2019’s Champions of motorsport

WEC: Fernando Alonso, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima

Toyota’s trio made history by topping the unique ‘super season’ that lasted for more than a single calendar year, as the World Endurance Championship broke with tradition to run its season across the winter. That meant the campaign kicked off at Spa in May 2018, took in the 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours, raced at a further five rounds into 2019 – including a new 1,000-mile event at Sebring – and concluded at the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Alonso and Co scored back-to-back Le Mans victories, which meant both counted towards their hard-won world titles. They also won the 2018 Spa 6 Hours season opener, the 2019 Spa 6 Hours penultimate round and the new race at Sebring. Phew!

WRC: Ott Tänak

Significant history was written in the 2019 World Rally Championship too, as Estonian Ott Tänak became the first driver not called Sébastien to win the title for 17 years.

Two men have dominated the world’s special stages in the modern era. First, Citroën ace Sébastien Loeb gripped the sport by its throat to claim an incredible nine titles on the trot. Then French countryman Sébastien Ogier picked up the baton to win six in a row.

Ogier was bidding for a seventh crown in 2019 and to become the first rally driver since Juha Kankkunen to be champion for three different manufacturers, as he joined Citroën’s attack. But he fell short as Tänak won five rallies for Toyota to beat him to the title.

Then in moves that left the WRC reeling, Tänak quit Toyota to join Hyundai for 2020, and Ogier left Citroën to take his place in the Yaris – a decision that then triggered the French manufacturer to withdraw from the WRC with immediate effect, directly blaming the six-time champion for its departure.

Now the WRC has Tänak and Hyundai vs Ogier and Toyota to look forward to in 2020. It’s a prospect ripe with promise.

Indycar: Josef Newgarden

The American won a deserved second IndyCar crown this season to add to his first in 2017. The Penske ace won four rounds, although his French team-mate Simon Pagenaud arguably stole the most limelight by winning the Indianapolis 500 back in May.

Ask most IndyCar drivers whether they’d pick an Indy win over the title, had they a choice – and most would surely go for victory at the Brickyard. But at 28, he still has plenty of time to drink from the quart of milk at Indy to add to an already impressive IndyCar CV.

Formula 2: Nyck de Vries

In his third season of Formula 2, this was something of a make-or-break year for the 24-year-old Dutchman. De Vries had been a McLaren junior driver since boyhood and was long tipped to follow a Lewis Hamilton-style career path. It hasn’t quite worked out that way. His relationship with McLaren came to an end this year, but that split did not distract him from winning four races and clinching the F2 title with Art Grand Prix – the team with whom Hamilton starred in what was then GP2 way back in 2006.

F1 next? Well, de Vries has joined Mercedes, but not to race beside Hamilton. Instead, he’s headed to Formula E, as the three-pointed star embarks on its first campaign in the all-electric series. It could be the making of him.

Formula 3: Robert Shwartzman

A seasoned single-seater campaigner, this Russian finished third in the 2018 FIA European Formula 3 championship for Prema, then stuck with the team for a new era this year as the F1-supported FIA F3 Championship was launched. His persistence paid off, with three wins and his first major single-seater title.

Next year, a new challenge. He stays with Prema for another season, to be team-mate in F2 to Mick Schumacher.

W Series: Jamie Chadwick

The all-female single-seater series launched this year with doubters voicing their concerns about segregating women. But all British F3 race winner Jamie Chadwick and her rivals saw was an opportunity to race for free, gain some publicity – and earn some prize money.

The decision paid off as Chadwick became the inaugural W Series champion. But late in the season it was noticeable others, including fellow Brit Alice Powell, were now more than a match for the driver who had led the series from the first of the six rounds. Chadwick returns to defend her title in 2020 – and she’ll have to work even harder to repeat her success.

BTCC: Colin Turkington

The Northern Irishman equalled Andy Rouse’s record by winning his fourth BTCC title this year in West Surrey Racing’s fabulous new BMW 3 Series. The car was an instant BTCC classic, but Turkington was forced to work hard for his title by team-mate Andrew Jordan, who took six wins to the champion’s five. And spare a thought for Honda’s Dan Cammish, who came so close to stealing the title in a thrilling season finale at Brands Hatch.

Still, there was little doubt that that most deserving won. Turkington’s the class act of British motor racing right now.

DTM: René Rast

Highly decorated in GT racing, the 33-year-old German is fast becoming the DTM’s ‘new Bernd Schneider’ in the DTM. In other words, the modern king of Germany’s high-profile tin-top championship.

Rast’s 2019 title was his second in four years, and included a fine win at Brands Hatch in August. Few would bet against the Audi man adding further titles in the future.

WTCR: Norbert Michelisz

The Hungarian is a former computer gamer, who is now recognised as one of the top touring car specialists in the world – particularly now he has a global title of his own.

The Hyundai racer emerged from a frenetic and dramatic three-race finale at Sepang in Malaysia on Sunday as champion of the World Touring Car Cup, which runs to the popular TCR touring car regs. Michelisz, 35, beat highly-rated Argentinian Esteban Guerrieri and four-time World Touring Car Champion Yvan Muller to claim his first major title.

ERC: Chris Ingram

Last word to a rally driver who achieved something no other Brit has managed in 52 years this season. Chris Ingram became the first from his country to win the European Rally Championship since Vic Elford in 1967. He did it without winning a round outright, but in the face of monumental financial challenges. Ingram now deserves a shot at the World Rally Championship – but whether he gets it is another point entirely.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.