Top 10 greatest drives of all time?

[Brown, Jon Brow]

We have a thread for the best drivers, how about a thread for the best drives that you have seen.

I'm talking about races like Jackie Stewart at Germany 1968, Senna at Donington 1993 or Schumacher at Spain 1996.

Discuss. ;)

[D-Type]

Can I make the same suggestion as for the 10 drivers - a couple of sentences to say why

[Mintexmemory]

Jim Clark Italian GP 67 Despite car trouble drove an inspired race to challenge for the lead
Jacky Ickx French GP 68, Soaking wet Rouen but Jacky scored his maiden GP win to become the youngest GP winner up to that point - the 312 is such a beautiful car
Ickx / Oliver Le Mans 69, nail biting duel with the Porsches
Reg Parnell Trophy F3 Crystal Palace 69 - Schenken just won from Peterson at the head of a six car slipstreaming train.
Rindt - Monaco 70 (Youtube long version is incredible)-Again a 'zone' race where Jochen discovered how to drive faster than a Lotus 49 was designed to do, and pressured Brabham into a last corner mistake which won him the race
Daily Express F3 Trophy Crystal Palace 70 - Hunt and Morgan come together on the last bend.
Gethin Italian GP 71
Gethin F5000 Chevron beating the F1 cars at the 73 RoC
Jacky Ickx winning the 74 RoC passing Reggazoni on the o/s of Paddock
Pedro Rodriguez (Porsche 917) anihalating the field after being black flagged at the 1970 BOAC 1000

That's 10 but special mention to any of Colin McRae's epic drives

[chunder27]

Villeneuve, Jarama 81 and Monaco same year.

Wattie at Long Beach when he won on Michelins

Schumacher stuck in top gear.

Mansell at Hungary 1989

Hakkinen at Spa just for that pass at the end of the straight!

Fangio at Nurburgring was it 58 or summat?

Lauda at monza in 76 after the crash.

[markabilly]

Jim Clark Italian GP 67 Despite car trouble drove an inspired race to challenge for the lead


Rindt - Monaco 70 (Youtube long version is incredible)-Again a 'zone' race where Jochen discovered how to drive faster than a Lotus 49 was designed to do, and pressured Brabham into a last corner mistake which won him the race


after those two, there is nothing left to compare, except that Clark had a flat tire at about the 25% mark,
and as a result, was an entire lap behind the field. he unlapped himself and took the lead, passing everyone twice--- only to have the gas run out on the last lap........the fuel load had not been calculated based on Clark running faster than Qing laps for most of the race.....

[TheFamousEccles]

Have got to agree with the suggestion of Villeneuve @ Jarama - I remember watching that race as a teenager at some ungodly hour of the morning when channel 9 (who had the broadcast rights then in Oz) eventually decided that they had run out of repeats of Hogans Heroes and I dream of Jeanie....

If memory serves, the Ferarri at that time was an evil pig of a thing with way too much horsepower for the chassis. It would have been interesting to hear the multi-lingual expletives from the following train of cars!

[wedge]

Far too many in F1 and certainly Schumi could own this thread.

Of the ones I witnessed:

1993 European GP - that first lap from Senna and perfect judgement of the conditions.

2008 British GP - Hamilton made everyone else look like retards on inters. Every driver seemed to be spinning left, right and centre and there was Lewis being told to slow down when comfortably leading.

2008 Le Mans - Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish putting a mighty drive in the wet, twilight conditions and taking the lead from Peugeot with a good ding dong battle throughout the morning and Audi winning.

1993 New England 200 - Mansell on pole but loses out to the Penskes mid-race. Trademark Mansell fight back but this time on an oval. Mansell still getting the hang of this oval racing malarkey, follows the Penskes using the inside and outside to pass traffic. Arguably the greatest oval Indycar race.

1998 Long Beach GP - Alex Zanardi comes from a lap down and win the race with a broken track rod.

[Rollo]

Two here:

Jackie Stewart, German GP 1968
Jackie Stewart 1968 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn-4QxgPBVI)
Worst Conditions... ever. Most difficult circuit... ever. 4 Minute victory?

Ralf Waldmann, 2000 250cc British GP.
Ralf Waldmann 250ccm Donington 2000 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpgrIBaOQUI)
If memory serves me right Waldmann came from either a lap down (or close to it) at the start of the race, and only took the lead on the last lap of the last corner.

[AP-Racing]

Sebastien Loeb - Neste Rally 2008 & 2011

[D-Type]

Can I make the same suggestion as for the 10 drivers - a couple of sentences to say why


Sebastien Loeb - Neste Rally 2008 & 2011

Please say why

[Rollo]

Peter Brock & Jim Richards, Bathurst 1000, 1979.

The A9X Torana looked like it would rip your face off, scoop your eyes out and then poop in the eye sockets. Brock and Richards drove a race which was a 6 lap demolition of the rest of the field... sort of... the truth is that there wasn't really any challenge from Ford at all.

Still, that's a consummate performance anyway.

[urabus-denoS2000]

From my limited knowledge of racing ... :)

1968 Jackie Stewart - nothing much to add

1970 Monaco - Jochen Rindt's last corner win . Not so much because of the drive , but because of mr. Chapman's jump moments after . Words cannot desribe this !

1979 Dijon GP - The best F1 fight ever , between Villeneuve and Arnoux

1998 BTCC Donnington - Mad Mansell destroys the BTCC pack in the rain . As a guest driver ;)
From recent times , I find JB's performance at Montreal 2011 outstanding . Coming from 22nd if I remember , 5 times in the pits . pushing at 125% the last 10 laps and forcing Vettel to make his biggest mistake ever . Simply amazing and epic


And now from my respectable knowledge of rallying :)

2002 Cyprus Rally - Colin Mcrae's Mad Max day . Colin , after leading the first 2 days , rolls while in first place . Gronholm moves in first . The destroyed car continues in second . Instead of saving the 2nd corner , he attacks for the lead and of course rolls . The now unrecognizable Ford Focus continues - but in the wrong way ! As Nicky Grist says , the footage with Colin flat out in opposite lock shows to me the spirit of rallying :) Nicky Grist - the Colin's Mad Max Day - sub ITA - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8otan-iBa8)

1988 Pikes Peak - Ari Vatanen's "Climb dance" - if someone doesn't know what I'm talking about , Youtube it immediately ! ;)



Can't think of anything else in the moment ...

[BDunnell]

I'm sure I could think of another 10 another time, but (in no particular order, and based purely on thoughts off the top of my head rather than any deeper analysis) here goes.

Hannu Mikkola, 1983 1000 Lakes Rally — Mikkola was 143rd at the end of the first stage. He ended up winning after one of the most sensational drives of its era. Watch it here 1983 Thousand Lakes Rally Finland Part 1 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-7Eryiy7BE) and here 1983 Thousand Lakes Rally Finland Part 2 - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKDPhguJXiA), complete with narration from David Icke!

Jackie Stewart, 1968 German GP — There is nothing more that needs to be said about this drive. If you don't know about it, you should. If you have ever doubted Stewart's ability or sheer bravery, this should make you change your tune.

Jacky Ickx/Jackie Oliver, 1969 Le Mans — While, to some extent, the victory came back to meet them, there is no way this drive can be categorised in any other way than 'legendary'.

Juan Manuel Fangio, 1957 German GP — Another performance that requires no further description.

John Watson, 1982 Detroit GP — 17th was not the lowest position Watson came from to win a GP, but there have been few better demonstrations of racecraft than this one. This is how you should overtake in F1 — forget DRS.

Nigel Mansell, 1998 British Touring Car Championship, Donington — OK, so this is hardly on a par with Fangio or Stewart at the 'Ring, but watching no other race brings such a smile to my face to this day.

Stirling Moss/Jack Fairman, 1959 Nürburgring 1000km — For Fairman to dig their Aston out of a sandbank was exceptional. For Moss to fight back to first twice in the same race was even more so.

Pedro Rodriguez, 1970 BOAC 1000 — Another of those almost super-human drives; one starting with a moment of recklessness from Rodriguez, out of which he produced one of the great drives.

Walter Röhrl, 1984 Monte Carlo Rally — The third in Röhrl's hat-trick of Monte victories, each in a different make of car. This, surely, was the most impressive, trouncing as he did Mikkola and Blomqvist in his first Quattro outing. Incredible.

Pentti Airikkala, 1989 RAC Rally — Near the end of his career, and considered a complete outsider, Pentti finally won a World Championship event. Yes, the Toyotas had problems, but the then 44-year-old was fastest on twice as many stages as anyone else. Sainz was left shell-shocked.

[tfp]

A good thread, I'll be keeping an eye here :)

[tfp]

A williams F1 driver back in the early 80's(I think) made history when he finished 3rd in WRC rally argentina. I cant remember his name though :)

[BDunnell]

A williams F1 driver back in the early 80's(I think) made history when he finished 3rd in WRC rally argentina. I cant remember his name though :)

Carlos Reutemann. It must be said that the competition, as I recall, wasn't that strong. Argentina never used to attract a decent entry.

[tfp]

Carlos Reutemann. It must be said that the competition, as I recall, wasn't that strong. Argentina never used to attract a decent entry.

Ah thankyou...Even if it was a poor entry list, its still a pretty impressive feat :)

[urabus-denoS2000]

Robert Kubica - 2010 Rallye du Var , constantly fighting in the top with a Clio S1600 against competition like Peugeot Sport drivers Bouffier and Sarrazin in 3 x more expensive 207 S2000s , and much more WRCs ( among them a C4 , driven by Dany Snobeck ) . Destroyed Sebastien Ogier , the only man who can today beat Seb Loeb on a regular basis , by 3 minutes , with Ogier driving a by far superior car , a full works DS3 R3T . Kubica finished 4th in the end , in my opinion the best of his giant-killing 2010 drives :)

[Ex-Jagboy]

Graham Hill`s epic drive in the 1960 British GP at Silverstone may not have resulted in the victory that such a performance deserved,but was additional confirmation of a talent first recognised a couple of years previously, having stalled his BRM on the line, he was push-started away after the rest of the field had disappeared into the distance, he then set off and passed the entire field in sensational fashion taking the lead from Brabham`s near invincible Cooper T53 at around lap 50 or so, then leading the race and with victory seemingly a formality he inexplicably spun out at Copse with about 5 laps to go, a sad end for a fantastic drive.

[autoxwyer]

awsome job, it really shocks me. waiting for your other thread about this

[D-Type]

To quote from Charles Disney's history of the Safari

As invariably happens, the usual pre-start tensions and early mishaps characterised the 1961 Safari with perhaps the most incongruous touch being provided by a class "D" entry which got away twenty-eight minutes late consequent upon one driver waiting at the starting ramp without a car, but having the door and ignition keys in his possession, and the other waiting at his home, several miles away in the Nairobi suburbs, complete with car but lacking the keys to enter and start it.
Once they did get going Messrs Goode and Cunningham-Reed driving a Mercedes 190 were only 3 minutes late at the first control. Admittedly the first stage was an easy "transport" stage to get them out of the city to the start of the rough stuff, but making up 25 minutes on the scheduled time must have meant quite a drive.

(I have to admit that I am only 95% certain that's the right pair of drivers as I'm relying on memory as the Mr Disney tactfully didn't name them.)

[FAL]

Reminds me of Mikkola at the start of the 75 RAC without the keys to the Celica. Allegedly affected by being "tired and emotional" the night before...

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