It's 2008. It's January, the various championships of motor racing are gearing up for another year of giving us all enough to scream and yell about, until, well about this time next year. Here are a handful of series I can't wait to kick off, and I've even allowed myself to try and pick a winner (occasionally).
NASCAR: Let's kick off with the obvious, so much has been dedicated to the unknowns of the 2008 season. The COT going full time. Toyota looking to prove itself. Can anyone topple Hendrick. Can the open wheelers even hope to compete. Oh, and some lad called Dale has changed teams. If the racing on the track (and the organisation off it) come anywhere near matching this hype then we should be in for one of the better seasons of recent years. From testing it almost looks as it the Camry is the car to beat, and now they have the Gibbs engine dept on their side (the same Gibbs engine dept that powered The Toyota's to the top of qualifying and Blaney to 3rd in the 'Dega chase race) they should be good. I don't know if Toyota (most likely in the form o####ibbs car) can win the title, but I think those who wrote off their chances of a Cup win in 08 should be made to eat humble pie at some point. When it comes down to the title I find it hard to look beyond Hendrick. They may not always have the fastest car, but they have the best drivers.
PREDICTION: Toyota to win a race before May, and Jimmie to lead Jeff and Jr in a Hendrick 1-2-3 to the title. At least one of the open-wheel refugees to be unseated before the Chase.
F1: This year's Formula 1 season is unlikely to come close to the excitement that last season delivered. This is a shame as I feel that last year gained the sport a number of new fans (this may only be over here in the UK thanks to Hamilton) and it would be a shame to see it crash in flames. Again, like NASCAR there are huge unknowns. The cars are now without Traction Control, something that a number of drivers may not be used to. This gives us the possibility that new drivers may come to the fore. We also have new tracks on the calendar, at Valencia, Spain (which will host the European GP) and Singapore, including a blast over a bridge in the harbour. In the dark. As for winners McLaren will be strong again, BMW will look to become a major challenger for wins, rather than picking up podiums when others retire, but Ferrari are my favourites for the title. Kimi's title win last year may well have been a bit lucky, but there was no luck in winning 6 races (2 more than either McLaren driver).
PREDICTION: Kimi to lead a dominant Ferrari season, Hamilton's difficult second season, BMW to win at least one race. Singapore's night race to involve carnage that ensures F1 doesn't race at night again.
Touring Cars: Firstly the British Touring Cars (this will mean nothing to a huge swathe of you no doubt). We see arguably the best driver in the field (Matt Neal) driving for arguably the best team on the grid, and current manufacturers champions (Vauxhall). There will undoubtedly be the normal Touring Car bashing and ####ing, but I can't see their rivals (Seat) coming close.
PREDICTION: The rivalry between the Vauxhall drivers will be more interesting than Vauxhall's rivalry with anything else.
Now the World Touring Cars. Andy Priaulx looks to continue his domination of the class, as he challenges for his 4th consequtive title, with no doubt one of the Mullers as his main rival.
PREDICTION: Sorry Andy, my money's on the Germans
V8 Supercars: DISCLAIMER - I defer to Tez on all things V8. Can Ford win the title. After two years of nearly, they've failed at the final round both times. It's obvious the Falcons are strong, taking both endurance races in 2007, but for some reason they haven't been able to rekindle the form that led them to 3 titles with Stone Brothers Racing.
PREDICTION: Holden again, at this stage (I don't know the 08 team line-ups), I'd put money on one of the Kelly brothers taking the title.
Le Mans: The Madness of mid-June. With the dawn of the diesel era at La Sarthe only a few teams are in the chase for ultimate victory, namely the all conquering Audi's and the challenging Peugeots. Peugeot had a good showing last year (despite having a car they claimed was still being developed). If that claim was anything other than mind games they could have a shot at beating the 4 Rings.
PREDICTION: I'm taking the easy way out here. Audi all the way.
Nice post broomy. HMS will definitely have their drivers competing in the Chase again this year. While it would be nice to say that Jr. would be the one...I would actually like to see a non HMS team win the championship this season. I will defer my decsiion until the season gets under way a bit more.
I haven't been following F1 that much last year, so I will defer my choice to Tez, who also will be able to back up his choice for the V8's as well.
Now Where's your IRL prediction??? Now that both Hornish and Franchitti have flown the coop? Maybe Kaanan again? Don't think Marco's ready yet. Hope Danica wins one this year, but don't see her being part of the duel at the season finale. Maybe one of Ganassi's guy's Wheldon or Dixon.
Lori --- You are one of the most supportive people I know for your driver. And yes...you had some very valid points in your Smoke blog :)
jbroomy; I totally agree with you on Kimi...though I'm still not fully convinced McLaren will be as good as last year since they lost the best development driver since Schumi - Alonso. But hey, we'll see in a couple months when the season starts in Melbourne, lol
Cup....too tough for me to call right now though HMS would be the very obvious choice. Jr will either come out firing or struggle (like Mears did) so again I'll wait and see on that. Love to see Bowyer win it though :)
V8's....defer to me? LOL! Well, the smart money will be on Garth Tander now that he's at HRT, but Jamie Whincup will want to keep improving and there's only one spot he can go after finishing 2nd last year. The dark horses would be Mark Winterbottom (Ford) and Lee Holdsworth (Holden) I believe as both steadily improved as the season wore on.
Le Mans....ahh yeah, I'll pick Audi too, lol
BTCC, I have no idea so I'll go with your German suggestion :P
Last edited by Tezgm99 on January 15th at 10:52 AM.
KLV - My husband forwarded me an email a while back that Helio's DWTS partner would be part of this years Indy 500 festivities. Maybe if he win's the pole on qualifying weekend and/or the 500 he will entertain the crowd with his dancing skills in victory lane. Although it would be nice to see him contend for the championship this year too.
Tez - Tander to HRT, who's he replacing there, and who's taking his place at HSV??
Gerrel - As for the IRL, I can only plead ignorance. From what I know of it, it should be between Dixon, Helio and Kanaan. I agree that Marco probably isn't experineced enough yet - didn't he only finih a handful of the '07 oval races. I really think Danica needs to start living up to her hype. She's with one of the best teams there and is getting to be relitavely experienced, and with Hornish and Dario in NASCAR this could be her best chance yet.
Garth replaced Todd Kelly (who's moved to Larry Perkins' team). As for who's going to Toll HSV....I think it's Paul Dumbrell. Either David Besnard or Shane Van Gisbergen will replace Russell Ingall at Stone Brothers too, with Russell taking a second seat with Paul Morris' team.
Last edited by Tezgm99 on January 15th at 2:36 PM.
I think we need more coverage on the Super V8 cars on Speed. Never can find them there much.
On IRL, Kannan Will probably be the IRL poster child but I think Danica will get a lot faster in 08 and actually win a race. I would like to see Sara Fisher get a good ride too but I don't think that will ever happen. Of course Helio will be in close contention for the poster child award too.
Last edited by photogr on January 15th at 3:59 PM.
I hope the Le Mans Series races get more television coverage. I saw the one race that Dale Jr. was entered in a few years ago (the same race where his car caught on fire and he was hospitalized overnight) and it was pretty entertaining.
As for the Sprint Cup championship, I'll have my predictions sometime during Speedweeks. I will give my prediction for the Daytona 500 now: Clint Bowyer to win his first 500.
Prediction from pop. Tony leaves Gibbs midway throug the season. Goes to RCR. He couldnt handle the Shrub winning and getting all the media.
Jr. Chase or bust. All the marbles are in his bag, lets see what he can do. Oh wait he can be bad and still have all the fans..lol.
Mears makes the #5 win again and steals the glory from the #24 & #48. Boy that would be fun to watch.
F1 invades nascar and takes all the trophys over seas. No that wont happen but a thought.\
V8 in australia..Just need to know when we leave to go watch live in person? I want to visit Australia so bad...
Anyway just a few of my predictions on the funny side of car racing..
going by the latest testing, Fred seems to have already picked up Renault's performance on his first days back....too early to know obviously but he could challenge those red cars
The waiting is the toughest part of being a race fan!
F1: I'll go with your prediction of a Kimi repeat, but of course Phil Massa will be right there. Would be great to see the Iceman go back-to-back. Fred Alonso moving to Renault is interesting, but it seems like the McLarens and BMWs are stronger than the French team. I look for Ferrari to take the Constructor's title as well.
LeMans: Okay, you can't go wrong picking Audi in LMP1, but what about LMP2? Penske Porsche are the team to beat there. Or maybe GT1? Aston Martin vs Corvette? That rivalry is always intense.
I always want to write something witty here, but my wit is always confused with something worse ------------- ------------- ----NASCAR and Auto Racing in general mostly here, but I get distracted by shiny sporting objects as well and give them an airing too---------- ------------- -----Pastimes include rooting for the underdog and trying to fathom why Golf is considered a sport-------- ------------- ---
Send Lawyers, Guns and Money.
