Biggest Motorsport Heartbreaks

[Har1MAS1415]

Since we're talking about it, same here. Never diagnosed officially but I have trouble reading people.

Anyhows, some that come to my mind:

Toyota at Le Mans 2016 I remember slamming my laptop lid when that happened.

Hamilton Malaysia 2016 also.

Mika Hakkinen Monza 1999

I always had trouble with everything, and never understood why. I was diagnosed at age 20-ish for Aspergers.

I feel a lot better about life now.

I was diagnosed when I was 5.

Back on subject.

Dan Cammish suffering a break failure with just over a lap to go in the final round of the 2019 British Touring Car Championship at Brands Hatch and handing a record-equalling 4th title to Colin Turkington.

 

[ScottPuss20]

Scott McLaughlin, Newcastle 2017. He lost the Supercars championship on the last lap after wiping out Craig Lowndes and getting a time penalty. This handed Jamie Whincup his 7th championship, and infuriatingly for me, I don't think it will ever be beaten because Shane Van Gisbergen is leaving Supercars and McLaughlin buggered off to IndyCar.

 

[Jimlaad43]

These are some great examples, but please can this thread be more of an explanation thread with the story behind why this was a heartbreak, not just a dumping ground of drivers and events. Why was Will Hoy's Silverstone event a heartbreak? What happened that meant Barrichello Austria 2002 was a heartbreak. We've had Scott McLaughlin Newcastle 2017 mentioned twice, and only one tried to give us context.

Tell us the story behind everything and this thread will be so much better for everyone to read and enjoy. We're all fans of Motorsport, so give us all the lore and context behind a statement because even though most of us will probably be able to remember it and go "oh yeah that one sucked", use it as a chance to give your take on the events that unfolded and why you expected it to hurt so much.

 

[ScottPuss20]

These are some great examples, but please can this thread be more of an explanation thread with the story behind why this was a heartbreak, not just a dumping ground of drivers and events. Why was Will Hoy's Silverstone event a heartbreak? What happened that meant Barrichello Austria 2002 was a heartbreak. We've had Scott McLaughlin Newcastle 2017 mentioned twice, and only one tried to give us context.

Tell us the story behind everything and this thread will be so much better for everyone to read and enjoy. We're all fans of Motorsport, so give us all the lore and context behind a statement because even though most of us will probably be able to remember it and go "oh yeah that one sucked", use it as a chance to give your take on the events that unfolded and why you expected it to hurt so much.

Well McLaughlin was leading the championship coming into Newcastle, scoring a record number of pole positions in the process. In the last race of the season, all he had to do was finish 13th or above to clinch the title. However, he qualified really poorly which meant that he faced an uphill battle, forcing to adopt a strategy which severely compromised his pace late on in the game. With just a few laps to go, Craig Lowndes, who was on fresher tyres, got onto the back of McLaughlin who was holding onto the title by a thread in 13th place. McLaughlin eventually cracked, running wide at turn 1 and giving Craig Lowndes a sniff on the inside, but McLaughlin shoved him into the wall, puncturing his front-left tyre and spinning out into the runoff. McLaughlin was penalised for this, losing 13th place and handing the title to Whincup, who won the race. Considering how long Scott lead the championship for, it was heartbreaking to see all that hard work thrown in the bin. Thankfully, he went on to win 3 championships and end Triple Eight's dominance. At least for a while anyway.

 

[Har1MAS1415]

Steve Soper suffering an engine failure while leading his 100th British Touring Car race at Oulton Park in 2001.

Well, if some people require an explanation, here's one for this example.

Honestly, who wouldn't have wanted to see Peugeot finally win a race outright (not counting outright winners in the Production Class) after failing to do so for years on end in the Supertouring era? Also, this is 2001 we're talking about, a season that, but for a timely race stoppage in the penultimate race of the season at Brands Hatch, would have been a Vauxhall cleansweep. It was also Steve Soper's 100th race and he'd done everything he needed to, he even pitted early to give himself the advantage over the other Touring Class runners and was in a commanding lead when his engine blew and he was forced to park the car as it was spilling oil all over the place. That would have been heartbreaking for anyone in his position.

 

[Carbonox]

Mark Martin losing the 1990 Winston Cup by a difference smaller than his points penalty, and Davey Allison losing in 1992 to an unavoidable wreck not of his own making.

It's 10 times worse whenever it happens to a driver who never ended up winning a title.

 

[Har1MAS1415]

Felipe Massa, Brazil 2008


...


... for now

Now he's trying to make matters worse all things considered.

 

[Dolph Drago]

Mark Martin losing the 1990 Winston Cup by a difference smaller than his points penalty, and Davey Allison losing in 1992 to an unavoidable wreck not of his own making.

It's 10 times worse whenever it happens to a driver who never ended up winning a title.

Poor Martin was snakebit. So close so many times.

If I recall, the penalty for him in 1990 was for a part on his car that didn't even give him an advantage. His 1998 campaign would have resulted in a championship in any other year, but he ran into the Gordon buzzsaw that season. 2002 could have been his chance, but the freak pace lap incident at Talladega possibly cost him that one. 2009 was a fantastic year again, but then you have Johnson winning his 4th straight title instead. He has every reason to be bitter for not winning a championship, but he's such a nice guy and takes everything in stride. Hard not to root for him.

The plus side to 1992 is that it at least Kulwicki got his championship before his unfortunate death.

 

[Har1MAS1415]

This may or may not count as a heartbreak but who can forget Michael Schumacher at Spa in 1998 after he crashed into David Coulthard when trying to lap him? To a certain degree, it was a heartbreaking day for both the Schumacher brothers as Ralf was told to hold station behind Damon Hill despite clearly being faster, though I was happy for Damon as he was my favourite driver at the time.

 

[Har1MAS1415]

Nigel Mansell's tyre blowout at Adelaide in 1986 when he was on course for the title. Ended up being a heartbreak all round for the Williams team as Nelson Piquet was brought in for a precautionary pitstop and that handed the lead and ultimately the win and title to Alain Prost.

 

[Carbonox]

If I was Piquet, I wouldn't pit for any reason for as long as Prost was running behind, and would probably question the team for outright wanting to throw the title away at that stage. There'd be no fundamental difference between 2nd place and a DNF in those circumstances, with the teams' championship already wrapped up too.

 

[Har1MAS1415]

Hamilton just missing out on the title in his first season in 2007. China was really when the damage was done though.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Johnny Cecotto missing out on the DTM title after Mercedes guest driver Michael Schumacher launched it over the grass to wipe him out on Lap 1 at Hockenheim.

Marc Hessel having to stop before the line at the DTM finale in 1987 to forego the championship title, and give it to his team mate Eric van de Poele, because of team orders.

 

[Har1MAS1415]

Johnny Cecotto missing out on the DTM title after Mercedes guest driver Michael Schumacher launched it over the grass to wipe him out on Lap 1 at Hockenheim.

Marc Hessel having to stop before the line at the DTM finale in 1987 to forego the championship title, and give it to his team mate Eric van de Poele, because of team orders.

In that respect, you could say the same about Gilles Villeneuve losing the 1979 title to Jody Scheckter because of team orders and then having his chances scuppered by the uncompetitive 312T5 of 1980. Least said about Imola 1982 the better.

 

[Har1MAS1415]

For example, Damon Hill at Hungary in 1997, Toyota at Le Mans in 2016 and more recently Dan Lloyd in Race 3 at Donington Park in this year's British Touring Car Championship.

Dan Lloyd's last lap heartbreak seems harsher in hindsight now that Team HARD has folded and sold their Cupras to other teams for 2024.

 

[SestoScudo]

Will Lamborghini in the future able to achieve its holy grail of winning Lemans and Daytona overall?

Will just have to see. Lamborghini's lack of motorsport history along with numerous failures have not really helped the brand overall. When it comes to talking about Italy's motorsport history, Ferrari takes all the attention not to lention its history along with success has given it bragging rights for marketing. Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Maserati also have decorated motorsport history.

Lamborghini's motorsport ambitions have the factory backing of Lamborghini and its parent company VW.

Times have changed. Huracan GT3 has been a pretty successful car basically the most successful Lamborghini racing car in its history.

 

[Har1MAS1415]

Dan Lloyd's last lap heartbreak seems harsher in hindsight now that Team HARD has folded and sold their Cupras to other teams for 2024.

They are not quite dead yet but they have sensibly downsized to two cars.

 

[GroupB]

Francois Delecour, Monte Carlo 1991. Dominated the rally as an unknown until breaking his suspension on the final day with only the last stage to run. Win went to Sainz.

 

[Har1MAS1415]

Will Lamborghini in the future able to achieve its holy grail of winning Lemans and Daytona overall?

Will just have to see. Lamborghini's lack of motorsport history along with numerous failures have not really helped the brand overall. When it comes to talking about Italy's motorsport history, Ferrari takes all the attention not to lention its history along with success has given it bragging rights for marketing. Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Maserati also have decorated motorsport history.

Lamborghini's motorsport ambitions have the factory backing of Lamborghini and its parent company VW.

Times have changed. Huracan GT3 has been a pretty successful car basically the most successful Lamborghini racing car in its history.

Fingers crossed the Lambo Hypercar will change that.

 

[Har1MAS1415]

Felipe Massa, Brazil 2008


...


... for now

To a lesser extent, you could say Hungary 2008 for Massa, he had that race sewn up and then his engine blew in the closing stages.

 

[Har1MAS1415]

Nigel Mansell crashing during practice at Suzuka in 1987, injuring himself enough to rule himself out of the final two races of the season and handing the title to Nelson Piquet.

To add insult to injury, Piquet failed to score in the last two races of 1987!

 

[GT PRO-AM]

WRT Oreca LMP2 #41 at the 2021 Le Mans 24H, retirement at the last lap of the race while leading in the class.

 

[Har1MAS1415]

Pierre Levegh's Talbot-Lago suffering an engine failure while leading with just over an hour to go in the 1952 Le Mans 24 Hours after he famously tried to drive the entire race single-handed. To make matters worse in hindsight, this effort impressed Mercedes enough to hire Levegh for the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours....

 

[Har1MAS1415]

Mika Hakkinen's clutch failure on the last lap in the 2001 Spanish GP. This race had seen a return to form from the Finn who had only scored 4 points in the first races after a big crash in Australia and failing to even get off the grid in Brazil. To rub salt in the wound, his old rival Michael Schumacher ended up as the beneficiary and would go on to dominate the 2001 Season.