Racer of the Year
Description: Given to the best racer over the course of 2017.
And the Nominees are:
Brendon Hartley
Jonathan Rea
Jordan Taylor
Lewis Hamilton
Martin Truex, Jr.
Sébastien Buemi
And the winner is... Brendon Hartley
The man started the year by winning the Dubai 24 Hour with Herberth Motorsport. Hartley would then go on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Timo Bernhard and Earl Bamber in the #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid and that team would go on to win the three races after Le Mans as well. Then he won Petit Le Mans in the #2 Extreme Speed Motorsport Nissan with Ryan Dalziel and Scott Sharp. Then he was linked and likely had signed a deal to become Chip Ganassi Racing's second driver for the 2018 IndyCar season until Scuderia Toro Rosso came knocking and put him in its car for the prematurely departing Carlos Sainz, Jr. In-between Formula One starts, Hartley clinched the World Endurance Drivers' Championship with Bernhard and Bamber.
Anyone else come closing to matching Hartley for most diverse 2017? The man drove everything and was linked to everything but a NASCAR Cup ride. He won endurance races in three entirely different machines. He got to drive a Formula One car and he was competitive considering the lack of seat time. If Hartley didn't have so many grid penalties and gotten a morsel of reliable from Renault he could have scored at least a point.
Hartley took the long road to Formula One and collected some precious silverware along the way. What can he do now that he has hit the big time?
On the other nominees:
Jonathan Rea is the competitor we are talking the least about and we should be talking about him more. The man has dominated the World Superbike Championship for three consecutive seasons and he might have had his best season yet in 2017. He won 16 races, the second-most all-time in a single-season; he stood on the podium 24 times, a single-season record; he set 14 fastest laps; matching a single-season record. He is tied for second all-time in World Superbike titles and he is second all-time in World Superbike victories. He will likely be the most successful rider in WSBK history after 2018.
Jordan Taylor won the IMSA Prototype championship, the Pirelli World Challenge SprintX GT championship, the 24 Hours of Daytona overall, the 12 Hours of Sebring overall and he finished third in GTE-Pro at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and if it wasn't for a flat tire on the final lap he would have won that bloody race too.
Lewis Hamilton proved to once again be one of the best drivers alive. In a year where Mercedes was equally matched, if not bested by Ferrari, Hamilton found a way to win his fourth World Drivers' Championship. He won nine races, picked up 11 pole positions, sits on 62 career victories and 72 career pole positions, second all-time and first all-time in each respective category.
Martin Truex, Jr., had a dominant NASCAR Cup season. He won eight races, seven on 1.5-mile ovals, a record for most victories on that discipline in one season. He should have locked up the championship with two races to go but despite the format, he still went on to win the finale and take his first Cup championship.
The only non-champion nominated is Sébastien Buemi and it is because the Swiss driver did everything to win a title. He won five FIA World Endurance Championship races in the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid with Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima, more than Hartley and the #2 Porsche. Besides his success in the FIA WEC, Buemi won four Formula E races in the calendar year but finished second in each championship.
Past Winners
2012: Kyle Larson
2013: Marc Márquez
2014: Marc Márquez
2015: Nick Tandy
2016: Shane van Gisbergen
2014: Marc Márquez
2015: Nick Tandy
2016: Shane van Gisbergen
Race of the Year
Description: Best Race of 2017.
And the Nominees are:
ABC Supply 500 from Pocono Raceway
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
All three races at the World Superbike/World Supersport weekend at Phillip Island
Ford EcoBoost 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway
Supercross 450cc Main Event from Phoenix
And the winner is... All races at the World Superbike/World Supersport weekend at Phillip Island
It was late-February and you could not ask for three better races to occur in two days that is why they are being grouped together. Marco Melandri led the first lap of the WSBK season and the first race played out to be a Kawasaki vs. Ducati battle. Jonathan Rea took the lead before Melandri retook the point a few laps later. Tom Sykes led a lap and Yamaha's Alex Lowes even got in the fight. Melandri fell off his bike and the battle continued. Rea led before Sykes jumped to the top. It became a Rea vs. Chaz Davies battle for the final three laps. Davies was on the Northern Irishman's back wheel exiting the final corner but he could not get alongside Rea and finished 0.042 seconds back.
World Supersport took the stage early on Sunday and a red flag forced a shortened race. Jules Cluzel led most of the race but any one of seven bikes could have won the race as the top seven were covered by 0.860 seconds at the start of the final lap. Roberto Rolfo made move to the outside entering the second corner to go from third to first. Cluzel's charge to the front ended with an accident with Federico Caricasulo and that left Rolfo one-on-one with Lucas Mahias. The two were side-by-side coming to the line and right when it appeared Mahias had him, Rolfo came back and the result was too close to call at the line with timing and scoring jumping between the two riders on who was the winner. The result was investigate and Rolfo was ruled the winner by 0.001 seconds.
If that wasn't close enough for you, World Superbike returned to the track to see if it could match the show it put on in the first race of the season. It took six laps for Rea to get to the lead and Davies took the lead on lap eight. Davies led for a good portion of the race before Melandri got to the front and led four laps. Rea led with two laps to go and Davies retook the lead at the start of the final lap but Rea took the lead back in the first corner. Davies sat behind Rea and had a great run in the middle of the final corner but Rea was better on exit. Davies looked to the outside and then swung back to the inside but fell 0.025 seconds short. The top two were covered by less than a tenth of a second at the completion of each of the final four laps.
On the other nominees:
IndyCar has put on some of the best 500-mile races in the DW12-era and Pocono proved to be a stellar race with a Pocono record 42 lead change and a famous 12-lap battle where Tony Kanaan and Graham Rahal swapped the lead constantly. However, the end saw a Will Power-Josef Newgarden-Alexander Rossi battle with the Australian holding off the American drivers after Power was forced to change front wings and go on a different fuel strategy.
Azerbaijan is the race that shaped the World Drivers' Championship. Sebastian Vettel hit Lewis Hamilton. He was penalized. Hamilton had a headrest come loose and force him to pit. The Force Indias ran into each other when it appeared one of them could steal the race. This allowed Daniel Ricciardo to take the victory with Valtteri Bottas beating Lance Stroll in a drag race to the line for second.
I think we need to do a separate category for four-wheel race of the year and two-wheel race of the year and possibly another category for Phillip Island race of the year because MotoGP had a race there that rivaled the three February race. It felt more like a Moto3 race with the riders at the front constantly rotating. However, Marc Márquez took control of the race with seven laps to go and never looked back.
Say what you want about the NASCAR Chase format but it allowed for an exciting season finale. Martin Truex, Jr., and Kyle Busch ran at ten-tenths for 400 miles and Kyle Larson, with nothing to lose ran them down while Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski were good but not good enough. The top three of Truex, Jr., Busch and Larson were all within sight of each other until the final lap.
Eli Tomac dominated the Supercross main event at Phoenix but from second to tenth the battle was tremendous. Chad Reed flexed his muscle and beat Ryan Dungey and Cole Seely for second after those had there own back and forth battle.
Past Winners
2012: Indianapolis 500
2013: British motorcycle Grand Prix
2014: Bathurst 1000
2015: Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
2016: Spanish Grand Prix
Achievement of the Year
Description: Best success by a driver, team, manufacture, etc.
And the Nominees are:
Christopher Bell: For becoming the second driver to win the Chili Bowl and Turkey Night Grand Prix in the same year.
James French and Pato O'Ward: For winning seven of right Prototype Challenge races in ISMA.
Jonathan Rea: For becoming the first rider to win three consecutive World Superbike championships.
Lewis Hamilton: For breaking the record for most Formula One pole positions.
Martin Truex, Jr.: Lowest average finish on 1.5-mile ovals in NASCAR Cup Series History and record seven victories on 1.5-mile ovals.
And the winner is... Jonathan Rea: For becoming the first rider to win three consecutive World Superbike championships.
I kind of said it all above. Rea had a dominant season and he has had a dominant three seasons. He has won 40 of 78 races over his three championship seasons. He has stood on the podium for 70 of those races. He has retired from five races over the last three seasons but his worst finish in three seasons is fourth. If there is one gripe it is that Rea has only won 14 pole positions in those three seasons.
On the other nominees:
Christopher Bell might be underrated. He seemed to be forgotten when teammates with William Byron in the Truck series as Byron was pegged as a future star. Besides winning the Truck Series championship this year, Bell won the two most prestigious midget car races in the United States. The Oklahoman won his home race for the first time in his career and he picked up his second Turkey Night Grand Prix victory. The only other driver to accomplish this feat was Billy Boat in 1997.
I know the final year of the Prototype Challenge class wasn't the most exciting bit of racing ever and most races only featured three cars but going 7-for-8 is something. James French and Pato O'Ward are two drivers to watch out for in sports cars and possibly even open wheel racing. It is a shame they missed out on the perfect season in the final race.
What else can't be said about Lewis Hamilton that has been said already? The man put himself at the top of the list when it comes to pole positions and in the same sentimental way Michael Schumacher did it. Schumacher broke Ayrton Senna's at Imola. Hamilton broke Schumacher's record at Monza. He sits on 72 pole positions, four above Schumacher and 22 ahead of Sebastian Vettel, the closest active driver.
Say what you want about mile-and-a-half racetracks in NASCAR. There may be too many but if you succeed on those you are going to have a great season. Martin Truex, Jr., did just that. His average finish was 2.454, a record. His worst finish all season in 1.5-mile oval races was eighth. Every time NASCAR went to a 1.5-mile racetrack it seems like you could count on Truex, Jr., to lead at least a third of the race.
Past Winners
2012: DeltaWing
2013: Sebastian Vettel for winning nine consecutive races on his way to a fourth consecutive title
2014: Marc Márquez: Setting the record for most wins in a premier class season.
2015: Justin Wilson Memorial Family Auction
2016: Jimmie Johnson for his seventh NASCAR Cup championship
Fernando Alonso Memorial Moment of the Year
Description: The Most Memorable Moment in the World of Racing from Fernando Alonso during the 2017 season.
And the Nominees are:
Fernando Alonso announcing his Indianapolis 500 ride
Fernando Alonso's press conference at Barber Motorsports Park
Fernando Alonso killing two birds at once during this first test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Fernando Alonso stealing the moment before Formula One's summer break at Hungary
Fernando Alonso at Monza wanting to know where Jolyon Palmer was after an incident between the two
And the winner is... Fernando Alonso announcing his Indianapolis 500 ride
This event turned the world on its ear for all of 2017. Forget the race. We will be asking ourselves where were we on April 12, 2017, when the Spaniard made the stunning decision to head to Indianapolis instead of Monaco for the final weekend in May.
A lot of people have been throwing his name around as the best racer or driver of the year because of what he did at Indianapolis and what he did with a horrendous car in Formula One but let's be realistic. You need results to be either of those two things but Alonso does deserve recognition for doing what many would never fathom trying in stepping away from Formula One for one race to race another discipline. If he doesn't do this we would have had less excitement in 2017 and two of the four other nominees wouldn't exist.
The man stole the spotlight in 2017 and he didn't even win a race but he made us realize how great motorsports can be when a driver branches out.
On the other nominees:
The press conference was the United States' first taste of the Spaniard after his announcement and he came off relaxed despite being in such a structured situation. He even left us with a few zingers, such as when asked about what the reaction from the other Formula One drivers had been, his response "we don't talk much."
There is something about watching a race car shred wild life to bits. I love animals but let's face it. Humans are on top and Fernando Alonso put two points on the scoreboard for mankind. Humans 2, Animals 0.
The man is a good sport. In honor of his famous sunbathing session in a beach chair after his car broke down during practice at Interlagos, a mural was made featuring the Spaniard reclined at a beach to signify the start of the Formula One summer break. To go along with the artwork, Alonso came out and reclined in a beach chair while Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen and Valtteri Bottas celebrated on the podium. He stole the show once again and not only did he steal the show from the drivers on the podium but from himself as well. Alonso finished sixth in the race and it was his best finish of the season. How many didn't realize that?
Monza saw Alonso lose a position to Palmer after the Renault driver cut the second chicane. The British driver did not give the position back but Palmer was handed a five-second penalty. This irked the Spaniard. However, Palmer was forced to retired. Alonso then asked where he was and told that the Brit had dropped out of the race. His response was another gem: "Karma."
Past Winners
2012: Alex Zanardi
2013: 24 Hours of Le Mans
2014: Post-race at the Charlotte and Texas Chase races.
2015: Matt Kenseth vs. Joey Logano
2016: Toyota Slows at Le Mans
Pass of the Year
Description: Best pass of 2017.
And the Nominees are:
Roberto Rolfe: From third to first on the final lap in World Supersport at Phillip Island.
Jamie McMurray: From fifth to second at Talladega.
Hélio Castroneves: From third to first at Toronto.
Renger van der Zande: From second to first on Dane Cameron at Laguna Seca.
Chalrles Leclerc: From second to first on Alexander Albon at Yas Marina.
And the winner is... Renger van der Zande: From second to first on Dane Cameron at Laguna Seca
When you have Alex Zanardi's approval of a pass in the corkscrew you know it was a damn good pass.
The Dutchman threw it up in the inside of the American's Cadillac in the closing laps and the two went side-by-side into the corkscrew with van der Zande coming out ahead. It was a no mercy, hold your breath move and it paid off. Van der Zande then ran away with it and won comfortably over Cameron.
On the other nominees:
Rolfe had never won a World Supersport race and on the final lap he made his move to the outside of Yamaha riders Lucas Mahias and Federico Caricacsulo entering turn two. It was a gutsy move and despite the move coming so early the Italian held on for the victory.
The restrictor plate races are a crapshoot and most of the time it is out of a driver's control but on the final lap in the May Talladega race, McMurray made an audacious move to go from the bottom pass Kasey Kahne and split Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson to get to second. He was on Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.'s rear but didn't have enough momentum. It was still a hell of a move to get to second.
The first corner at most IndyCar street races are hair-raising and any daring move up the inside could leave at least one but possibly two guys pissed off. Hélio Castroneves went from side-by-side with Graham Rahal to the inside of Simon Pagenaud and into the lead by turn two with no contact to boot. It was flawless.
Abu Dhabi may have two passing zones but Charles Leclerc used all the straightaway into turn eight to pass Alexander Albon in what was a side-by-side battle that seemed to last an eternity. The Monegasque driver has been proving he is something special all season and in the Formula Two finale he may have put the cherry on top of the sundae.
Past Winners
2012: Simon Pagenaud at Baltimore
2013: Robert Wickens at Nürburgring and Peter Dempsey in the Freedom 100
2014: Ryan Blaney on Germán Quiroga
2015: Laurens Vanthoor from 4th to 2nd on the outside in the Bathurst 12 Hour
2016: Scott McLaughlin on Mark Winterbottom at Surfers Paradise
The Eric Idle Award
Description: "When You're Chewing on Life's Gristle, Don't Grumble, Give a Whistle, And This'll Help Things Turn Out For The Best, and... Always Look On The Bright Side of Life."
And the Nominees are:
Pierre Gasly: For having his Super Formula title hopes ended by a typhoon and missing a Formula One race as well.
Jolyon Palmer: For a rough time at Renault.
Kyle Larson: For his engine failure at Kansas and four bad races dropping him to eighth in the championship when he was really the third-best driver all season.
Chase Elliott: For five runner-up finishes and still looking for his first career Cup victory.
Nick Heidfeld: For going 18 years and counting since his most recent single-seater victory.
And the winner is... Nick Heidfeld
This is a lifetime achievement award... or more a lifetime of under achievement award. Let's get this straight. I like Nick Heidfeld and I want him to win a race in single-seaters before he calls it quits but it is astonishing how close he has been. This isn't a guy who has just hung around and never been close. He is the all-time leader for most podium finishes without a victory in both Formula One and Formula E! And if he wants to beat the piss out of Nicolas Prost no one would blame him.
His last single-seater victory was at what is now the Red Bull Ring in International Formula 3000 on July 24, 1999. He went on to win the championship that season. He has made 221 single-seater starts since his most recent single-seater victory. He did win the 2013 Petit Le Mans but that is his only victory in anything since that Austrian victory in the 20th century. Although, he technically won the two-car LMP1-L class at Le Mans in 2014 but come on man! It was a two-car class; it wasn't even a class. It was a subclass. I am getting off topic.
His next shot at victory in a single-seater will be in Formula E at Marrakech on January 13, 2018. It will have been 6,748 days since he won at Spielberg or 18 years, five months and 20 days. Soon he will be racing against drivers who were not even alive the last time he won in a single-seater.
On the other nominees:
Pierre Gasly was between a rock and a hard place in deciding whether to go for the Super Formula championship, which he trailed by a half point entering the final round, a doubleheader at Suzuka, or run the United States Grand Prix for Scuderia Toro Rosso. He chose (or Honda chose) the former and he was starting eighth, four positions behind title rival Hiroaki Ishiura in race one but he was going to start sixth, three positions ahead of Ishiura, in race two. We will never know if he could have won the championship on the track.
Say what you want about Jolyon Palmer but you don't win the GP2 championship on accident and Palmer had his share of bad luck in mechanical failures. Not to forget mentioning he had three 11th-place finishes in the first half of the season. He picked up a sixth-place finish at Singapore in a good showing in the wet. However, when Renault picked up Carlos Sainz, Jr., Palmer was soon out the door.
Had Larson's engine not gone sour at Kansas, he could have won the NASCAR Cup championship. He entered Kansas third in points and his race was over in the first stage. Even worse was the result was followed by three more retirements and because of the championship system he dropped to eighth in the final championship results despite scoring the fourth-most points all season.
Chase Elliott couldn't buy a victory and he is in a must-win situation. Besides his five runner-up finishes, he had near victories in the Daytona 500, the spring Phoenix race, the autumn Talladega race and the autumn Martinsville race. Now people are questioning his ability. He just turned 22 years old. He is fine but many worry that this son of a champion stud will end up like another son of a champion that just departed.
Past Winners
2012: Ben Spies
2013: Sam Hornish, Jr.
2014: Alexander Rossi
2015: McLaren
2016: Toyota
Comeback of the Year
Description: The Best Comeback in the 2017 season.
And the Nominees are:
Sébastien Bourdais: Returning to IndyCar after missing nine races due to injuries suffered in Indianapolis 500 qualifying.
Max Verstappen: From 16th to fourth at Austin.
Robert Kubica: Testing a Formula One car at Hungary
Johann Zarco: Running out of fuel and pushing bike to 15th place finish at Misano
Kelvin van der Linde: From third to first after a botched pit stop in the final 20 minutes of the 24 Hours Nürburgring
And the winner is... Kelvin van der Linde: From third to first after a botched pit stop in the final 20 minutes in the 24 Hours Nürburgring
It appeared all was lost for Land-Motorsport. The team didn't get the fuel cap closed on the final stop and they struggled to get the situation fixed. The race was over... but then it started raining and the team had the chance to put rain tires on. The team did and van der Linde went on a drive for the ages, picking off slower traffic stuck on slick tires in the wet and even using the grass when he needed to. He ran down the #98 ROWE Racing and the #9 WRT Audi and took the victory in an astonishing fashion.
On the other nominees:
There should almost be two lists because it is hard to compare what Sébastien Bourdais did to what van der Linde did. Bourdais was ruled out in the hours after his accident. His recovery was remarkable and he made it back probably two races earlier than expected and he returned at Gateway and finished tenth. He followed that up with a ninth place finish at Sonoma.
Verstappen had to start 16th after a grid penalty. The Dutchman went on a drive, picking through the field. He made a daring pass on Valtteri Bottas to get to fourth and he chased down for Kimi Räikkönen for third. He cut the course to get third and ultimately were handed a five-second penalty demote him to fourth but it was still an impressive drive.
Robert Kubica had been out of a Formula One car for almost seven years prior to his test with Williams at Hungary. He has been in the conversation for the Williams seat in 2018 but he likely will not get it. The fact he got back into a Formula One after all these years and did respectably well is an accomplishment in of itself.
It technically wasn't a comeback but Johann Zarco could have quit. He could have laid the bike down and conceded a point on the final lap but he rounded the final corner at Misano and give it his all pushing the bike. It was enough for 15th and one championship point. Zarco ended up finished ahead of Jorge Lorenzo in the championship by 37 points so he didn't need it but it was a great showing of not giving up despite a bad break.
Past Winners
2013: Michael Shank Racing at the 24 Hours of Daytona
2014: Juan Pablo Montoya to IndyCar
2015: Kyle Busch
2016: Max Verstappen from 15th to 3rd in the final 18 laps in the wet in the Brazilian Grand Prix
Most Improved
Description: Racer, Team or Manufacture Who Improved The Most from 2016 to 2017.
And the Nominees are:
DJR Team Penske: From three podium finishes and fifth in the Supercars Teams' Championship to 12 victories and first in the Teams' Championship.
Ott Tänak: From eighth on 88 points to third on 191 points with two victories and seventh podium finishes in the World Rally Championship.
Takuma Sato: From 17th to 8th in the IndyCar championship with a victory (in the Indianapolis 500 nonetheless), four top fives and two pole positions.
Dale Coyne Racing: From one podium finishes and six top ten finishes to a victory, three podium finishes and ten top ten finishes.
BMW Team RLL: From fifth in the GT Le Mans Championship and zero victories and three podium finishes to second in the GTLM Championship with four victories.
And the winner is... DJR Team Penske
The joke was Team Penske was on its way to world domination and it nearly got Australia. In partnership with Dick Johnson Racing, this team made great strides with Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard. No team won more races in Supercars in 2017 and the McLaughlin and Coulthard finished second and third in the Drivers' Championship. McLaughlin was one move away from being champion. Perhaps 2018 will be the year Penske takes over Australia and start its way up the Asia-Pacific.
On the other nominees:
Ott Tänak and the M-Sport World Rally Team made a great leap forward with Sébastien Ogier joining the team. The Estonian had a few good opportunities in 2016 but Ford was behind Volkswagen and Hyundai. This year it was best and Tänak gave his teammate a run for his money. He moves to Toyota in 2018 and he could be the favorite for the championship.
Takuma Sato had never finished in the top ten of the championship in his IndyCar career. He hadn't finished in the top ten of any championship since he finished eighth in the 2004 World Drivers' Championship. This was the first year Sato consistently brought the car home and had the speed to compete at the front. It was comforting to see him finally have one good year.
Dale Coyne Racing didn't put up massive numbers but when you consider the lead driver was taken out before the halfway point of the season and a rookie led the team from then on it was a really good year. Not to forget mentioning the team made a massive step forward on ovals. The team was quick at Indianapolis and got a third place finish with Ed Jones. It was the team's first top ten on an oval since Justin Wilson finished seventh at Pocono in 2013. It was the team's first top five finish on an oval since Wilson finished fifth at Indianapolis in 2013.
BMW Team RLL was lost in 2016 and it was a title contender in 2017. Alexander Sims was a stud and Bill Auberlen showed he still got it. Martin Tomczyk and John Edwards had a rough season but even they had their races and won at Laguna Seca. Now BMW brings in the M8 GTE to replace the M6 GTLM. Can it take the next step and beat Corvette?
Past Winners
2012: Esteban Guerrieri
2013: Marco Andretti
2014: Chaz Mostert
2015: Graham Rahal
2016: Simon Pagenaud
And there you have it. Congratulations to all the champions, race winners and all the competitors from around the globe. This is the sixth year of doing this and I plan on continuing for much longer than six more years. Thank you to all the readers and those who enjoy and share this with others. I look forward to more of it 2018. Keep an eye out for 2018 predictions coming in the final days of December.
