Zoom A fantastic season of motorsport!

Another year is coming to a close and most race teams are taking a short break before they gear up for the coming season. The time has come to take a look at what was an unforgettable year in world motorsport.

2007 saw a classic Formula One championship battle between Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso and for a time Felipe Massa was an additional challenger within a four-way contest that lasted most of the campaign.

Sadly the season will be remembered by many for the off-track issues, but on track we were treated to an outstanding showdown culminating in just one point separating the top three drivers. Raikkonen was crowned World Champion for the first time, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso who finished on equal points.

Over in the World Rally Championship, a great battle between Sebastien Loeb and Marcus Gronholm fell once again in the Citroen driver's favour in another tightly fought contest. In his final full season in the sport, double World Champion Gronholm drove hard for the title - taking the fight to the final round - before Loeb prevailed and secured his fourth world crown.

While the WRC produced another exciting season, the tragic death of Colin McRae in September is a major loss not just to the WRC circus, but to motorsport as a whole. The worldwide tributes to the man and his career demonstrated the great respect he generated from fans and fellow drivers alike.

The IndyCar series saw Dario Franchitti flying – literally – on more than one occasion as the Scottish veteran took the Indy 500 and the championship crown ahead of the rather unfortunate Scott Dixon. As he sat in his cockpit and slowly realised that he had accomplished a long-standing dream, the look of proud incredulity on Franchitti's face following his Indianapolis victory will long be remembered as one of those very human moments in motorsport.

Casey Stoner's second season in MotoGP would prove to be an outstanding campaign as the Australian rider took the championship by storm on his Ducati GP7 while Rally veteran Carlos Sainz triumphed in Rally Raid.

Overall, 2007 was quite a year...

As the teams and drivers relax ahead of the intensive January schedule, we here at www.Racing-Live.com wish you all the best over the festive period and a very happy New Year!

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CAPSIS International