AUTOSPORT's best races of 2013
After travelling the globe and covering a multitude of championships in 2013, AUTOSPORT's team of reporters select their standout races, as witnessed first hand
AUTOSPORT's team of reporters travelled far and wide to bring you the latest news from a variety of championships during 2013.
There were many great races to witness too and, with the action over, it seems the right time to look back at the season highlights.
So, here are the races our journalists reckoned were the best they witnessed first hand, with some video evidence thrown in for good measure.
Formula Renault 3.5, Monza race two
April 7
The second race of the 2013 Formula Renault 3.5 season teased a potential title fight that would have gone down as one for the ages.
In the early laps at Monza, McLaren juniors Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne, and Red Bull protege Antonio Felix da Costa engaged in the kind of slipstreaming, wheel-to-wheel combat that helped the famous Italian venue achieve its legendary status.
Over the course of the opening laps, there were six lead changes. Of the trio only Magnussen managed to avoid going off track at any point, and his new Formula 1 team boss Martin Whitmarsh cites his coolheaded approach in this scrap as one of the moments that made McLaren consider him for an F1 seat in 2014.
As well as the inevitable late-braking passes, the highlight of the battle had to be Magnussen's swoop around the outside at the Parabolica to take the lead at the end of lap two.
Da Costa went on to win the race, but that Sunday afternoon offered false hope for the Arden driver, and the neutral fans hoping for much more of this sort of action between three of the hottest junior prospects outside of F1 in 2013.
- Glenn Freeman
Want to see it for yourself? Watch the opening minutes of this video.
AUTOSPORT.com race report
Freedom 100 - Indy Lights, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
May 24
In a year where we were spoiled for good IndyCar races, it might seem a little perverse to choose a race from the series' feeder category as the year's best. And to a degree, much of this particular contest was decent if unremarkable.
But the most important part of any race is the end, and the final lap of this one will live long in the memories of those who witnessed it.
For most of the day, the battle for the had been between polesitter Sage Karam and Carlos Munoz, who'd been unable to shake Karam off since moving into the lead on lap 12. Their battle allowed Gabby Chaves to close within range late in the race, with Peter Dempsey just about keeping the lead three in sight back in fourth.
Chaves managed to get to the outside of the leaders to run three-wide on the last lap, and there was still daylight back to Dempsey as they exited the final corner. But Dempsey was just barely close enough to catch a tow from Chaves, and he ducked out to the Colombian's right as the quartet took the chequered flag.
The Irishman's margin of victory was just 0.0026s, with the top four covered by 0.04s.
- Mark Glendenning
YouTube highlights
AUTOSPORT.com race report
Monaco Grand Prix
May 26
Monaco Grand Prix race day is always a calendar highlight. Yet this year proved to be more special than most - as a frenzied paddock row added an extra spice to proceedings.
As whispers of the Mercedes 'secret' Pirelli test emerged early on Sunday morning, motorhomes were agog with gossip, meetings and intrigue in the hours before the start. It was exciting to be chasing it all.
The politicking only briefly stopped when the race was on, and all eyes were on Nico Rosberg who delivered a perfectly controlled tyre-saving performance to secure victory.
The win further stirred up the emotions of Mercedes' rivals though, and secured May 26's place as one of those amazing days that makes F1 such a fantastic soap opera.
- Jonathan Noble
AUTOSPORT.com race report
Mark Hughes: Mercedes' Monaco masterplan
British GT, Snetterton race two
June 16
Covering the British Touring Car Championship - and indeed historic extravaganza the Silverstone Classic - I've been fortunate enough to see quite a few good races in 2013. But it's a British GT encounter that edges it.
Not only was the field of high quality - with the likes of Porsche factory driver Nick Tandy, ex-Formula Renault 3.5 champion Alvaro Parente, experienced GT and touring car driver Warren Hughes and Aston Martin ace Jonny Adam in the 28-car field - the second race also provided sportsmanship and a close finish.
First the quality. Tandy, frustrated to miss pole in a wet qualifying session, quickly charged from fifth to second in one of Trackspeed's Porsche 997 GT3 R. Up ahead was Joe Osborne's Triple Eight BMW Z4 and Tandy homed in.
Now the sportsmanship. Tandy has always been an aggressive driver and he made a move on friend Osborne into Brundle. There wasn't enough space and the Porsche tipped the BMW into a spin.
That wasn't the end of the battle though. "I tried to back out of it but tapped him round," admitted Tandy. "I saw he was still second so let him by."
Tactically astute, sporting, or both? Whatever, Tandy was soon back ahead and handed co-drive David Ashburn a healthy lead.
Finally, the close finish. Chasing the leading Porsche down in the closing stages were Steve Tandy's Triple Eight BMW, Mark Patterson's United Autosports Audi R8 and Lee Mowle, Osborne's co-driver.
Going on to the last lap all four were together, but Ashburn held on to win by 0.5s, with fourth-placed Mowle just 1.8s behind the winner after an hour of racing. I'm glad I was able to witness part of British GT's finest season.
- Kevin Turner
YouTube highlights
British Grand Prix, Silverstone
June 30
The British Grand Prix did produce a grandstand finish, with the charging Mark Webber chasing down leader Nico Rosberg in the closing stages. But it was really memorable because of the Pirelli tyre disaster that came close to forcing the race to be red-flagged.
Webber's rise from fifth at the final restart with seven laps remaining to finish just 0.765s behind Rosberg created a dramatic denouement, but when Lewis Hamilton's left-rear tyre shredded itself while leading on lap eight, closely followed by Felipe Massa and Jean-Eric Vergne suffering blowouts, it was clear this was no ordinary race.
It could have been so much worse. Several drivers, including Fernando Alonso, avoided similar tyre disasters by the skin of their teeth, while leader Sebastian Vettel's retirement with a gearbox problem set up the grandstand finish that saved F1's blushes.
The race was also hugely significant in terms of the championship. Following the failures, a change to the tyres was inevitable. Red Bull had lobbied for such changes from the start of the year and Pirelli stood firm, but when safety was under question there was no credible argument against changing.
- Edd Straw
AUTOSPORT.com race report
Mark Hughes: Pirelli's horror show
MotoGP, Silverstone
September 1
A race that was extraordinary in every sense. For 20 laps, there was never more than half a second to choose between leaders Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez, as the pair staged a breathtaking battle that culminated in two passes in the final two corners.
It was hard to know who to marvel at more. Lorenzo had no right to be in a fight against a Honda that was visibly better in almost every department, while Marquez had no physical right even to be in the race, having dislocated his shoulder in a fall just three hours before he was due to start on pole.
It encapsulated everything brilliant about MotoGP in 2013: Lorenzo's absurd talent; Marquez's ability to seemingly defy not just expectation but logic; and the pair's collective ability to make a routine of the exceptional. Spellbinding stuff.
- Sam Tremayne
YouTube highlights
AUTOSPORT.com race report
British GT, Zandvoort race one
September 7
Everyone loves going to Zandvoort. The sun, the sea, the sand; Amsterdam...
It's also a great place to have a motor race. The British GT championship made a maiden visit to the Circuit Park in 2013, and the legendary former Dutch Grand Prix venue hosted probably the finest race I saw in British GT's best-ever season.
Rick Parfitt's monumental Peter Dumbreck-style accident at the fearsome final corner caused a safety car period that bunched the field up nicely just as the pro drivers were due to take over from their amateur counterparts for the second part of the hour-long race.
Michael Caine's Motorbase Porsche held the lead, and the former TVR Tuscan racer needed all the guile and nous he could muster to repel repeated attacks from Rob Barff's FF Corse Ferrari in the closing stages.
The two cars made contact on the final lap as Barff tried to find a way to breach his old friend's defences, but Caine held on to win by just half a second as Barff slipped to third behind Dan Brown's Triple Eight BMW (which had earlier made its own failed bid for the lead at the Tarzan hairpin).
The top six was covered by less than 2.5s in what was undoubtedly the closest and cleanest (just about!) contest of the season.
- Ben Anderson
Rick Parfitt's crash video
RAC TT Celebration, Goodwood
September 15
From a privileged position - armed with a mic for driver-change reaction - in Goodwood's narrow and frantic pitlane, the RAC Tourist Trophy Celebration for proper 1960s GT cars was comfortably the best on-track combat I witnessed in 2013.
Plenty of grunty AC Cobras, slithery Jaguar E-types and howling Ferrari GTOs again made the annual gawp fest memorable, but they were overshadowed this time.
The Chris Harris/Anthony Reid Jaguar-engined Lister coupe starred before Wolfgang Friedrichs' Aston Martin Project 212, beautifully pedalled by Simon Hadfield in the foul weather, came storming through.
A late error from veteran Reid left Hadfield to take a famous and popular victory in Aston Martin's centenary year.
- Henry Hope-Frost
BTCC, Silverstone race two
September 29
The best single race of the British Touring Car Championship season came in race two at Silverstone, as Jason Plato fended off soon-to-be-crowned champion Andrew Jordan for his 80th series victory.
Plato led from pole position after winning race one, but knew he was in for a tougher time carrying 45kg of success ballast. Colin Turkington made a flying start in his rear-wheel-drive WSR BMW, and got alongside Plato's Triple Eight MG6 at Copse from the second row.
Turkington tried to brave it around the outside at Becketts, but Plato clung on. After an early safety car, the man to watch was Jordan, who opted to start his Eurotech Honda Civic on soft-compound tyres.
He'd already zapped past Matt Neal at Becketts, and then overtook Sam Tordoff's MG and Turkington.
In a fantastic battle for the win, Jordan put his title bid on the line by attacking Plato for the lead, nosing ahead at Becketts, only for Plato to battle back.
They touched at Luffield, as Plato shoved his MG back inside the Honda, and they brushed door handles again through Woodcote as Plato made the move stick.
From there on, Plato had to completely alter his approach to Copse to keep Jordan from getting a run towards Becketts.
"That was proper racing," beamed a beaten but happy Jordan afterwards. "I didn't come out on top, but that was great, hard racing."
- Charles Bradley
YouTube highlights
British Formula Ford, Silverstone race three
September 29
There wasn't a lot for British Formula Ford to shout about for most of 2013. Dan Cammish claimed a record-shattering 24 consecutive wins in his JTR Mygale, becoming champion with two rounds to go, but he stepped aside for Silverstone. And all hell broke loose.
A chaotic pair of opening races at Silverstone led to an unlikely Camren Kaminsky triumph and a hard-earned victory for Jayde Kruger, but single-seater rookie Harrison Scott's charge to a first win in the finale was truly memorable.
Sam Brabham shot into a 2.4-second lead in the first five laps, bolting brilliantly from second on the grid, while Scott worked his way through from fifth.
By mid-distance, Scott had cut the deficit to half a second and the duo then circulated nose-to-tail for half a dozen laps - Scott desperately trying to find a way through at Brooklands and Luffield.
When Brabham ran wide under braking for Luffield with six laps remaining, Scott threw his Falcon-run Mygale up the inside. They ran side-by-side and banged wheels as they raced through Woodcote, but Scott it was who came out ahead.
It was a rare glimpse of what kind of racing the EcoBoost-era of FFord could produce.
- Scott Mitchell
WRC Rally of France, Strasbourg
October 3-6
Maybe it would have been cooler to venture further from the radar and talk about something like the historics on the Severn Valley. They were good.
But the Sebs in Strasbourg were better. This year's Rally of France is an event that will stay with me for a very long time.
The competition was fierce, with four drivers going into the third and final day split by just five seconds. But this was about more than the competition. This was the changing of the guard; hello to newboy world champion Sebastien and good-bye to Sebastien the nine-time hero.
Brilliant as it was to be there when Ogier was crowned, I was much more emotional about Loeb's departure. I know we've moaned about his dominance (can't imagine why, given that he's only won 78 of the 168 WRC rounds he started), but when I switched off the recorder at the end of that final interview, I have to admit I was a little lost for words.
And the drama of that final day made a brilliant rally unforgettable. Loeb rolled, something he never does. And Ogier fought back and won his first WRC round as a world champion.
The atmosphere in Strasbourg when Loeb waved goodbye was quite extraordinary. And unique.
- David Evans
Bathurst 1000
October 13
As Bucket List ticking years go, I had 12 months to remember.
My eardrums only narrowly survived the assault of 43 NASCAR Sprint Cup cars hurling around the Bristol Motor Speedway. It's an event that subsumes the entire town, transforming it into a Glastonbury-style potpourri of food, music and muscle cars. There was a conspicuous lack of a tor or hippies though.
The crowd that gather at the top of the Mountain at Bathurst for the 1000 would feel right at home.
Like Bristol, Bathurst is a town that more than doubles in size when the race comes to town and the atmosphere among the race fans is matched by the spectacle on track.
The closing stages of this year's race, where for lap after lap Mark Winterbottom had to drive practically inch perfectly to keep the charging Jamie Whincup at bay, ensured that both blue and red-clad spectators were kept on their feet (well, the ones that could still stand by then). Ripper!
- Andrew van de Burgt
Macau Grand Prix
November 17
It's probably pretty accurate to say that most men only get emotional when it comes to sport.
The Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix wasn't the most exciting race I saw this year, but it was a good one - and Alex Lynn's victory was one that caused a few ominous wellings-up.
As someone who's covered the vast majority of Lynn's races since he entered Formula Renault UK in 2010 as a gangly 16-year-old (with a penchant for losing his front wing), I felt rather proud of him when he crossed the line for the biggest win of his career.
I got back to the press office just as the TV cameras showed his arrival in parc ferme, and the ecstasy in Lynn's body language, and on the faces of the Prema Powerteam guys and Alex's coach Matt Tait, was something I'll never forget.
An hour later I caught up with Lynn in the Prema garage. He tore himself away from hordes of locals wanting to pose for photos with him, and it was clear that this was the most special day of his life.
Apart from turning into a terrific driver, he's one of the nicest guys around and will make a great ambassador for motorsport. That's what made Macau memorable - and emotional.
- Marcus Simmons
FIA GTs, Baku main race
November 24
When someone dubs a driver the 'new Frederic Makowiecki', I sit up and take notice. But even that introduction didn't prepare me for the performance of Kevin Estre on the streets of Baku in November. The Frenchman's drive in the main event at the FIA GT Series finale in Azerbaijan was little short of mesmerising.
Hexis McLaren team-mate Rob Bell had been relegated to the back after a first-lap puncture, but after Estre climbed aboard, he passed car after car almost with ease. The move that leapfrogged him from fourth to second in one fell swoop was pure opportunism.
How and why he was penalised for exceeding track limits by crossing a white line nobody had noticed before is beyond me. It didn't really matter, though. A young man had made his mark.
- Gary Watkins
Auto GP title decider, Brno
October 5-6
There were plenty of standout on-track moments in 2013, but it's difficult to top a title decider. For the Auto GP finale at Brno, three drivers entered the final race in with a shot at glory.
Following an awful start to his campaign, Narain Karthikeyan had clawed his way back into contention and was just 15 points adrift of his consistent Super Nova team-mate and title favourite Vittorio Ghirelli. Kimiya Sato was also in the mix, even if he was an outside title bet.
On the big day, Sato proved inspired. After making a flier of a start, the Japanese racer charged into an early lead and was soon on target to earn the bonus point for fastest lap.
In the event of a Sato victory, Ghirelli only required a fifth place, but the Italian was struggling to make the anticipated progress from his seventh place grid slot. Karthikeyan suffered worse drama when his front-wing failed and the black and orange flag flew, but he reasoned the only way he was going to win the championship was to press on and argue his case afterwards.
Those arguments would not be persuasive enough. As Sato celebrated his fifth win of the season, there was confusion as to the identity of the other podium men. Eventually Karthikeyan was thrown out of the results, promoting Ghirelli to third and his maiden championship.
Piastri "flattered" by rumours of Red Bull F1 interest
NASCAR great Kyle Busch dies at 41 after illness
Verstappen: 2027 engine changes “definitely” help me stay in F1
Why Sainz believes F1 and FIA must be "tough" on 2027 changes
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments