There was testing in Daytona, a race in Abu Dhabi and an award show in Paris. Max Verstappen will be the only world champion for The Netherlands this year. The Magnussens have made plans for January. Toyota doesn’t want another race in the United States. Formula E will race in Portland in 2023. IndyCar announced a docuseries, and that made people mad. This is the final Musings for the year as awards and predictions will close out the final days of 2022. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.
2023 Weekend Planner
The 2022 motorsports season is practically over. All the silverware has been claimed. The racetracks have gone silent. We have a break until competition resumes. There are plenty of events we are looking forward to, some are the annual favorites.
Indianapolis, Daytona, Le Mans, Bathurst. But we know about those events. We are always keeping a countdown on those races. But there are plenty of other weekends in the calendar and there are some weekends that deserve a little more attention.
We all know about Memorial Day weekend with Monaco leading off the day with the Indianapolis 500 in the middle and the Coca-Cola 600 capping off the day, but there are some other full weekends to remember in 2023. Here are 12 that should keep you busy next year.
January 26-29
What is great about this weekend? You have the second round of the Formula E season in Saudi Arabia, a doubleheader at that, but the opening weekend of the IMSA season, which includes the first races for Mazda MX-5 Cup, Michelin Pilot Challenge and the 24 Hours of Daytona. That Saturday night will also see the fourth round of the Supercross season at Anaheim.
February 25-26
The weekend prior is the Daytona 500, and that is a big race, but that is an otherwise light weekend. The following weekend, the final weekend of February, that is when it gets busy. World Superbike opens its season at Phillip Island. That alone warrants an international holiday. Formula E is also scheduled to race around Cape Town for the first time. Supercross will be at Arlington and NASCAR should be contesting what will be the final race around the two-mile Fontana oval before it is converted into a short track.
March 4-5
There are two notable season openers, but you can get started on the night of Saturday March 4 with the Supercross race from Daytona. That can carry you into Sunday March 5 with the second Sunday of the World Superbike weekend at Mandalika in Indonesia. After a brief break will be the first feature race of the Formula Two weekend before the Formula One season opener from Bahrain. Early that afternoon, IndyCar starts its season in St. Petersburg and the weekend will end with NASCAR at Las Vegas.
March 17-19
Winter ends with a major endurance weekend. The World Endurance Championship opens with the 1,000 Miles of Sebring on Friday before IMSA contests the 12 Hours of Sebring on Saturday. Twenty hours of racing should be enough, but it isn't, because on Sunday will be the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and then NASCAR runs Atlanta.
April 15-16
This is a big, American weekend, but there will be some international flavor, and likely of the Portuguese variety. Whether it is the WEC or a Formula One grand prix remains to be seen, but that weekend has IMSA and IndyCar at Long Beach, MotoGP's one trip to the United States at Austin and NASCAR will be at Martinsville. It will be a full afternoon of local action for American viewers.
June 3-4
Everyone talks about the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but what about the weekend before the 24 Hours of Le Mans? How does that look? Stay up on the night of June 3, watch the Super GT race from Suzuka and have that lead into Formula E from Jakarta. Then you will have World Superbike and World Supersport action from Misano, while Formula One runs at Barcelona and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup compete the Circuit Paul Ricard 1000km. Then in the afternoon you will have IndyCar on the street of downtown Detroit before NASCAR runs at Gateway. That is a full day of racing, and it is a week after the most celebrated full day of racing and a week before the most historic endurance race in the world.
July 1-2
Independence Day Weekend is full. You get the 24 Hours of Spa on top of the Austrian Grand Prix while IndyCar runs at Mid-Ohio and NASCAR will compete on the streets of Chicago for the first time. And this isn't even mentioning the World Superbike round at Donington Park. Prepare to take Monday off and turn this into a four-day holiday. You are going to need it.
August 5-6
The Formula One summer break will have just begun, but there will be plenty to keep you busy over this month. If you are in a big need of a hit, you could start in the wee hours of the morning with a Super GT at Fuji. As sunrise creeps closer, two-wheel action begins at Silverstone where MotoGP resumes its season after its summer break. If you need four wheels, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters will be at the Nürburgring while Rally Finland takes places. As morning becomes afternoon, IndyCar will be at Nashville and NASCAR motors around Michigan.
September 2-3
There is something about the first weekends of a month that draw out all the series. The first weekend in September might not be bumper-to-bumper action, but there is plenty of quality, and I think it gives Memorial Day weekend a run for its money in terms of action. MotoGP is at Barcelona. Formula One has the Italian Grand Prix from Monza. IndyCar has its penultimate race at Portland. NASCAR opens its playoff with the Southern 500 from Darlington. Is that enough for you? Another day where the action begins at 5:00 a.m. and goes all the way through 10:00 p.m. Plus, you get Monday off. What else could you ask for?
October 21-22
Whenever motorcycles are racing at Phillip Island, you should know about, and this is the weekend of MotoGP's Australian Grand Prix. That is enough of a reason to be excited, but this weekend also has two season finales, DTM at Hockenheim and the European Le Mans Series at Portimão. It is also United States Grand Prix weekend while NASCAR has its antepenultimate round at Homestead.
October 27-29
October has two great weekends to close the month. As it is October, it should come as no surprise that there are more season finales. In this case, it is Super Formula with a doubleheader at Suzuka. MotoGP heads north to Thailand while Formula One heads south to Mexico. It is also a weekend of penultimate rounds. Supercars return to Surfers Paradise while the World Rally Championship will contest the inaugural Central European Rally that will go through Germany, Austria and Czech Republic, and NASCAR has Martinsville.
November 25-26
Thanksgiving weekend in the United States will be the weekend of finales, and possibly title deciders. Supercars ends its season in Adelaide. MotoGP wraps up at Valencia. Formula One closes its curtain in Abu Dhabi. From midnight November 26 through about 10:00 am, you could see six championships decided when including Moto3, Moto2 and Formula Two. You may think it is a bad thing there is nothing going on that afternoon, but if November 2023 ends with perhaps the busiest championship day in motorsports history, you will be thankful for the free time.
The New Year will be here soon enough. We get a pause from the action before it fires up again, but the wait will be worth it and in a flash, we will be back at this point wondering where the year went.
Champions From the Weekend
Danial Juncadella clinched the Intercontinental GT Challenge despite being classified 32nd in the Gulf 12 Hours.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Juncadella, but did you know...
The #71 AF Corse Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi won the Gulf 12 Hours.
Coming Up This Weekend
Not much motorsports, but there will be World Cup semifinals midweek, Argentina vs. Croatia and France vs. Morocco, with the final on Sunday.
