The Da Vinci of Motorsports
Discussion
I started a thread in the Formula 1 section and it got me thinking about motorsports in general.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Ben Dirs on the BBC has written an interesting piece on the beautiful artists of sport.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/snooker/25816658
But I'd take Button's drive in Canada 2011 or sit at the top of the Suzuka S curves watching him thread the car through any day.
So who's your Da Vinci of Motorsport? MotoGP? Rally? Trails? The driver, rider etc. who makes their chosen sport seem effortless and a shear joy to watch.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Ben Dirs on the BBC has written an interesting piece on the beautiful artists of sport.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/snooker/25816658
Ben Dirs said:
When O'Sullivan plays snooker like this, the consensus is that he makes it look like he is playing another game. This is what the beautiful sportspeople do.
In the hands of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, a tennis racquet is a rock hammer and a tennis court a quarry. In the hands of Roger Federer, a tennis racquet is a paint brush and a tennis court a canvas.
On his day, Tiger Woods plays golf better than anyone but he often makes it look as pleasing to the senses as shovelling coal.
Ben didn't include F1 or any motorsport in his article and the line about Tiger Woods shovelling coal rang true for me about Vettel. If your life depended on a win you'd have Vettel every time. In the hands of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, a tennis racquet is a rock hammer and a tennis court a quarry. In the hands of Roger Federer, a tennis racquet is a paint brush and a tennis court a canvas.
On his day, Tiger Woods plays golf better than anyone but he often makes it look as pleasing to the senses as shovelling coal.
But I'd take Button's drive in Canada 2011 or sit at the top of the Suzuka S curves watching him thread the car through any day.
So who's your Da Vinci of Motorsport? MotoGP? Rally? Trails? The driver, rider etc. who makes their chosen sport seem effortless and a shear joy to watch.
Edited by Agent Orange on Thursday 23 January 14:24
DJRC said:
Gilles.
Gilles.
and...er...
Gilles.
You may close the thread.
Exciting , yes. Dramatic, yes. But surely it's about smoothness, making it all seem so easy. No drama, no fuss, but still getting the same end result as the others.Gilles.
and...er...
Gilles.
You may close the thread.
Gilles was a genius, but I couldn't call him a da Vinci. Wrong modus operandi.
Most exciting to watch that I've seen from trackside- Ronnie Peterson in Lotus 72 and March 712 F2 ; Senna in everything from Formula Ford up; JJ Lehto in the wet in FF2000; Villeneuve in '78 Ferrari ;Pedro Rodriguez in BRMP 160 and Takuma Sato in F3 - never seen anybody drive an F3 with that degree of commitment.
That's what got the pulse racing - but the head was impressed by Stewart's artistry and Prost's smoothness especially. And M Schumacher's sheer lap on lap speed was something else.
That's what got the pulse racing - but the head was impressed by Stewart's artistry and Prost's smoothness especially. And M Schumacher's sheer lap on lap speed was something else.
Cyder said:
Ari, possibly even Colin when the car was dancing on the gravel (usually just before he threw it at the scenery)! 
I know little or nothing about rallying, but I remember seeing film of an Australian Rally where Colin was competing which blew my mind. He had lost time somewhere, and was going balls-out to recover said time on one stage - I couldn't believe what I was watching. It was more than just driving on the edge, it was some sort of blur of man and machine with a death wish. Mad. But mighty impressive.Not exactly a "smooth" driver, though, was he?
Most impressive drive I've seen recently was Tom Kristensen in the St Mary's Trophy at the Revival. It was evident he was carrying significantly more speed than anybody else through Fordwater so I dug out the speed trap figures. Even in the most exhalted company he was a full 10mph quicker through the Fordwater speed trap than any other driver. That includes Jochen Mass in a similar Ford Galaxy. Quite apart from that, he managed to nurse his tyres to the end, overtaking everyone to emerge in the lead just at the end.
To say it was a masterclass is something of an understatement. It was mesmeric and the perfect demonstration of his ludicrous ability.
Another guy who just made everything look easy was Gil de Ferran. At Rockingham in 2001 he patiently sat behind Kenny Brack for pretty much the entire race. Right up until the last lap when he made his move. He and Brack went side-by-side for the entire last lap before de Ferran pipped him across the line. It was pure class.
More recently I've been privileged to watch two of Jenson's best wins - at Canada in 2011 and Spa in 2012. Both totally different drives but he was in a different league in both. Spa may not have seemed a classic in the traditional sense but he was so smooth and so precise. Every lap he was millimetre perfect through Pouhon when all his rivals had minor wobbles at one stage. Of course Montreal will probably forever be the greatest race I'll ever see. As he emerged from the pit lane underneath us in last place I wrote off his chances and settled back to watch Vettel waltz to another win. His fightback and the atmosphere in the 'stands was amazing and the sheer audacity of pulling off such an unlikely win was brilliant.
There are so many more. Marco Asmer was a sight to behold in F3. Allan Simonsen in British GT. Allan McNish in the Audi R8 in that epic, soggy ELMS race at Silverstone (think it was 2005?). Bernd Schneider in absolutely everything. Kenny Brack in Glasel's Daytona Cobra at the Revival in 2011 drifting it through Fordwater lap after lap. Alain Menu around Oulton Park in the BTCC - he just had the measure of that track somehow. Daniel Zampieri in the wet at Magione in Italian F3 when he just demolished his rivals. Hamilton in GP2 at Silverstone in 2006.
I could go on, but I know it'd get boring...
To say it was a masterclass is something of an understatement. It was mesmeric and the perfect demonstration of his ludicrous ability.
Another guy who just made everything look easy was Gil de Ferran. At Rockingham in 2001 he patiently sat behind Kenny Brack for pretty much the entire race. Right up until the last lap when he made his move. He and Brack went side-by-side for the entire last lap before de Ferran pipped him across the line. It was pure class.
More recently I've been privileged to watch two of Jenson's best wins - at Canada in 2011 and Spa in 2012. Both totally different drives but he was in a different league in both. Spa may not have seemed a classic in the traditional sense but he was so smooth and so precise. Every lap he was millimetre perfect through Pouhon when all his rivals had minor wobbles at one stage. Of course Montreal will probably forever be the greatest race I'll ever see. As he emerged from the pit lane underneath us in last place I wrote off his chances and settled back to watch Vettel waltz to another win. His fightback and the atmosphere in the 'stands was amazing and the sheer audacity of pulling off such an unlikely win was brilliant.
There are so many more. Marco Asmer was a sight to behold in F3. Allan Simonsen in British GT. Allan McNish in the Audi R8 in that epic, soggy ELMS race at Silverstone (think it was 2005?). Bernd Schneider in absolutely everything. Kenny Brack in Glasel's Daytona Cobra at the Revival in 2011 drifting it through Fordwater lap after lap. Alain Menu around Oulton Park in the BTCC - he just had the measure of that track somehow. Daniel Zampieri in the wet at Magione in Italian F3 when he just demolished his rivals. Hamilton in GP2 at Silverstone in 2006.
I could go on, but I know it'd get boring...
chevronb37 said:
I could go on, but I know it'd get boring...
No it wouldn't! You see this is exactly what I was aiming at. Any driver can throw their balls out the window and drive the arse off a car but it takes someone very special indeed to make you question if what you are seeing is real. Maybe only for one race or a single lap.What rubbish- if you look at the interweb comments from the resident panel of experts you will see that , actually , Kenny Brack is nothing special at all, overdrives in fact and if only Kenny had learned from his critics' technique on Forza 5 he could have been sooo much better.
Great list .
I can add one more - for sheer aggression I don't think I have ever seen anybody drive like Mark Blundell did in a long ago FF1600 race at Cadwell. He had been punted off in the early laps and in a red mist adrenalin charge simply overtook everybody in front to win . That car could not have gone any quicker.
OK - one more- Cadwell again and this time Gunnar Nilsson in a F3 race; talk about man and machine in perfect harmony- mesmerising .
Great list .
I can add one more - for sheer aggression I don't think I have ever seen anybody drive like Mark Blundell did in a long ago FF1600 race at Cadwell. He had been punted off in the early laps and in a red mist adrenalin charge simply overtook everybody in front to win . That car could not have gone any quicker.
OK - one more- Cadwell again and this time Gunnar Nilsson in a F3 race; talk about man and machine in perfect harmony- mesmerising .
coppice said:
What rubbish- if you look at the interweb comments from the resident panel of experts you will see that , actually , Kenny Brack is nothing special at all, overdrives in fact and if only Kenny had learned from his critics' technique on Forza 5 he could have been sooo much better.
The irony being that Brack's lap was only good enough for second. Mike Jordan did a fantastic job to snatch pole in Philip Walker's GT40. Walker's car isn't nearly so well-developed as Newey's so that was quite an achievement. Brack's drive in the Daytona Cobra was staggering though. That car's worth ten times what Newey's GT40 is and he made it look effortless - inch perfect in terrible conditions every lap.
Keep the memories coming, Mr Coppice - always great to hear from guys who were at the trackside.
I remeber Barry Sheen racing at the Goodwood Revival.
He would spend most of the race in 6th of 5th, and then in the last 5 or 6 laps, pop in a lovely silky smooth pass into Woodcote, taking the lead on the last lap to win.
I know its a fun race and not necessarily the best opposition. But was just a wonderful combination of technique and showmanship. He always left it just long enough for you to wonder if Barry was going to get beat.
He would spend most of the race in 6th of 5th, and then in the last 5 or 6 laps, pop in a lovely silky smooth pass into Woodcote, taking the lead on the last lap to win.
I know its a fun race and not necessarily the best opposition. But was just a wonderful combination of technique and showmanship. He always left it just long enough for you to wonder if Barry was going to get beat.
Chevvy...wasnt Brack driving the Daytona in the TT and the GT40 usually in a different race? Did they have them together in 11? I lose track of my Revivals these days, they tend to merge into each other!
Could add Whizzo in A40s and Pete Hardman in DBR1 for pure consistant artistry.
Could add Whizzo in A40s and Pete Hardman in DBR1 for pure consistant artistry.
Edited by DJRC on Wednesday 29th January 09:18
DJRC said:
Chevvy...wasnt Brack driving the Daytona in the TT and the GT40 usually in a different race? Did they have them together in 11? I lose track of my Revivals these days, they tend to merge into each other!
Could add Whizzo in A40s and Pete Hardman in DBR1 for pure consistant artistry.
Yes, sorry I should've been a little clearer there. Could add Whizzo in A40s and Pete Hardman in DBR1 for pure consistant artistry.
Edited by DJRC on Wednesday 29th January 09:18
Glasel's Daytona Cobra was the 2011 TT when the heavens opened. He was just mesmeric, dancing through Fordwater every lap, just teettering it on the brink. The GT40 drive was the 2013 Whitsun Trophy.
The GT40 quali lap which has become so famous was great but he ran wide at St Mary's just in front of us so wasn't quite the vision of perfection I associate with his Daytona Cobra TT drive.
Another drive I saw in historics which proved the perfect demonstration of man and machine was Paul Edwards' win at the Monaco Historique in 2008 aboard a Penske PC3. He was up against some strong opposition but just drove away from the rest. He was millimetre perfect through the swimming pool cpmplex, having the commitment to carry miles more speed through there than anybody else.
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