Verstappen takes third straight FIA Personality of the Year award - MotorSportsTalk

Max Verstappen has won the FIA Personality of the Year award for the third year in a row after being honored in Paris on Friday night.

Verstappen, 20, claimed two race wins for Red Bull en route to P6 in the final drivers’ championship this year despite a rotten reliability record through the middle of the season.

The Dutchman was nominated by permanently accredited journalists of the FIA’s championships to a shortlist of 10 drivers before coming out on top in a second vote.

Three in a row! Very proud to win the FIA Personality of the Year Award again 🏆 Thank you @redbullracing, all the fans and everyone else who supported me! I will keep pushing 👊 #FIAPrizeGiving pic.twitter.com/efLAHlZSK3

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) December 9, 2017

This marks the third straight year that Verstappen has won the FIA Personality of the Year award that was introduced back in 2013.

In the other awards announced at the Prize Giving in Paris, rally driver Esapekka Lappi won the Action of the Year award for his 33 meter, 120kph flight over the Fafe jump at Rally de Portugal, while Formula 2 champion and 2018 Sauber driver Charles Leclerc was named Rookie of the Year.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Read more about SuperMotocross