Number 267: The 2015 Preview Issue
It's just as well a picture paints a thousand words, because the Nissan LM GT-R NISMO rendered us speechless when we first saw under the skin. Designer Ben Bowlby has again ignored convention, but not in the slightly unhinged, Mad Hatter way you might expect from some radical free thinkers. When Ben explains the reasoning behind the LMP1-H car's layout, it makes perfect sense and contains so much logic you wonder why no one else is doing it. And that surely is the best type of ingenuity. Now it just has to work...
Just a year ago, it would have taken similar amounts of free thinking to imagine Sebastian Vettel losing the taste for Red Bull and its Formula 1 title-winning cars and heading off to ride a Stumbling Horse. And what were the chances of Fernando Alonso smiling for the cameras once more with McLaren's Ron Dennis? Yup, pragmatism is a powerful force. Vettel, despite four drivers' titles, wanted to rebuild a damaged reputation, Alonso demanded a winning car, and the newest iteration of the fabled McLaren-Honda partnership needed a champion racer who's still at the very height of his powers. So that's two of F1's best storylines in 2015 provided by just two driver/team changes.
While Vettel and Alonso carry so much interest because of their pedigree within F1, it's a kid in only his sophomore season at the top level who provides the adrenaline shot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver lineup. Kyle Larson, whose major achievements have occurred outside of NASCAR, is the focus of Robin Miller's attention, and it's because the 22-year-old has proven willing and able to drive anything. Latest honor to fall his way? The Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Another Rolex 24 racer for whom sports car racing is (now) a side interest rather than his main focus is Simon Pagenaud, who this year joins Team Penske's IndyCar team. What does he think he'll bring to a team that already contains two series champs and two Indy 500 winners? The Season Preview Issue will tell you...