2014 in Motorsports: A Truly Exciting Year

With 2014 all but finished, here is a look back at the year 2014 in motorsports, which saw four British drivers crowned champion in four world categories, the arrival of some fantastic talents, and others falling. There were also a number of losses in the motorsport world too.

January

3^rd: Formula One legend Michael Schumacher turned 45, but remained in a medically induced coma after his skiing accident at the tail-end of the previous year.

10^th-11^th: It didn’t take long for motorsport to have its first significant winners in 2014, as German Christian Engelhart along with four Swiss drivers: Adrian Amstutz, Mark and Rolf Ineichen, and Marcel Matter, won the Dubai 24 hours by three laps in their Porsche 997 GT3-R.

16^th-18^th: The first significant European motorsport took place during these dates as reigning champion Sebastien Ogier took victory in the Monte Carlo Rally. The rally signalled Robert Kubica’s first full season in the top level of rallying.

24^th: The first Formula One car of the year was launched: the McLaren MP4-29 looked bare, and did not deliver on the promises delivered of a new title sponsor at any point during the season.

25^th-26^th: The first significant date on the American motorsport calendar took place, as Christian Fittipaldi, Sebastien Bourdais and Joao Barbosa took victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona, driving a Corvette Prototype.

February

8^th-9^th: The Bathurst 12 Hours took place; a fantastic event which saw five cars finish on the lead lap so was not decided until the very end of the race. John Bowe, Peter Edwards, Craig Lowndes and Mika Salo took victory with their Ferrari 458 GT3.

23^rd: The NASCAR Sprint Cup season officially got underway, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. taking victory at the Daytona 500.

March

1^st-2^nd: The V8 Supercars series took off at Adelaide. Reigning champion Jamie Whincup, Lowndes and James Courtney all shared victories at the former Formula One venue.

15^th: A fantastic 12 Hours of Sebring saw Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and Marino Franchitti take victory for Chip Ganassi. Nine cars all finished on the lead lap after 12 hours.

16^th: The Formula One season kicked off, with none of the five World Champions on the grid appearing on the podium at Melbourne. Nico Rosberg took a commanding victory in the fantastic Mercedes W05 Hyrbid.

23^rd: The legendary World Champion Valentino Rossi and the new World Champion Marc Marquez duelled under the lights of Qatar for victory in the first round of the MotoGP season. The 21-year old came out on top this time.

30^th: The British Touring Car Championship begun in style at Brands Hatch, with Andrew Jordan and Colin Turkington sharing victories over the three races on the Indy Circuit.

30^th: The IndyCar season got off to a controversial start, as Will Power took victory at St. Petersberg after being involved in a collision on a restart.

April

6^th: One of the greatest Formula One races in living memory took place, as the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg duelled brilliantly under the lights for the win, whilst Sergio Perez, Nico Hülkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel quarrelled over third place.

12^th-13^th: The Formula Renault season got underway. Carlos Sainz, Jr. and Will Stevens separated the race victories, although the round will be remembered for a nasty incident involving Marco Sorensen.

13^th: The Blancpain Endurance series got underway at the same track at Monza. The main highlight of the event was the ‘tasteful’ driving from Vadim Kogay.

13^th: Mike Conway stormed to a brilliant IndyCar victory at Long Beach, whilst Ryan Hunter-Reay was criticised for causing a silly collision.

19^th-20^th: The World Endurance Championsip, the World Touring Car Championship and the European Formula Three series all got underway on the same date. The incredible Toyota TS040 took victory in the former, whilst the Citroen C-Elysee WTCC sent shockwaves through to their rivals. Esteban Ocon took three podiums in three races to take an early lead in the junior category which saw the arrival of Max Verstappen.

27^th: Motorbike racing returned to Argentina. The main race was won by Marc Marquez.

May

3^rd: Toyota asserted their dominance in the WEC with another victory for the 8 crew, this time at Spa.

4^th: The DTM season kicked off at Hockenheim, with the race being won by eventual champion Marco Wittmann.

4^th: Marc Marquez won his home grand prix at Jerez, to continue his epic run of straight victories.

10^th: For the first time in history, IndyCars raced on the Indianapolis Road Course. A frightening start saw a massive accident, whilst the race was dominated by Simon Pagenaud and Jack Hawksworth.

18^th: The European Le Mans series kicked off at Imola, whilst Marc Marquez led home Valentino Rossi again, this time at Le Mans.

19^th: The world lost a true motorsport pioneer, as three-time F1 champion Jack Brabham passed away.

25^th: Frenchman Norman Nato took victory on the streets of Monaco, along with local boys Stephane Richelmi and Nico Rosberg in Formula Renault, GP2 and Formula One respectively; the latter being in controversial circumstances after an error in qualifying. Marussia scored their first and only Formula One points.

25^th: Ryan Hunter-Reay put right all of the wrongs from earlier in the season with a brilliant victory in the Indianapolis 500. Kurt Busch did Double Duty as he took part in the Coca Cola 600 too.

June

1^st: Helio Castroneves took his first IndyCar victory in nearly a year with his win in the second of the Dual in Detroit races at Belle Isle.

5^th: Michael Dunlop took victory in the Isle of Man TT, ahead of Bruce Anstey and Guy Martin.

8^th: Formula One had a new race winner, after Daniel Ricciardo beat a limping Nico Rosberg to victory in the Canadian Grand Prix.

14^th-15^th: Audi took a brilliant victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the number 2 crew, a race which no prototype car had a clean run. LMP2 cars were battling until the line and there was the usual fantastic GTE duel up and down the field. The race was marred by the terrible qualifying accidents involving Fernando Rees, James Calado and Loic Duval, all at the same section of track.

21^st-22^nd: The Nurburgring 24 Hours took place, with Chris Haase, Chris Mamerow, Rene Rast and Markus Winkelhock all setting the record for the most distance travelled around the Green Hell in 24 hours, at 4,035 kilometres, or 159 laps.

22^nd: The Austrian Grand Prix returned to the Formula One calendar, and were raced by GP3 and GP2 cars for the first time. The main event was won by Nico Rosberg, ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

26^th-29^th: The Goodwood Festival of Speed took place. Formula One stars of old and new all turned up to the famous event.

July

3^rd: A new era of motorsport was born as Formula E tested for the first time at Donington.

4^th: Susie Wolff became the first female Formula One driver to take part in an official session in over twenty years.

6^th: Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix for the second time, after his championship rival Nico Rosberg’s gearbox gave up whilst leading. Valtteri Bottas climbed from 14^th to finish a brilliant second.

6^th: Juan Pablo Montoya’s first IndyCar victory in over a dozen years came, as he won the fastest 500-mile race ever recorded on the very fast Tricky Triangle at Pocono, holding off his team mates Will Power and Helio Castroneves. The day before, Jack Hawksworth suffered a crash which measured at 100 times the force of gravity.

19^th: The Two in TO was postponed after a deluge caused even the pace car to aquaplane off the circuit on the Toronto streets.

20^th: Nico Rosberg won the German Grand Prix – the first time that a German driver had won the German Grand Prix in a German car with a German engine in Formula One’s history.

20^th: Sebastien Bourdais won his first race in American single seaters since 2007 in the first of two races in one day at Toronto. Mike Conway took his second win of the season in the second race.

27^th: Daniel Ricciardo brilliantly took victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix after the Mercedes team imploded again. Fernando Alonso somehow dragged his Ferrari into second place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who started from the pit lane.

August

3^rd: Scott Dixon took victory at Mid-Ohio, despite starting from dead last. In the same race, James Hinchcliffe climbed nine places in a single corner.

9^th: Tony Stewart was under scrutiny after a fatal collision involving Kevin Ward, Jr. in a non-NASCAR sanctioned event. Stewart was later cleared of any wrongdoing in the race.

10^th: Marc Marquez made it an incredible ten wins from ten races with victory in the Indianapolis Motorcycle Grand Prix.

17^th: Max Verstappen well and truly attracted the Formula One paddock, with some incredible driving in the wet at the Nurburgring, where he was at one point lapping two second quicker than anybody else. Shortly afterwards, he would be announced as a Formula One driver, before his 17^th birthday.

17^th: Will Power took a fantastic victory at the Milwaukee Mile, proving that he can win on all types of circuit.

24^th: Formula One returned, with a load of controversy. A collision between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton let an almost-certain 1-2 slip into the hands of Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull.

30^th: Will Power finally clinched his first IndyCar title after a very long and tough race at Fontana. Tony Kanaan took his first win for Ganassi in the same race. Qualifying was marred by a very nasty accident involving Mikhail Aleshin.

31^st: Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo endured one of the most brilliant battles of the season, being separated by less than a second at the line.

September

13^th: The first all-electric motor race took place, with Lucas di Grassi winning an eventful Formula E race in Beijing.

14^th: Valentino Rossi took a very emotional victory in the San Marino Motorcycle Grand Prix, a race which saw Marc Marquez crash out but still take away a point. Marco Wittmann secured the DTM championship after just eight races.

20^th: The World Endurance Championship returned after its long slumber, with Audi winning a race halted by heavy rain with the number 2 crew.

20^th: The two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were separated by just 0.007 of a second in qualifying. The Brit would go on to win the race the day after the German was sidelined with technical problems.

27^th-28^th: Carlos Sainz, Jr. had one hand on the Formula Renault 3.5 series with a brilliant double victory at Paul Ricard.

October

3^rd: Max Verstappen became the youngest ever F1 driver to take part in an official session.

5^th: The darkest day of the year in motorsport terms. The day was marred by the very nasty accident involving Jules Bianchi as well as the death of former F1 driver Andrea de Cesaris.

11^th: Toyota got back to winning ways at Fuji, taking a very important and dominant victory at home. Jolyon Palmer secured victory in the GP2 series ahead of Felipe Nasr and Stoffel Vandoorne.

12^th: Esteban Ocon and Marc Marquez were crowned champion in European F3 and MotoGP, respectively.

12^th: Mercedes clinched their first ever Constructors’ Championship in style in the inaugural Russian Grand Prix, whilst categories all over the world showed their support for Jules Bianchi.

12^th: Despite a poor day, Colin Turkington secured the British Touring Car Championship crown for the second time.

18^th-19^th: Carlos Sainz, Jr. won the Formula Renault 3.5 series ahead of Roberto Merhi and fellow Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly.

26^th: Jose Maria Lopez became the World Touring Car Champion with victory at the Race of Japan at Suzuka.

November

2^nd: Toyota and Mercedes did what they had been doing all season in WEC and F1 respectively: win. The number 8 crew won at Shanghai, whilst Lewis Hamilton barged his way past Nico Rosberg to win his fifth F1 race in a row.

9^th: Marc Marquez won the last race of the season, whilst his brother Alex celebrated the Moto 3 title. Valentino Rossi started a race from pole for the first time since 2010. Nico Rosberg won the Brazilian Grand Prix, to beat Lewis Hamilton on merit for the first time since Austria.

15^th: Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi were confirmed as World Endurance Champions of the world at Bahrain, whilst the 7 crew celebrated victory for the only time this season.

16^th: Felix Rosenqvist won the Macau Grand Prix, a race marred by a hilarious pile-up on the first lap.

22^nd: Sam Bird took victory in the Formula E Malaysia race, in dominant fashion, whilst Alex Lynn secured the GP3 title in qualifying.

23^rd: Lewis Hamilton secured his second Formula One World Championship after problems to team mate Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes.

30^th: Porsche won their first race since returning to Prototype Endurance Racing at Interlagos, despite a nasty accident involving star driver Mark Webber. Toyota secured the Manufacturers’ Title. Nine-time Le Mans winner and 2013 World Endurance Champion Tom Kristensen retired from competitive racing.

December

13^th: Sebastien Buemi followed up his World Endurance Championship win with a win in Formula E in Uruguay, after problems halted former Formula One pilot Jean-Eric Vergne.

14^th: David Coulthard won the Race of Champions, whilst Tom Kristensen and Petter Solberg won the Nations’ Cup for Team Nordic.

 

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