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"Change was the common thread running throughout the 2013 motorsports season, with the American Le Mans Series, Grand-Am, Japan&amp;#039;s Super GT, and Formula 1 all undergoing significant changes for next year. That finality made for some great competition as teams like Corvette Racing and drivers like Sebastian Vettel focused on leaving their marks on their respective race series. Here are some of their best moments: Formula 1:   Since 2006, Formula 1 has used 90-degree V8 engines. 2014 opens a new era of turbocharged four-cylinder engines\u2014the first turbos in the sport since they were banned for the 1989 season. In 2013, Red Bull Racing continued its domination, catapulting 26-year-old Sebastian Vettel to a fourth consecutive world championship and Mark Webber (who is leaving F1 for Porsche&amp;#039;s LMP1 program) to a third place finish in the driver&amp;#039;s championship.  Highlight : Adrian Sutil out-samurais Fernando Alonso at the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix      World Rally Championship   After a few years of lackluster competition mostly due to Sebastien Loeb&amp;#039;s complete command of the series, the World Rally Championship got some juice with Volkswagen entering its all-new Polo R. With Frenchman Sebastien Ogier behind the wheel, VW was unstoppable, winning nine out of thirteen rallies before clinching its first world championship title in its first full season of competition.  Highlight : Action at 2013 Rally Germany      Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters   2012 was a big year for BMW with the return of the M3 to the DTM Championship after a nine-year absence. 2013, however, would not be a repeat runaway season for Bimmer despite its taking the first three podium spots in the 2013 opener at the Hockenheim Ring. Driver&amp;#039;s Championship winner Mike Rockenfeller in the Audi RS5 DTM struck back in round 2, winning at Brands Hatch. The remainder of the season saw Rockenfeller duke it out with Augusto Farfus and 2012 champion Bruno Spengler in their M3s.  Highlight: Rockenfeller puts the moves on Marco Wittman in the Netherlands:      American Le Mans Series   The final season of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) came to a close following the 16th running of the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. 2013 was full of excitement, with Audi bringing its e-tron Quattros to Sebring, where they dominated. While eventual constructor&amp;#039;s champion Corvette Racing ruled GT, SRT ran its Vipers in their first full season of competition, where they finished third overall in championship points. 2014 sees the dawn of the Tudor United SportsCar Racing series, the new championship that combines ALMS and Grand-Am once and for all.   Highlight: SRT Viper GT-R vs Ferrari 458 GT at the 12 Hours of Sebring      Super GT   Super GT may not be at the top of the list for most American motorsports fans unless they&amp;#039;re into JDM culture or play a lot of Gran Turismo. That&amp;#039;s set to change in 2014 as the GT500 class of the Super GT series will unite with DTM, followed by an expansion into North America for the 2015/2016 season. In the last season of Super GT as a Japan-only series, reputations were on the line for manufacturers and drivers.  Highlight: The best passes of the 2013 Super GT season:      NASCAR   2013 was a tumultuous season for America&amp;#039;s most popular form of motorsport, with accusations of cheating casting a pall over NASCAR. It wasn&amp;#039;t all doom and gloom, though, as the new Generation 6 Sprint Cup cars made for some exciting racing among top drivers like Matt Kenseth and eventual champion Jimmy Johnson. Danica Patrick also had a transcendent moment when she became the first woman to grab pole position at the Daytona 500.  Highlight: Danny Hamlin vs Joey Logano vs Kurt Busch      Australian V8 Supercars   V8 Supercars is known for its last-lap battles, and this season did not disapoint. After five hours of close racing, the 2013 Bathhurst 1000 came down to the final lap and a duel between Marc Winterbottom and Jamie Whincup.  Highlight: Last lap of the 2013 Bathurst 1000      IZOD IndyCar Series   You may take issue with the looks of IndyCar&amp;#039;s spec Dallara chassis, but you can&amp;#039;t argue with the on-track product. Fans were treated to some ultra-competitive racing over the course of the season, including some fierce battles between Helio Castroneves and eventual 2013 champion Scott Dixon. Unfortunately, IndyCar also lost a superstar in Dario Franchitti, who was forced into early retirement following a massive accident at the Grand Prix of Houston.  Highlight: Scott Dixon runs away in Toronto while the rest of the field duke it out      Best Motorsports Moment of 2013: Leh Keen&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;Rain Dance&amp;quot;   Watch as Leh Keen goes to work behind the wheel of a Porsche 997 GT3R during the rain-soaked night of the 2013 24 Hours of the N\u00FCrburgring.      Remembering Sean Edwards   Sean Edwards was just 26 years old when the car he was instructing in crashed into a wall at Queensland Raceway in Australia. His early death was a blow to the racing world, especially to the drivers of the ultra-competitive Porsche Supercup series, where he was a star. The son of former British race driver Guy Edwards, who piloted cars like the Porsche 935 to podium finishes at Le Mans, Sean rose through the ranks, going from karting to British Formula Ford and the Porsche Supercup. Edwards would go on to drive for Porsche teams in ALMS and the FIA GT3 European Championship, and he helped pilot a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 to victory at the 24 Hours of Dubai and in 2013&amp;#039;s 24 Hours of the N\u00FCrburgring. His tragic loss was felt by all in the racing community.   Best of Sean Edwards:                               Remembering Allan Simonsen   There aren&amp;#039;t many rags-to-riches stories in motorsports, but Allan  Simonsen&amp;#039;s ascent into the top tier of sports car racing comes close.  Born in Denmark in 1978, Simonsen was just 34 years old when he lost  control of his Aston Martin GTE on the third lap of the 2013 24 Hours  of Le Mans. The ensuing crash took his life. Simonsen got his start in karting, where he made a name for himself in Europe, eventually moving to cars. After leaving  the Formula Renault Championship, Simonsen headed to Australia to  drive V8 Supercars and compete in the Australian GT championship, which he won in  2007. His greatest ambition, however, was to race and win at Le Mans.  As a fan and fellow countryman of &amp;quot;Mr. Le Mans,&amp;quot; Tom Kristensen,  Simonsen went on to compete in the 24 hours of Le Mans six times.  The 2013 race was his seventh.  Best of Allan Simonsen:                          Remembering Maria de Villota   Maria de Villota,  daughter of Spanish Formula 1 driver Emilio de Villota, was poised  to jump F1&amp;#039;s gender barrier and compete  at the highest level in motorsports. In 2011, Lotus GP  offered her a role as a test driver during the 2011 season, and she  would join Marussia F1 in 2012 for more testing. However, a horrific  accident during testing for Marussia at Duxford Autodrome crushed  her skull and left her blind in one eye, shattering her dreams of  becoming an F1 driver. Following her recovery, she became a safety  advocate, spokesperson, and author. Sadly, the injuries sustained in  her 2012 crash had lasting effects. De Villota died  in her Seville hotel room on October 11, 2013 at the age of 33.  Best of Maria de Villota:           "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/news/a6200/year-in-motorsport-2013/>