2012 has been a vintage year for sports of all persuasions. But we'll naturally fixate on those that require engines here. And there's been no lack of drama on four or two wheels, as the nominations that follow will reveal. Picking a winner will be difficult, especially given the passion with which the nominees have been put forward by the PH team. But now it's over to you to choose the most captivating motorsport moment of the year...
"Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing!"
A cheerleader for the hen-pecked and patronised, Kimi's response to radio pestering has gone down alongside his "I was taking a sh-" moment on Brundle's Brazil pit walk a few years back. We all know Kimi doesn't do BS. So his return to F1 was a rare moment of cheer as the sport continues its inexorable rise up its own proverbial. Alonso finally quitting his moaning and getting down to some serious racing was another. But nobody does no-nonsense like Kimi. So leave him alone. Winning the race was class. But for that radio exchange alone Kimi deserves a gong. (Dan)
Deltawing
The human story of motorsport is almost always more compelling than the technical side, and those heart-rending images of Satoshi Motoyama attempting to free the Deltawing's rear axle so that it could return to the pits were a defining moment of 2012 for me. Some might argue that a project built on emotions was destined to end as a tear-jerker, but the fact remains Nissan struck gold with its strange little racing car. It achieved everything the sterile incumbents around it have failed to do for years: it enlightened, it impressed, it fascinated and, at the Petit Le Mans, it delivered. My abiding memory of the car isn't driving it, or poking around it with the extraordinary Ben Bowlby, but the general mood in the Deltawing camp. These are car people; they love the subject. When they aren't running their extraordinary racing car with utmost professionalism, they want to talk about the GT86, and whether the next GT3 will be paddles only. They are lead by a great bloke in Darren Cox - in short they are the kind of people all PHers would love to hang out with. (Chris Harris)
Sébastien Loeb's Retirement
The most remarkable moments are the ones that changed the game entirely. In those terms, Loeb is responsible for the WRC's two most significant moments of the past decade; his emergence as a force and his retirement nine titles later. In decades to come, both moments will be recognised as having changed the face of international rallying. (Dan Prosser)
BMW winning DTM
When BMW announced its return to DTM for the 2012 season, the news set motorsport enthusiasts' mouths watering. It'd mark the end of a 20-year hiatus, one which had seen Audi and Mercedes dominate the series, and the return of the other 'Big Three' manufacturer was a tempting prospect. The question was whether BMW's absence would handicap them. Things didn't start so well - in the first race, the highest-ranking BMW finished sixth - but as the season progressed, the BMW teams clawed their way to the top. In a thrilling final race, BMW Team Schnitzer's Bruno Spengler pipped Gary Paffett to the win, and thus the championship. BMW was back - and how! (Alex)
Stoner's final hurrah
There are several candidates that for the two-wheeled motorsport moment of the year. Cal Crutchlow standing on a MotoGP podium, the first Brit to do so in 12 years. Danny Kent's superb Moto3 year which has included two wins, the nail biting final WSB race that saw Tom Sykes lose to Max Biaggi by just 0.5 points or Jorge Lorenzo's stratospheric highside in the final race at Valencia while attempting to pass James Ellison. All memorable but one moment stands head and shoulders above them all - the slow motion footage of Casey Stoner at Phillip Island. Like him or loath him, there is no denying Stoner is an amazing talent on a bike. To make an entire MotoGP paddock stop and stare open-mouthed takes some doing, but that's what Stoner did. Lap after lap watching him slide his Honda over the kerbs was nothing short of amazing. No one can do what Stoner can on a bike and despite an injured ankle and going into the race knowing he was about to retire Stoner still proceeded to give a master class in bike control. The prickly Aussie will be sadly missed in the MotoGP paddock in 2013, if not for his character, certainly for his balls-out riding style. (Jon Urry)
PH awards 2012 categories: