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5 standout motorsport moments

Cape Town - The second month of 2017 is in full swing. We thought we'd look back at January’s best and worst motorsport moments.

The moment all Formula 1 fans have been waiting for finally approached as Mercedes announced that Valtteri Bottas will be Lewis Hamilton’s new team mate.

Although the new MotoGP season has not yet started, pre-season testing has begun and it delivered some surprising results. 

With all the good there has to be some not-so-great motorsport moments, like the Manor F1 team calling it quits and pulling out of the sport after failing to secure a new buyer for the team.

Best moments:

1. Bottas joins Mercedes, replaces Rosberg

Valtteri Bottas will race alongside world champion Nico Roberg at Mercedes. Bottas will team-up with three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. With Bottas leaving Williams, the team announced that Felipe Massa will come out of retirement and rejoin their team.

READ: F1 - Bottas' 1-year Mercedes deal explained

2. South African overcomes paralysis, completes Dakar Rally, 

After a devastating crash left Joey Evans paralysed from the chest down. The SA racer was given a 10% chance of making a full recovery and that was enough motivation to work towards his goal of participating in the Dakar Rally. Evans, this year finished in position 93 on his KTM 450 Rally Replica bike.

READ: SA rider Joey Evans overcomes paralysis, completes the Dakar Rally!

Image: Supplied

3. Ducati dominate on day one of Sepang test 

Former MotoGP world champion and Ducati team test rider Casey Stoner produced the best results in the first day of testing at the Malaysian circuit on Monday. Ducati stayed at the top of the time sheet, with Andrea Dovizioso finishing in second place. New to the Yamaha team, Maverick Viñales secured third spot. The test day was however, stopped by rainfall that ended the day two hours before the time.

READ: #MotoGP2017: Team-rider combinations

4. Nascar legend Jeff Gordon wins first Rolex24

The retired four-time Nascar cup series champion won his first Rolex24 victory with the Wayne Taylor Racing team at the Daytona International Speedway on Sunday. Gordon with brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli dominated the 24-hour race.

READ: 5 awesome moments captured at #Rolex24


5. Manor team calls it quits

The Manor F1 team has been forced to shut down due to financial troubles plaguing the team. The announcement was made on Friday 27 January as Manor’s operating company Just Racing Services Limited (JRSL) ceased trading.

READ: F1 - Manor team goes out of business

A photo posted by Manor Racing (@manorracing) on


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