48 replies to this topic

[RacingCrusaderUK]

Dear Everyone

I'm the new boy here, I am afraid to say, so please forgive any newbie errors or posts. Having read this forum for the past few months you lot seem like a decent bunch, so I'm sure you wont moan too hard, but if I do do anything wrong, please let me know.

I thought I'd start of with a simple enough question really. Which of the above events do you view as the most prestigious. Put basically, which would you have like to have won most?

Your Comments Below Please

[eldougo]

To me to win INDY would be the best it,s more for the driver than to do it with team mates
like you would have to do at LEMANS. An you get more coverage an MONEY.

[dretceterini]

being much more interested in sportscars than GP/F1 I have to vote for LeMans. I would have voted for Indy, but the IRL has destroyed that race for me...

[RacingCrusaderUK]

On a purely personal level I have to go with Le Mans, just ahead of Indy in my opinion. Its purely a gut reaction, but you only have to look at the pictures of Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory on the podium there, weighed down with flowers to realise that its a race that created hero's. Plus ever since I saw Steve McQueen in the film Le Mans I was in love with Sports Cars. Did they really smash that Porsche up?!? When oh when will they get that out on DVD. . . .grumble. . .mutter. . . .

[maxie]

For me, being prestigious means being recognised and participated by people all over the world.

My top three are Le Mans, Indy 500 and Monaco.

Indy is still an American race. Yes, it has become more international in recent years, but when you look at the teams there, you won't find any of them NOT coming from the USA.

Monaco is just another race in the F1 calender. Apart from being raced on the streets or with only 20 cars allowed on the grid, it's just an ordinary F1 race.

Le Mans is something different, something extraordinary. A totally different experience and top teams from all over the world take part in it. Not the best of racing I would admit, it's more a tactical race, but whenever the name "Le Mans" is mentioned, you will immediately link it up with the 24-hour race.

[racer69]

I'd say at the moment that the most prestigious 'event' would be between the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Indy 500. Once upon a time i'm sure the Monaco GP would have been in there, but nowadays it seems to be treated, as maxie says, just like a usual GP in many ways. Probably the most prestigious GP of the year, but i'm nor sure about event.

Not nowadays, but at one stage the Tourist Trophy (TT) would have rated a mention.

[bill moffat]

yes, I'd go for the top 3 in your list also. If Graham Hill was still alive he would no doubt agree..he won all three.

Monaco may have lost some of its status...but there is still amusement value in seeing today's F1 cars on a totally unsuitable circuit. Do ITV make public the viewing figures for the various Grands Prix..this would be enlightening.

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by RacingCrusaderUK
Dear Everyone

I'm the new boy here, I am afraid to say, so please forgive any newbie errors or posts. Having read this forum for the past few months you lot seem like a decent bunch, so I'm sure you wont moan too hard, but if I do do anything wrong, please let me know.

I thought I'd start of with a simple enough question really. Which of the above events do you view as the most prestigious. Put basically, which would you have like to have won most?

Your Comments Below Please

Got to be Le Mans. Everyone who matters has raced there, and you're performing in front of the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic crowd in motor sport. Oh, and you get as much racing in 24 hours as in a season of F1!


pete

[Ross Stonefeld]

As a single race, for a driver, Indy
As a single race, for a manufacturer, Le Mans.


Endurance racing is all about the car. At Indy the focus is on the driver.

Yeah Monaco is important, but its one race out of 17 whereas Indy, up until a few years ago, was a non points event.

[Udo K.]

Having been an inhabitant of the Eifel mountains, I, of course, have to ask: "What about a Nürburgring-Nordschleife victory"? From the sheer driving point of view a win there is surely at least of the same value as e.g. in Monaco, maybe more. Fangio's German Grand Prix win in his epic drive with the Maserati or Moss' victory in the 1000 KM cannot be rated high enough.
I also think, that winning the Targa Florio is a very special achievement. As far as "prestige" is concerned I also vote for Le Mans.
Why did you include the "Race of Champions" in your list?

[Falcadore]

There is doubt?

Indy, not bad for a speedway. Be nice if anyone ever put in some right handers.

Monaco, not bad not the circuit's a bit tight and it costs $2.50 for a can of Oxygen.

Daytona, used to be good when the ran around on the beach but well it's a bit too much like Indy now.

RAC, meh - it's a bit muddy.

Monte Carlo Rally? Too much snow.

Belgian Grand Prix? Spa almost there as a circuit, but too many open wheelers.

Dakar Rally? How can you race in sand drifts, don't be daft. Where would you have you pit stops.

Le Mans? Not bad some nice cars, but its in France. If they could move it to another country it would be sweet.


Is there nothing on this list??????



ooooo hang on......



BATHURST!!!!!!!!

NOW yer talkin'

[Falcadore]

Originally posted by RacingCrusaderUK
On a purely personal level I have to go with Le Mans, just ahead of Indy in my opinion. Its purely a gut reaction, but you only have to look at the pictures of Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory on the podium there, weighed down with flowers to realise that its a race that created hero's. Plus ever since I saw Steve McQueen in the film Le Mans I was in love with Sports Cars. Did they really smash that Porsche up?!? When oh when will they get that out on DVD. . . .grumble. . .mutter. . . .

The Porsche they smashed up was a Lola T70 with Gulf Porsche body work bolted on. Look at the crash and notice how the bodywork doesn't match at the bottom of the car. The roundels are wrong and the bottom of the car is yellow instead of Gulf blue.

[Holger Merten]

Originally posted by Udo K.
Having been an inhabitant of the Eifel mountains, I, of course, have to ask: "What about a Nürburgring-Nordschleife victory"? From the sheer driving point of view a win there is surely at least of the same value as e.g. in Monaco, maybe more. Fangio's German Grand Prix win in his epic drive with the Maserati or Moss' victory in the 1000 KM cannot be rated high enough.
I also think, that winning the Targa Florio is a very special achievement. As far as "prestige" is concerned I also vote for Le Mans.
Why did you include the "Race of Champions" in your list?

Yes Udo, Nordschleife!

[bobbo]

RacingCrusaderUK:

Welcome aboard, even if it is a belated (or just plain late) one.

Interesting choice of races. I guess, that, from my perspective as a benighted colonial, that this is as international a list as you could come up with. I could add a few others, but they probably don't have the "wider" appeal. They are:

Any GP at Nurburgring (Nordschliefe, of course!)
1000k at the 'Ring
24 hrs at the 'Ring (Is there a pattern here??)
Mille Miglia
Darlington 600
Sebring 12 Hrs

And I suppose moswt of you other folks have your own favorites.

Oh, yeah. I voted for Le Mans. Always been a sucker for that one!

Bobbo

[indycarjunkie]

Man that's a tough one. I had to give #1 to LeMans but if I could vote #2 I'd vote Indy based solely on what it can do for a driver's career.

[fines]

No contest. Indy.

[Jordi #99]

If I was a driver I'd like to win 'em all!

But Le Mans seems the tougher one. It's long, it's on day and night, it has pitstops, long straights, history, Ferraris (there are no Ferraris in Indy!!).

I don't know. Le Mans for me.

[jgm]

The Isle of Man TT motorcycle races are certainly the most challenging high speed motor sporting events left. It's just as well that they are not better known these days as I daresay the United Nations would try to get them banned.

[Don Capps]

I didn't vote for several reasons. I am not sure that there really is any one event which qualifies today.

The only real candidates, in my lowly opinion, would perhaps be:

The International 500 Mile Sweepstakes....
The 24 Hours of Le Mans....
The Italian GP at Monza....
....and either the Daytona 500 or the Darlington Southern 500 -- a toss-up to me

The Monaco GP is perhaps living on manufactured memories and glamor, although at one time it was not too bad of a race....

The German GP and the 1000kms at the Nurburgring were once looked upon as real Racer sorts of events, but modernity has not been kind to the place....

The Monte Carlo Rallye was, once upon a time, the one which attracted the most attention even though there were those much more difficult (something the scrutineers often made up for as compensation) such as the Liege-Sofia-Liege dash or the Acropolis -- but the RAC???? Hmmmm, sorry but....

The Mille Miglia was wonderful and absolute, sheer lunacy -- which is why it had such appeal....

The Targa Florio was another one of those that 'moderns' seem to have trouble comprehending, but what a wonderful, nutty idea for a race....

So, I am abstaining......

[Locai]

I'd say that anymore there isn't any one event that qualifies.

10 years ago I would say that it was Indy. Hands down. But Tony George has turned it into just another date on the IRL schedule.

Le Mans would be great, but it's turning into just a PR opportunity for Audi.

Monaco is a high-speed parade. The cars have outgrown the track.

Most of the other races mentioned are barely known outside of the hard-core race fans.

[Disco Stu]

I don't think there really is one race that stands above the rest anymore. It used to be Indy, but that race went in the toilet in '96. A run-of-the-mill NASCAR race draws a higher TV rating than Indy now. The problem is that with all of the drivers becoming specialized, there isn't one single event that draws everyone to it. So what you have now are a number of different races that are the most prestigious in their own series, but none of them stand out over the top races from other series.

[Xig]

Although I agree that LeMans is a very important race, in the world of motorsport (if not the most important)... it's about sharing your seat which is something I don't like...

Indy 500 with lots of advertisment got the attention of lots of people, even of us who don't live in USA... Yet for me it's only another oval race... it is big because the money that is invested on it... but not for being a great racing event by itself... I mean is just another big event created by the media more than skill of the people who competes on it.... I mean, I don't feel envy of tracy/castroneves.

well but this is not about why I didn't vote for the same most of you did... but answering your question about wich one I'd like to win more...
It has to be Belgian Grand Prix (Spa) It should be really great to race there, let alone winning

[ensign14]

Monaco. It would have been Indy but for the IRL nonsense; or Le Mans if they still had 2 drivers per car to make winning there a much more exclusive club. But the one I'd most like to win is Daytona...as a race, I suppose it is bigger than Monaco, but does not have as much prestige.

[Mark A]

I've voted for Le Mans after visiting last year for the first time it was Awesome. Hopefully even better in a couple of years when Audi go.


However that is my current/modern choice.



If I was asked the same question in the 50's (long before I was born but stick with me) then events you don't mention, but others have Nuerburgring 1000km, Mille Miglia, then Le Mans (wouldn't have liked to be there in 55 though).


In the 60's it would have easily been the Monte Carlo Rally, then Le Mans, followed by the Indy 500 (but only after Clark won), then the RAC, it used to be a real event back then.

In the 70's without a doubt Le Mans followed by Monaco GP.

80's Indy 500.

90's Le Mans when the GT cars really were GT cars.


I think when you look through the events there are some which really stick out. My opinions as someone based in the UK (it does make a difference) are as follows.

Le Mans has attracted the best drivers and manufacturers throughout it's history, it is better known for the cars but who cares, D-Types, GT-40's, 917's, TWR Jag's, McLarens etc. It is the best known race in the world, I just wish Audi would leave.

Indy 500 was poor in the 50's, improved dramatically in the 60's, don't know much about the 70's the 80's with andretti, unser etc were good, since then I feel it has lost it's way, the Mansell years were probably the beginning of the end and now it is a nothing event although the last 2 years have been better than most.

Monaco GP was THE GP in the 60's and 70's even into the 80's but in the 90's the win for Panis and Arnoux's infamous mobile traffic jam made it a joke. It is difficult to win but it's all about sponsors and nothing else (a bit like GP as a whole).

Daytona 500. Never really been interested in this except as an endurance event at a time when motorsport is scarce. Probably due to the fact it's in the US and I'm in the UK, I have more of an interest in Sebring 12hr.

Bathurst 1000. Similar to Daytona really although watching the event on Grandstand was always good. When the BTCC was big and the drivers did Bathurst it got a lot of interest in the UK but that has reduced. We just don't get to hear enougfh about it in the UK. My main interest in this event is the 60's when the Mini Coopers took part (got the video).

RAC Rally. This was a monsterous event in the 60's and 70's, even into the 80's. FIA have made this almost as easy as a club rally. I own a car which did this rally in 1962 (9 years befor I was born ;)) and when you read the reports, of almost 4 days non-stop, stages on the south coast and almost as far north as Inverness. The whole event is almost in walking distance today by comparison.

Monte Carlo Rally. This used to be the event everyone wanted to do. In the early 50's it was a bit of a rich mans tour of europe to show off the Roller etc it improved in the late 50's but it became a real rally in the 60's and 70's which every manufacturer wanted to win, even into the 80's. It was a real challenge with varying conditions etc. Again recently with the removal of the concentration run, the night leg it's another FIA club rally.

Not quite sure what you mean by the Race of Champions.

Belgian GP. Stunning circuit in the 60's and 70's, became a Normal GP in the 80's and early 90's then became THE GP to win in recent years as a racers circuit. Shame it is no-more.

Paris-Dakar. Always thought I'd quite like to do this, but despite the fact it is a huge event with, at times, great manufacturer support it's pretty anonymous outside France. Most famous in the UK for Mark Thatcher.



Sorry for waffling so much but re-reading the above, to my mind shows how motorsport as a whole has lost it's way. Very few of the big events are note worthy today. Any challenge has effectively gone, even Le Mans is almost a 24 hour sprint race, no need for drivers to 'save' the car as much as they used to. In recent years the demise of the Safari Rally in WRC (and the facsimile the others have become), Belgium & Hockenheim in F1, the chicanes at Le Mans, Indy 500 to the 750MC (sorry 750MC for the insult;)).
In my opinion the only event which still has a real challenge to it is the 24h Nuerburgring race. The best active race circuit in the world and over 100 cars entered, just wish I could raise the sponsorship money.

[Doug Nye]

If I had a vote - and if I was really a dreamer - for me it would be a tussle between four or five events, all bygone:

1 - Mille Miglia

2 - Belgian GP on the pre-1968 but postwar Spa-Francorchamps circuit

3 - German GP on the pre-1970 Nurburgring Nordschleife - preferably mit all the trimmings, rain, mist, fog, snow etc

4 - Indianapolis 500-Miles pre-IRL

5 - Any race on the long Mugello road circuit

5B (permit me?) - Any race on the long Pescara circuit

5C - French GP at Lyons-Givors

If you had that set in your locker, you could - indeed - die a happy man.




DCN

[2F-001]

No room for the 'Holly' Birkitt 6-hour relay, then?

[rolando]

Another candidate for this poll could be La Carrera Panamericana, it was a very long and difficult race, it was town-to-town flat-out road racing just like the Mille Miglia, but twice the distance.

[Felix Muelas]

Originally posted by RacingCrusaderUK
...you view as the most prestigious...

I obviously NEED a dictionary, to avoid misunderstanding the question :

prestigious adj. respected, highly esteemed, favorably regarded, having a good reputation.

From the list proposed --that includes both the past and the present, don´t lose sight of it-- I have few doubts¨: Le Mans is the most prestigious, although I was taught when kid that both Indy and the Monaco Grand Prix will, together with Le Mans, constitute the Unholy Trinity (no disrespect intended).

Felix

[Alan Lewis]

Welcome RacingCrusaderUK, may I call you Racing?

I'm also a pretty new contributor after a long time reading and trying to summon up the courage to add my amateur opinions to a forum that boasts such prestigious names as this one, but in the end I just went for it and I'm sure you'll be glad you did too.

Anyway...

I agree with several of the above who have pointed out that the only sensible answer to "What would you most like to have won?" is "When?". For my part, I've always had a soft spot for the World Land Speed Record. In the twenties and thirties it was so prestigious it could get you a knighthood (not that that is any reason for doing it, the point is that race wins wouldn't) but even today it is one of the finest achievements mankind can attempt just because "it's there".

One of the best motorsport related experiences I've ever had was attending a talk by Andy Green and others of the Thrust SSC team at a British Aeronautical Society meeting at Heathrow. I'm not a patriotic person by any description but when the film was played of the record run, with the sonic boom rumbling round the hangar, it came pretty close! A magnificent achievement done for all the right reasons.

A few days later someone wrote to the The Times to say it was a "waste of time". Humanity is doomed.

APL.

[Mark A]

Alan,

You should visit the Motor Museum here in Coventry, they have Thrust SSC and Thrust 2 on display, complete with film etc.

[Ross Stonefeld]

I find all the votes for Le Mans very interesting. Has Le Mans changed over the years? Most of you are 'older' viewers or at least enthusiasts of older racing. Back then was it more driver oriented? For me, a more recent Le Mans watcher, its to me more team/manufacturer based. Get a Porsche 962, and Audi R8, or anything else Joest run, and your odds of winning Le Mans are then based on how many other cars Joest run. Especially since Le Mans is now a 24 hour sprint race, the drivers by and large dont seem to be the key factor.

[mera308gtb]

Although I agree that LeMans is a very important race, in the world of motorsport (if not the most important)... it's about sharing your seat which is something I don't like...

Pierre Laveigh would agree with you. He almost won that race (1954?) without sharing the car with a second driver.

I love Le Mans, but to me it hasn't been the same since the demise of the Group C cars. The Indy 500 is just a shadow of its former self (oh, to join the hallowed ranks of men like Buddy Lazier...). So, I voted for Monaco. The track is still a challange and the fact that for twelve years in a row only Prost, Senna, and Schumacher won the race would put a winner in some pretty heady company.

[Lotus23]

I've attended Indy, Monaco and LeMans, but all in better days.

Currently, it'd be a hard choice. I really tend to agree with Doug Nye (perhaps because we're of the same generation).

If pressed, I'd say LeMans. But it ain't what it was 40 yrs ago....

I'm not sure we'll see a pre-eminent event again anytime soon, or ever. There's been a lot of sanitization and homogenization in the past few decades.

[cartfan76]

Personally..I've gotta go with LeMans. To me, it's the last real "old one-off" race today that still means something (ie. to my knowledge, not officially part of any "championship"). In other words, no matter what they do to rules/who showes up, etc, etc...it's still a big deal. The Indy 500 has become "just another race" since the CART/IRL split. The Daytona 500 to me has always been an over-hyped race. Think about it, it's just another race on the Winston Cup schedual, why make a big stink over it...'specially when NASCAR is taking all brand identity away from the series soon anyways. Which car (body) you race really won't matter, as they'll be the same (but that's a different story in itself).

[Yves]

Originally posted by mera308gtb


Pierre Laveigh would agree with you. He almost won that race (1954?) without sharing the car with a second driver.

Levegh drove 23 hours or so alone in the lead (at least in the 23th hour) in 1952 on a Talbot. This could be what has been fatal to him because in 1955, the Mercedes team (Neubauer ?) engaged him on a 300 SLR for his 52's performance.
But Levegh is not the only one to achieve such a performance. Chinetti in 1949 won, his copilote staying in the pit all the race (he was, let say ... to tired after drinking !).
The next year, Rosier also on a Talbot won driving all the race minus ... 2 laps.

Lemans is also a driver race, otherwise how Olivier Gendebien-Phill Hill, Jacky Ickx, Henri Pescarolo and a few others have been able to win so repeatidly ? Remember also the victory of Gurney-Foyt in 67 with the MKIV ? They have been designated to be the front runners (le "lièvre") and put the highest pressure on the Ferrari.
And they have been able to maintain the same rythm during 24 hours !

My "tiercé" is the same as the majority here : Le Mans, Indy 500 and Monaco.

But I have probably prefered to win as many times as possible at the Nurburgring Nordschleife but on wich event ? the german GP or the 1000 kms ? Of course, both
As a pilot, the Nürbürgring is undoubtly the ultimate juge of fame with the greatest names of motor racing history : Caracciola, Rosemeyer, Nuvolari, Fangio, Moss, Stewart, Clark (remember the small Lotus 23 in 62 ?). This race will be missing for the eternity in Senna, Prost and Schumacher log books ;)

Y.

[Evo One]

Is it just me who thinks the the Goodwood Festival of Speed is far more important than any of the suggested events?

[Don Capps]

1. I would be interested to see how today's generation would respond to this question. With F1 being about all they know, I think that the Le Mans race would not garner quite as much support and enthusiasm.

2. As someone usually out of step with the general view of things, I have always been more inclined to view the International Sweepstates and the 25 Hours of Le Mans as Constants in an ever-changing world. I have not had all that much enthusiasm about Monaco for a variety of reasons, losing what little I had after 1972 or 1973.

3. As far as Grand Prix races go, I have to wonder aloud about whatever happened to the GP de l'ACF -- now merely the GP de France -- in the Order of Things? Along with the German GP at the Nuerburgring and the Italian GP at Monza, I always sensed that these were the GP event somewhat "more equal" than the others.

4. "Prestigious" is such a mercurial word. It is so subjective. It is also a prisoner of time and place. The "most prestigious" event of, say 1954, may not be event around in 1994, for instance. And "prestigious" for whom? Driver? Entrant? Sponsor/ Promoter/ Organizer? The Press? The Fans? Of which nation? Of what age? Then or in retrospect? What category or categories of racing?

5. For me, Le Mans lost a great deal when the Mulsanne Straight As We Knew went away. Not to mention that chicane before the pits. Or the ending of the Le Mans start. Or having few clues as to who those guys were on the "podium." Well, maybe not so much that last one, since there were always a few pleasant surprises among those who brought the cars home.

6. I would much rather go to Goodwood these days. And someday, I certainly hope to make it back for the first time since about 1960....

[Evo One]

"I would much rather go to Goodwood these days. And someday, I certainly hope to make it back for the first time since about 1960.... "

You won't regret it Don

[Jordi #99]

Well, Don, I'm part of this "today's generation". And I voted Le Mans. From a driver's point of view, on a circuit, there's nothing more changeable. Of course in rallying there are also night stages, but in a circuit with left turns, only Le Mans is that. And 24 hours...

The last good Indy 500 was 1995. Jacques won and Penske couldn't even qualify. Talk about a tough race!

Surely the most challenging racing nowadays is Rallying, or the Paris-Dakar. Real danger out there. No sanitized circuits, just trees and cliffs.

[bobbo]

Don:

When you go to Goodwood, save me a seat . . . at least in spirit!

Bobbo

[Holger Merten]

Originally posted by Don Capps
1. I would be interested to see how today's generation would respond to this question. With F1 being about all they know, I think that the Le Mans race would not garner quite as much support and enthusiasm.

OLD Don, which age has "today's" generation?

The question may would be, what could the "todays" generation look on TV?

They have the chance to see "Le Mans" on special channels may for 12 hours for the whole "Le Mans week". But for the F1 weekends, they have always the chance to look also 12 hours and more. So how should that generation learn to think in alternatives? (And in the real heroes?)

[Don Capps]

Ah, my dear Holger, an interesting question.

Let me first address the "problem" of Le Mans: perhaps we -- or at least many of us it seems -- are contemplating the event that it once was, rather than the event that it is today. Both are most certainly challenges, but today there is an unfortunate void where once drivers from other premier formulae and series went at it hammer and tongs with the Specialists. I still have a fondness for Le Mans (in spite of my experience in 1955), but I think today's Le Mans is most certainly not the Le Mans it could be nor what it once was. No reflection on those who do battle today, but time and changes do not always produce a better vintage.

Second, with the FIA & WMSA placing its weight solidly behind only one series for about a decade or more now, Formula 1 (F1), I think that it would be unreasonable to expect to have most of those to international racing to have any term of reference except F1. A similar story in the US of A with the emergence of NASCAR in roughly the same period. It is not beyond anyone's comprehension today that the Brickyard 400 is perhaps bigger (and even 'better' in the literal view of many when ratings are compared) than the International Sweepstakes, once the clear and undisputed champion in the US of A. The shift has clearly been to Daytona Beach, Florida from Speedway, Indiana.

With the demise of Grand Prix racing and the triumph of Formula 1, the events are so uniform that they literally blend together. Monaco persists simply because it fulfills an unstated but concrete need to keep the sponsors satisfied with at least one "glamor" event -- regardless of much the 'glamor' being more of the faux variety than the real sort. I think that those following racing -- F1 in other words -- for the past decade or less would pick Monaco as the "prestige" event given a choice.

Had I to select only one from the Grand Prix -- Formula 1 -- ranks, my vote would perhaps have to be cast for the Gran Premio d'Italia -- with the GP de l'ACF being the other candidate. Why? Depite the horrific disfigurement of the circuit and the various other abominations inflicted upon that plot of ground, it is the only event left with even a modicum of a true racing heritage left. Agree with me or not, I think it is about the only one with the potential to be restored to its former status prior to all the track neutering.

Besides, I am beginning to understand better why I am so much happier dealing with The Past the more I bump up against The Present when these sorts of items get discussed.

[Holger Merten]

Besides, I am beginning to understand better why I am so much happier dealing with The Past the more I bump up against The Present when these sorts of items get discussed.

Yes Don, I could understand that, but (and I hope it's understandble in english) it always deals with your presence in the reality. Or by other words: You can only understand, what you 've learned to understand (e.g. in motorsport history.

And back to this thread, although I'm an Audi (Auto Union) >Fan, and Audi won for three times, Le Mans will be Le Mans! With Audi, without Audi, that's no question. Butt will Le Mans survive Le Mans without TV -coverage?

[rdrcr]

I was reluctant to vote because of the "now" and "then" factors as illuminated by others. My first inclination was to go with Le Mans, for it has run for so long and so many have regarded it with so much "prestige". Namely besides the drivers, the French, the various teams, the factories that put so much time and effort on the line and have used that event to promote their products as ones of speed and endurance.

The second inclination was the Indy 500. Ask any driver who ever won the race and I’d bet the majority would say that it was their crowning glory. I recall many stating, that if they were to only win one race, that would be the one. For if anyone remembers a race won, it would be Indy. (with the caveat of it being prior to the IRL sanction.)

But there are so many that could qualify and you’ve got one up there with no votes… The Paris / Dakar Rally. Which has to be the most strenuous test of man & machine in this day and age.

Another, the Isle of Man event should be there as well. As a test of courage and skill, I don’t know of another event that comes as close to being “prestigious”.

Others that should have been placed among that most prestigious list, in my mind anyway, the Milla Miglia, Targa Florio, and the 24 hours of Spa.

This sort of thing is subjective as hell… Perhaps there should be a division that draws to a more exact standard, the types of racing and those events that would be deemed, “The Most Prestigious”. Even at that, it could be a tough decision.

I ultimately went for Le Mans, but again with the caveat that it was for the events prior to the emasculation of the circuit.

[Alan Lewis]

Mark A, thanks for the reply; yes, the Coventry Museum trip is one I've always meant to do and it's about time I got off my backside and did it. Though I live in Northumberland now, "home" was Shropshire, not a million miles from Coventry, and my parents are still there so there's no excuse on my next trip south.

Mind you, the old Midland Motor Museum near Bridgnorth was only twelve miles away when I lived in Shropshire and I only went there once. I'm a disgrace to motorsport fandom...

APL

[dmj]

I voted for Le Mans among first when this thread was posted but I feel sad seeing no votes for Dakar... Both as a driver or constructor/team manager I'd think it is second biggest challenge left. But if we go through history, which events I'd like to win most? Early rallies, Paris to peking or New York to Paris. Then Vanderbildt, then Carrera, MM and Targa Florio. Two that are still running: Baja and Pikes Peak. Nordschleife, surely, in a Maserati or Aston Martin sports car. Land Speed Record, at the time of Breedlove/Arfons battles preferably... Did I forget Paris to Madrid race? Or Liege-something-Liege, preferably Sofia so that I can drive back through my own country. Whilst I'm here, a good win against Mathe and Cortese at Preluk circuit...
But anyway, Le Mans survived. Bruised, surely. As a shelter for F1 rejects, yes, we can still say so. But for me it is still the Big One.

[Ross Stonefeld]

How is New York to Paris a rally? You get on a boat in New York harbor and sail to Europe. Shouldnt it be the Normandy>Paris rally or something?

[Don Capps]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
How is New York to Paris a rally? You get on a boat in New York harbor and sail to Europe. Shouldnt it be the Normandy>Paris rally or something?

They went the other direction, approaching Paris from the east....

[mach4]

Originally posted by Don Capps


They went the other direction, approaching Paris from the east....

Seems like there will be another edition of the race this year
http://www.newyorktoparisrace.com/