It was a year that saw Sebestian Loeb step down from the throne of the WRC kingdom. It was a year that ALMS and Grand Am ended their separate runs. It was a year that Allan McNIsh retired from factory driving as WEC Champion.
It was a year that we lost too many drivers. We sit here wondering the fate of Michael Schumacher. We’ve already lost Sean Edwards, Allan Simonsen, Andrea Mame, Wolf Silverster, the Candadian GP was tragic as we lost marshal Mark Robinson. We love racing and it is addictive but when tragedy strikes, it is tough.
But 2013 was the year for new motorsport heroes as Sebesitan Ogier and Theirry Neuville rose to the top of the WRC world, Sebestian Vettel set new records in F1, Tom Sykes and Marc Marquez took out their first titles in the WSBK and MotoGP respectively, proving the talents that we all knew they were. And a talent we all knew – Bernd Schneider took all bar one of the endurance races he competed in.
In Australia, Eli Evans won everything before in the the Australian Rally Championship, Wayne Maxwell took out the ASBK, Klark Quinn has demonstrated his undoubted talent with his second Australian GT Championship and Tim Macrow took out the Australian F3 Championship. Of course, Jamie Whincup took out the V8 Supercar Championship (again!) in a year where Nissan and AMG came back to Australian motorsport.
We look forward to 2014 with new F1 rules, Porsche coming back to the fore of a prototype field, Hyundai returning to the WRC, refined rules in motorcycle racing and Volvo takes to the track in the V8s.
Of course, for RacerViews it has been a massive year. Not only have we had this redesign, we have covered the American Le Mans Series, Grand Am, World Touring Cars, F1, Bathurst 12 Hours, F3, Australian GT, British GT, WSBK, Nationwide, WRC, ARC and more. We covered more stories with more interviews and photo galleries than ever before. We welcomed around double the visitors we did in 2012 and our interview downloads had a 500% increase on the year before.
We had fantastic photographers on board with Andrew Henderson, Jim Fonseca, Jeff Picoult, Jeff Kapic, Nat Twiss and Steve Szilkai all helping me make this site what it is. Naturally we have to thank Gail Shankland for getting Andreas Wirth to talk with us despite his tough season, Richard Craill for wrangling F3 and Bathurst 12 Hour drivers, Brett Middleton and all the other drivers that appeared on the site this year.
A special thanks has to go to Phil Czaj, who has created the RacerViews graphics that we see on the site and will see more of in 2014. If you need bike gear you should check out the CR Shop the he runs. Also a massive thanks to the Czaj Racing team whose hospitality has been very well received this year. I also have to thank Opensure our hosting providers for their brilliant technological help this year.
Personally, it has been a great year, except for a touch of pneumonia at the end of the year! The year started with the Bathurst 12 Hour – a fantastic event, with the WSBK coming up again. I rode my first hotlaps in a Porsche Cup Car and I rejoined the Rally Australia crew – which was a blast. I got to see a different side, joining the Stage Stop crew on Nambucca, Wedding Bells, Newry and the Super Special to get conditions, quotes and more for the guys back in the media centre. I have to say, it was a pleasure working with the marshals at the end of stage – seeing the great work they do was special and I have to encourage all motorsport lovers to get involved in their sport.
We can’t wait for the 2014 season and all it will bring. It is an exciting time to be involved in motorsport. Naturally it has a lot to live up to and many threats to its long term future. I personally am looking forward to working with great teams in some of the biggest events in Australia – and at some awesome club events.
Here is to 2014 – I hope you enjoy it and make every moment your own!
Year in Review by Sam Tickell, December 2013
RacerViews was established in 2011 and with the aim of delivering a new web experience to motorsport fans. We bring exclusive interviews and photos from motorsports finest drivers of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Our team has over 30 years of experience in the motorsport field. With a heavy presence on Facebook, Twitter and iTunes where we have over 2800 followers, our mission to bring exclusive content is in safe hands. We have partnered with motorsport teams like Stig Richards Motorsport, One of a Kind Motorsport, Dark Horse Racing and MRT Performance in order to give you the best exclusive motorsport coverage.
We are always looking for new people to join our team. If you are a motorsports photographer or journalist looking for additional exposure or a great place to learn your trade, contact us
