Loeb, Vettel and Chastain's 'videogame move': 2022's best onboard footage

From the mountains of Monte Carlo to the 200mph ovals of IndyCar, we select the best onboard footage from a scintillating season of racing

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M-Sport WRC driver Gus Greensmith at the 2022 Monte Carlo Rally WRC

Monte Carlo Rally providing thrilling shots as usual

M-Sport

Formula 1 is currently leading the way in motor sport’s explosion in popularity, but with that comes a proliferation in the coverage of all the thrills and spills racing brings across all disciplines.

This year’s onboard camera footage has perhaps provided some of the most exciting scenes witnessed in the sport, from Sebastian Vettel hanging on to his bucking bronco of an Aston Martin in Texas to Sébastian Loeb threading his Ford Puma through the icy mountain passes of Monaco, mere millimetres away from unforgiving rock faces and deadly drops.

Below, we run through the best onboard shots in motor sport this year.

Mikkel Jensen – WEC – Monza

Peugeot’s new 9X8 Hypercar has shown promise, but its early races have predictably not been without teething troubles.

The French entry made its debut at this year’s 6 Hours of Monza WEC race, and the No93 of Mikkel Jensen had to start from the back after suffering technical issues in qualifying.

That set us up however for some entertaining opening exchanges though as Jensen fought his way through the field, swiftly dispensing with GT and LMP2 rivals alike through the parkland blast of Monza.

 

Kyle Kirkwood – IndyCar – Texas Motor Speedway

Ovals aren’t for the faint-hearted at the best of times, and new IndyCar hotshot Kyle Kirkwood showed just how fearless he is on one of the restarts at this year’s Texas Motor Speedway meeting.

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The Florida native found himself down the back of the pack early on in the race, so elected to pit for fresh tyres early on.

The Firestone advantage meant the AJ Foyt driving was able to rocket through the field, overtaking the likes of Romain Grosjean, Jimmie Johnson and Alex Palou as he managed to pass ten cars in 45 seconds, ultimately leaping from 23rd to ninth in the space of four laps.

The rookie would later crash in the race attempting another audacious overtake, but that takes nothing away from this incredible sequence.

 

Sebastian Vettel – Formula 1 – Circuit of the Americas

Sebastian Vettel might have bid F1 farewell, but at various points in the season four-time world champion showed he still has fire in his belly.

Hunting down Kevin Magnussen on the final lap of this years US GP, Vettel used all his racing nous to ride Austin’s undulations and get close to the Haas, before sweeping round the outside of the Dane at Turns 17 and 18 whilst simultaneously hanging on for dear life to the bucking AMR22. Sensational.

 

Sébastian Loeb – WRC – Monte Carlo 

Sébastien Loeb returned this year for a number of cameo appearances in M-Sport’s Ford Puma, and the Frenchman delivered in his first rally back after a titanic battle with old foe Sébastien Ogier.

The nine-time world champion and co-driver Isabelle Galmiche negotiated the treacherous mountain roads with aplomb on his way to victory, as shown in this thrilling onboard.

 

Ross Chastain – NASCAR – Martinsville

Former watermelon farmer Ross Chastain has been one of this year’s revelations in the top-tier NASCAR Cup Series, scoring two wins in addition to 13 top-tens in one of the world’s most competitive championships.

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Racing for the Trackhouse team – owned by rap star Pitbull –  theFlorida-born racer was a constant threat , but by the last corner of the last lap of the penultimate championship playoff found himself in tenth, five places behind title rival Denny Hamlin, who he needed to beat.

The 29-year-old went for broke – putting his foot down, the Trackhouse driver slammed into the barrier to round the turn at the greatest speed he possibly could, managing to pass five cars in one Chevrolet-shredding corner and beat an unguarded Hamlin by mere inches.

Footage of the move went viral on social media, and whilst some NASCAR drivers were split over whether the overtake should be legal, others from the wider racing world were impressed, including one Fernando Alonso.

“This is the best thing of 2022 in motor racing!” he said. “We all did this on video games with damage disable. Never thought this could become reality.”

It’s hard to disagree:

Colton Herta – IndyCar – Long Beach

IndyCar’s lower profile means it perhaps doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves, but Colton Herta delivered one of the lap of the gods at this year’s Long Beach IndyCar race, reminiscent of Senna in Monaco ’88, Hamilton at Singapore ’18 and Kamui Kobyashi’s warp-speed 2020 Le Mans lap record.

Don’t believe us? Take a look as Herta skims the barriers and tames the bumps of the unforgiving Indy street circuit.

 

Laia Sanz – Extreme E – Punta del Este

It takes of nerves of steel to drive through impacts in motor sport, and Dakar star Laia Sanz showed she possesses all of that and more at this year’s Extreme E season finale in Uruguay.

Racing to stay in the title hunt at the Energy E Prix, Sanz found her Spark Odyssey pinched when trying to avoid both the McLaren of Emma Gilmour but also the course corner flag.

The acute angle caused the car to roll not once but twice. Was the Spaniard perturbed? Not in the slightest. The ACCIONA Sainz driver simply put her foot to the floor and carried on.

Her and team-mate Carlos Sainz would ultimate miss out on the title, but Sanz’s skill and bravery were left in no doubt.

 

Sean Gould – Hill climb – Shelsley Walsh

Sean Gould – incredible:

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