A chance to salute the people, events or things that merit a special mention as 2014 draws to a close. We've tried to focus on people and put a face to some of the achievements but sometimes the two are inextricably linked; either way singling out just a handful of folk was a tough call. By all means pitch in with your own suggestions in the comments thread too if there's someone you feel worthy of recognition!
Zenos and Ansar Ali
Ably assisted by right-hand man and co-founder Mark Edwards, Ansar Ali has been the very public face of the Zenos project from the very start. His first presentation of Zenos to PH was supposed to have been a half-hour Powerpoint introduction that turned into a three-hour history lesson in the highs and lows of the British sports car business that he and Edwards know intimately. Given the legacy of endless start-ups that promised much and delivered little it'd have been easy to be cynical about Zenos's chances. But few know the pitfalls better than Ali and Edwards. And still they want to give it a go! First experience of the car suggests the product is good. And Ali's openness and willingness to engage on the PH forums is as worthy of respect as the disciplined and methodical approach taken to building a product the market actually wants, rather than some pie-in-the-sky pipe dream. (
Race of Remembrance
A terrific event for an unequivocally brilliant cause. Throughout a cold and wet November weekend in Wales there was huge and infectious optimism from everyone involved. The team led by James Cameron deserves great recognition for organising it; you would never have known this was their first attempt and I have absolute faith that Race of Remembrance will continue to grow in the coming years because of that. Anglesey is a superb little circuit as well. You'll certainly see me out in North Wales in 2015 - there's a 1,600cc Trophy to defend!
Andy Palmer
I know, maybe a bit premature - he's only just become Aston's boss. But Palmer has always been one of the industry's good guys, a clever engineer, a good leader and a proper petrolhead. The Bez era dragged on for far too long at Aston, I'm really looking forward to see what Palmer can deliver with some investment behind him. The
recent appointment
of ex-Lotus man Matt Becker to head of Vehicle Attributes Engineering can't do any harm either.
Kevin Estre's N24 qualifying lap
While I was tempted to write about one of my favourite gadgets or video cameras, I couldn't really offer anything more awesome than the pole position lap of this year's Nurburgring 24-Hour. It's actually been a record year for Nurburgring lap times, with a flurry of sub-eight laps in the 24km VLN configuration. But it's this lap by Frenchman Kevin Estre that takes the biscuit. "It was a bit oversteery on the Grand Prix [track]," said Estre at the time. "But then as soon as I got on the Nordschleife the car felt really good. There was still a little tendency to oversteer but that helped me in a lot of places. It maybe slowed me down in one or two places but overall I gained quite a lot. I took quite a lot of risks in some fast corners, I was really on the edge so I'm really happy with the lap." On the edge? I'm glad he said it, because I thought he was well over quite a few times...
See the lap here
It's a toss up between two World Superbike riders, Sylvain Guintoli and Carl Fogarty. Sylvain is the nicest man in the WSB paddock and thoroughly deserved to win his first ever world title, despite the fact he was up against a Brit. Carl Fogarty, on the other hand, munched his way through ostrich anus and had to deal with that hideous creature from TOWIE on his way to winning I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, a feat that pales his four WSB titles into insignificance.
Lewis Hamilton
? It might seem the easy option, a cop out, but Britain has not had a double F1 World Champion since Sir Jackie Stewart in 1971. Besides, Hamilton showed his maturity this year, getting the better of Rosberg in a straight fight in the beginning in Bahrain, before overcoming some tough mental obstacles - including some terrible luck, dubious qualifying tactics by his teammate and cruel mechanical failures - to triumph. A second world title for a proper racer who's done a lot of growing up since his McLaren days.
Lewis wasn't the only British driver to win a world title this year, however. Anthony Davidson claimed the driver's title in the World Endurance Championship with Toyota after some stunning drives this season, proving F1 isn't the be all and end all and British talent is at the sharp end across motorsport.
(Sean Carson)
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