Who's your favourite race/rally driver of all time?
Discussion
Just watched the "Senna" movie the other day, which I thought was really well done. Recommended if you haven't seen it. It made a big thing of the Senna-Prost rivalry but I thought Senna-Mansell was quite a big rivalry as well! Such a legend and a really exciting era in F1 (I wish that I had been a bit older to appreciate it)!
I would have to say that Ayrton Senna is my favourite racing driver because he was so exciting to watch, always gave it everything (anything less than 1st place was not really acceptable) and drove with his heart rather than his head.
My favourite rally driver would have to be Colin McRae without a doubt for largely the same reasons. Again, not the most successful or tactical driver but all or nothing and so exciting to watch! I wonder if they'll make a film about his career.
It's so sad that neither of them are still with us. So who are your favourite race/rally drivers and why?
I would have to say that Ayrton Senna is my favourite racing driver because he was so exciting to watch, always gave it everything (anything less than 1st place was not really acceptable) and drove with his heart rather than his head.
My favourite rally driver would have to be Colin McRae without a doubt for largely the same reasons. Again, not the most successful or tactical driver but all or nothing and so exciting to watch! I wonder if they'll make a film about his career.
It's so sad that neither of them are still with us. So who are your favourite race/rally drivers and why?
Although he was before my time, Jim Clark.
It's not just that he was a multiple F1 champion. He turned his talents to just about any motorsport that came to hand. He was handy in rallying, touring cars, sports car racing, the Indy 500, and despite being F1 World Champion he was driving in a minor-league F2 race when he was killed.
He was the consummate racer, and sadly, ultimately, it was racing that consumed him. He'd make for a fascinating film subject.
In my own lifetime, I found watching Colin McRae pretty sensational - he drove with a flamboyance you just don't see any more, more akin to Finnish greats. Juha Kankkunen and Carlos Sainz were greats as well. On the track, John Cleland was spectacular to watch and helped turn motorsport into this near-pugilistic spectacle, as has Jason Plato who seems like a genuinely nice bloke too.
I actually stopped watching F1 for a year or so after Senna died, mainly because his shoes seemed to have been filled by decidedly undramatic drivers like Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. Of the current crop, I've probably got most respect for Kimi Raikkonen, simply because he doesn't have to do it, he races because he wants to, and he seems considerably less easily swayed by sponsors or any sense of having to maintain a falsely positive front at the behest of PR men. He reminds me of the way drivers were when they were allowed to be human beings.
It's not just that he was a multiple F1 champion. He turned his talents to just about any motorsport that came to hand. He was handy in rallying, touring cars, sports car racing, the Indy 500, and despite being F1 World Champion he was driving in a minor-league F2 race when he was killed.
He was the consummate racer, and sadly, ultimately, it was racing that consumed him. He'd make for a fascinating film subject.
In my own lifetime, I found watching Colin McRae pretty sensational - he drove with a flamboyance you just don't see any more, more akin to Finnish greats. Juha Kankkunen and Carlos Sainz were greats as well. On the track, John Cleland was spectacular to watch and helped turn motorsport into this near-pugilistic spectacle, as has Jason Plato who seems like a genuinely nice bloke too.
I actually stopped watching F1 for a year or so after Senna died, mainly because his shoes seemed to have been filled by decidedly undramatic drivers like Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. Of the current crop, I've probably got most respect for Kimi Raikkonen, simply because he doesn't have to do it, he races because he wants to, and he seems considerably less easily swayed by sponsors or any sense of having to maintain a falsely positive front at the behest of PR men. He reminds me of the way drivers were when they were allowed to be human beings.
Colin Mcrae
Mika Hakkinen
Jenson Button
Kamui Kobayashi
Kimi Raikkonen
Jackie Stewart
Matt Neal
Rickard Rydell
Mark Scaife
Craig Lowndes
edit - I'm also adding Keichi Tsuchiya and Tiff Needell, 2 drivers who can get into pretty much anything and drive the wheels off it. Tsuchiya was even managing to drift the high downforce Toyota GT-One at Le Mans because that's how he prefers to drive!
I have quite a few.
Mika Hakkinen
Jenson Button
Kamui Kobayashi
Kimi Raikkonen
Jackie Stewart
Matt Neal
Rickard Rydell
Mark Scaife
Craig Lowndes
edit - I'm also adding Keichi Tsuchiya and Tiff Needell, 2 drivers who can get into pretty much anything and drive the wheels off it. Tsuchiya was even managing to drift the high downforce Toyota GT-One at Le Mans because that's how he prefers to drive!
I have quite a few.
Edited by DanDC5 on Wednesday 8th August 12:36
Edited by DanDC5 on Wednesday 8th August 12:59
dibbers006 said:
But the greatest driver of all time, for me, would be Loeb.
In any car, on any surface, covering any discipline. His longevity, sportsmanship and immense aptitude put him No.1
I can see why you'd say that, but what's he done other than rallying?In any car, on any surface, covering any discipline. His longevity, sportsmanship and immense aptitude put him No.1
He's the Schumacher of the rallying world, I'd agree with that, but I don't see him as a multi-discipline Clark or Surtees.
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