Off Piste - Motor Racing Favourites
I thought I would go off-piste with a post.
I am a massive motor racing fan, followed F1 since 1976 which was the James Hunt vs Niki Lauda season, or to those new to the retro era the "Rush" movie :).
I then got into Le Mans and Sports Car racing from around 1981. I was fortunate enough to work in motor racing for a little bit.
So, and not assuming everyone here are racing fans but I guess many will be, I thought I would throw out a favourites survey and name your Top 3 or an honorary plus 1.
- Top 3 favourite racing drivers.
- Top 3 favourite racing series.
- Top 3 favourite racing events/grand prixs/rallies etc.
- Top 3 motor racing manufacturers/constructors.
- Top 3 motor racing circuits
I'll start the show off:
- Ayrton Senna, Tom Kristensen, Kimi Raikkonen - I need to add a 4th Mario Andretti.
- WEC, IMSA, F1 - I need to add a 4th Rallycross (insane).
- 24 Hours of Le Mans, Bathurst 12 Hour, 24 Hours of Spa.
- McLaren, Aston Martin, Ford.
- Circuit de la Sarthe (Le Mans), Spa, Mount Panorama - I need to add a 4th as a "home" track which is Brands Hatch.
Over to you.
Simmo
Discussion
I like to be up front with other folks in the scene and admit my knowledge of real cars and real racing is also 1/64 of theirs. Though it may put me on my back foot especially with the surge of interest in Formula 1 style shows where I don't know anyone behind the wheel in that series. A host could substitute obscure Star Wars character names, I'd enjoy the show just as much
"It's CHIEF CHIRPA on the outside! Nute Gunray caught completely unawares as he falls back to P3!!"
my exposure to any kind of racing began when I was six or seven, in the very early 1960s, when my dad would grab me on a Friday or Saturday evening and take me to the local stock car races in Southern California. these were typically rural race tracks with Rickty bleachers a loud blaring sound system, and of course, cars with open headers. It was loud and exciting.
By the age of nine I was giving my mom new gray hair as I became proficient at riding my uncles Yamaha Trail 80. Fast forward 11 years and I would be racing in dirt bikes in desert and motocross events in Nevada. I was a licensed racer and I think my number was 676 or 667 - been a long time. But racing and taking it to the edge always feels good - until you lose it. in high school most kids could tell you who won the Super Bowl or the World Series, I could tell you who was the world champion motocross rider in 250 cc and 500 cc. Yeah I was that guy.
I'm a inconsistent consumer of racing but I do watch a wide variety of races when I do tune in. From Indy Car, F1 F2. GT, SCCA, MotoGT, 12hrs at Sebring, Euro Rallys, anything at Goodwood. And of course epic off road races through vast deserts. as to favorite drivers and such I don't always get that involved in any of these different races. I have been a fan of Lewis Hamilton in F1. There are others, of course, but their names do not rise in my brain as I dictate this. And of course, from my time in past years, Mario Andretti was always a favorite. And in fact, just by chance, I met the man in 1976. We just shook hands and said hello how are you doing? That sort of a thing. I'm 6' 2" and he is maybe 5' 6" and a very compact man as I recall. Beyond the occasional daydream, it just came to the fact that my racing days were behind me. And then in 2024 I discovered diecast racing.
I think it's really cool that you have been able to actually work in and around racing. That certainly gives you some insights that few people are able to experience. And it could certainly benefit your relationship with majorette as you develop your track and channel.
- I was fortunate enough to interview Mario Andretti for a Quick 10 interview series I did for a motor racing website a few years ago. Though the photos are now archived the article is still there - https://www.thepitcrewonline.net/2017/03/04/quick-10-with-mario-andretti/ — Simmo
- Hey Simmo thanks for the link to that interview with Mario Andretti. Those were some great questions and he had some interesting answers. I had to laugh when he said that Lewis Hamilton was a driver he would pick. — AbbyNormal
This was going to be a reply post to Abby, but I couldn't upload the photos in the reply box.
I have a lot of motor racing memorabilia and autographs in boxes, I won't bore you with photos of the autographs there are loads but I do have Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Mario Andretti (and the family), Ryan Hunter-Reay, E.J. Viso, James Hinchcliffe, Danica Patrick, Sir Stirling Moss (an absolute gentleman he was), Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Massa to name a few.
However, I do have these two little trinkets sitting in the race cabin:
My FIA media pass for World Rallycross in 2017 and the front-wing end plate of Jenson Button's McLaren which came off after he clipped Kamui Kobayashi's Caterham. A "mechanic" gave it to me.
Ive been an F1 fan for as long as I can remember, my parents got me into it originally
Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Jim Clark
F1, F2, Formula E
Dont really have any favourite events
Williams, Ferrari, Lotus
Sau Paulo, Laguna Seca, Mount Panorama
Top 3 favourite racing drivers. Alain Prost, Alan Moffat, Jack Brabham
Top 3 favourite racing series. Supercars Championship (but preferred more when the Australian Touring Cars Championship, when multiple makes competed.) F1
Top 3 favourite racing events/grand prixs/rallies etc.
Bathurst 1000 (but preferred the non Supercars Era), The F1 when it was in Adelaide, not Melbourne,And the real days of the Rally World Championship, last Century!
Top 3 motor racing manufacturers/constructors.
Mazda, Renault (loved the beginning of the Turbo era and the hand grenades) Respect to Ford for all they have done in motorsport across the World.
Top 3 motor racing circuits
Bathurst, and all the other great Aussie Tracks I raced on last century!
Cheers
I don't have 3 but when I was a kid Richard Petty was my favorite. Al Unser was a good one too. We lived near Pomona so The Winternationals was always a great time looking thru the fence to see the race. Been to Riverside, holy smokes that place was every bit of awesome as you could imagine.
That's all I got.