How will 2019 end? Let's find out.
1. MotoGP: At least three manufactures have multiple race winners
Wrong! The only manufacture to produce multiple race winners was Ducati with Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci.
Marc Márquez kicked tail this season and in doing so we did not see an abundance of race winners, which we thought would be possible. Márquez won 12 of 19 races and no other Honda rider took a victory in 2019. Maverick Viñales won at Assen and Sepang, he was the only Yamaha winner although Fabio Quartararo did his best to get a victory. Álex Rins won at Austin and Silverstone and he was the only Suzuki winner in 2019.
I put this down to Márquez being exceptional in 2019. No one could match him. On top of that, no other Honda rider could come close to him. Jorge Lorenzo continued to battle injuries and ultimately decided to retire. Cal Crutchlow did well on a customer bike but he is no Marc Márquez. Takaaki Nakagami did well but was never going to win a race.
On the other manufactures, Quartararo probably should have won at lest two or three races but Márquez continued to find a way to best the Frenchman, whether it was by pure speed or pure whit. Joan Mir was not close to his Suzuki teammate Rins. KTM was getting better but has to be competing for podium finishes before we can talk about multiple riders for victories. Aprilia is still out there but is in the same boat as KTM.
This season was a tad surprising but after running through it the lack of winners makes sense.
Marc Márquez kicked tail this season and in doing so we did not see an abundance of race winners, which we thought would be possible. Márquez won 12 of 19 races and no other Honda rider took a victory in 2019. Maverick Viñales won at Assen and Sepang, he was the only Yamaha winner although Fabio Quartararo did his best to get a victory. Álex Rins won at Austin and Silverstone and he was the only Suzuki winner in 2019.
I put this down to Márquez being exceptional in 2019. No one could match him. On top of that, no other Honda rider could come close to him. Jorge Lorenzo continued to battle injuries and ultimately decided to retire. Cal Crutchlow did well on a customer bike but he is no Marc Márquez. Takaaki Nakagami did well but was never going to win a race.
On the other manufactures, Quartararo probably should have won at lest two or three races but Márquez continued to find a way to best the Frenchman, whether it was by pure speed or pure whit. Joan Mir was not close to his Suzuki teammate Rins. KTM was getting better but has to be competing for podium finishes before we can talk about multiple riders for victories. Aprilia is still out there but is in the same boat as KTM.
This season was a tad surprising but after running through it the lack of winners makes sense.
2. Indy Lights: Three continents produce race winners
Wrong! The only continents to produce race winners were North America and Europe.
The North American winners were Canadian Zachary Claman and Americans Oliver Askew, Robert Megennis, Ryan Norman and Aaron Telitz.
The European winners were Dutchman Rinus Veekay and Briton Toby Sowery.
The only driver to compete that was not from North America or Europe was Brazilian Lucas Kohl, who was eighth in the championship out of eight full-time participants and he did not pick up a top five finish all season.
The North American winners were Canadian Zachary Claman and Americans Oliver Askew, Robert Megennis, Ryan Norman and Aaron Telitz.
The European winners were Dutchman Rinus Veekay and Briton Toby Sowery.
The only driver to compete that was not from North America or Europe was Brazilian Lucas Kohl, who was eighth in the championship out of eight full-time participants and he did not pick up a top five finish all season.
3. Supercars: There will be first-time winners in at least two of the three endurance rounds
Wrong! While Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Prémat each picked up their first career Bathurst 1000 victory, the Gold Coast 600 and Sandown 500 each had repeat winners.
Jaime Whincup and Craig Lowndes won the first Gold Coast race, their sixth and second victory respectively in that event. Their teammates Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander won the second Gold Coast race, giving them four and two Gold Coast victories respectively.
At Sandown, Whincup and Lowndes took the victory giving Lowndes six Sandown victories, tying Allan Moffat for second all-time in Sandown history and Whincup picked up his fifth Sandown victory.
The closer first-time winner in each race was Cameron Waters and Michael Caruso in fourth of the first Gold Coast race, in the second Gold Coast race it was Luke Youlden, who was David Reynolds co-driver and at Sandown it was runner-up finishers Chaz Mostert and James Moffat.
Jaime Whincup and Craig Lowndes won the first Gold Coast race, their sixth and second victory respectively in that event. Their teammates Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander won the second Gold Coast race, giving them four and two Gold Coast victories respectively.
At Sandown, Whincup and Lowndes took the victory giving Lowndes six Sandown victories, tying Allan Moffat for second all-time in Sandown history and Whincup picked up his fifth Sandown victory.
The closer first-time winner in each race was Cameron Waters and Michael Caruso in fourth of the first Gold Coast race, in the second Gold Coast race it was Luke Youlden, who was David Reynolds co-driver and at Sandown it was runner-up finishers Chaz Mostert and James Moffat.
4. World Superbike: At least two riders with new teams win a race
Wrong! Álvaro Bautista entered World Superbike with Ducati and proceeded to win the first 11 races but Bautista was the only rider with a new team to win a race in 2019.
Jonathan Rea went on his tear, matched the single-season victory record again and won another championship despite Bautista's early dominance. Chaz Davies picked up a victory for Ducati. Michael van der Mark picked up a victory for Yamaha. Toprak Razgatlioglu won two races for his Kawasaki team but all these riders were with the same time they rode for in 2018.
The newcomers could not breakthrough. This prediction may come true in 2020 with Razgatlioglu joining van der Mark at Yamaha, Bautista is moving to Honda, Scott Redding is replacing Bautista at Ducati, Alex Lowes is joining Rea at Kawasaki with Leon Haslam leaving Kawasaki to join Bautista at Honda and Javier Forés is replacing Razgatlioglu at Kawasaki Puccetti Racing.
It appears this prediction came one season too early.
Jonathan Rea went on his tear, matched the single-season victory record again and won another championship despite Bautista's early dominance. Chaz Davies picked up a victory for Ducati. Michael van der Mark picked up a victory for Yamaha. Toprak Razgatlioglu won two races for his Kawasaki team but all these riders were with the same time they rode for in 2018.
The newcomers could not breakthrough. This prediction may come true in 2020 with Razgatlioglu joining van der Mark at Yamaha, Bautista is moving to Honda, Scott Redding is replacing Bautista at Ducati, Alex Lowes is joining Rea at Kawasaki with Leon Haslam leaving Kawasaki to join Bautista at Honda and Javier Forés is replacing Razgatlioglu at Kawasaki Puccetti Racing.
It appears this prediction came one season too early.
5. World Supersport: Yamaha has fewer than 75% of total podium finishes
Wrong! Yamaha had exactly 75% of the total podium finishes in 2019.
Lucas Mahias had six podium finishes, all in the final six races, for Kawasaki. Raffaele De Rosa had two podium finishes for MV Agusta. Ayrton Badovini had one podium finish for Kawasaki.
This prediction was one podium finish for a non-Yamaha rider away from being correct.
Lucas Mahias had six podium finishes, all in the final six races, for Kawasaki. Raffaele De Rosa had two podium finishes for MV Agusta. Ayrton Badovini had one podium finish for Kawasaki.
This prediction was one podium finish for a non-Yamaha rider away from being correct.
6. Blancpain GT: The Spa 24 Hours winner wins one of the three Blancpain GT championships
Wrong! The #20 GPX Racing Porsche of Kévin Estre, Richard Leitz and Michael Christensen won the 24 Hours of Spa and the #563 Orange1 FFF Racing Lamborghini of Andrea Caldarelli and Marco Mapelli swept the Blancpain GT championship.
7. Asian Le Mans Series: One of the three class champions go to Le Mans and finish in the top six in class
Correct! The #22 United Autosport Ligier-Gibson won the 2018-19 Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 championship and then went on to finish fourth in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
And to cover this prediction twice the #57 CarGuy Racing Ferrari swept all four races to take the Asian Le Mans Series GT championship and then went to Le Mans and finished fifth in the GTE-AM class.
Great job out of the Asian Le Mans Series representatives.
And to cover this prediction twice the #57 CarGuy Racing Ferrari swept all four races to take the Asian Le Mans Series GT championship and then went to Le Mans and finished fifth in the GTE-AM class.
Great job out of the Asian Le Mans Series representatives.
8. Super Formula: There are at least three winners under the age of 30
Correct! There were seven different winners in the seven Super Formula races in 2019 and four were under the age of 30. Those drivers were (age at time of victory) 24-year-old Nick Cassidy, 22-year-old Álex Palou, 25-year-old Ryō Hirakawa and 24-year-old Kenta Yamashita.
The other winners were 31-year-old Yuhi Sekiguchi, 30-year-old Naoki Yamamoto and 30-year-old Tomoki Nojiri, who had turned 30 years old just six weeks prior to his victory at Suzuka.
The other winners were 31-year-old Yuhi Sekiguchi, 30-year-old Naoki Yamamoto and 30-year-old Tomoki Nojiri, who had turned 30 years old just six weeks prior to his victory at Suzuka.
9. Super GT: We do not see a DTM crossover event or entry during the season
Wrong! We not only had a crossover event but Super GT teams participated in the DTM finale at Hockenheim. Jenson Button represented Honda in the Hockenheim round with Nissan sending over Ronnie Quintarelli and Tsugio Matsuda and Lexus sending Nick Cassidy and Ryō Hirakawa.
The Super GT x DTM Dream Race was held on November 23rd and 24th and 22 cars participated with Audi and BMW each sending three entries. BMW had Kamui Kobayashi, Alex Zanardi and Marco Wittmann as its representatives. Audi sent Benoît Tréluyer, Loïc Duval and Mike Rockenfeller to Japan.
I am glad this prediction was wrong and I am excited for more Super GT/DTM crossover events but I am weary abut how many of these events we can see. It cost a lot of money to send cars from Germany to Japan and vice versa. I hope this is more than just a one-year thing that quickly fizzled out due to logistics.
The Super GT x DTM Dream Race was held on November 23rd and 24th and 22 cars participated with Audi and BMW each sending three entries. BMW had Kamui Kobayashi, Alex Zanardi and Marco Wittmann as its representatives. Audi sent Benoît Tréluyer, Loïc Duval and Mike Rockenfeller to Japan.
I am glad this prediction was wrong and I am excited for more Super GT/DTM crossover events but I am weary abut how many of these events we can see. It cost a lot of money to send cars from Germany to Japan and vice versa. I hope this is more than just a one-year thing that quickly fizzled out due to logistics.
10. DTM: Aston Martin has fewer drivers in the top ten of the championship than BMW in 2012
Correct! In 2012, BMW had four drivers in the top ten of the championship. In 2019, Aston Martin had zero drivers in the top ten of championship with its drivers finishing 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th.
And Aston Martin will be leaving DTM after one season, which is not good for a series that only had 18 cars to begin with. I didn't expect Aston Martin to enter and compete for race victories in year one but I expected it to be better than it was.
It is back to the drawing board for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
And Aston Martin will be leaving DTM after one season, which is not good for a series that only had 18 cars to begin with. I didn't expect Aston Martin to enter and compete for race victories in year one but I expected it to be better than it was.
It is back to the drawing board for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
11. World Touring Car Cup: The average age of the top three in the championship is at least ten years lower than 2018
Wrong! Yvan Muller is to blame. The 50-year-old was third in the championship, combine that with champion Norbert Michelisz at 35 years old, who won the first race over the weekend from Sepang, and Esteban Guerrieri at 34 years old, who won the second Sepang race, and the average age of the top three was 39.667 years, only 6.333 years younger than last year's top three.
Thed Björk was fourth in the championship and at 38 years old he would have made the average age of the top three 35.666 years, which would have been enough to fulfill this prediction but he finished 34 points behind Muller.
Twenty-three year old Mikel Azcona had runner-up finishes in the final two races of the season but that could only lift the Spaniard to fifth in the championship, 75 points off Muller in third.
Johan Kristoffersson won the final race of the season from Sepang but the 31-year-old entered the Sepang weekend 11th in the championship and his victory combined with a seventh and a third lifted him to sixth in the championship. Muller's 23-year-old nephew Yann Ehrlacher ended up eighth in the championship, losing three spots over the final weekend.
Nicky Catsburg and Augusto Farfus were both outside the top ten in the championship.
The younger drivers did well but not well enough for this prediction.
Thed Björk was fourth in the championship and at 38 years old he would have made the average age of the top three 35.666 years, which would have been enough to fulfill this prediction but he finished 34 points behind Muller.
Twenty-three year old Mikel Azcona had runner-up finishes in the final two races of the season but that could only lift the Spaniard to fifth in the championship, 75 points off Muller in third.
Johan Kristoffersson won the final race of the season from Sepang but the 31-year-old entered the Sepang weekend 11th in the championship and his victory combined with a seventh and a third lifted him to sixth in the championship. Muller's 23-year-old nephew Yann Ehrlacher ended up eighth in the championship, losing three spots over the final weekend.
Nicky Catsburg and Augusto Farfus were both outside the top ten in the championship.
The younger drivers did well but not well enough for this prediction.
12. WRC: Citroën moves up at least two positions in the manufactures' championship and wins at least four rounds including one of the first five
Wrong! Citroën moved up only one spot in the manufactures' championship, won only three rounds but it did win two of the first three rounds so that last part was correct but the other two parts cancel that out.
We are ending on a downer, my worst set of predictions yet, three out of 12. That is terrible. A few of these just needed one thing to go right. One more different winner in World Superbike, one more podium for Kawasaki in World Supersport, Indy Lights being able to draw a quality driver from South America, a Millennial doing something worth a damn in World Touring Car Cup and then we are looking at more predictions correct than not but none of that was the case and we will head into 2020 hoping to do much better.
