The Year in Sportscars

[Gingers4Justice]

It's not very often you get threads which transcend all our interests in this (not so) little sub-section on the forum, but this being award season, I thought why shouldn't we have a go?

If the thread goes down well enough, I might create another with a short-list of suggestions that people can vote for.

Please, please, PLEASE can this not turn into series/car/people bashing. We get it, you don't like DPs, WEC's race formats or BoP in GT3. For you cynics, I've created a "disappointment of the year" award where you'll just have to select one thing only which bothers you and keep it there.

The categories are (and feel free to add some more):

National Racing Series of the Year

International Racing Series of the Year

Race of the Year

Surprise of the Year

Disappointment of the Year

Driver of the Year

Personality of the Year

Moment of the Year

Car of the Year

[Gingers4Justice]

Here are my entries.

National Racing Series of the Year
Pirelli World Challenge. I haven't caught many races myself but it's been hard not to notice its increase in following this year. The grid has bags of variety and it looks to go from strength to strength.

International Racing Series of the Year
FIA World Endurance Championship. The racing probably wasn't as good as last year and this young series is by no means perfect, but there's no other championship I'd get up at stupid o'clock to watch for 6 hours straight. It's been great to have Porsche back too, and thanks to them we had a cracking finally which some may nominate as their....

Race of the Year
Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour. As if GT3 machinery mixed with production cars on the mountain for 12 hours wasn't enough already, Hindhaugh, Craill and Trusswell covered half a day's worth of incredibly close racing which cemented this event as one of my favourites in the calendar. I simply have to go one day.

Surprise of the Year
The ELMS. I thought last year was more "flash in the pan" than "phoenix from the ashes", but if anything the series looked even stronger than last year.

Disappointment of the Year
Tudor United Sportscar Series. I was honestly really looking forward to seeing LMPs and GTEs at Daytona, and some intruiging P2/DP battles. I don't know exactly why, but the series just fell flat on its face for me. I watched Daytona and parts of Sebring, and didn't bother with the rest.

I very, very nearly went for the WEC's decision to put the series's coverage behind a paywall for that one.

Driver of the Year
The dominance of the #8 Toyota, even over the #7, has been nothing short of spectacular. There have been some spectacular wins this season, but perhaps the most impressive drive was actually the car's 3rd place recovery drive at Le Mans in a car Davidson described as wounded. That was as significant as any win in securing the drivers' championship.

There's little between Buemi and Davidson, but I've picked one for two reasons. Firstly, Buemi's spin at CoTA is one of very few mistakes either of them made and perhaps the most significant, however petty it sounds. And secondly, because he hadn't won anything before this season and he bloody deserves it. So Anthony Davidson for me.

Personality of the Year
Tom Kristensen. He's been a brilliant ambassador for our sport across three decades now and he'll be sorely missed.

Moment of the Year
Seeing Porsche take their first win in yonks. It's great to have them back.

Car of the Year
It really has to be the Toyota TS040, the class of a very classy field.

[Deleted]

National Racing Series of the Year
Super GT. On personal level as it really got me hooked for the first time to follow on full time basis, but it was also good season in general. The new DTM formula for the GT500 might not look or have anywhere near as interesting specs as the old gen had, but the hybrid stuff + tires + raceability as well as ever increasing speeds make up for it. I mean the lap times are just mouthwatering, monstorous! Also some advancements in the lower class. The interest seems to be popping up for the series, so keep up the momentum! Also thanks to RLM for starting to cover - and NISMO TV. That's the sort of PR I can stand behind.

International Racing Series of the Year
Asian Le Mans Series. The passion. The fans. The cars. They had everything. As the series so brilliantly put it in July, "With a fantastic grid of teams and cars the spirit of Le Mans racing, combined with rising Korean motorsports passion, was everywhere throughout the event, and clearly enjoyed by the 5000 spectators that attended the event" and then again in September "The Spirit of Le Mans racing to Fuji combined with Japanese motorsports passion, was everywhere throughout the weekend and was clearly enjoyed by all those who attended the event." Clearly it was the wish of the gods that guided them. Add this the astounding amount of likes and interest on their FB page, not to mention the constant spam flow of beautiful totally focused car and grid girl ass shots, and you have the recipe for excellence in your hands.
--- Obviously just kidding. But seriously I don't know, they all had their ups and downs. Didn't really follow through hardly any of them. I guess ELMS, even though I didn't have the interest to see it much at all the grids were good, in the actual ACO classes too. And it appeared healthy overall. So yeah that I suppose??

Race of the Year
LM

Surprise of the Year
Kolles gang actually showed up with the "Lotus" and it was real, who saw that coming?

Disappointment of the Year
I would love to say the mess they have in US right now too, but seeing as the new Grand-Am Tudor Sports Car Series is basically just about as forgetable and non-fan-oriented as the old GARRA and that most of this was pretty much predicted ages ago, I can't say it's really a dissapointment... more of sad inevitability.
--- So I'm just going to say pretty much every single line of words that came out of Gerard Neveu's mouth in public this year. At least Atherton can blur his boring politics prep speeches with sugarcoated nonsense, Neveu (and his team's aristocratic decisions and mindset) just irritate the hell out of me.

Driver of the Year
Don't really follow driver performances so I don't know. I guess someone in P1. Whatever.

Personality of the Year
Kirby for writing this article and guys from ESM/Ganassi for bluntly saying things through http://www.gordonkirby.com/categorie..._is_no418.html

Moment of the Year
My computer decided to die just as the ACO February press conference stream moved to the actual entry lists that I had been waiting all winter. Fitting start to a season.

Car of the Year
Audi R18 because it won Le Mans. Nuff said, I don't care if they were useless (mostly) everywhere else or if Toyota was technically up ahead or whatever, it doesn't matter, they won. Also had ERS ruling going against them.

[Victor_RO]

National Racing Series of the Year

Total toss-up, but I'm going to agree with the OP and say Pirelli World Challenge. Moving to GT3 regs has been a sensationally successful thing to do, they just need to diversify their race format in future.

International Racing Series of the Year

WEC (to be specific, LMP1 in the WEC). Toyota vs Audi vs Porsche has produced some stunning racing over the season and I'm hoping Nissan are in the same performance ballpark; it'll just mean an even more manic 2015 and even better racing. And the technical side (and the three completely different responses to the LMP1-H question) is amazing, on a par with F1 if not better.

Race of the Year

Would like to say Le Mans, but as a not-an-Audi fan the result was seriously disappointed despite the atmosphere at the event being as amazing as ever. Seriously, you have to try it at least once if you haven't yet. However, in terms of close racing and an enthralling race-long battle that I was able to follow end-to-end, I'm going to say the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo.

Surprise of the Year

Hard to tell. I'm going to say Audi's win at Le Mans, despite the fact that they should be the "experts" at the long game; everyone was calling Toyota favorites, I was cheering for Toyota and then for Porsche after the #7 retired. And yet the Audis still came through as they almost always do. One year that streak is going to break again though.

Disappointment of the Year

TUSC. And not just TUSC, also the toxic atmosphere that it has created in various unnamed places in the sportscar community.

Driver of the Year

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Marc Lieb. I've been a fan of Marc for a few years, but this year has reinforced that quite massively. Who knew a guy who hasn't driven proper downforce cars for years would be able to make this kind of jump from years and years of GT racing to the highest level of prototype racing and one of the highest levels of racing FULL STOP out there? And make it successfully?
Honorable mention: Anthony Davidson comes in a very close second; apart from not winning Le Mans, in terms of driving he's had almost the perfect season. Well-deserving of a world title at last.

Personality of the Year

No answer to this one, but G4J's nomination of Tom K is appropriate, although more as a celebration of the man's legendary career.

Moment of the Year

Personally, the moment that I'll always remember from this season was at Le Mans, at about 12:30 pm on Sunday during the race, the moment when the big screens all around the track cut to the image of the #20 Porsche moving slowly at the end of the Mulsanne with a certain Mr Mark Webber driving. The collective sigh and groan from the grandstands could probably be heard from Australia.

Car of the Year

In terms of performance, pace and domination for a large part of the season, and the mythical ONE THOUSAND HORSEPOWER!!!!!!, the Toyota TS040 Hybrid.

[CyberMotor]

National Racing Series of the Year

N/A

International Racing Series of the Year

WEC. The most exciting collection of high tech and exotic prototypes that I have seen in a long time.

Race of the Year

Sao Paulo - excitement throughout and all the top teams were close at the end. Plus, my app was working and I actually got to see a lot of it.

Surprise of the Year

How closely things turned out in the US when compared to the predictions of some.

Disappointment of the Year

Guess.

Driver of the Year

Mr. Le Mans. Going to miss you and McNish too.

Personality of the Year

JoeB for moderating us through this acrimonious year

Moment of the Year

Meeting the Tentenths guys at turn 4 at PLM and we all got along.

Car of the Year

All three of the WEC LMP1 Hybrids. Amazing technology and differing approaches provided interest and excitement all year. (and relevance)

[Beryl]

Race of the Year
Fuji Super GT race, the wet one. Three wide racing and an overtake around the outside at 100R were highlights in an action packed race.

Surprise of the Year
ART in BES. After being a non-factor in 2013, they won the first race of the season and were competitive everywhere (other than that one 24 hour race).
Also, Marc VDS making the Spa 24 hours competitive when it shouldn't have been and Seb Loeb Racing winning the Estoril ELMS race.

Disappointment of the Year
SRO all but donating the 24 hours of Spa to Audi with the pre-race BoP.

Driver of the Year
I could name dozens of drivers, but I'll stick to the most deserving few.
1. Anthony Davidson: Deserved champion; as fast as Buemi but without the mistakes.
2. Laurens Vanthoor: Dislike his team, and him by association, but his driving this year was consistently on a very high level.
3. Kazuki Nakajima: Pole at Le Mans, very fast in both WEC and Super GT.
4. Neel Jani: Fastest Porsche LMP1 driver and dominated his teammates during races.
5. Olivier Pla: The talent in LMP2 isn't the same as in LMP1, but he has to be given credit for being so far ahead of everyone else.
HM: Quintarelli, Buhk, Gotz, Bleekemolen, Lotterer, Buemi, Bamber, Pilet, Makowiecki, Yamamoto, Parente, Wittmann (DTM is sportscars, don't tell me otherwise) and Bruni.

Moment of the Year
Bathurst 12 hour finish.

Car of the Year
Toyota TS040. Easy one.

[FstrthnU]

National Racing Series of the Year: United Sportscar Championship. I know this is gonna be highly controversial, but I have to give props to IMSA for pulling off the merger even as messy as it was. The racing and intrigue certainly weren't perfect, but we got some nice battles throughout the year. Tons of variety and many different winners. I didn't watch many of the national series like Super GT or ADAC GT Masters, so I can't really say anything about those I'm afraid.

International Racing Series of the Year: World Endurance Championship. Was this ever in doubt? You have the brand new crop of TERRIFIC LMP1 cars and a smattering of other cars that also put up good races, in spite of the lack of GT variety and tiny LMP2 cars. It was enteratining seeing Toyota finally deliver through the whole season and dethroning Audi, even with the loss at Le Mans. Porsche returning to prototypes was icing on the cake. The professionalism and technology of the WEC has been astounding. I can't wait for next year and Nissan to roll in!

Race of the Year: 24 Hours of Le Mans. There was so much going on this year with new LMP1 and LMP2 cars and the usual crop of GT racers. The LMP1 battle kept going back and forth with retirements, mechanical issues and fastest laps and kept be on the edge the whole race. The LMP2 battle was also great with Jota managing to outlast the other runners. GTE-Pro was a little underwhelming with Porsche dominating, but we got a nice battle for 2nd. Then in GTE-Am we had a dominant but deserving performance for AMR after last year's tragedy. Of the races I've watched this year, Le Mans was undoubtedly the most exciting.

Surprise of the Year: Dodge dropping the Viper GTS-R program after winning the championship. This was an absolute bombshell for me, I had no anticipation at all that this would happen. I knew that the Viper wasn't selling well, but I didn't think this would lead to cutting the program after a successful year! I understand that Dodge feels the money is better spent elsewhere, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it.

Disappointment of the Year: Balance of Performance. No matter where you look, LMP1, TUSCC, GT3, GTE-Pro, Balance of Performance rears it's ugly head. It confuses fans, teams and drivers and severely cheapens the racing. There's a long line between cost containment and gifting victories to manufacturers. There has to be a better way of handling sports car regulations.

Driver of the Year: Gianmaria Bruni. Will there ever be a better GT-driver? 4 Pole positions and 4 victories in the WEC with Toni Vilander. Always-threatening speed and racecraft. Bruni is THE complete package and Ferrari should be grateful for having such an awesome driver.

Personality of the Year: Mark Webber. His humbleness and joy of driving the Porsche 919 have won many new fans to the WEC and sportscar racing, and it honestly makes me happy to see him free from Red Bull's politics. His genuine speed and adaptation to LMP1 don't hurt either!

Moment of the Year: Race debut of the 2014 LMP1 cars at Silverstone. Seeing these monstrous hybrids explode on the straights and race well with each other was truly a sight to behold.

Car of the Year: Toyota TS040 Hybrid. 1000 Horsepower! Supercapacitors! The Manufacturer's Championship! Toyota played all of their cards right this year and produced a perfect combination of speed, efficiency, handling and reliability.

[JoestForEver]

National Racing Series of the Year
TUSC, yes they screwed up the P2-DP BoP, and yes they screwed up broadcasting with commercials and MRN, but they are improving, fast. It is already far from easy to just merger two series with 5 different classes and keep the entries, but they have made it and improved it a lot.
Hate the P2-DP BoP? They are changing it.
Hate the Sebring 5 hours of FCY and 7 hours of commercials? They will change the sporting regulation next year.
Hate the GTD class? Full spec GT3 is coming in 2017.
Come on guys, I know you can get there.
International Racing Series of the Year
ELMS, look at how active the privateers are to the P2 category! That's what we need for every successful championship-attracting the independents! They've really pulled out something from the hat.
Race of the Year
Le Mans 2014
Surprise of the Year
Audi winning Le Mans 2014
Disappointment of the Year
TK failed to win his tenth Le Mans victory
Driver of the Year
Sebastien Buemi
Personality of the Year
TK
Moment of the Year
At the Spa 24, when the helicopter was mobilised and the race red-flagged. I was genuinely worried about that.
Car of the Year
TS040, for whatever reason, it's the fastest and most reliable sportscar in 2014

[Rodger Davies]

Great thread, will add my nominations shortly. Might need to add 'livery of the year' to mine!

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Rodger Davies

Might need to add 'livery of the year' to mine!

Great shout. "Team of the Year" seems like another glaring omission. I need some time to think about these.

[FstrthnU]

One more for the pile, I think "Manufacturer of the Year" would be another good category.

[Fogelhund]

National Racing Series of the Year

Pirelli World Challenge

International Racing Series of the Year

WEC

Race of the Year

Bathurst 12 Hour

Disappointment of the Year

TUSC


Car of the Year

Toyota TS040

[TRspitfirefan]

Awesome thread!

National Racing Series of the Year
Pirelli World Challenge.
2014 was really a fantastic year for PWC. For me, the additions of the Mclarens and the Bentleys was a game changer! I can't wait for 2015.

International Racing Series of the Year
World Endurance Championship.
A sports car endurance series, featuring the most awesome cars on the planet! What's not to like?
With P2 growing, plus additional LMP1 entries, 2015 will be epic.

Race of the Year
Lemans 24
What a race! Audi overcoming mechanical issues to steal the victory. Endurance racing, at its best.

Surprise of the Year
PWC.
WAY surpassed my expectations. I attended my first World Challenge race this year and I was blown away. Amazing cars, positive and friendly atmosphere, great racing. Really looking forward to the stand alone event at Road America next June.

Disappointment of the Year
Tusc.
It just didn't deliver. I really loved the ALMS, so I wasn't thrilled to learn of the buyout back in 2012. But I committed myself to at least give the new series a chance. Sadly I just ended up increasingly disappointed. 2014 was my third year attending the Road America IMSA race and it will probably be my last for awhile. While the weekend had its high points, they only served to make the low points feel even lower, Plus the cars just don't have that WOW! factor of previous years. Even the GTLM class didn't feel the same.

Driver of the Year
Memo Gidley,
With all He's gone through this season, I think He's earned Driver of the year.

Personality of the Year
Valentina.
She was able to match the achievement of her sister Falkenstein, by winning Petit Lemans.

Moment of the Year
The first half of the GTE-pro race at Lemans. Corvette vs. Aston Martin.
Brought back great memories.

Car of the Year
Rebellion R-one... Just because it looks really stunning!

[Maverick248]

National Racing Series of the Year

Pirelli World Challenge

International Racing Series of the Year

WEC, this championship progress every year and become very attractive. I also like their communication with FIA WEC App and the streaming.

Race of the Year

Le Mans, another fantastic edition, I had say Sao Paulo if we didn't had the big crash at the end of the race.

Surprise of the Year

ELMS, ACO made a good job to develop the serie, introduce GT3 was a good idea and ELMS is now the most attractive series for LMP2 team.

Disappointment of the Year

Asian Le Mans Serie, just 7 or 8 cars per race, it's ridiculous. ACO took the control at the end of this year, so I hope that AsLMS will have same future that ELMS

Driver of the Year

Buemi and Davidson for their title and their fantastic season, I want to associate Nicolas Lapierre to that.

Personality of the Year

Mister Le Mans

Moment of the Year

Porsche win in Sao Paulo

Car of the Year

Corvette C7

[Planty]

National Racing Series of the Year
SCCA World Challenge - for its incredible grovth over the year

International Racing Series of the Year
European Le Mans Series - for its ressurection

Race of the Year
Dubai 24 - for its 60 fielder with great variability

Surprise of the Year
Nissan into WEC. Cant wait

Disappointment of the Year
Dodge - for its pulling out after a title

Driver of the Year
Jeroen Bleekemolen - for his endless racing weekends chain winning both in Europe and US

Personality of the Year
Thurn und Taxis/Enge/Camaro trio. Very emotional, epic season. Now i cannot see those three separated.

Moment of the Year
Daytona 24 - Long time wait to see cars from LM to run Daytona. Nice little satisfaction before all went down to shi.

Car of the Year
Corvette C7 - do i have to describe this?

[JorritVD]

National Racing Series of the Year
Pirelli World Challenge - I think the most improved national series of the year

International Racing Series of the Year
Hard to tell, but I guess the Fia WEC that had competition almost every minute in every race.

Although I don't know it's national or international, I would also like to mention the GT Asia Series which had a great season.

Race of the Year
A lot of races. But for me it was the Spa 24h, because it was the first 24h race I ever visited.

Surprise of the Year
If you follow the forums and the good websites a bit, there aren't really big suprise announcements. So maybe Audi winning LeMans, MarcVDS fighting for the win in the 24h of Spa with a slower car, McLaren almost winning Bathurst (I thought that car wouldn't even finish with it's reliability issues), etc. Hard to tell.

Disappointment of the Year
There were some.
I could say
- TUSCC, but that wasn't as crap as I and a lot of other people expected.
- Audi LMP1, due to be crap all year. Also they had a very conservative approach imo. Except for LeMans, so they are not the winner for this category.
- Etc.

But the winner is: Asian Le Mans Series
They did so much things right, that it was dissapointed that they planned the races so wrong and there were so less entries. Let's see what ACO can do with it the next season.

Cars of the Year
LMP1: Toyota TS040
LMP2: Ligier JS P2
GTE: Although I am not really a Ferrari fan, I still going for the 458 GTE.
GT3: To many choice

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by JorritVD

But the winner is: Asian Le Mans Series
They did so much things right, that it was dissapointed that they planned the races so wrong and there were so less entries. Let's see what ACO can do with it the next season.

They did?

[ederss7]

So the best car didn't win the most important race of the year? As Kristensen's said once, the car that wins Le Mans is the best car, and I agree with him.

[dbagtbag]

National Racing Series of the Year
Super GT... What can I say? =D

International Racing Series of the Year
WEC. Nothing has come close to this in the recent years as far as I'm concerned

Race of the Year
LM24

Surprise of the Year
Nissan going LMP1!

Disappointment of the Year
USCR and the Viper team. I don't think I need to elaborate on either.

Driver of the Year
TK

Personality of the Year
Freddie Mako. I'm excited that he came back for SGT and did very well too.
Also Mulsanne Mike, Graham Goodwin and other guys here that are actively involved in the industry interacting with mortals like me

Moment of the Year
Dat 3 wide and that pass around the 100R @ Fuji

Car of the Year
Porsche 919

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by ederss7

So the best car didn't win the most important race of the year? As Kristensen's said once, the car that wins Le Mans is the best car, and I agree with him.

This is about each poster's opinion, and there is no group of people in the world that is fully unanimous in terms of opinion.

[Flem]

National Racing Series of the Year

Super GT

International Racing Series of the Year

FIA WEC

Race of the Year

Le Mans, drama in every category, I was getting far too excited about Jota rising up through the ranks

Surprise of the Year

This isn't meant in a bad way but the Rebellion R1 completing Le Mans on pretty much it's first proper race, an outstanding 4th position too!

Disappointment of the Year

The Zeod's gearbox very early on at Le Mans

Driver of the Year

Gianmaria Bruni

Personality of the Year

TK

Moment of the Year

The Dane Train bringing it home at Le Mans

Car of the Year

Toyota TS040

[Gingers4Justice]

Good shout for livery of the year. There's no contest for me.

[Hans Stuck Fan]

National Racing Series of the Year

British GT
International Racing Series of the Year

WEC
Race of the Year

SPA 24
Surprise of the Year

Bentley's two wins in Blancpain
Disappointment of the Year

The BOP changes that followed these...
Driver of the Year

Vanthoor
Personality of the Year

Rene Rast
Moment of the Year

Lotterer's monster Sunday AM stint at Le Mans
Car of the Year

Porsche 919

[J Jay]

Thinking time over, here we go with some additions of my own:

Lifetime Achievement Award

There's only one candidate, and it's Tom Kristensen. His Le Mans record is staggering in its own right, but to achieve that level of success he's had to adapt to three different styles of racing car (petrol, diesel & hybrid). For 17 years he has delivered victories and championships and it has all come with the same professionalism and affable manner that make him one of the legends of the sport.

Driver of the Year

Quite a few drivers have had stellar seasons in their respective series. However, one driver has performed superbly in three widely different series - Kazuki Nakajima. Were it not for some unfortunate wiring loom positioning he should have added Le Mans to his Super Formula title and Super GT victories. With two or three fewer scheduling clashes he could have been a double or even triple champion. He has displayed great speed and judgement in very different cars and styles of racing.

Personality of the Year

The vast majority of people in sportscars work hard to make sure it is accessible to as many people as possible. My first choice doesn't work in sportscars, yet he has managed to find the considerable time around his regular job to increase awareness and understanding of a much loved but often inaccessible series; it's Yu Omori aka dbagtbag for his translations of Super GT race commentary.

National Racing Series of the Year

It's been a good year for national racing series, with a lot of them benefiting from considered planning and making the right choices at the right time. If I had to pick one, it would be British GT. It has not been perfect, but the organizers have taken and acted on much of the feedback received to bring the teams, sponsors and crucially the fans closer together. As such they deserve the excellent races and superb turnout this season has brought them.

International Racing Series of the Year

European Le Mans Series. The last couple of years have seen this series undergo a resurrection at least on par with that of Matthew McCounaghey's career. Again, the decision making (including a small dose of pride swallowing) have led to a bumper crop of races this year, with action throughout the field of world-class teams and drivers - the P2 class results at Le Mans show this only too well! Every race had its own surprise and none of them were boring in any class.

Team of the Year

Even though factory squads have more pressure to deal with when it comes to the big races, they have more resources (yes, even Toyota) and can dedicate themselves solely to their cars and drivers. This isn't possible for most privateer teams, but one team has performed admirably and shown a manufacturer-esque resolve in the wake of a couple of major disruptions. In fact, they recovered from these setbacks to win Le Mans and finish 2nd in the ELMS championship - it's Audi Sport Team Dolan- I mean, Jota Sport.

Car of the Year

There have been two cars this year that have shown immediate and class-leading speed. Both have been built with what could be described as limited resources. However, while the TS040 has the headline-worthy figures, it's the Ligier JS P2 that gets my vote for being the true "car on a budget" that still delivered lightning performance.

Surprise of the Year

Had I not waited to type this I would have gone for the Lotus CLM P1/01, which I never expected to be much more than vapourware. However I am going to choose another story that genuinely made me pinch myself in amazement, and that's Ford preparing a new GT car to race at LM 2016. What's going to be next - Nissan going for a front engined LMP1-H...?

Disappointment of the Year

To me a major disappointment needs to have an element of the unexpected to it. Yes the AsLMs and TUSCC have been bogged down in the mire, but most people saw this coming. Yes, it's sad that the Vipers were withdrawn, but the base car isn't selling enough. Yes, BoP, but BoP. What I did not expect to see was a series massively on the rise shoot itself in the foot with a cash-grab straight out of the Bernie Ecclestone guide of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (While Making A Few More Pennies). It's THE WEC PAYWALL

Race of the Year

Always a hard category to pick for where sportscars is concerned! Le Mans told a eerily familiar story with new-age technology, 6 Hours of Sao Paulo showed that in the right conditions three very different cars could fight on an even keel, Super GT @ Fuji proved the adage yet again how rain always makes for a cracking race, and the 1000KM of Nurburgring served as an excellent summation of an action-packed BES season. However, none of these races had a certain Kiwi figuratively (and sometimes literally) chucking his MP4-12C GT3 down the side of a mountain in a race that held my attention for 12 straight hours - the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

Moment of the Year

While I realize that (bar the Disappointment) these categories are supposed to be celebrations, there is one scene that will not leave my mind even after almost 5 months. It's the aftermath of the accident between Vadim Kogay and Marcus Mahy at the 24 Hours of Spa. I do not wish to denigrate GT3 as a class or its drivers - gentlemen or professionals - as a whole, but the series of events leading to this accident served as a brutal reminder that even in the "good" times the need and desire to expand grids and allow as many people to race as possible must be balanced with the ability to reasonably manage the safety of everyone involved.

Livery of the Year





... I hope you weren't expecting anything else.

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by ederss7

So the best car didn't win the most important race of the year? As Kristensen's said once, the car that wins Le Mans is the best car, and I agree with him.

A car doesn't win any race on it's own, it requires a team and a set of drivers (and luck) to be successful.

I don't think it's wise to award such a title based on one race and without considering circumstances. If the #2 Audi had a puncture or was rear ended by a GT car in the closing stages of the 2011 24 hours of Le Mans and the lead Peugeot ended up winning, would it change your opinion of the capabilities of both the Audi R18 and Peugeot 908?