Worst races you've seen?

[Carbonox]

Motorsports have their share of low moments whether people like them or not - sometimes even the most interesting series out there gets a bad race that probably leaves you feeling disappointed, unless your favorite driver had a good, uninterrupted finish.

That being said, what are the worst races you've personally seen? Let's leave out any that you've simply heard of being boring, and stick to those you've watched. Start to finish, preferably.

I'm listing mine by series since comparisons between different classes can get tricky...

NASCAR:
Cup: 2012 Auto Club 400 @ Fontana. Just nothing really happened until past halfway, it was a Kyle show until Tony beat him out of the pits, and to add insult to injury, it got stopped by rain. As an extension, the season in general was pretty uninteresting too, a real letdown compared to the last.
Busch: 2003 Winn-Dixie 250 @ Daytona. Jr. leading every lap at a plate track. 'Nuff said. Making it even worse was Michael Waltrip running second almost all race, being like a good dog behind his Cup teammate.
Trucks: 2012 Kroger 250 @ Martinsville. Kinda like the race above, except it was Harvick and Dillon up front all the time. What a waste of a race. At least it was kinda hilarious in hindsight how their perfect partnership went down the drain 1.5 years later at the same track.

ARCA: Gateway 2001. A bland Kimmel show that then got rained out. That's all there is to it.

F1: I wanna say the 2005 US GP, but I was so angry with how it turned out that I didn't really stick around to watch any more of it than I had to - so make it Australia 2004. It was a traumatizing nightmare start to a season for 9-year-old me - Schumi leads all the way, Barrichello is second the entire way, and Kimi has a crap car that also nets him an early retirement while out of the points. Hooray?

GP2: Not really a single race I find the worst, but Monaco sprints tend to provide yearly boredom. On a track too narrow to pass on, a no-pitstop race yields nothing to be really excited about.

CART: Surfers Paradise 2002 had a big wreck at the start followed by the pace car comfortably leading the most laps in the rain, the 40-or-so-lap race only having 7 green flag laps. In general, 2002 was a terrible season for the series anyway, the new aero package making for parade racing anywhere they went to, not to mention the lack of cars on the grid compared to 2001.

IndyCar: Milwaukee 2014. Another example of what kind of aero package not to use. It was incredibly pathetic watching every car drive around the same distance from one another, with no chance of ever closing in and passing someone without brand new tires on.

Formula E: Beijing 2014. Yeah, I know, last corner crash that made the series famous... but other than that, action was hard to find anywhere in the race, the track profile was bland as ever, and though I may be a little unfair with this, the abundance of mechanical failures was another annoyance.

 

[Ganon83]

Yesterday's Xfinity Series race is up there

 

[nascarfan1400]

2008 Brickyard 400, also known as the day that everyone lost any respect for Goodyear.

2009 Daytona 500, Was there in person, misted for 5 minutes, they called the race, and then the mist stopped. It was only like 10pm, too, so calling the race was stupid.

2009 Fall Talladega race, the race NASCAR said you aren't allowed to do any bump drafting. What resulted was single file, all race.

All NASCAR

 

[Jahgee]

2008 Brickyard 400

 

[Northstar]

I've really only seen 3 races that I would call extremely bad (I wasn't into F1 in 2005).

NASCAR: 2008 Brickyard 400 - As has already been mentioned, Goodyear blew this race big time. Sadly they are only slightly better 8 years later.

Indy: 2011 New Hampshire Indy 225 - Exhibit A on why you don't race on a wet track with slicks.
2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship - Granted every race where there was a fatality easily has a place in this thread but this one sticks out due to how much foreshadowing there was. Several drivers voiced concerns about the race prior to the start including Will Power who called it an accident waiting to happen.

 

[Jahgee]

 

[ukfan758]

The 2011 European GP comes to mind.

 

[nascarfan1400]

2016 Brickyard 400

 

[RazorSharkz]

The 2011 European GP comes to mind.

Is that the one with the brutal Webber crash and the Kobayashi charge at the end? If so I really do have to give a big ol' disagree to that.

 

[ukfan758]

Is that the one with the brutal Webber crash and the Kobayashi charge at the end? If so I really do have to give a big ol' disagree to that.

That was the 2010 running of the race, the one I mentioned had all 24 cars finish.

 

[-Fred-]

2002 Austrian GP. Perhaps not the worst race, but certainly the worst finish.

 

[Liquid]

2003 Monegasque Grand Prix
2009 European Grand Prix

Excluding the start, these races had 0 recorded overtakes. Even a win for my boy Rubinho wasn't enough to disguise what a horrible track Valencia was.

If you ever want to talk about the 2005 United States Grand Prix, it's always worth listening to Paul Stoddart's NSFW rant he went on during the race for Dutch TV.

 

[Pete05]

Motorsports have their share of low moments whether people like them or not - sometimes even the most interesting series out there gets a bad race that probably leaves you feeling disappointed, unless your favorite driver had a good, uninterrupted finish.

That being said, what are the worst races you've personally seen? Let's leave out any that you've simply heard of being boring, and stick to those you've watched. Start to finish, preferably.

I'm listing mine by series since comparisons between different classes can get tricky...

NASCAR:
Cup: 2012 Auto Club 400 @ Fontana. Just nothing really happened until past halfway, it was a Kyle show until Tony beat him out of the pits, and to add insult to injury, it got stopped by rain. As an extension, the season in general was pretty uninteresting too, a real letdown compared to the last.
Busch: 2003 Winn-Dixie 250 @ Daytona. Jr. leading every lap at a plate track. 'Nuff said. Making it even worse was Michael Waltrip running second almost all race, being like a good dog behind his Cup teammate.
Trucks: 2012 Kroger 250 @ Martinsville. Kinda like the race above, except it was Harvick and Dillon up front all the time. What a waste of a race. At least it was kinda hilarious in hindsight how their perfect partnership went down the drain 1.5 years later at the same track.

ARCA: Gateway 2001. A bland Kimmel show that then got rained out. That's all there is to it.

F1: I wanna say the 2005 US GP, but I was so angry with how it turned out that I didn't really stick around to watch any more of it than I had to - so make it Australia 2004. It was a traumatizing nightmare start to a season for 9-year-old me - Schumi leads all the way, Barrichello is second the entire way, and Kimi has a crap car that also nets him an early retirement while out of the points. Hooray?

GP2: Not really a single race I find the worst, but Monaco sprints tend to provide yearly boredom. On a track too narrow to pass on, a no-pitstop race yields nothing to be really excited about.

CART: Surfers Paradise 2002 had a big wreck at the start followed by the pace car comfortably leading the most laps in the rain, the 40-or-so-lap race only having 7 green flag laps. In general, 2002 was a terrible season for the series anyway, the new aero package making for parade racing anywhere they went to, not to mention the lack of cars on the grid compared to 2001.

IndyCar: Milwaukee 2014. Another example of what kind of aero package not to use. It was incredibly pathetic watching every car drive around the same distance from one another, with no chance of ever closing in and passing someone without brand new tires on.

Formula E: Beijing 2014. Yeah, I know, last corner crash that made the series famous... but other than that, action was hard to find anywhere in the race, the track profile was bland as ever, and though I may be a little unfair with this, the abundance of mechanical failures was another annoyance.

The 2002 CART Surfers Paradise 'race' would easily be the most amount of wasted time I've ever spent relating to motorsport.

 

[Carbonox]

Looking back at this thread, I have some updates and they aren't pretty.

Undeniably, the race I hate the most of all, across every form of motorsports, is the 2018 ABC Supply 500 at Pocono. Not only was the racing itself so anemic that the race may as well not have been held, but the most likeable driver in the series suffered an injury that still hasn't healed enough for him to get back to racing.

The 2017 Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas gets the silver medal as far as IndyCar is concerned. After some early excellence, a big wreck caused by Kanaan's irresponsible driving took every exciting car out of the race (Vautier and the SPM cars most notably) and the rest of the "race" was a procession where Penske drivers focused on keeping Power at the front at all times.

Now on to DTM - well, every race in that series that had a pest driver (usually Nico Müller) holding up his teammates' rivals was terrible enough, particularly in 2017, but the ultimate showstopper has to be the 2018 Spielberg Race 1. Not one, but two Audis slowed down right at the very end to get René Rast to win it, in a spectacular display of anti-racing that brought back ugly memories from the very same track involving some red open wheel racing cars. I shut off the video as soon as that happened and have never watched another DTM race since, it was that ugly. That series can just go and burn to the ground for all I care.

 

[Dotini]

At Dallas 1984, Brundle suffered fractures to both legs and feet, Prost, Lauda, Hesnault, Cheever, Bellof, Warwick, Patrese, deCesaris, Tambay, Cecotto, Alboreto and Surer all crashed. Piquet managed to stuff his Brabham through a 4 foot gap in the barriers, and I saw Mansell collapse in a heap only feet short of the finish line trying to push his car. The problem was the 104 F heat and the track breaking up. Rosberg (1st ) and Arnoux (2nd), though luck or skill, proved they were the best men that day.

 

[jake2013guy]

The 2017 Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas gets the silver medal as far as IndyCar is concerned. After some early excellence, a big wreck caused by Kanaan's irresponsible driving took every exciting car out of the race (Vautier and the SPM cars most notably) and the rest of the "race" was a procession where Penske drivers focused on keeping Power at the front at all times.

This race infuriated me as a Coyne fan. Not only did Kanaan take out a potential race winner in Vautier, he recovered from being 2 laps down to get a podium.

 

[Jezza819]

2005 USGP F1 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

I was personally at this race. A group of us had attended every F1 race held at Indianapolis. We would go up Thursday and be there for the whole weekend.

During Friday practice Ralf Schumacher had his nasty looking crash coming out of turn 13 and his car almost ended up right in front of us. Then the other Toyota crashed as well. Soon we kept noticing that all of the Michelin cars would go out and then come back through the pitlane, go out, come back through the pitlane again. But we still didn't know about anything specifically going on with the cars on Michelin tires.

On Saturday P3 comes and the Michelin cars were still doing the routine of coming through the pitlane and not going through turn 13. Qualifying was single lap back then so for that one flying lap the Michelin cars could do the entire lap and I think Trulli won pole in the other Toyota.

When we get to the track on Sunday we still have no idea that there is a problem and a potential for Michelin cars to not run the race out of fears about turn 13. But about the time we get to our seats is when we start to hear the buzz. There have been negotiations all morning long with the FIA about putting in a chicane at turn 13 to slow the speeds and the FIA had rejected that idea. Cars come out, do their recon laps, the whole field goes to their starting spots on the grid so we're thinking everything is ok and everybody is going to run the race. Parade lap starts and then one by one all of the Michelin cars pulls into their garages. The 6 remaining Bridgestone cars, 2 Ferraris, 2 Jordans, and 2 Minardis, line up and start the race. Now the booing gets really intense and after maybe 3 or 4 laps you could look across at pitlane and watch one by one all of the Michelin cars closing their garage doors.

I think we stayed for maybe 15 to 20 laps but then thought it might be better to get the heck out of there in case things were to really start getting rough.

Looking back on it I guess it's almost a badge of honor saying that when it comes to one of the most bizarre races in history, I WAS THERE.

 

[ScottPuss20]

The 2018 Sandown 500. It was a 888 Engineering whitewash, with all of their cars on the podium and very little action throughout the field. Absolute waste of an afternoon to be honest. Another boring race would have to be the 2019 French GP. Nothing exciting happened, it was just a procession.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

As an Alonso fan, the 2010 Abu Dhabi GP was a fairly disappointing affair.

 

[DriftShock]

Every Monaco Grand Prix since the beginning of the V6HY era has been the dictionary definition of a procession
Except for 2016, which was pretty decent thanks to some rain

 

[MIE1992]

Every Monaco Grand Prix since the beginning of the V6HY era has been the dictionary definition of a procession
Except for 2016, which was pretty decent thanks to some rain

What do you attribute it to? I'd personally design the shared elements around Monaco, given that it's what I'd call the most famous F1 course. Even if Monza, Suzuka, Spa-Francorchamps, and Interlagos come close. Would you say it's necessarily the engines, or could it be a separate factor, like the wheelbase? Monaco isn't exactly a wide course, after all.

 

[crooky369]

Monaco 2013. I seem to remember Rosberg starting from pole and driving at a speed my nan would be embrassed with.

All because he knew that no one could overtake and to protect the awful cheese tyres of the time.

 

[twitcher]

What do you attribute it to? I'd personally design the shared elements around Monaco, given that it's what I'd call the most famous F1 course. Even if Monza, Suzuka, Spa-Francorchamps, and Interlagos come close. Would you say it's necessarily the engines, or could it be a separate factor, like the wheelbase? Monaco isn't exactly a wide course, after all.

Part of the problem with the V6H cars is they are freaking boats compared to older generation F1 cars. They’re more than 3m long now, which is gigantic compared to older cars.

If you google or search YouTube for “size of F1 cars over the years”, you’ll see lots of examples showing the various sizes. Not sure how precisely accurate anything is, but you get a general idea.

Here’s an example


The first time I saw an F1 car in the flesh was in Montreal in 2004. First car I saw was one of the Jaguars, set up in a display during the lead up to the race (it may have been a 2003 car). I distinctly remember the very first thing I thought when I laid eyes on it was, “wow, this is a lot smaller than I imagined after seeing them on TV.” It was a glorified go-kart.

I’m not one to really care what the size of the cars is, so long as they can race closely. That said, when it comes to Monaco, size does make a big difference. Obviously it’s a tough circuit to race and overtake on, but when you combine aero dependence / dirt air with 3m long cars (and nearly 2m wide), it’s completely understandable that the racing is processional.



As far as bad races, my votes are for
- USGP 2005, that was just embarrassing for the sport as a whole
- French GP 2019, it was a boring race on the most boring circuit ever.
- French GP, 2018. It was boring, event organization was a joke (going off of what people who attended were saying on social media), and the abuse of track limits made my blood boil. Verstappen and KMag cut straight through the first Chicane, and then like half the field bailed out and cut across the T4 T5 complex.

 

[Pete05]

Part of the problem with the V6H cars is they are freaking boats compared to older generation F1 cars. They’re more than 3m long now, which is gigantic compared to older cars.

If you google or search YouTube for “size of F1 cars over the years”, you’ll see lots of examples showing the various sizes. Not sure how precisely accurate anything is, but you get a general idea.

Here’s an example


The first time I saw an F1 car in the flesh was in Montreal in 2004. First car I saw was one of the Jaguars, set up in a display during the lead up to the race (it may have been a 2003 car). I distinctly remember the very first thing I thought when I laid eyes on it was, “wow, this is a lot smaller than I imagined after seeing them on TV.” It was a glorified go-kart.

I’m not one to really care what the size of the cars is, so long as they can race closely. That said, when it comes to Monaco, size does make a big difference. Obviously it’s a tough circuit to race and overtake on, but when you combine aero dependence / dirt air with 3m long cars (and nearly 2m wide), it’s completely understandable that the racing is processional.



As far as bad races, my votes are for
- USGP 2005, that was just embarrassing for the sport as a whole
- French GP 2019, it was a boring race on the most boring circuit ever.
- French GP, 2018. It was boring, event organization was a joke (going off of what people who attended were saying on social media), and the abuse of track limits made my blood boil. Verstappen and KMag cut straight through the first Chicane, and then like half the field bailed out and cut across the T4 T5 complex.

Talking about the size of F1 cars & Monaco made me recall when Williams (‘91/‘92?) ran with a shortened wheelbase as the major part of an update.

The size of the current cars is ridiculous. You won’t see anyone try a pass at the Loew’s Hairpin anymore. They wouldn’t get around the bloody corner!

 

[Liquid]

The size of the current cars is ridiculous. You won’t see anyone try a pass at the Loew’s Hairpin anymore. They wouldn’t get around the bloody corner!

 

[05XR8]

F4 at Sydney Motorsport Park. It was a support race for this year's inaugural TCR Australia series. It was a sad sight sitting in the stands. About 5 ot 6 cars. So boring.

It's supppsed to be a series that gets open wheel hopefuls, a step closer to their F1 goal. Again, sad.

 

[Liquid]

2020 Abu Dhabian Grand prix

 

[Boedefeld]

Basically any race that Vettel lead from start to finish in 2011 and 2013. Hell, even when he lead he screwed up every now and then, Canada 2011 for example