Vote! Vote! Vote!
Last week, I asked you to cast your mind back over the year and think about some of the really inventive, funny or eye-catching threads the board has started since 01 Jan 2013. Thanks to all who sent in their ideas. Those nominations have been gathered and collated and now it's time for you to pick your favourite. As previously mentioned, the criteria are subjective - you simply pick the one you think is the best. In an ideal world, I'd hide the voting but the system doesn't seem to allow for it, so we'll have to use the usual poll. This will inevitably reduce some of the suspense when we announce the winner on 06 January 2014.
As mentioned, prize is as follows:
•One year's digital subscription to Autosport+
•The option of having it commemorated under your avatar how you made the best OP of 2013
Prize has been kindly donated by Autosport, but there is no input from anyone at Haymarket magazines into this. Nominations are selected by the moderators from submissions and voting is by the membership of this board.
The nominations:
1. IndyCar GP of Houston by Andrew Hope
Packed with important context about the season so far, exciting things for fans to look out for that weekend and track details in a way that was both deeply informed AND hilarious.
2. NASCAR Weekend: Indy by Dilla
Original, concise, informative and, thanks to the .gif that heads it, rather hypnotic. And yes, happy birthday NELSINHO PIQUET! indeed.
3. Indycars at St Pete: let's get it on by Risil
Impassioned views on a complex subject, eloquently argued while keeping a light touch. I think we all learned a little something from that Venn diagram there.
4.Indycar Grand Prix of Sonoma by Jim Thurman
Full of genuinely interesting information, enthusiastically written.
5. FOM in race fixing scandal... by jonpollak
Racing's answer to Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward sets out fearlessly to uncover a scandal.
6. Vettel rap by Andrew Hope
The 4X World Champion reveals an unexpectedly creative side.
7. Yeeeehaw! An Official NASCAR Texas weekend thread by gm914
Concise, and yet very funny. Who knew "there has only ever been one famous person to come from Texas. And he doesn't even come from Texas!" ?
8. The 2013 Abu Dhabi GP Build Up Thread by Cool Beans
He's got graphics and he knows how to use 'em. Boldly seeking to raise the level of effort put into F1 race weekend opening posts.
Notes abut the selection of nominees
Some of our nominees were submitted multiple times for their work on different regular race day threads. We also received PMs that would say things like "any of X's race day threads!" This put us into a bit of a quandary. The award is for the best opening post, rather than best poster so an option was to have posted the links to all their posts. However, it was felt that this was most likely to end up punishing the prolific nominee, as those likely to most enjoy their work would probably split their votes, weakening their chances of an overall highest score. It also didn't account for those who asked us to pick the best opening post from an individual. In the end, where the same person was nominated more than once for similar threads, we selected what we felt was a representative work. This is why Andrew Hope has two slots - we figured they were different enough not to put him at a voting disadvantage.
I hope you enjoyed reviewing the nominated posts. I know I did when I was helping to put this thing together. By all means discuss them but please, as the authors did not submit their own work for consideration, it would not be fair to be overly critical of anyone here. All of the nominees deserve our thanks, because they have given up time and effort to entertain and inform you. They deserve our thanks and celebration, so let's keep it polite and upbeat, please.
I remember reading and enjoying all of these, especially my own.
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