't win: This isn't even the best Audi with a driver named Christopher.
#99 Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Stanislav Minsky, Klaus Bachler, Nicholas Foster, Steijn Schothorst, Marvin Dienst
Why this car could win: This is a young but successful team. Foster won the Australian Porsche Carrera Cup championship in 2015, has raced in the WEC and he is still only 25 years old. Dienst won twice last season in the WEC. Schothorst finished third in his first season of Blancpain GT Sprint Cup competition and he won at Zolder. Bachler has raced in the WEC and Porsche Supercup regularly.
Why this car won't win: This team is good on paper but I think it lacks the chemistry needed to win a 24-hour race.
A6-AM
#10 Hofor-Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Michael Kroll, Chantal Prinz, Alexander Prinz, Kenneth Heyer, Christiaan Frankenhout
Why this car could win: Hofor-Racing is a perennial 24H Series AM class race winner. It has won plenty of races. It has won its class at Dubai before.
Why this car won't win: The Pro class is too deep to win overall but it would not be surprising if this car ended up in the top five overall and won the A6-AM class.
#12 Target Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3
Drivers: Dennis Lind, Giacomo Altoé, Timur Boguslavskiy, Stefano Costantini, Alex Autumn
Why this car could win: Lamborghini has produced a lot of successful GT3 entries.
Why this car won't win: This is a team of relative unknowns and it will not finish in the top five of the A6-AM class let alone on the top step of the overall podium.
#19 MP Motorpsort Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Daniël de Jong, Bert de Heus, Henk de Jong
Why this car could win: It is a Mercedes-AMG, which has success at Dubai. Daniël de Jong had minor success in single-seaters.
Why this car won't win: It isn't a deep lineup compared to the rest of the grid.
#25 HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Alexander Hrachowina, Martin Konrad, Bernd Schneider, Indy Dontje, Brice Bosi
Why this car could win: Schneider has won this race overall and he has won in almost everything he has drive. Dontje has been a quick, young driver for some time. HTP Motorsport has won in many different series across GT3 racing. Hrachowina and Konrad ran together in the International GT Open.
Why this car won't win: Hrachowina and Konrad are an amateur pair without much success against a grid of this capability.
#26 SAINTELOC Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Christian Kelders, Pierre-Yves Paque, Daniel Desbrueres, Nyls Stivenart, Simon Gachet
Why this car could win: Stivenart won the Blancpain GT Series Pro-Am title with Markus Winkelhock last year and Gachet finished 11th in the overall Blancpain GT Series with Christopher Haase as his co-driver for every race but the Spa 24 Hours.
Why this car won't win: Mostly amateurs that have not had success on their own.
#33 Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Simon Reicher, Murad Sultanov, Martin Berry, Klaus Koch, Philipp Sager
Why this car could win: It is a team that has 24H Series experience.
Why this car won't win: Here...
#34 Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Johannes Dr. Kirchhoff, Gustav Edelhoff, Elmar Grimm, Ingo Vogler
Why this car could win: Edelhoff, Grimm and Vogler won twice in the A6-Am class during the 2018 season.
Why this car won't win: The field is too deep for this entry to win.
#85 CP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Charles Putman, Charles Espenlaub, Joe Foster, Shane Lewis
Why this car could win: Putman, Espenlaub and Foster have had success in many different classes across the 24H Series. Those three won four races last year in the A6-AM class. Lewis is the one change from the line-up, in for Adam Christodoulou.
Why this car won't win: It would not be crazy if this car won in class. If this entry does not win the class it is because there are three or four better cars in this given race.
#91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R
Drivers: Daniel Allemann, Ralf Bohn, Robert Renauer, Alfred Renauer
Why this car could win: This team won at Dubai in 2017 and that year it won four of seven 24H Series races. Last year, the team took a slight step back and only won two of eight 24H Series races.
Why this car won't win: It doesn't have Brendon Hartley like it did in 2017.
#92 Team Porsche Centre Hong Kong Porsche 911 GT3 R
Drivers: Frank Yu, Jonathan Hui, Antares Au, Kevin Wing Kin Tse
Why this car could win: It is on the grid and there is a chance all the other cars break down.
Why this car won't win: There are 22 other cars on the entry list.
Porsche leads all manufactures with five victories in this event. Last year was Mercedes-Benz's fourth victory. BMW has three victories but does not have a car entered in the A6 class this year. BMW has not won this event since 2011. Audi's only victory was in 2016.
Last year's race saw the winning Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG complete 606 laps, the third most in the history of the event. Second most was done in 2010 when IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche completed 608 laps. Black Falcon set the record for most laps completed in 2012 with 628.
Fifteen different nationalities have won this event overall. No driver has won this race more than twice. Al Faisal, Haupt, Buurman, Al Qubaisi and Bleekemolen are all two-time winners entered in this year's race and all drive for Black Falcon.
The 14th Dubai 24 Hour starts at 6:00 a.m. ET on Friday January 11th.
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
When Does the Nostalgia Wear Off?
When you hear that Indianapolis Motor Speedway has an announcement at 1:00 p.m. ET and IndyCar has an announcement at 1:30 p.m. ET, you are at attention. What could it be? It has to be something big.
Is it good news or bad?
It could be the new title sponsor. We are still waiting on that. It could be a new title sponsor and perhaps a title sponsor for the Indianapolis 500. That would be massive news and it would make sense that both were announced simultaneously especially if it was the same company or two related companies.
Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon are going to be there. This could be bad. What if it is announcing a championship format change where the top two drivers are going to be guaranteed a shot at the title in the finale but be some odd hybrid winner-take-all/points event where the top two are tied, third is ten points back and fourth in 20 points back and guarantees at least four drivers fighting for the title but isn't boiled down to one race and leave the door open for a driver to win on points?
Those were all things that ran through my head this morning and early afternoon.
None of that was the case. Mario Andretti is getting a commemorative logo in honor of the 50th anniversary of his Indianapolis 500 victory and the television schedule was announced. Dixon and Rossi were there for meetings and were tacked on to the press conference. Not that it is a bad thing to have the two championship contenders from 2018 on stage. Those are the guys who want out front. Remember, people are looking for a bandwagon to jump on.
There is something that got me though when watching the Mario Andretti portion of the announcements. IndyCar has been doing a lot of commemorating the last decade and more than I can ever remember. It might be the way of the 21st century. After all, everything is done with business in mind. Every retiring superstar in baseball, basketball, hockey and motorsports gets a farewell tour. It is the same old shtick. Player announces retirement. Each city gives a gift/shows a video on the jumbotron. That player causes a spike in ticket sales for that game or games because he or she has set a finish line to his or her career and we can countdown to the day this person will never play again. A logo/badge/emblem/patch is made, emblazoned on t-shirts, hats, hoodies, backpacks, scarves, beach towels and key chains and sold as limited edition.
It only makes sense IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway would jump on the same train as every other sports property but it is not just the logo. This is different. The last decade has been different.
The previous decade was not a time for celebration. It was during the split. People were not in the mood for celebration. People were angry. There was a bit of hypocrisy to celebrate IndyCar's past when the series in charge of the Indianapolis 500 had split itself off from the existing series to create something new out of entirely different with a different cast of character.
While it was not a time for celebration it could also be argued there was nothing to celebrate. That of course is not true but there is some truth in it. None of the winners from the 1950s lived to the golden anniversary of their Indianapolis 500 victory. Only two lived to see their 40th anniversary. IndyCar's golden era was too fresh. A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser and Rick Mears all retired in the 1990s and the achievements of those drivers belonged to a series separate from the one sanctioning the famed race.
Fortunately, IndyCar reunified in 2008 and it could not have come at a better time. It was the same year as A.J. Foyt's 50th anniversary of his Indianapolis 500 debut.
Looking back at the last decade it is interesting to see how IndyCar's resurgence has coincided with the golden anniversary of IndyCar's golden era. IndyCar and the Speedway have been able to sell nostalgia for the better part of the decade. The Centennial Era celebrated started in 2009, the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Indianapolis 500, and lasted through 2011, the 100th anniversary of the first Indianapolis 500 but 2011 was not only a celebration of this century old race but it was also the 50th anniversary of Foyt's first victory, a victory that occurred during a culturally changing American.
Baby boomer grew up with the names Foyt, Andretti and Unser and had STP decals adoring bicycles, gas station windows and toolboxes and workbenches in garages across this country. The consumer era was born. Kids could buy the matchbox versions of the Indianapolis 500 winner and play with them in the sandbox or on the living room floor at the feet of their parents. Television brought the image of the race into the homes of millions even if it was hours after the checkered flag had been waved. The Indianapolis 500 was the premier sporting events of the baby boomer generation. The Super Bowl came later but it was a time when the World Series, Kentucky Derby, Indianapolis 500 and Rose Bowl were king.
The last decade has been a reminder of that great era. For the elder statesmen it is a look back to their childhoods. The days when the race was heard live over the radio in the backyard while dad stood at the grill and the kids rode bicycles in packs of a dozen strong. While the race was shown that night the alternatives were watching fireflies and listening to the cricket sing from the front porch.
For the youths, it is about falling more in awe of these living legends that would by myths if they were not in our midst. It is about recoding every word these men speak because it is all we will eventually have of an era that took place in some cases before our parents were born.
The wind has not let up after the 100th Indianapolis 500 nearly three yeas ago. Many though the 100th anniversary would be the end of IndyCar, a culmination that was great but fraught after watching the series go devolve from multi-million dollar, technological advance machinery to shoestring budgets with one engine and one chassis in town. Others thought the 100th Indianapolis 500 would be it. Where else could the race go? No other race has gone on this long with the level of popularity. It seemed 100 was the finish line. Once you reached it there was nowhere else to go and the masses would file out, say their final goodbyes and most would never return.
But there was more. The series and the track were sitting on a golden egg and it paid off big time. Forgotten in the mix of these centennial marks were other great things about IndyCar. The arrival of Lotus, Parnelli Jones' victory, the 1964 race, which stands as a pivotal point for racing safety.
After the 100th race there was the 50th anniversary of the 1967 race, the turbine and Jones' dominance fell victim to a $5 piece. Jones' loss was our gain, adding to the folklore of this event and how speed was only worth celebrating if reliability could take you 500 miles. The breakdown led the way to Foyt's third victory and put him level with Wilbur Shaw and Louis Meyer for most Indianapolis 500 victory.
We weren't done yet. Last year was the 50th anniversary of Bobby Unser's first victory and it turned into a celebration of the entire Unser family history, which dated back to his brother Jerry's first start in 1958.
Last year was also the 50th anniversary of the filming of Winning, the preeminent motion picture about the Indianapolis 500 and, incredibly, the film that gave us something bigger than a time capsule of the beloved era but one of IndyCar's greatest team owners, Paul Newman.
Without that film, who knows if Newman ever gets into IndyCar at the level he does. What would IndyCar look like if Newman had never taken the role of Frank Capua? And we are talking about something greater than a man, a film and a role that turned people into fans. We are talking about what happened on track.
Winning was released May 22, 1969 and eight days later Mario Andretti won the Indianapolis 500. Who would have thought that Memorial Day in 1969 that Newman and Andretti would ascend to the heights in terms of IndyCar importance together?
There I am getting nostalgic thinking about the incredible weaving of humanity. But when it end? When does the nostalgia no longer become a selling point?
This year is Andretti's 50th anniversary. Next year is the 50th anniversary of Al Unser's first Indianapolis 500 and the year after that is the 50th anniversary of his second. In three year we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Team Penske's first Indianapolis 500 victory with Mark Donohue.
The 1973 race will be tough to celebrate but the year after that is not only the 50th anniversary of Johnny Rutherford's first victory but McLaren's first victory as a team at Indianapolis. How timely that McLaren is looking to get back into IndyCar full-time? Let's hope it hangs in there until 2024. Then it will be the 50th anniversary of Uncle Bobby's second, Rutherford's second, Janet Guthrie becoming the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 and in a sense it culminates with the 50th anniversary of Foyt's fourth victory.
We have enough nostalgia to get us through 2027. If you want to get a bit further, 2028 will be the 50th anniversary of Al Unser's third and 2029 will be the golden anniversary of Rick Mears' first.
When will it end though? Can IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500 keep selling nostalgia into 2030? We take these walks down memory lane but eventually we will come to the bits of history that are less than savory. We will one day reach the darker days of the split. Will the fever still be there?
Of course, the late 90s do not have to be celebrated but we cannot keep celebrating the same moments. They will become old. On top of that eventually the living legends will pass. Our parents will pass and we will fall into the same problem with the 2000s when the legends are gone. It is hard to get up the excitement to celebrate people when they are no longer with us. We will be left with our past and the days we can recall will be those of conflict, two 500-mile races taking place simultaneously. It will be about who wasn't there. It will be the lost years when Penske, Ganassi, Andretti, Zanardi and Moore were not at Indianapolis.
If IndyCar's wave of positivity over the last decade has been aided with the golden anniversary of IndyCar's golden era, what will IndyCar look like when we reach the golden anniversary for one of the most divisive periods in its history?
This isn't about the next two years or five years or ten years. It is a concern that we harp too much on the past and what happens when selling the past co no longer prop up the present?
These anniversaries are wonderful celebrations and reminders of where the series was and how much has changed. At the same time, we need to start living in the present and celebrating what we have.
The good news is I think IndyCar is at a better point to sell what it has than at any other point in the 21st century. The racing is great. At times the beauty brings me to the verge of tears from exhaustion over the excitement from green flag to checkered. We have come to appreciate Scott Dixon and Will Power and those Antipodeans are going to stick around in IndyCar for plenty more seasons. There are plenty of exciting millennial drivers: Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, James Hinchcliffe, Robert Wickens, Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti, Zach Veach and Spencer Pigot. Those names will hopefully all be around for the next decade and give the fan base and global audience a core group of drivers to embrace.
There is a lot to celebrate in the final year of this decade but we should remember it is not only the past. The present is grand and many of us are ready to charge into the future.
Monday, January 7, 2019
Musings From the Weekend: Does a NASCAR Team Have to be Based in North Carolina?
The first weekend of the New Year had Supercross in action from Anaheim. It turned out to be a sloppy event and a few early season favorites got off to a rough start but it with a slight surprise winner. Elsewhere around the world, the Dakar Rally is preparing to get underway in Peru. Testing commenced from Daytona in preparations for the 24 Hours of Daytona at the end of the month. Wayne Taylor Racing was strong as was Mazda, CORE Autosport with Nissan topped the final session and the outright lap records appears it will be shattered come qualifying in a few weeks. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
Does a NASCAR Team Have to be Based in North Carolina?
One of the biggest stories at the end of the NASCAR season was the closure of Furniture Row Racing.
One year after winning a popular Cup Series championship, the team was shutting down due to lack of funding and the fairy tale ended. The team's popularity came from its unlikely rise against the behemoths of Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing. It did it with a likable driver and crew chief in Martin Truex, Jr. and Cole Pearn and a quiet owner in Barney Visser.
What added to the team's mystique was its location: Denver, Colorado, two time zones from NASCAR country.
Other than the Wood Brothers out of Virginia, most NASCAR teams called North Carolina home and these teams have clustered around Mooresville, North Carolina. For a team to be based outside that vicinity let alone West of the Mississippi and in the Rocky Mountains seemed absurd. It seemed like an operation destined to languish behind the rest of the field.
Of course, that wasn't the case. Furniture Row Racing did have its early day struggles with Kenny Wallace and Joe Nemechek but almost like an expansion team that brought in a few veterans to get off the ground, the team found its identity. Younger talent came to the team and improved results followed. Regan Smith was its first youthful hire and within three years he won the Southern 500 for Furniture Row Racing. After Smith was Kurt Busch, who finished tenth in the championship with the team. Then came Truex, Jr. and we all know where the story goes from there.
In a little over a decade, Furniture Row Racing proved a team could be the best in NASCAR and come from a foreign land. The closing of the team resurrected questions about if such an accomplishment could ever be achieved again.
Why couldn't it?
NASCAR is a more national sport than 25 years ago. There are races all over the country. It is not like the 1970s and 1980s when Rockingham had two races, as did North Wilkesboro, Darlington, Charlotte, Richmond, Martinsville, Bristol and Nashville. At that time it made sense to be based in North Carolina. Most of the races were a day trip away and I didn't even include Atlanta's two races. The treks to Riverside, Texas World, Michigan and Pocono were rare.
The schedule is much different. NASCAR is as much a Midwestern sport as its is a Southern sport in the 21st Century. Indianapolis has a race. Kentucky is closer to Indianapolis than Charlotte. There is a race in Kansas. The series goes up to New Hampshire and has a trip to Watkins Glen. There are plenty of Western races. Las Vegas has two races now. Phoenix has two. The series goes to Sonoma.
Does a NASCAR team have to be based in North Carolina?
There are benefits as everything is there. There is a wind tunnel, manufactures have shops there; a whole industry has cropped up in that part of the country. It is definitely advantageous but does a team have to be based there?
Of course not. The Charlotte-area isn't the only one where motorsports has taken hold in the United States. Indianapolis is just as big of a motorsports hub. There are IndyCar teams, sports car teams and drag racing teams all based around the capital of the Hoosier State. The infrastructure is there. Location-wise, Indianapolis is a lot further from Daytona, Homestead, Atlanta and venues in the Carolinas but it would be better suited in terms of getting to races such as Michigan, Kentucky, Chicagoland and Kansas and it would cut a junk of time out of the long haul rides to California, Nevada and Arizona.
If Indianapolis is too far outside the bubble for a team, then there has to be another alternative that would be more suitable in terms of travel and one place I looked up that might fit the mold is Hilliard, Ohio. If Hilliard, Ohio sounds familiar to you then don't be surprise when you find out that is where Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's BMW program is based.
Hilliard is a bit further east than Indianapolis and it is more centrally located for certain events. Unlike Indianapolis, Hilliard is closer to Pocono, Watkins Glen and Loudon than Charlotte and it is closer to Daytona, Martinsville, Bristol, Richmond, Dover, Michigan and Homestead than Indianapolis. In fact, using Google Maps, the total mileage of the round trips for all 36 NASCAR Cup races from Hilliard, Ohio is only 144 miles more than the total mileage of the rounds trips from Charlotte.
The one thing Hilliard has against it is, while being better in terms of driving a trailer than Indianapolis, it is not a hub. There aren't teams all around and crew people around. There are simulators and wind tunnels and shops around every other corner. The infrastructure is slightly lacking. Not that it stopped Furniture Row Racing from succeeding from Colorado but there are things that nine times out of ten you would like more at your disposal and are more easily accessible in Indianapolis.
Many mourned the loss of Furniture Row Racing and its story, the little based out of the mountains and relished getting to see a team from Colorado win the championship because they think it will not happen again. But why couldn't it happen again and happen soon? When looking at NASCAR all three national touring series are thinning out in terms of number of teams. Eventually it will turn around. Eventually NASCAR will make changes and work to make it more appealing to teams. Where will those teams come from? How many are already going to be based in North Carolina? How many are going to relocate?
I think NASCAR should want it to be possible for teams to succeed from many places around the country. The series needs to grow and it should not take relocation for a team to be able to compete. If an IndyCar team or sports car team based out of Indianapolis wanted to expand to NASCAR it should be able to do it from Indianapolis. There are going to be places that are always going to be an uphill battle if you are going to based your team from there. It is going to be difficult if you are based out of Seattle or Boise or Omaha but it should be possible from more areas.
Whether it is Indianapolis, Hilliard, Lexington, Kentucky, Nashville, Tennessee or Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it is possible to succeed in NASCAR while based out of these locations. Furniture Row Racing should not be the last outsider to run at the top of NASCAR and it should not be considered the exception to the rule. It would only benefit NASCAR if it branched out with more teams from more locations entering the series.
Winner From the Weekend
Justin Barcia won the Supercross race from Anaheim. It was Barcia's first Supercross victory since Seattle 2013. It was Yamaha's first Supercross victory since Daytona 2012.
Coming Up This Weekend
The Dakar Rally continues.
The Dubai 24 Hour.
The Toyota Racing Series begins its 2019 season from Highlands Motorsports Park.
Round two of the Supercross season takes place from Glendale.
Formula E has round two from Marrakesh.
Asian Le Mans Series has its popular race from Buriram and it is the penultimate race of the season.
Does a NASCAR Team Have to be Based in North Carolina?
One of the biggest stories at the end of the NASCAR season was the closure of Furniture Row Racing.
One year after winning a popular Cup Series championship, the team was shutting down due to lack of funding and the fairy tale ended. The team's popularity came from its unlikely rise against the behemoths of Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing. It did it with a likable driver and crew chief in Martin Truex, Jr. and Cole Pearn and a quiet owner in Barney Visser.
What added to the team's mystique was its location: Denver, Colorado, two time zones from NASCAR country.
Other than the Wood Brothers out of Virginia, most NASCAR teams called North Carolina home and these teams have clustered around Mooresville, North Carolina. For a team to be based outside that vicinity let alone West of the Mississippi and in the Rocky Mountains seemed absurd. It seemed like an operation destined to languish behind the rest of the field.
Of course, that wasn't the case. Furniture Row Racing did have its early day struggles with Kenny Wallace and Joe Nemechek but almost like an expansion team that brought in a few veterans to get off the ground, the team found its identity. Younger talent came to the team and improved results followed. Regan Smith was its first youthful hire and within three years he won the Southern 500 for Furniture Row Racing. After Smith was Kurt Busch, who finished tenth in the championship with the team. Then came Truex, Jr. and we all know where the story goes from there.
In a little over a decade, Furniture Row Racing proved a team could be the best in NASCAR and come from a foreign land. The closing of the team resurrected questions about if such an accomplishment could ever be achieved again.
Why couldn't it?
NASCAR is a more national sport than 25 years ago. There are races all over the country. It is not like the 1970s and 1980s when Rockingham had two races, as did North Wilkesboro, Darlington, Charlotte, Richmond, Martinsville, Bristol and Nashville. At that time it made sense to be based in North Carolina. Most of the races were a day trip away and I didn't even include Atlanta's two races. The treks to Riverside, Texas World, Michigan and Pocono were rare.
The schedule is much different. NASCAR is as much a Midwestern sport as its is a Southern sport in the 21st Century. Indianapolis has a race. Kentucky is closer to Indianapolis than Charlotte. There is a race in Kansas. The series goes up to New Hampshire and has a trip to Watkins Glen. There are plenty of Western races. Las Vegas has two races now. Phoenix has two. The series goes to Sonoma.
Does a NASCAR team have to be based in North Carolina?
There are benefits as everything is there. There is a wind tunnel, manufactures have shops there; a whole industry has cropped up in that part of the country. It is definitely advantageous but does a team have to be based there?
Of course not. The Charlotte-area isn't the only one where motorsports has taken hold in the United States. Indianapolis is just as big of a motorsports hub. There are IndyCar teams, sports car teams and drag racing teams all based around the capital of the Hoosier State. The infrastructure is there. Location-wise, Indianapolis is a lot further from Daytona, Homestead, Atlanta and venues in the Carolinas but it would be better suited in terms of getting to races such as Michigan, Kentucky, Chicagoland and Kansas and it would cut a junk of time out of the long haul rides to California, Nevada and Arizona.
If Indianapolis is too far outside the bubble for a team, then there has to be another alternative that would be more suitable in terms of travel and one place I looked up that might fit the mold is Hilliard, Ohio. If Hilliard, Ohio sounds familiar to you then don't be surprise when you find out that is where Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's BMW program is based.
Hilliard is a bit further east than Indianapolis and it is more centrally located for certain events. Unlike Indianapolis, Hilliard is closer to Pocono, Watkins Glen and Loudon than Charlotte and it is closer to Daytona, Martinsville, Bristol, Richmond, Dover, Michigan and Homestead than Indianapolis. In fact, using Google Maps, the total mileage of the round trips for all 36 NASCAR Cup races from Hilliard, Ohio is only 144 miles more than the total mileage of the rounds trips from Charlotte.
The one thing Hilliard has against it is, while being better in terms of driving a trailer than Indianapolis, it is not a hub. There aren't teams all around and crew people around. There are simulators and wind tunnels and shops around every other corner. The infrastructure is slightly lacking. Not that it stopped Furniture Row Racing from succeeding from Colorado but there are things that nine times out of ten you would like more at your disposal and are more easily accessible in Indianapolis.
Many mourned the loss of Furniture Row Racing and its story, the little based out of the mountains and relished getting to see a team from Colorado win the championship because they think it will not happen again. But why couldn't it happen again and happen soon? When looking at NASCAR all three national touring series are thinning out in terms of number of teams. Eventually it will turn around. Eventually NASCAR will make changes and work to make it more appealing to teams. Where will those teams come from? How many are already going to be based in North Carolina? How many are going to relocate?
I think NASCAR should want it to be possible for teams to succeed from many places around the country. The series needs to grow and it should not take relocation for a team to be able to compete. If an IndyCar team or sports car team based out of Indianapolis wanted to expand to NASCAR it should be able to do it from Indianapolis. There are going to be places that are always going to be an uphill battle if you are going to based your team from there. It is going to be difficult if you are based out of Seattle or Boise or Omaha but it should be possible from more areas.
Whether it is Indianapolis, Hilliard, Lexington, Kentucky, Nashville, Tennessee or Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it is possible to succeed in NASCAR while based out of these locations. Furniture Row Racing should not be the last outsider to run at the top of NASCAR and it should not be considered the exception to the rule. It would only benefit NASCAR if it branched out with more teams from more locations entering the series.
Winner From the Weekend
Justin Barcia won the Supercross race from Anaheim. It was Barcia's first Supercross victory since Seattle 2013. It was Yamaha's first Supercross victory since Daytona 2012.
Coming Up This Weekend
The Dakar Rally continues.
The Dubai 24 Hour.
The Toyota Racing Series begins its 2019 season from Highlands Motorsports Park.
Round two of the Supercross season takes place from Glendale.
Formula E has round two from Marrakesh.
Asian Le Mans Series has its popular race from Buriram and it is the penultimate race of the season.
Friday, January 4, 2019
This Month in Motorsports Headlines: December 2018 Part Two
It is January and it is 2019 but we have one final look back to 2018 and the headlines for the second half of December. It is kind of eye opening which series are the most active during the Christmas period. A lot of motorsports series were quiet and it is not that all the seats are accounted for in IndyCar or that NASCAR is happy with its rulebook but a few series just have more to say.
How Alejandro Agag is the Elon Musk of motorsports
That is not a good thing. Nobody should want to be the Elon Musk of anything. Only a buffoon would think that is a compliment. He is the Elon Musk of motorsports in a sense he opens his yap about everything and thinks he is the second coming of the Messiah but once again, those aren't good things.
Like the actually Elon Musk, we would be better off hearing less from Mr. Agag.
Di Grassi keen on F1 demo for Roborace
Remember when Formula E pushed back against the proposal about running events with fossil fuel series because it wanted to stand on its own and promote electric automobiles? Now its stillbirth, driverless series, which was supposed to have 20 cars and run during Formula E weeks starting two seasons ago, needs to have a 15-minute demo session at Silverstone, Hockenheim or Monza during a grand prix weekend?
Look, Roborace has been a failure. Let's just toss that idea into the incinerator.
The one thing Formula E has gotten wrong from the start is its aversion to running with existing championships. We live in a world where gasoline/diesel-powered automobiles and electric automobiles coexist and Formula E fails to bridge that gap. There is no reason why Formula E should be separate from everything else and the series and potentially electric automobiles could benefit from running with certain series.
Why couldn't Formula E and the European Le Mans Series share a weekend or Formula E and the British GT Championship or with any one of the 25 Blancpain GT Series around the world? Go to actual racetracks; go race in front of actual race fans and then the series might grow. Stop living in a fantasy...
Speaking of fantasies... on to Formula One!
London mayor thinks F1 race "should be possible"
Sure, doesn't mean it should happen.
When did Formula One adopt video game levels of thinking where every racetrack takes place in the downtown of the largest cities around the world? It feels like the calendar is morphing into Gran Turismo. There has to be a racetrack in London and Rome and Tokyo and soon somewhere in the Swiss Alps and after that race in Madrid and Seattle and Seoul.
Is Formula One going to become that much more popular just by adding a race in London?
If you live in the United Kingdom, are you more likely to get into Formula One if there is a race in London? I feel like you know what it is and you know where to see it if you want to go in person and you either choose to watch it or you don't. I don't see how a race in London or any other major city of the world would somehow get people to say, "You know what? I got to watch more of this Formula One stuff."
Under-threat British GP tops F1 attendances
And this is a nice transition to the fact that the United Kingdom already has a successful grand prix, arguably the most successful grand prix, and for some reason that is never good enough for anyone involved. It is never good enough for Formula One. It is never good enough for Silverstone because despite the crowd it is still losing money and this race is always in jeopardy of falling off the calendar.
Maybe one day Formula One will realize what it has and why it cannot afford to lose that or some authoritarian regime will come along tossing bags of cash and the series only wants that.
Denmark's F1 race plan now relies on Copenhagen alternative
It is in the Netherlands and it is called Zandvoort.
No offense to the Danish people and the city of Copenhagen but it is better if Formula One doesn't head to your lovely country.
Red Bull must be F1 title contender with Honda - Brawn
I think that is the team's plan. Really Red Bull needs to be a title contender with whatever engine manufacture it partners with. It could put Kia engines in the back of the car and it still has to be a title contender.
I am not sure who needs to be a title contender more, Red Bull or Honda? Honda just needs to be competitive. If you gave Honda the exact results Red Bull had last year Honda would take it. Honda just needs to start sniffing the podium. Red Bull needs to compete for the title and Formula One in general cannot afford to have the fight go from three teams down to two.
Red Bull tried everything to keep Ricciardo
Did it try firing Max Verstappen? If no, then it didn't try everything but nobody, Ricciardo included, should have expected that to be a possibility.
Red Bull is kind of in a win-win. If Ricciardo doesn't do much at Renault, and I am not sure anyone is expecting him to win races, then it looks like Red Bull made the right choice because in all likelihood Verstappen will be finishing ahead of the Australian. And if Verstappen keeps winning races and finishing ahead of Ricciardo, even if Ricciardo is finishing third and fourth in most races, then it appears the team made the right choice.
The only way Red Bull loses is if Ricciardo carries Renault to heights it has only know previously with Alain Prost and Fernando Alonso and Red Bull is in his mirrors.
It is hard to see where Ricciardo goes from here in the long run of his career. Ferrari will never call as long as Sebastian Vettel is there. Mercedes already has the problem of three drivers and two seats. Red Bull isn't going to bring him back as long as Verstappen is there. I hate to think Ricciardo's career could be mired in the mediocrity of Renault and worse of all it end his Formula One career when he is 33 years old and who knows where that smile will land afterward.
On to another team that has shuffled its lineup but in the two-wheel variety...
Márquez: Vetoing Lorenzo would've been "sign of weakness"
This is admirable to acknowledge. Marc Márquez wants the challenge. He could have made it easy for himself and made sure some schlub would be on the other Honda in a move for self-preservation. Márquez could have made sure he was the top Honda rider for at least the next five years but instead he embraced the battle with another world champion.
You cannot say Márquez isn't confident. He knows how great he is and how few have been able to beat him since he entered MotoGP. No offense to Dani Pedrosa but this will be another level of competition for Márquez in 2019. It would not be surprising if Honda dominates the championship in a way that has not been since... Honda in 2014 when it won 14 of 18 races but event that in someway does not compare because 13 of those victories came at the hands of Márquez.
We could see a historic season from Honda in 2019.
On to Germany....
BMW: DTM still needs more manufacturers for 'stability'
Does DTM need more manufactures or does it want more manufactures? There is a difference.
Doesn't every series want more manufacturers for stability? IndyCar wants a third manufacture, NASCAR wants a fourth, WEC needs a whole bunch of manufactures for the new hypercar class, Formula One wants another engine supplier.
The only series I can think of that are good on manufactures are the aforementioned MotoGP and pretty much every GT3 series in the world. IMSA's GTD class has nine manufactures.
The question becomes how does DTM attract more manufactures? It doesn't make sense to become a GT3 series. There is ADAC GT Masters already in Germany. The Group One regulations in theory will make it possible for Super GT manufactures Honda, Nissan and Lexus to enter DTM but would any of those manufactures expand their operations into a European series? I think Nissan would. I think it is the most suited for it at least. Honda would be second but I don't think it could justify it and Lexus is in a similar boat to Honda.
Even if any of those three expand, how many cars would they have to bring to make it worth it? Right now, each DTM manufacture brings six cars to the grid. I would have to think you would have to commit at least five entries. Four is slightly too low because if you only had four manufactures and each ran four cars then you only have 16 cars and the grid would be smaller than it is already. If you have five manufactures then four entries may be permissible.
I am a bit excited at the though of the DTM including one or two of the Super GT manufactures and something inside me is screaming for Alfa Romeo to return but that is a bit of the 90s nostalgia coming out of me and I am not sure if a return of Alfa Romeo would do anything for the series nearly 25 years after it departed.
Paffett wants one-off DTM return in 2019
I think that one Formula E race already has Gary Paffett having second thoughts. A ride at Aston Martin sounds pretty good right now, doesn't it?
I want Paffett to run a one-off in the DTM and it goes back to something I wrote when Alex Zanardi announced a one-off and Sébastien Ogier announced a one-off, I want DTM to make this be its thing.
I want DTM to have regular one-off rides. I think it should be a close to regular thing for each manufacture. I want BMW to have Zanardi in a car for one race and then have Alexander Sims come in and then bring John Edwards or Bill Auberlen over. I want Audi to have Lucas di Grassi, Christopher Haase and Dries Vanthoor get a shot. Aston Martin should put Nicki Thiim, Alex Lynn and Darren Turner in as one-offs if they are not full time to begin with.
But I also want to see these one-offs be a chance once-in-a-lifetime drives that make people tune in or show up at the racetrack. I want to see the likes of Kyle Busch, Alexander Rossi, Juan Pablo Montoya, Will Power, André Lotterer, Rob Huff, Yvan Muller, Brendon Hartley and others get a one-off and be that fun cameo at each race.
DTM should be the fun series and give fans something different to watch in each race and give fans something that no other series offers.
That puts a bow on 2018 and we are in a New Year, a new batch of seasons and the wonderful return of an unknown lies ahead of us.
How Alejandro Agag is the Elon Musk of motorsports
That is not a good thing. Nobody should want to be the Elon Musk of anything. Only a buffoon would think that is a compliment. He is the Elon Musk of motorsports in a sense he opens his yap about everything and thinks he is the second coming of the Messiah but once again, those aren't good things.
Like the actually Elon Musk, we would be better off hearing less from Mr. Agag.
Di Grassi keen on F1 demo for Roborace
Remember when Formula E pushed back against the proposal about running events with fossil fuel series because it wanted to stand on its own and promote electric automobiles? Now its stillbirth, driverless series, which was supposed to have 20 cars and run during Formula E weeks starting two seasons ago, needs to have a 15-minute demo session at Silverstone, Hockenheim or Monza during a grand prix weekend?
Look, Roborace has been a failure. Let's just toss that idea into the incinerator.
The one thing Formula E has gotten wrong from the start is its aversion to running with existing championships. We live in a world where gasoline/diesel-powered automobiles and electric automobiles coexist and Formula E fails to bridge that gap. There is no reason why Formula E should be separate from everything else and the series and potentially electric automobiles could benefit from running with certain series.
Why couldn't Formula E and the European Le Mans Series share a weekend or Formula E and the British GT Championship or with any one of the 25 Blancpain GT Series around the world? Go to actual racetracks; go race in front of actual race fans and then the series might grow. Stop living in a fantasy...
Speaking of fantasies... on to Formula One!
London mayor thinks F1 race "should be possible"
Sure, doesn't mean it should happen.
When did Formula One adopt video game levels of thinking where every racetrack takes place in the downtown of the largest cities around the world? It feels like the calendar is morphing into Gran Turismo. There has to be a racetrack in London and Rome and Tokyo and soon somewhere in the Swiss Alps and after that race in Madrid and Seattle and Seoul.
Is Formula One going to become that much more popular just by adding a race in London?
If you live in the United Kingdom, are you more likely to get into Formula One if there is a race in London? I feel like you know what it is and you know where to see it if you want to go in person and you either choose to watch it or you don't. I don't see how a race in London or any other major city of the world would somehow get people to say, "You know what? I got to watch more of this Formula One stuff."
Under-threat British GP tops F1 attendances
And this is a nice transition to the fact that the United Kingdom already has a successful grand prix, arguably the most successful grand prix, and for some reason that is never good enough for anyone involved. It is never good enough for Formula One. It is never good enough for Silverstone because despite the crowd it is still losing money and this race is always in jeopardy of falling off the calendar.
Maybe one day Formula One will realize what it has and why it cannot afford to lose that or some authoritarian regime will come along tossing bags of cash and the series only wants that.
Denmark's F1 race plan now relies on Copenhagen alternative
It is in the Netherlands and it is called Zandvoort.
No offense to the Danish people and the city of Copenhagen but it is better if Formula One doesn't head to your lovely country.
Red Bull must be F1 title contender with Honda - Brawn
I think that is the team's plan. Really Red Bull needs to be a title contender with whatever engine manufacture it partners with. It could put Kia engines in the back of the car and it still has to be a title contender.
I am not sure who needs to be a title contender more, Red Bull or Honda? Honda just needs to be competitive. If you gave Honda the exact results Red Bull had last year Honda would take it. Honda just needs to start sniffing the podium. Red Bull needs to compete for the title and Formula One in general cannot afford to have the fight go from three teams down to two.
Red Bull tried everything to keep Ricciardo
Did it try firing Max Verstappen? If no, then it didn't try everything but nobody, Ricciardo included, should have expected that to be a possibility.
Red Bull is kind of in a win-win. If Ricciardo doesn't do much at Renault, and I am not sure anyone is expecting him to win races, then it looks like Red Bull made the right choice because in all likelihood Verstappen will be finishing ahead of the Australian. And if Verstappen keeps winning races and finishing ahead of Ricciardo, even if Ricciardo is finishing third and fourth in most races, then it appears the team made the right choice.
The only way Red Bull loses is if Ricciardo carries Renault to heights it has only know previously with Alain Prost and Fernando Alonso and Red Bull is in his mirrors.
It is hard to see where Ricciardo goes from here in the long run of his career. Ferrari will never call as long as Sebastian Vettel is there. Mercedes already has the problem of three drivers and two seats. Red Bull isn't going to bring him back as long as Verstappen is there. I hate to think Ricciardo's career could be mired in the mediocrity of Renault and worse of all it end his Formula One career when he is 33 years old and who knows where that smile will land afterward.
On to another team that has shuffled its lineup but in the two-wheel variety...
Márquez: Vetoing Lorenzo would've been "sign of weakness"
This is admirable to acknowledge. Marc Márquez wants the challenge. He could have made it easy for himself and made sure some schlub would be on the other Honda in a move for self-preservation. Márquez could have made sure he was the top Honda rider for at least the next five years but instead he embraced the battle with another world champion.
You cannot say Márquez isn't confident. He knows how great he is and how few have been able to beat him since he entered MotoGP. No offense to Dani Pedrosa but this will be another level of competition for Márquez in 2019. It would not be surprising if Honda dominates the championship in a way that has not been since... Honda in 2014 when it won 14 of 18 races but event that in someway does not compare because 13 of those victories came at the hands of Márquez.
We could see a historic season from Honda in 2019.
On to Germany....
BMW: DTM still needs more manufacturers for 'stability'
Does DTM need more manufactures or does it want more manufactures? There is a difference.
Doesn't every series want more manufacturers for stability? IndyCar wants a third manufacture, NASCAR wants a fourth, WEC needs a whole bunch of manufactures for the new hypercar class, Formula One wants another engine supplier.
The only series I can think of that are good on manufactures are the aforementioned MotoGP and pretty much every GT3 series in the world. IMSA's GTD class has nine manufactures.
The question becomes how does DTM attract more manufactures? It doesn't make sense to become a GT3 series. There is ADAC GT Masters already in Germany. The Group One regulations in theory will make it possible for Super GT manufactures Honda, Nissan and Lexus to enter DTM but would any of those manufactures expand their operations into a European series? I think Nissan would. I think it is the most suited for it at least. Honda would be second but I don't think it could justify it and Lexus is in a similar boat to Honda.
Even if any of those three expand, how many cars would they have to bring to make it worth it? Right now, each DTM manufacture brings six cars to the grid. I would have to think you would have to commit at least five entries. Four is slightly too low because if you only had four manufactures and each ran four cars then you only have 16 cars and the grid would be smaller than it is already. If you have five manufactures then four entries may be permissible.
I am a bit excited at the though of the DTM including one or two of the Super GT manufactures and something inside me is screaming for Alfa Romeo to return but that is a bit of the 90s nostalgia coming out of me and I am not sure if a return of Alfa Romeo would do anything for the series nearly 25 years after it departed.
Paffett wants one-off DTM return in 2019
I think that one Formula E race already has Gary Paffett having second thoughts. A ride at Aston Martin sounds pretty good right now, doesn't it?
I want Paffett to run a one-off in the DTM and it goes back to something I wrote when Alex Zanardi announced a one-off and Sébastien Ogier announced a one-off, I want DTM to make this be its thing.
I want DTM to have regular one-off rides. I think it should be a close to regular thing for each manufacture. I want BMW to have Zanardi in a car for one race and then have Alexander Sims come in and then bring John Edwards or Bill Auberlen over. I want Audi to have Lucas di Grassi, Christopher Haase and Dries Vanthoor get a shot. Aston Martin should put Nicki Thiim, Alex Lynn and Darren Turner in as one-offs if they are not full time to begin with.
But I also want to see these one-offs be a chance once-in-a-lifetime drives that make people tune in or show up at the racetrack. I want to see the likes of Kyle Busch, Alexander Rossi, Juan Pablo Montoya, Will Power, André Lotterer, Rob Huff, Yvan Muller, Brendon Hartley and others get a one-off and be that fun cameo at each race.
DTM should be the fun series and give fans something different to watch in each race and give fans something that no other series offers.
That puts a bow on 2018 and we are in a New Year, a new batch of seasons and the wonderful return of an unknown lies ahead of us.
Thursday, January 3, 2019
2019 Supercross Season Preview
The first major series to get under way in 2019 will be Supercross with 17 races scheduled over the next 18 weeks. We take a look at the schedule, which includes a few new venues, and the riders, which includes a handful of championship contenders as well as an exciting rookie class.
Schedule
Anaheim once again plays host to the season opener on Saturday January 5th. One week later will be a return to Arizona and Glendale, the first domed venue of the season. Anaheim hosts its second race of the season on January 19th and it will be the first Triple Crown format event of the season. Oakland closes out January on the 26th.
February begins in San Diego on the 2nd before a trip to Minneapolis on February 9th. For the tenth consecutive season, Supercross heads to Arlington, Texas and this year's race will be on February 16th. Detroit will be the second Triple Crown round of the season on February 23rd.
Atlanta will host the first round of March on the 2nd. Daytona Bike Week takes place on March 9th and the series will head to another motorsports city in Indianapolis the following week on March 16th. Seattle will be March 23rd, the earliest visit to the Emerald City since the final visit to the Kingdome on January 30, 1999.
Houston hosts the final Triple Crown round on March 30th. Supercross will make its debut in Nashville, Tennessee on April 6th before making its first stop in Denver since 1996 on April 13th. The series will take the week after Denver off for Easter before returning to East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 27th with Las Vegas closing out the season on May 4th.
Teams:
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Team
Jason Anderson: #1 Husqvarna FC450
What did he do in 2018: Anderson won the 2018 Supercross championship with victories at Houston, Oakland, San Diego and Atlanta.
What to expect in 2019: Anderson won a title with his consistency last year and there is no reason not to think Anderson will keep up his track record. Will it be enough to win a title for a second consecutive year? He will be up there but if Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin all remain on the bike and do not allow Anderson to make up points in bunches Anderson may find himself dropping a few positions down the championship standings.
Zach Osborne: #16 Husqvarna FC450
What did he do in 2018: Osborne won his second consecutive 250 East championship and Osborne had three victories.
What to expect in 2019: Unfortunately, Osborne injured his collarbone during a practice day and he will need surgery. He has not been ruled out for making a debut midseason. Osborne had won three consecutive championships before his 250 Motocross season ended prematurely in 2018. He kind of pairs well with Anderson. Osborne was consistent in 250s. Since he switched to Husqvarna in 2015, Osborne has won seven races, had 18 podium finishes, 24 top five finishes and 33 top ten finishes in 36 races. If he was healthy and running every race, I think Osborne would be in the top ten of the championship.
Rocky Mountain ATV/MC – KTM – WPS
Blake Baggett: #4 KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
What did he do in 2018: Baggett was fourth in the championship and he had five podium finishes, all third place results. He was fifth in the Motocross championship but had four podium finishes.
What to expect in 2019: Baggett improved last season but he is still on KTM's second team and, if everyone else stays healthy, Baggett may lose a few places in the championship but still put up a respectable showing.
Justin Bogle: #19 KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
What did he do in 2018: Bogle made only two starts in 2018, both were 17th place finishes at Glendale and Oakland.
What to expect in 2019: I am not sure. None of his results have been that great in his Supercross career and he has missed his fair share of races. I am not sure he finishes in the top ten even if he starts every race.
Bullfrog Spas/Smartop/Motoconcepts/Honda
Justin Brayton: #10 Honda CRF 450
What did he do in 2018: Brayton rounded out the top five of the champoionsip, four points off Baggett and he scored a long-awaited and popular victory at Daytona.
What to expect in 2019: He led the Honda contingent last year when the manufacture needed it most. I think he will be in the top ten of the championship but not be the top Honda rider.
Malcolm Stewart: #27 Honda CRH 450
What did he do in 2018: Stewart was 11th in the championship on 169 points with his best finish being seventh and he had four top ten finishes.
What to expect in 2019: Stewart was a late addition to this team and he is coming off a bad accident at Torino in the offseason. I think he will match his results from 2018.
Vince Friese: #42 Honda CRF 450
What did he do in 2018: Friese was 12th in the championship, missing out on tenth by nine points to Justin Barcia.
What to expect in 2019: Friese was not really competitive in 2018 and I don't think he will finish in the top ten of the championship in 2019.
What did he do in 2018: Reed was 13th in the championship on a privateer Husqvarna. His best finish was seventh at Seattle and he had four top ten finishes all season.
What to expect in 2019: After toughing out a year running his own bike, the injury to Weston Peick has landed Reed back at the factory Suzuki effort. It has been nearly four years since his last victory and Suzuki has not won since 2016. Reed should improve from his championship position last season but I don't think he will be pushing for the top five in the championship.
Justin Hill: #46 Suzuki RM-Z450
What did he do in 2018: Hill finished sixth in the 250 West championship with a victory at San Diego and a third at Oakland. He made two 450 starts with a sixth at Tampa and a 22nd at Atlanta.
What to expect in 2019: Hill had some good results and he was the 2017 250 West champion but I think he will be at best finishing in the top five and he should aim to at least beat his teammate.
Team Honda HRC
Cole Seely: #14 Honda CRF 450
What did he do in 2018: Seely finished 17th in the championship on 124 points after getting injured at Tampa and missing the final nine races. He finished second in Anaheim 2 to Tomac.
What to expect in 2019: Seely won in his rookie year at Houston in 2015 and he finished third in the championship. However, his championship finish has dropped ever since. He is a top ten rider but I don't think he can compete with the top four this season. He needs to reverse his championship slide and it will be tough to do with the depth of this grid.
Ken Roczen: #94 Honda CRF450
What did he do in 2018: Roczen finished 18th in the championship on 102 points after getting injured at San Diego and missing the final 11 races. He had finished second twice in the first six races and he had a third as well. He finished third in the Motocross championship and he had two victories.
What to expect in 2019: Everything hangs on whether Roczen can stay healthy. He can push Tomac for the title but Roczen has not been the same since his injury in 2017 and it could be a case where Roczen does not have that last bit of aggression to take a title from Tomac, Musquin and Anderson.
What did he do in 2018: Plessinger won the 250 West championship with four victories and he won the 250 Motocross championship with 11 victories from 24 races.
What to expect in 2019: It is going to be a tough fight for rookie of the year this season between Plessinger, Savatgy and Hill and it would have been better is Osborne was healthy. I think every race could have a great battle between these three somewhere between fifth and tenth. The one thing against Plessinger is Yamaha has not won a 450 Supercross race since James Stewart at Daytona in 2012.
Justin Barcia: #51 Yamaha YZ450F
What did he do in 2018: Barcia rounded out the top ten in the championship with 177 points after missing six races midseason. His best finish was second to Tomac at Glendale. He was fourth in the Motocross championship and he swept the final round, the Ironman Nationals.
What to expect in 2019: Barcia got a big opportunity last year filling in for the injured Davi Millsaps and now he has a full-time ride with factory Yamaha. He had a great start until his injury. It will be a tough battle between he and Plessinger to see who is top Yamaha rider.
DW15
Dean Wilson: #15 Husqvarna FC450
What did he do in 2018: Wilson finished seventh in the championship despite scoring no points in the season opener and missing the next race at Houston. His best finish was second to Musquin at Indianapolis.
What to expect in 2019: Wilson kind of takes over the vacancy Chad Reed left as a privateer Husqvarna rider. Wilson is a bit younger but I can't see him finishing in the top ten of the championship.
The 2019 Supercross season opener will be held at 10:00 p.m. ET on Saturday January 5th from Anaheim.
Schedule
Anaheim once again plays host to the season opener on Saturday January 5th. One week later will be a return to Arizona and Glendale, the first domed venue of the season. Anaheim hosts its second race of the season on January 19th and it will be the first Triple Crown format event of the season. Oakland closes out January on the 26th.
February begins in San Diego on the 2nd before a trip to Minneapolis on February 9th. For the tenth consecutive season, Supercross heads to Arlington, Texas and this year's race will be on February 16th. Detroit will be the second Triple Crown round of the season on February 23rd.
Atlanta will host the first round of March on the 2nd. Daytona Bike Week takes place on March 9th and the series will head to another motorsports city in Indianapolis the following week on March 16th. Seattle will be March 23rd, the earliest visit to the Emerald City since the final visit to the Kingdome on January 30, 1999.
Houston hosts the final Triple Crown round on March 30th. Supercross will make its debut in Nashville, Tennessee on April 6th before making its first stop in Denver since 1996 on April 13th. The series will take the week after Denver off for Easter before returning to East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 27th with Las Vegas closing out the season on May 4th.
Teams:
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Team
Jason Anderson: #1 Husqvarna FC450
What did he do in 2018: Anderson won the 2018 Supercross championship with victories at Houston, Oakland, San Diego and Atlanta.
What to expect in 2019: Anderson won a title with his consistency last year and there is no reason not to think Anderson will keep up his track record. Will it be enough to win a title for a second consecutive year? He will be up there but if Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin all remain on the bike and do not allow Anderson to make up points in bunches Anderson may find himself dropping a few positions down the championship standings.
What did he do in 2018: Osborne won his second consecutive 250 East championship and Osborne had three victories.
What to expect in 2019: Unfortunately, Osborne injured his collarbone during a practice day and he will need surgery. He has not been ruled out for making a debut midseason. Osborne had won three consecutive championships before his 250 Motocross season ended prematurely in 2018. He kind of pairs well with Anderson. Osborne was consistent in 250s. Since he switched to Husqvarna in 2015, Osborne has won seven races, had 18 podium finishes, 24 top five finishes and 33 top ten finishes in 36 races. If he was healthy and running every race, I think Osborne would be in the top ten of the championship.
Red Bull KTM
Cooper Webb: #2 KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
What did he do in 2018: Webb finished ninth in the championship after missing four rounds, including the final three. Webb's best finish was third at Daytona.
What to expect in 2019: Webb falls a lot. He won two 250 West titles but he has yet to string together consistent results. He is making a big move to KTM. It could elevate his career if he stays up right.
What to expect in 2019: Webb falls a lot. He won two 250 West titles but he has yet to string together consistent results. He is making a big move to KTM. It could elevate his career if he stays up right.
Marvin Musquin: #25 KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
What did he do in 2018: Musquin was vice-champion, finishing nine points behind Anderson. Musquin won Anaheim 1, Indianapolis, Foxborough and Salt Lake City. He was vice-champion in the Motocross championship with five victories.
What to expect in 2019: The Frenchman will win a few races and he has the ability to compete for the title. He still needs to find that final gear to compete with the likes of Eli Tomac and he needs to be a bit more consistent to match Anderson. He isn't far off those two in those respective categories but that is right now what is separating him a championship.
What to expect in 2019: The Frenchman will win a few races and he has the ability to compete for the title. He still needs to find that final gear to compete with the likes of Eli Tomac and he needs to be a bit more consistent to match Anderson. He isn't far off those two in those respective categories but that is right now what is separating him a championship.
Monster Energy Kawasaki
Eli Tomac: #3 Kawasaki KX 450F
What did he do in 2018: Tomac finished third in the championship despite winning eight of 17 races. His victories were Anaheim 2, Glendale, Arlington, Tampa, St. Louis, Seattle, Minneapolis and Las Vegas. He also won his second consecutive Motocross championship with 15 victories from 24 races and he won the Monster Energy Cup.
What to expect in 2019: This has to be Tomac's year to win the Supercross championship. He has won everything else and if he can avoid the two or three poor races that have derailed his title hopes in previous seasons the title will unquestionably be his.
What to expect in 2019: This has to be Tomac's year to win the Supercross championship. He has won everything else and if he can avoid the two or three poor races that have derailed his title hopes in previous seasons the title will unquestionably be his.
Joey Savatgy: #17 Kawasaki KX 450F
What did he do in 2018: Savatgy finished fourth in the 250 West championship with one victory and four podium finishes.
What to expect in 2019: Savatgy had respectable results in the 250 division with five victories and 19 podium finishes over five seasons. I don't think Tomac will have much to worry about and I think Savatgy will be in the back half of the top ten.
What to expect in 2019: Savatgy had respectable results in the 250 division with five victories and 19 podium finishes over five seasons. I don't think Tomac will have much to worry about and I think Savatgy will be in the back half of the top ten.
Blake Baggett: #4 KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition
What did he do in 2018: Baggett was fourth in the championship and he had five podium finishes, all third place results. He was fifth in the Motocross championship but had four podium finishes.
What to expect in 2019: Baggett improved last season but he is still on KTM's second team and, if everyone else stays healthy, Baggett may lose a few places in the championship but still put up a respectable showing.
What did he do in 2018: Bogle made only two starts in 2018, both were 17th place finishes at Glendale and Oakland.
What to expect in 2019: I am not sure. None of his results have been that great in his Supercross career and he has missed his fair share of races. I am not sure he finishes in the top ten even if he starts every race.
Justin Brayton: #10 Honda CRF 450
What did he do in 2018: Brayton rounded out the top five of the champoionsip, four points off Baggett and he scored a long-awaited and popular victory at Daytona.
What to expect in 2019: He led the Honda contingent last year when the manufacture needed it most. I think he will be in the top ten of the championship but not be the top Honda rider.
Malcolm Stewart: #27 Honda CRH 450
What did he do in 2018: Stewart was 11th in the championship on 169 points with his best finish being seventh and he had four top ten finishes.
What to expect in 2019: Stewart was a late addition to this team and he is coming off a bad accident at Torino in the offseason. I think he will match his results from 2018.
Vince Friese: #42 Honda CRF 450
What did he do in 2018: Friese was 12th in the championship, missing out on tenth by nine points to Justin Barcia.
What to expect in 2019: Friese was not really competitive in 2018 and I don't think he will finish in the top ten of the championship in 2019.
JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki Factory Racing
Chad Reed: #22 Suzuki RM-Z450What did he do in 2018: Reed was 13th in the championship on a privateer Husqvarna. His best finish was seventh at Seattle and he had four top ten finishes all season.
What to expect in 2019: After toughing out a year running his own bike, the injury to Weston Peick has landed Reed back at the factory Suzuki effort. It has been nearly four years since his last victory and Suzuki has not won since 2016. Reed should improve from his championship position last season but I don't think he will be pushing for the top five in the championship.
Justin Hill: #46 Suzuki RM-Z450
What did he do in 2018: Hill finished sixth in the 250 West championship with a victory at San Diego and a third at Oakland. He made two 450 starts with a sixth at Tampa and a 22nd at Atlanta.
What to expect in 2019: Hill had some good results and he was the 2017 250 West champion but I think he will be at best finishing in the top five and he should aim to at least beat his teammate.
Cole Seely: #14 Honda CRF 450
What did he do in 2018: Seely finished 17th in the championship on 124 points after getting injured at Tampa and missing the final nine races. He finished second in Anaheim 2 to Tomac.
What to expect in 2019: Seely won in his rookie year at Houston in 2015 and he finished third in the championship. However, his championship finish has dropped ever since. He is a top ten rider but I don't think he can compete with the top four this season. He needs to reverse his championship slide and it will be tough to do with the depth of this grid.
What did he do in 2018: Roczen finished 18th in the championship on 102 points after getting injured at San Diego and missing the final 11 races. He had finished second twice in the first six races and he had a third as well. He finished third in the Motocross championship and he had two victories.
What to expect in 2019: Everything hangs on whether Roczen can stay healthy. He can push Tomac for the title but Roczen has not been the same since his injury in 2017 and it could be a case where Roczen does not have that last bit of aggression to take a title from Tomac, Musquin and Anderson.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing
Aaron Plessinger: #7 Yamaha YZ450FWhat did he do in 2018: Plessinger won the 250 West championship with four victories and he won the 250 Motocross championship with 11 victories from 24 races.
What to expect in 2019: It is going to be a tough fight for rookie of the year this season between Plessinger, Savatgy and Hill and it would have been better is Osborne was healthy. I think every race could have a great battle between these three somewhere between fifth and tenth. The one thing against Plessinger is Yamaha has not won a 450 Supercross race since James Stewart at Daytona in 2012.
What did he do in 2018: Barcia rounded out the top ten in the championship with 177 points after missing six races midseason. His best finish was second to Tomac at Glendale. He was fourth in the Motocross championship and he swept the final round, the Ironman Nationals.
What to expect in 2019: Barcia got a big opportunity last year filling in for the injured Davi Millsaps and now he has a full-time ride with factory Yamaha. He had a great start until his injury. It will be a tough battle between he and Plessinger to see who is top Yamaha rider.
Dean Wilson: #15 Husqvarna FC450
What did he do in 2018: Wilson finished seventh in the championship despite scoring no points in the season opener and missing the next race at Houston. His best finish was second to Musquin at Indianapolis.
What to expect in 2019: Wilson kind of takes over the vacancy Chad Reed left as a privateer Husqvarna rider. Wilson is a bit younger but I can't see him finishing in the top ten of the championship.
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