{"id":1359,"date":"2025-12-22T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/?p=1359"},"modified":"2025-12-18T01:43:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T01:43:06","slug":"2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Motornerd Awards I Race of The Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>I feel quite a unique sadness upon the eve of this article\u2019s publication.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2025 can now officially end because after five awards we\u2019ve reached the climax of the first ever Motornerd Awards \u2013 and no, unfortunately the budget did not allow it to arrive in the back of a Cooper as I\u2019d desired.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Incredibly niche reference aside, I think I\u2019ve saved the best till last. We\u2019ve looked at the best team, driver, drive, car and moment of the past 12 months which means there\u2019s only one more thing I need to officially crown: By far the most significant of these token awards, it\u2019s my race of the year!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>I know there\u2019s been a trend of me acknowledging the fact that an award has either been an obvious choice or a close one with no in between, and I\u2019m not afraid to admit my hand was tied behind my back yet again for this closing chapter.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You see, ever since I first watched motorsport in 2009 (I think, I really can\u2019t remember) I\u2019ve been encapsulated by the idea of attending a race in person. In 2019 I achieved that small dream at Thruxton for the Andover track\u2019s May meeting of the British Touring Car Championship. I loved it and have returned almost every year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Had I been a sportscar racing fanatic back then I would\u2019ve been to Silverstone to witness the dying days of LMP1, but alas I missed out by a year. And with COVID forcing Silverstone out of the endurance picture for some time I was held back to Thruxton as my one in person event of the year. Not that I minded, it was good enough for me.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cut to October 2nd, 2024. Silverstone is announced to have returned to the ELMS calendar, and I waste no time in picking up a weekend ticket for \u00a320 \u2013 it\u2019s almost a crime itself that the prices are that low, especially for a track notorious for ramping up attendance costs when a certain circus rolls into the paddock\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Either way, I was heading to my first ever sportscar race.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>And boy, did I feel like a kid again.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The sounds, the sights and most importantly the epic 4 hour affair that unfolded in front of a record crowd \u2013 110,000 strong, a figure unexpected for such a series as the ELMS \u2013 meant that it was almost rigged for the 4 Hours of Silverstone to be my race of the year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>But really, can you blame me?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>I\u2019d wanted to attend a race at Silverstone for as long as I could remember and it was totally worth it in every aspect. The cherry on top was hearing the bliss that is the 7 litre V12 found singing in the back of Jaguar XJR-8 \u2013 itself 1987\u2019s Autosport Car of The Year \u2013 on Sunday morning as I entered the track. I\u2019ve genuinely never heard something so awesome as that.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The race itself of course was utterly brilliant and I think it would stand as a contender even if I\u2019d decided to remove sentimentality from the equation, with a wet-dry-wet race that saw an incredibly tense final hour as Inter Europol\u2019s #43 of Nick Yelloly hot in the wheel tracks of Dani Juncadella\u2019s IDEC Sport #18 that took victory from eleventh on the grid after the conditions worsened to the point of red-flagging the race.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>So there it is, my Motornerd Awards of The Year, and my final article of 2025 itself! I won\u2019t bore you with the worn out cliches of \u2018it was tough but so worth it\u2019 even though it was exactly that, I\u2019ll instead wish you a happy Christmas and a wonderful new year!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>I\u2019ve been Thomas Groves, thank you so much for reading even but a word of what I have to say on the world of motorsport. I\u2019ll be returning with my Hypercar previews all throughout the first weeks of 2026, and my podcast will make a return \u2013 complete with a brand new intro and, get this, an instrumental sting. I\u2019m aiming for a bi-weekly release schedule, and plenty of nerdery.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>And perhaps when we return next year for the 2<sup>nd<\/sup> edition of these awards, the climax will indeed be in the back of a Cooper.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">image credit: myself (for once)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I feel quite a unique sadness upon the eve of this article\u2019s publication. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[13,40,43,35],"class_list":["post-1359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gt-racing","category-prototype-racing","tag-13","tag-2025-elms","tag-gt3","tag-lmp2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2025 Motornerd Awards I Race of The Year - The Motornerd<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2025 Motornerd Awards I Race of The Year - The Motornerd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I feel quite a unique sadness upon the eve of this article\u2019s publication. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Motornerd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-22T08:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_4201-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thomas Groves\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Thomas Groves\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Thomas Groves\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8722946b50d3aa7a5e47b117755caa63\"},\"headline\":\"2025 Motornerd Awards I Race of The Year\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-22T08:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":726,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/IMG_4201-scaled.jpg?wsr\",\"keywords\":[\"2025\",\"2025 ELMS\",\"GT3\",\"LMP2\"],\"articleSection\":[\"GT Racing\",\"Protoype Racing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/\",\"name\":\"2025 Motornerd Awards I Race of The Year - The Motornerd\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/IMG_4201-scaled.jpg?wsr\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-22T08:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8722946b50d3aa7a5e47b117755caa63\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/IMG_4201-scaled.jpg?wsr\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/IMG_4201-scaled.jpg?wsr\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1920},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/22\\\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2025 Motornerd Awards I Race of The Year\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Motornerd\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8722946b50d3aa7a5e47b117755caa63\",\"name\":\"Thomas Groves\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a7cbc49dfecf8c7af9e929a69c1275e147b3f9bb437683a92368033ff7a65f96?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a7cbc49dfecf8c7af9e929a69c1275e147b3f9bb437683a92368033ff7a65f96?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a7cbc49dfecf8c7af9e929a69c1275e147b3f9bb437683a92368033ff7a65f96?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Thomas Groves\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/themotornerd.blog\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/thermodynam1cs\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2025 Motornerd Awards I Race of The Year - The Motornerd","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2025 Motornerd Awards I Race of The Year - The Motornerd","og_description":"I feel quite a unique sadness upon the eve of this article\u2019s publication. [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/","og_site_name":"The Motornerd","article_published_time":"2025-12-22T08:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1920,"url":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_4201-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Thomas Groves","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Thomas Groves","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/"},"author":{"name":"Thomas Groves","@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8722946b50d3aa7a5e47b117755caa63"},"headline":"2025 Motornerd Awards I Race of The Year","datePublished":"2025-12-22T08:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/"},"wordCount":726,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_4201-scaled.jpg?wsr","keywords":["2025","2025 ELMS","GT3","LMP2"],"articleSection":["GT Racing","Protoype Racing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/","url":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/","name":"2025 Motornerd Awards I Race of The Year - The Motornerd","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_4201-scaled.jpg?wsr","datePublished":"2025-12-22T08:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8722946b50d3aa7a5e47b117755caa63"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_4201-scaled.jpg?wsr","contentUrl":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_4201-scaled.jpg?wsr","width":2560,"height":1920},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/2025\/12\/22\/2025-motornerd-awards-i-race-of-the-year\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2025 Motornerd Awards I Race of The Year"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/","name":"The Motornerd","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8722946b50d3aa7a5e47b117755caa63","name":"Thomas Groves","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7cbc49dfecf8c7af9e929a69c1275e147b3f9bb437683a92368033ff7a65f96?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7cbc49dfecf8c7af9e929a69c1275e147b3f9bb437683a92368033ff7a65f96?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7cbc49dfecf8c7af9e929a69c1275e147b3f9bb437683a92368033ff7a65f96?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Thomas Groves"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/themotornerd.blog"],"url":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/author\/thermodynam1cs\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1359"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1361,"href":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1359\/revisions\/1361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themotornerd.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}