The Greatest Event in All of Motorsports?

[Tired Tyres]

Now that you say it, that rings a bell.

Gotta say that dumping something that's a long held tradition just to do a side promotion is pretty lousy.

So what? Drinking milk is a promotion as well.

 

[Hun200kmh]

1 - Le Mans 24 Hours ( the current greatest motorsports event in the world, head, shoulders and FEET above every other race of any discipline)

2 - Monaco Grand Prix

3 - Indianapolis 500

4 - Isle of Man TT

5 - Monte Carlo Rally

From now defunct motorsports events, I'd also pick the following

6 - Mille Miglia

7 - Carrera Panamericana

8 - Targa Florio

9 - German Grand Prix (at the Nordschleife)

10 - Dakar Rally

 

[Northstar]

So what? Drinking milk is a promotion as well.

Yes and no, it started in 1933 when Louis Meyer won and asked for a glass of buttermilk, when he won it again in 1936 he did the same thing only it was a bottle and he was photographed taking a drink from it. A dairy company took noticed afterwards and offered a bottle of milk to the winner ever since(minus 1947-1955).

 

[IceMan PJN]

I see several people putting the Indy 500 at the top. Not sure why, really. Americans think of NASCAR as being the big motorsport and view the Indy 500 as a big deal, but in reality NASCAR is only big locally and globally has but an eighth of F1's fanbase and the Indianapolis 500 is fairly humble globally as well. I don't have viewership figures for the Indy 500, but IndyCar races in general have lower viewership than NASCAR races and even NASCAR's Daytona 500 only sees twenty to thirty million viewers. In contrast, any given F1 race, no matter how relatively insignificant, has hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide. So, people put the Indy 500 on a pedestal just because they feel like it rather than it having any real reason for belonging up there.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Indycar used to be much, much bigger than NASCAR. It was only with the CART/Indycar split that NASCAR started to catch up and take advantage of this division.

The Indianapolis 500 started in 1911 and for the vast majority of that time has been the biggest motor race in the USA by a very big margin.

Even now when NASCAR is motorsport to the average US race fan, it's still got the history to give it the kudos that such sporting events attract.

 

[Ardius]

^I still feel the Indy 500 provides some kind of spectacle despite the Indycar series itself stagnating in the past decade. I guess for many people outside of America it still represents some kind of pinnacle of oval racing.

I guess it also comes from many Indycar drivers being ex-F1 or ex-European feeder series drivers whereas NASCAR tends to be more North American in its drivers.

Lastly, we don't seem to get a whole lot of NASCAR or Indycar coverage in Europe (though it is improving).

The large build-up and celebration of the Indy 500 is also probably easier for many of us Europeans to recognise over NASCAR races.

To me at least, I think its just that I feel oval racing should be at least recognised as having at least one great race and I find Indycars more interesting than NASCARs. But otherwise I'm not a huge fan of watching oval racing (I actually quite enjoy driving it myself in GT5 or iRacing).

 

[Dotini]

The event, billed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, is considered one of the three most significant motorsports events in the world. The official attendance is not disclosed by Speedway management, but the permanent seating capacity is more than 257,000 people, and infield seating raises capacity to an approximate 400,000.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_500

Respectfully submitted,
Steve

 

[Northstar]

In contrast, any given F1 race

There is your problem, if something has to be bigger than F1 to be important, you are left with a very short list.

It's also not just Americans saying Indy is important.

Edit: Viewer numbers also don't mean anything as far as greatness is concerned, especially since the biggest 3 races pre-date TV.

 

[gorsad]

Of the 3 events in that list (Monaco, Indy, Coca-Cola) I put Monaco GP at the top of the list, followed by the Indy 500 and then the Coca-Cola 600.

I prefer the Monaco GP because I'm an F1 fan and while Indycar and NASCAR interest me, they are less important to me than F1. I respect the drivers from all series but when it comes to oval racing I prefer NASCAR to Indycar.

 

[Earth]

I see several people putting the Indy 500 at the top. Not sure why, really.

...

In contrast, any given F1 race, no matter how relatively insignificant, has hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide.

Did you know that from 1950-1960 the Indianpolis 500 was a part of the Formula 1 World Championship?

So, people put the Indy 500 on a pedestal just because they feel like it rather than it having any real reason for belonging up there.

Reigning World Champions have competed at Indianapolis while holding the F1 title. In 1965 Jim Clark won the Indianapolis 500 and the World Championship, in 1993 Nigel Mansell was the reigning F1 champ and competed in the Indianapolis 500, almost winning it. In 1961 Jack Brabham was the reigning world Champion and contested the Indy 500, finishing 9th. 1968, Phil Hil, already a winner of the Indianpolis 500, crashes out of the race but goes on to win the World Championship

Now, if the Indianpolis 500 can attract World Champions, is that not alot of credentials to the greatness of the event?

 

[JC83]

Reigning World Champions have competed at Indianapolis while holding the F1 title. In 1965 Jim Clark won the Indianapolis 500 and the World Championship...

If I'm not mistaken, Jim Clark skipped the GP of Monte Carlo three times in order to compete in the Indy 500.
A few interesting stats: Jimmie Clark and Jaques Villeneuve both have the honor of being World Champions and Indy 500 winners. Graham Hill is the only man to have won the World Championship, the Indy 500, the GP of Monte Carlo, and the 24 hours of Le Mans.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Well, Montoya Has won the F1 Monaco Grand Prix, the Indy 500 and the Rolex 24 at Daytona, he's still a young(ish) guy so a who knows if he'll get the the Le Mans win in his career or not.

As far as the thread question goes, the greatest event in motorsports? for me it must be the Nürburgring 24 hour race.

 

[MagpieRacer]

For me, its simple. may be wrong for some people but its how I see it:

1) Monaco GP
2) Le Mans 24 Hours
3) Indy 500
4) Bathurst 1000
5) Ise of Man TT/British GP (of equal status in my mind)
6) Nurburgring 24 hours
7) Daytona 500
8) Macau GP
9) Rally Finland
10) Race of Champions

 

[cgr-10]

It's also not just Americans saying Indy is important.

Yup, I think everyone understands how important the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500 for example, are, regardless of nationality.

I happen to love IndyCar and NASCAR so I put them right up there with European race, if I had to order my top 5....

1) Indy 500
2) Monaco GP
3) Daytona 500
4) Le Mans 24hrs
5) Daytona 24hrs

 

[TankAss95]

Le Mans 24 Hours is without a doubt the best racing event in my opinion.

 

[Hun200kmh]

I see several people putting the Indy 500 at the top. Not sure why, really. Americans think of NASCAR as being the big motorsport and view the Indy 500 as a big deal, but in reality NASCAR is only big locally and globally has but an eighth of F1's fanbase and the Indianapolis 500 is fairly humble globally as well. I don't have viewership figures for the Indy 500, but IndyCar races in general have lower viewership than NASCAR races and even NASCAR's Daytona 500 only sees twenty to thirty million viewers. In contrast, any given F1 race, no matter how relatively insignificant, has hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide. So, people put the Indy 500 on a pedestal just because they feel like it rather than it having any real reason for belonging up there.

NASCAR is close to meaningless worldwide, only hardcore racing fans outside of the US care about it (and don't care that much, it's never big news). I consider myself a racing fan, I am aware of NASCAR's existence and know some of the drivers names. And that's about it, coming from a guy that knows a thing or two on motorsports. Before this discussion I had no idea on what was the "main" NASCAR event, or even if there was one (now I know it's a 600 miles race sponsored by Coca Cola, but I didn't bother to check where and I find it significant that the track is not important and doesn't deserve a mention here. A race where the track is secondary cannot be legendary IMHO)

Same thing happens with the Aussie V8 cars. You will find close to zero news about it all over the world, save maybe for the UK because of the obvious ties between them and Australia. However, if it is true that the regular european or american motorsports fan does not know much about the series or its drivers, Bathurst is a world class track, one of those few that everybody knows about. This makes the Bathurst 1000 a race that is known all over the world. As the Indy 500, maybe the only race in the Indy series that people know about.

I think the top three here is without a doubt made with Le Mans, Monaco and Indy. Their order in this top 3 can be argued, but not that they have the podium covered between them.

Why Indy? Well:

a) because it is an old race, going far back to the roots of cars and racing them, and history has a lot of weight in the legendary status of a race;

b) because it is a simple but unique track, but the length of the race allows for a complex event that is nevertheless unique also (even if part of a series, there's nothing quite like the Indy 500)

c) because, quite rightfully if you consider a) and b), winning the Indy 500 is a major accomplishment to any racing driver. And this raises the emotional aspect of this race. Being a Indy 500 winner is a respect earner everywhere in the racing world.

 

[Mac K]

Hasn't the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indy 500, and Monaco Grand Prix always been considered the "Triple Crown" of motorsports? Ask just about any driver and I bet they would love to have a victory in one of the 3. I couldn't pick just one, but those 3 definitely top my list.

 

[Hun200kmh]

^^^that's Graham Hill's crown. Add to it the F1 championship and Graham Hill has it all

PS - The only driver alive that can still achieve the triple crown is Montoya, but I never heard of him being interested in sports cars (or sports cars in him).

 

[cgr-10]

I think the lack of mentions of Charlotte Motor Speedway whilst discussing the 600 was more to do with the fact that most people already knew where it was and the track name is not in the event name, Hun.

I agree about national racing series not being particularly relevant but that's to be expected; after all, NASCAR is the 'National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing', not WASCAR

It's just people seem to make a big deal about NASCAR because it's the national series of one of the biggest nations in the world, which is why the BTCC for example doesn't get the same exposure. Either way, as a reasonably hardcore racing fan, I enjoy it; as I do most motorsports.

EDIT: Would like to see Juan try and win Le Mans to complete the crown, after all he has won the Rolex 24 so he could definitely compete.

 

[MatskiMonk]

I think the lack of mentions of Charlotte Motor Speedway whilst discussing the 600 was more to do with the fact that most people already knew where it was and the track name is not in the event name, Hun.

I'd agree with this point, but I'd add that usually NASCAR races are sponsored, and people refer to the race name, rather than the location. In F1, some of the races are sponsored but for the most part they not so people are used to refering to them by their location.

Personally though, I wouldn't regard the 600 as legendary... if It's NASCAR it's got to be Daytona, since it's the spiritual birthplace of the sport, or Bristol - but that's just from a spectators/atmosphere point of view*

*I've never actually been though..

 

[Earth]

Le Mans 24 Hours is without a doubt the best racing event in my opinion.

Not trying to pick on your post, but this brings up the question about a race being the best or greatest? The Monaco GP is never a very good race, but it is one of the greatest. Most years Le Mans is probably my favorite race to watch, who cannot be thrilled to watch such a mix of prototypes and GT cars on high speed French country roads for 24 hours, but when you have years like this one, when its pretty much guaranteed one of the 4 Audis will win it really hurts the event.

 

[Touring Mars]

Indy 500, LeMans 24hr, Daytona 500, Monaco GP and Italian GP

I would swap out Daytona 500 for the TT races on the Isle of Man, but otherwise in full agreement 👍

 

[Ardius]

^^^that's Graham Hill's crown. Add to it the F1 championship and Graham Hill has it all

PS - The only driver alive that can still achieve the triple crown is Montoya, but I never heard of him being interested in sports cars (or sports cars in him).

Jacques Villenueve has almost had the alternate definition (F1 WC, Le Mans, Indy 500) - he came very close with Peugeot a couple of years ago. He may still do it yet.

Graham Hill is the only driver to have achieved either and both definitions. Its amazing that the only driver to come close to such feats is John Surtees holding both motorbike and F1 championships. Guess it says more about how much freedom drivers had back then rather than a lack of skill from drivers today.

 

[TankAss95]

Not trying to pick on your post, but this brings up the question about a race being the best or greatest? The Monaco GP is never a very good race, but it is one of the greatest. Most years Le Mans is probably my favorite race to watch, who cannot be thrilled to watch such a mix of prototypes and GT cars on high speed French country roads for 24 hours, but when you have years like this one, when its pretty much guaranteed one of the 4 Audis will win it really hurts the event.

Good point, but there is just something else that makes the Le Mans special for me. Audi is pretty much guaranteed a win, but that doesn't stop the race from being as epic as ever.

 

[Dotini]

Jacques Villenueve has almost had the alternate definition (F1 WC, Le Mans, Indy 500) - he came very close with Peugeot a couple of years ago. He may still do it yet.

Graham Hill is the only driver to have achieved either and both definitions. Its amazing that the only driver to come close to such feats is John Surtees holding both motorbike and F1 championships. Guess it says more about how much freedom drivers had back then rather than a lack of skill from drivers today.

Mario Andretti, having won both Indy and the F1 crown, tried his luck at LeMans a few times. Alas, as a friend of mine who once raced against him said, "Mario is the only man in the world who can break an anvil with a rubber mallet."

Respectfully submitted,
Steve

 

[hawkeye122]

Le Mans 24 Hours
Monaco GP
Indy 500
Dakar Rally

 

[gtone339]

Le Mans 24 Hours is without a doubt the best racing event in my opinion.

What he said. 👍

 

[TheCracker]

To be 'The Greatest Event in all of Motorsport' the event has to be a) rich in history, b) classed as an event in it's own right, whether or not it is now part of a championship. c) of international significance.

With that in mind, i'll nominate:

1) - Le Mans 24hr
2) - Indy 500
3) - Isle of Man TT
4) - Bathurst 1000
5) - Monaco GP

The Monaco Grand Prix is a slight anomaly in that for a majority of it's lifespan, it's been just another round of a championship, where as the others have a deeper history as 'all-comers' events. But the Monaco GP earns it's place for being the jewel-in-the-crown of the most prestigious motorsport championship.

 

[Wardez]

To me, nothing's more extreme than 24 hour endurance racing. The speeds, the technique required, the danger, it's just unmatched.

I follow them up with another endurance race, although slower, arguably much more dangerous - The Dakar rally.
It's just so grueling, brutal, isolated, impossible, and deadly I'm surprised it's still such a mainstay these days but it's just immense tribute to the core endurance of man and machine along with the spirit for perseverance and intrepidity. Some people race on circuits or stages, others race on the Earth.

Monaco is there for the sense that a driver needs to have a certain level behind him before he even has a chance at participating along with the intense and unmatched hyper speed and tight environment under which they race it.

The Indy 500 demands some of the most precise and death defying driving ever. Simply going side by side with another Indy car at those speeds for that long a time is just an immeasurable feat of bravery. But it doesn't quite represent the pinnacle that Monaco projects for reasons other than the race. The Indy 500 stands up well by itself, but the lead up to it and the season afterward don't nearly carry as much precedence overall.

The Isle of Man is the most insane race a rider could ever attempt, the sheer will of the riders that return again and again even after they witness so much death and destruction first hand is just beyond me or anyone that hasn't had the same sense of purpose against turbulent odds that the incredible men and women harbor.

Bathurst is one of the best tip-top 1000km races in existence. Because of the track, the group of drivers, the history, and the fans. Nothing else comes close for major touring car series regular season endurance races. And no, don't compare them to the VLN which runs the Nurb. 24H. Until DTM runs it, my point stands.

The Daytona 500 is just flat out intense cup racing. The super bowl race, literally. This is NASCAR's most iconic race and definitely one of its toughest. The track is simply humongous and while it has plenty of room for tight packs of cars, it's real easy to get carried away when you're running four wide at over 200 miles an hour. No other race in the world comes close to this amount of action for this long and that's why it's great. But I'd say the other races I listed above it are more demanding on a overall driver and machine package.

Macau is like the wringer for junior Formula pilots that think they've got what it takes. More famous names have won the GP (especially '80s and '90s) and gone on to become champions that the victor almost has a blessing of good fortune for racing in top flight single seater series in the future. It's like a dress rehearsal for Monaco, although it could be argued to be a bit tougher under race conditions with the amount of cars and level of the talent surrounding you on the tight yet accommodating city streets.

And 10? Enough said.

1) Le Mans 24 Hours
2) Nurburgring 24 hours
3) The Dakar
4) Monaco GP
5) Indy 500
6) Isle of Man TT
7) Bathurst 1000
8) Daytona 500
9) Macau GP
10) Any F1 race in the wet

 

[Earth]

I've revised my list after watching last weekend's races and thinking about it some more.

The Triple Crown of motorsports still holds 1-3. My breakdown will look at several factors of each race and what makes it unique.

Le Mans 24 Hours

A race so big that its not uncommon for some top teams to miss the entire season of sportscar racing all together only to compete at this one event. And winning this one event will consider that program a success even if they lose the sportscar championship or dont compete in it all together.

The world's greatest manufacturer's have all competed here and won. Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Bentley, Ford, BMW, Mercedes. In most races these makes didnt just supply an engine to an existing chassis, they built their own prototype from scratch. They brought drivers from their nation to race cars from their nation, to conquer the sportscar world at it's grandest race in a great display of nationalistic domination.

When Enzo Ferrari backed out from selling Ferrari to Henry Ford II, Ford decided to strike back by defeating Ferrari in it's own back yard. The effort and resources put behind the GT40 sportscars of the late 60s at Le Mans will probably never be matched. A great testament to the greatness of the event, to have an automotive grudge match settled at the race.

Tom Kristensen's 8 wins highlights the recent lack of competition at the sportscar classic. While the race is extremely long and alot of things can happen over such a long period of time, without solid competition drivers can baby the cars home. Notice the lack of crashes from front runners at Audi before and after Peugeot came. Night and day.

Like most great races, Le Mans has seen it's ups and downs. There were great years like 1999 where the 3 car giants squared off, and then there was the down years of the early 2000s where factory support was largely non existent.

Le Mans use to have a unique start procedure where the drivers ran to their cars at the start, but that was abandoned due to safety issues. The track has changed alot of the years, but the mulsanne straight alone with the run from mulsanne corner to arnage has stayed largely intact. Alot of the changes have been made in the name of safety, but still, changes hurt a track's history.

There are plenty of historic sights along the track, the row of trees at terte rouge is still there, and the Dunlop bridge is still there. It should also be noted its one of the few true road courses left in the world, with a majority of the track consisting of French roads.

Monaco Grand Prix

Watching last Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix really changed my opinon of the race. There wasn't the build up Indianapolis or Le Mans have. In Indycars, the entire month of May is dedicated to Indianapolis. There is something like 8 days of practice leading up to the race. Le Mans has a test day and a few days of practice.

Le Mans and Indianapolis have new faces almost every year, many drivers compete at Indianapolis as one offs, Jean Alesi being an example. The same can be said with Le Mans, with actor Patrick Dempsey making appearances recently. But Monaco was the same drivers.

To me this only highlights that the Grand Prix of Monaco is...almost just another race on the F1 calendar. There are Indycar drivers who would gladly trade a an Indycar championship for a Indy 500 win. There are sportscar drivers who would happily trade a sportscar championship for a 24 hours of Le Mans win. But I dont know if thats true of F1 drivers and the Monaco Grand Prix.

Monaco is an old race, it's been around since 1929. A good portion of the course has remained unchanged, turns like the Hotel Hairpin have always been there.

While racing the course is difficult, it is a fact that starting on pole position almost guarantees a win as long as the driver does not make a disastrous mistake and the pit crew has a solid strategy. Of the big Three races, its probably the easiest to win, once qualifying is over.

Outside of that, there really isn't much to the Monaco Grand Prix. The race hangs on the coat tails of Formula 1, it's the most glamorous race on the world's biggest racing series, which propels it to somewhat undeserved heights. It doesnt have the spectacle of Indianapolis or Le Mans, it doesnt have the quality of racing as Indianpolis or Le Mans. BUT it is the biggest race in the world's biggest racing series, so it deserves its spot on the triple crown.

Indianapolis 500

Those at the Indianapolis Motorspeedway will not shy away from calling the speedway the World's Greatest Racecourse and the 500 the World's Greatest Race. And they have alot to back up that claim.

Indianapolis is old, the course itself is 103 years old. Thats 13 years older then Monza, 14 years older then Le Mans, 18 years older then the Nurburgring. But what separates it further from those tracks is the fact its remained largely unchanged since it's opening.

At Indianapolis tradition and spectacle is king. There is absolutely nothing ordinary about the race. I could list all the tradition that takes place during the month of May and all the unique rules to the race, but do you have an hour? From the prerace parade to the world's greatest trophy, the Borg-Warner Trophy

to the winner drinking milk, Indianapolis is unmatched in spectacle and tradition.

The race is incredibly difficult to win. Despite there being 96 races run, only 3 drivers have won it 4 times. Many drivers have had a dominate car but lost due to a split second lapse of judgement, Emerson Fittipaldi throwing away a 1 lap lead in 1994 late in the race by clipping the wall, or Arie Luyendyk making a small mistake lapping traffic in the 1999 race, spinning his car and crashing.

Or even last year's race, with J.R. Hildebrand throwing away the win in the last turn.

Indianapolis has attracted world class racecar drivers. World Champions who have contested the 500 mile race include

Nigel Mansell
Nelson Piquet Sr
Emerson Fittipaldi
Jacques Villeneuve
Jim Clark
Mario Andretti
Graham Hill
Jack Brabham

Like the Le Mans 24 hours, Indianapolis has attracted the world's greatest drivers.

Final Thoughts

So, which is greatest?

I have to give an honorable mention to the Nurburgring 24 hours. It comes in at #4 on my greatest race list.

#3 Is Monaco. As I mentioned it's hard to see it as more then just the most famous round of the most famous racing series.

And #1? I'd have to say in terms of cars, Le Mans is #1. In terms of people, Indy is #1. You win Le Mans it's all about the manufacturer, you win Indy it's all about the driver. So I rank them as 1A and 1B.