Motorsport review 2008 win $500

Most motorsport people would say Jamie Whincup was the best Australian racer of 2008.

And they would be wrong.

Whincup is very, very good but the new V8 Supercar champion trails behind a couple of other Aussies who made an even bigger impact in the season just gone.

One of them was Ryan Briscoe. Another was Daniel Riccardi.

But the best of the best for 2008 was Marcos Ambrose.

While the rest of the successes were winning races and winning championships, Ambrose was making the biggest breakthrough of all - the first Australian to do seriously well in Nascar racing.

He won his first race, in the second-level Nationwide championship, and also did enough to win a fulltime spot in the main game - the Sprint Cup - for 2009. Ambrose even managed to make the switch from Ford, his long-term backer, to Toyota in search of real success.

But how do the motorsport stars of 2008 really rate? Here were go.

INTERNATIONAL ACES:

1. Marcos Ambrose. Nascar

The blazing intensity which took him to two V8 Supercar championships, unseating Mark Skaife in the process, paid off in Nascar.

Ambrose showed the speed, stamina and commitment so essential in the world's toughest motorsport arena. He got better and better through the season and eventually earned a promotion to the top-level Sprint Cup.

His move to America was a giant gamble but his hard work on and off the track paid off.

I have to give Ambrose 90 points for 2008.

2. Ryan Briscoe. IndyCar

Briscoe's millimetre-perfect performance on the streets of the Gold Coast shows what he can do in a racecar. He makes winning look easy.

Just two years after he nearly died in an IndyCar crash he completed the rebuilding job which should have taken him to Formula One with the best team in American motorsport.

Briscoe won when he could, played the team game when he was told, and showed the speed and professionalism which will give him a long-term career and plenty of future success with Penske Racing.

His score is 87/100

3. Troy Bayliss. World Superbike.

Anyone who wins the world championship in their final year is still fully committed.

That was Bayliss in '08, in a performance with his rampaging Ducati which earned a personal challenge from MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi for a shootout sometime in 2009.

He was fast, he was racy, and he went out at the very top of his game.

Bayliss definitely deserves 85/100

4. Daniel Ricciardo. Formula Renault

The young West Australian will be the next Australian into Formula One.

He is doing all the right things in junior racing in Europe, where he is backed by the same Red Bull talent spotters who have already put Sebastian Vettel into grand prix racing.

Watch Ricciardo go this year in the British Formula Three championship, used by a string of aces - including Ayrton Senna - as a springboard to F1.

He is still improving but deserves 83/100 5. David Brabham. Sports cars Very few people know Sir Jack's only active racing son won his class at Le Mans in 2008.

Or that he was right at the top of the American Le Mans Series, which was the most competitive arena for prototype sports cars.

Braham is still super-fit and at the top of his game, although he has been short of hair for a few years, and is recognised around the world as one of the quickest and most reliable sports car drivers in the business.

He gets 80/100 for his '08 results.

V8 SUPERSTARS

1. Jamie Whincup. Team Vodafone

The right man won the 2008 V8 Supercar championship and did it the right way with a combination of speed and commitment on the track and commitment and humility off the track.

Whincup has turned himself into the most complete package in touring car racing and his drive on the Gold Coast, like Briscoe, showed raw speed and the ability to absorb incredible pressure from the best in the business.

Thanks to Roland Dane and the team at Triple Eight, and with his own ability tapped and controlled, he looks capable of going back-to-back in 2009.

As the benchmark in V8 Supercars he must get 87/100.

2. Russell Ingall. Super Cheap Racing.

The old man was written-off by some after leaving Stone Brothers Racing, but the old-school racer proved he was still The Enforcer.

He whipped Paul Morris' good-time team into shape, got the car he wanted, and set about balancing the books after some lacklustre runs in his final Falcon days.

Ingall was fast and feisty, and brought some no-frills honesty to a series which can take itself far too seriously. He will be worth a close watch in '09.

The Ingall score is 83/100

3. Garth Tander. Holden Racing Team.

Team Red had a tough year but Tander was tougher, burying Mark Skaife and cementing his place as the benchmark on the Holden side of the fence.

He needs to show more of his humour, instead of building a Kimi Raikkonen-style wall, but otherwise has everything he needs.

Tander looks most likely to create a much-needed rivalry with Whincup to revive the intensity of Skaife-against-Lowndes.

He was good but not great, which means 80/100.

4. Mark Winterbottom. Ford Performance Racing.

Frosty does a great job but something is still missing.

It's probably the team, which still manages to lose races it should win, as he was the standout on pure speed in V8 Supercars.

Winterbottom should have done better against Whincup through the final phase of the V8 Supercar championship but gets another chance in '09 with the new FG Falcon.

He was strong but not strong enough to score more than 78/100

5. Will Davison. Jim Beam Racing

He was good enough to win Skaife's spot at Team Red, which says it all.

Davison was surprisingly strong, buried his team mate Steven Johnson, and broke through for his first round win at Eastern Creek.

The next big challenge is stepping into the spotlight at the Holden Racing Team.

His performance is worth 76/100

6. Todd Kelly. Jack Daniels Racing.

Took on a giant job at Larry Perkins' under-funded team but drove development as well as driving the car.

His second-half performance showed his talent and commitment, and laid the foundation for the all-new Kelly Racing team for 2009.

The Toddler makes 75/100

7. James Courtney. Stone Brothers Racing

Fast but flawed.

Courtney battled his own team as much as his racetrack rivals and did not achieve anything like his objective in the final year with his team, although he again made the podium at Bathurst.

He has everything he wants with Dick Johnson in 2009 and must now deliver.

75/100 is a fair reward.

8. Craig Lowndes. Team Vodafone

The one-time wild child is now the elder statesman alongside Jamie Whincup.

Lowndes was happy to run tail-gunner for the youngster and blames trouble with the latest qualifying format for some of his under-done runs, but starred as usual at Bathurst.

He says he has another championship in him and wants to prove it.

But based on 2008 he only deserves 74/100.

9. Lee Holdsworth. Garry Rogers Racing.

Still scoring some solid results but needs to make the final step into the top rank.

Can he do it with Garry Rogers? This year is the make-or-break.

But he did as much as he could with what he had through 2008.

Holdsworth gets 73/100.

10. Paul Radisich. Toll-HSV Racing.

The head-to-toe professional was only a part-timer in the endurance races but proved his superstar status with speed and commitment.

His awful crash at Bathurst was a lousy break for a top bloke.

Radisch gets 72/100 and best wishes for a full recovery.

OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE

1. Craig Baird. Carrera Cup

Baird is getting oldwe but still loves to win, and he did a lot of winning in 2008.

He was the standout benchmark against the young guns in the Carrera Cup but also scored with some long-distance performances overseas.

And he popped up with an impressive V8 Supercar guest drive in the Fujitsu Series in Queensland, as well as doing a totally professional co-driving job with the Holden Racing Team.

He should still be in V8s and deserves 80/100.

2. John Bowe. Biante Historics

Racing isn't everything for Bowe, it's the only thing.

He took a huge personal hit after retiring from V8 Supercars, and admits to depression, but recovered by hussling a 1970s Camaro around at the front of the historic pack.

Was fastest in qualifying at every major meeting and took second in the series, as well as flying in some sports car guest drives.

Still worth 78/100.

3. Neal Bates. Australian Rally Championship.

It took 13 years to get back to the top of forest racing, but Bates and co-driver Coral Taylor did a totally professional job through 2008.

He does not have the raw pace of his team mate Simon Evans, but the Toyota team boss is much more than just a driver. And Mark Skaife knows how tough that can be.

Bates is one of the nice guys and a worthy winner.

His score is 77/100

UNLIKELY LOSERS:

A list of the winners must always be balanced by the losers.

It's tough - but it's life in motorsport.

1. Mark Skaife. V8 Supercars

The off-track pressures were reflected in his on-track performance, which was well short of his best. His only win of '08 was down to the efforts of Garth Tander in the Phillip Island 500.

It was no surprise that he eventually decided to quit - earlier than he would have liked.

Skaife is a superstar who will be missed, but not on the basis of his results last year.

Sadly, he only gets 65/100

2. Casey Stoner. MotoGP.

The world champion was run down and run over by Valentino Rossi.

After a year when he dominated on a superior Ducati, Stoner did not look as sharp or special in 2008.

He also made some silly mistakes and whined when Rossi shut him down in the USA.

Perhaps he will rebound in 2009 when every MotoGP bike runs on the same rubber.

He is probably better than the 68/100 he earned last year.

3. Will Power. IndyCars.

His mistake at the Gold Coast Indy 300 reflects a season of missed chances.

Power was always going to battle after the open-wheel reunion in the USA, but he could and probably should have converted more opportunities.

His showing was not helped by comparison with Briscoe, who had a better team and a much better year.

Power deserves better than 70/100.

What do you think? Did we get it right, did we get it wrong, did your hero take a pasting? 

Give us your opinions and driver scores below, for a chance to win a great package of goodies from FPV, valued at around $500.

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This competition has now closed and author Paul Gover has judged the winner to be Andrew Rich of Newcastle, with this comment:

They have all done us proud. Not everyone can be number 1. Each person follows one of the drivers/riders and to them they did a good job.

Congratulations, Andrew, from everybody at Carsguide, and we're sure you will enjoy the great FPV prize.