20 replies to this topic

[Graham Clayton]

Who has the longest name in motorsport history?

I will nominate Belgian driver Patrick Marie Ghislain Pierre Simon Stanislas Nève de Mévergnies, who mercifully for commentators and signwriters raced under the name Patrick Neve.

According to my maths, that is 8 given names and 55 letters.

[David McKinney]

If you include titled drivers, you get the likes of Don Alfonso Antonio Vicente Blas Ángel Francisco Borgia Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton Carvajal y Are, Conde de Mejorada, seventh Marquis de Portago

and
Frederick Charles Gordon-Lennox, 9th Duke of Richmond, Earl of March, Baron Settringham, 9th Duke of Lennox, Earl of Darnley, Baron Torbolton, 4th Duke of Gordon and Earl of Kinrara, Duke d'Aubigny, Duke of Richmond and Gordon

I’m sure there were Germans with even longer strings of names and titles

[D-Type]

What was Prince Bira's full title?

I have found Pra Worawongse Ther Pra Ong Chao Birabongse Bhanutej Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh, but I suspect that Pra Worawongse Ther Pra Ong Chao simply means "His Honour, Prince ..."

Edited by D-Type, 21 June 2011 - 12:40.

[f1steveuk]

They make Jonkheer Carel Pieter Antoni Jan Hubertus Godin de Beaufort look quite short, in a name type way!

[cheapracer]

Peter Nippon Tokusyu Tōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha Janson is a pretty tough one to say - luckily he just called himself NGK Janson

[Bauble]

Was he any relation to Nippon Tuck?

As to the longest name I nominate that well know shopkeeper turned endurance racer; Ark - ark......ark...........................................arwr.....................
........................aarrrkkk.................................................
...............wwwwww........rrr.......ii.......aarrkk...wwww....................
...........wwww....rrriiigggg....................................................
...ttttttt.

[Tim Murray]

As a sub-category, how about the longest single word as all or part of a surname - any advance on Featherstonhaugh?

[petestenning]

At the time Jose Pedro Chateaubriand made the commentators shorten it to Pedro Briand .
British F3 had its fair share of difficult names to pronounce over the years.

Hence such nicknames as J.J.Lehto/Bent Trackrod[Bengt Tragardh]/Freddy Link[Freddy Kottulinsky] etc

Edited by petestenning, 22 June 2011 - 06:05.

[2F-001]

I thought "Bent Trackrod" was Bengt Trägårdh (?)

[Geza Sury]

What about Pedro Antonio Pinto Ferreira Matos Chaves?

[petestenning]

Corrected ^

[Lee Nicolle]

Peter Nippon Tokusyu Tōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha Janson is a pretty tough one to say - luckily he just called himself NGK Janson

The good Captain's way of getting around CAMS advertising rules.

[wenoopy]

As a sub-category, how about the longest single word as all or part of a surname - any advance on Featherstonhaugh?

If hyphenated surnames are permitted, Montgomerie-Charrington(22 letters), Cholmondeley-Tapper and Fotheringham-Parker(18 each) would be contenders. They each drove in one Grand Epreuve.

At the opposite end of the scale, I recall a couple of New Zealand saloon car drivers named Ax.

[PMac]

Rally driver Erdinc Degirmencioglu was always a bit of a mouthful. Fond memories of David Williams teaching me how to pronounce it when we worked together at Motoring News. I believe he was a Glaswegian garage owner and Escort Mk1 peddler.

[ensign14]

As a sub-category, how about the longest single word as all or part of a surname - any advance on Featherstonhaugh?

That is the longest unhyphenated surname in England, certainly. Georges Raph had one heck of a full name, without titles - (Comte) George Raphaël Béthenod de Montbressieux.

[ReWind]

Freddy Link[Freddy Kottulinsky]

Freddy Kottulinsky (1932 – 2010) and Freddy Link (b. 1940) are different people not even from the same country.

As for the longest name take your pick from any of these Thai names.

[Tim Murray]

As for the longest name take your pick from any of these Thai names.

... which gives us a new leader for the longest single word in a surname:

Nattavude Charoensukawattana

[Flat Black 84]

It's a good thing Cambodian nobility have not been heavy on the track.

[Graham Clayton]

Bertrand Marie Ponce Francois Raphael Lucigne, Prince de Faucigny-Lucinge et Coligny, who raced under the name Prince Decystria.

[ensign14]

Which leads us to one of the enduring mysteries of motor racing - where is Cystria?

[ZOOOM]

I nominate Princess Sparkelpony Patrick, for a woman's name...

ZOOOM