Jonne Haltunens and Kalle Rovanpera
During the past holidays in London, the prestigious Autosport Awards were presented in several nominations. This award ceremony has been held since 1982.
The two-time F1 champion was recognized as the best racing driver in the world for the second year in a row Max Verstappen, who managed to win 15 victories this year! It won the “Best Racing Car of the Year” nomination for the second year in a row ”Red Bull RB18 formula”. The four-time F-1 champion received the Gregor Grant Award, or Lifetime Achievement Award in Motorsport Sebastian Vettel, who will end his brilliant F1 career after this year. It should be noted that in several interviews, Vettel admitted that after finishing his F1 career, he would like to try his hand at rallying as well. The “Mercedes” pilot was recognized as the “Best Local Driver of the Year” for the eighth time Louis Hamilton.
Photo: Honza Froněk
A Finn was recognized as the “Best Rally Driver of the Year” for the first time Kalle Rovanpera, who this year at the age of 22 became the youngest WRC champion in history. Autosport Awards readers decided that Ott Tanak was second, followed by Thierry Neuville and Sebastian Loeb.
Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier have won the most “Best Rally Driver of the Year” awards – seven each.
It was recognized as the best rally car this year ”Toyota GR Yaris Rally1”, which was the fastest in seven of the 13 rallies. In this nomination, the second place was taken by “Ford Puma Rally1”, followed by “Hyundai i20 N Rally1” and the Dakar rally car – “Toyota GR DKR Hilux”. This was the fourth year in a row that Toyota won this nomination.
