Most virtuoso effort in sportcar racing

[Aysedasi]

Oh yes, Pedro at Brands - very special.

Yes, gfm, as far as the 95 Le Mans is concerned. I was pretty annoyed too as I'd been rooting for the Harrods car all weekend. If Bell Snr. hadn't been accompanied by Bell Jnr. (who was very, very slow, particularly in the wet), and if the clutch/gearbox hadn't played up, who knows what might have happened.......

Bells, pere et fils

[BSchneiderFan]

Why was Justin Bell so slow in 1995? After all, he's a pretty handy driver, and, if I recall correctly, won the FIA GT2 title in 1997.

[b1ackcr0w]

Mimmo Schiaterella was very, very impressive in the Lola during 2000 also, definitely worth an honorable mention.

[gfm]

Well done Nordic. Pedro in the wet BOAC was fantastic - all those who were there will remember it for always. I was and will. That must be number one.
Ayse - we had Derek and his son together in a G-Force GT2 Porsche at Vallelunga in 99. Couldn't have had a more enjoyable pairing and truth be known that day, Justin was very quick ( but could't get past Geoff Lister in a damp hour.)
I had an enjoyable couple of stints at a streaming wet Silverstone WC round in about 97 myself. Took 15 laps or so to find a way past Caldalari similar GT2 to lead the class and we also passed most of the McLarens who were seriously in trouble with that amount of water. I think we actually led overall for two laps. Then it sort of dried out and they all came back past. Nothing special though, just good Dunlops.

[Graham Goodwin]

John was that the race that Calderari led overall but stayed out too long and got the longest stop-go I've ever seen - My god it rained hard that day!

[Purist]

I'll have to do some more looking, but from what I gather, Hans Stuck did a great job at the 1972 Spa 24 Hours.

[sportscarsRULE]

Chris Dyson holding off the Champion Audi at the last ALMS race at portland was great, even if the R8 eventually got by.

Also, Max Papis' run in the Momo 333sp at the '96 Rolex 24 was great as well (he didn't win either). The performance really got him noticed and lead to a career in champ cars.

And in Grand-Am, Andy Wallace picking up Milka Duno's familiar slack and winning the second homestead round was impressive (in the Florida heat!).

The pairing of Magnussen/Brabham put in a great performance to win Portland, 2001. this was the LMP1's second race after being brought out of mothballs due to the failed lmp07. They made another great drive to win the only Washington D.C. race the next year.

[simon c]

Originally Posted by Graham Goodwin

John was that the race that Calderari led overall but stayed out too long and got the longest stop-go I've ever seen - My god it rained hard that day!

Ellen Macarthur came home a close second

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

Why was Justin Bell so slow in 1995? After all, he's a pretty handy driver, and, if I recall correctly, won the FIA GT2 title in 1997.

If I remember rightly, it weas justin's first serious effort at Le Mans (before his much greater successes in the Vipers), the car wasn't easy to drive and the weather was pretty bad for much of the race. If you watch the Sportseen RLM video and see how Justin was taken to pieces by Lehto and Dalmas, you'll understand what I mean.

[RickP:Clio51]

I'm with the boys in the Lehto camp. Only piece of driving I've ever seen that made me want to stand on the grass bank at Arnage in the P*ssing rain at 3am. All those that were there knew we were seeing something special and the atmosphere was incredible as he was simply SO much faster than the rest each lap (I recall something silly like 17 secs at one point?) And didn't Sekiya refuse to drive in the dark as well so JJ and Yannick had to triple stint all night? (This might be urban legend...)
Sadly not old enuff to recall Pedro at Brands although I do have the picture of him in the 917 on the lounge wall so we may have to bow to the oldies on this.
Cheers Rick.

[Dunlop Corner]

Jan Magnussen had some great moments at Laguna Seca in the Panoz. Always seemed to be right with the Audis on america's most difficult circuit!

Also Tom Krisenten has done wonders at Le Mans. The famous night stint in his first year (97), when he broke the lap record three times on his tires third stint. He continued to take 4 stints on the same sets of tires, and from that point on, the pressure was really on the works Porsches, ending with Wolleks crash and the other car overheating.
Also in 2001 in the horrible rain, Tom was brilliant. He was against Pescatori in the other Audi, and simply sealed the win for the #1 car. He knew he had to extend the gap, because the gearbox was failing and they would have to change it. He was often 10s quicker a lap than the other Audi, and i especially remember a beautifull slide through Indianapolis and Arnage around noon.

Tom has probably not made the kind of legendary drives that Ickx has, but he has had some very important ones!

[gfm]

Graham G – yes that’s the one. Didn’t he (Caldalari) stay out longer than he should have? As I said, there was so much water around, the McLarens were locking the rear wheels on the overrun and sliding off. The GT2 Porsche was just made for it – good abs, heated rear screen, three speed screen blower, three speed wipers, quick rack power steering, good low down torque etc.
I think that that’s what made Lehto’s drive at Le Mans so special in the McLaren; he was so far ahead of the game in slimey conditions with a trickey car. There are only a few racers who’ll take it on in conditions like that.
I think it’s one of the reasons why I really prefer sports car/enduro racing to F1 type sprint stuff. Racing at night or inclement weather with lots of other cars, allows a good racer more opportunity to display his skill as a racer as opposed to a driver. A lot of finessing involved.
McLaren’s own video of their first Le Mans win was also excellent. McLaren at Le Mans/Pursuit of perfection. Gordon’s choice of music fits in well with in cockpit close-ups at night and stuff. The disappointment for the Bells not winning was very apparent.

[RickP:Clio51]

I've not seen the McLaren video gfm, is it on general release?

[Aysedasi]

I have it. The only thing I've ever bought on EBay. Well worth having but difficult to find.

[gfm]

It's a brilliant video with great in-car detail shots of pedal/gearshift movements and of night time stuff. Gives you an idea of the continual movement. It was made by Electronic Arts if that's any help.
One interesting sideline of a wet race is that you stay fresher because of lower temperatures and the g-forces are considerably less. It saps a lot of energy 'clenching' your inner pieces which get a hammering from heavy breaking and cornering; there is a lot of violence to counteract AND still make precise movements of steering wheel/gear lever.
One of the joys of the GT1 I used to drive was that the gear shift was absolutely rock/rifle bolt solid, so no matter who quick you were going the gear shift action was so positive, missing gears were pretty impossible. Which was just as well because you seemed to need another gear every second-and-a-half. it was one of the strongest features of the car I thought.
It's also the difference between Porsche and so many others (in my experience). They, the Porsche factory, know EXACTLY what a tired driver needs to operate well in the 23rd hour. Pedal actions , weights, cockpit air flow, instrument/switch access was always so properly done.

[Aysedasi]

Sopme of the in-car footage is available on the web somewhere - in a link that was posted on this forum, actually..... Damn, I can't remember where though.......

[Graham Goodwin]

Great stuff john and great to hear it from inside the cars i was watching from the grandstands!

[gfm]

Actually, in nominating Rodriguez at 1970 Brands wet BOAC in the 917 as perhaps the No. 1 virtuoso performance in sportscars living memory, it’s worth mentioning one or two other performances that day. Rodriguez was black-flagged for passing under the yellow, pitted, given a lecture by the c-o-c, then was so angry he went from a midfield to lead in 20 laps or so. He and Kinnunen when on to win by 5 laps in the 7 hour race, with Elford and F1’s Denny Hulme 2nd, and Dickie Attwood and Hermann 3rd, also in 917s.
It’s also worth recording that of course, ‘things’ were a bit different that day. For example, apart from it being very wet and skid-pan ‘dirty’, the Flat 12 4.5-litre 917s and were pushing 580 bhp in only 800 kgs. Likewise, tyre development was not in the state it is today so wet weather grip was ‘marginal’ only. Add to that the fact that aerodynamics were in their infancy, you can see that you had makings of a handful of a racing car, and the huge crowds treated to some cracking out-and-out racing that year.
Which is why it gave racers of the calibre of Siffert, Redman, Bell, Elford, Attwood, Hermann, Kinnunen etc all in Porsche a chance to shine against Ferrari and Alfa Romeo stars the calibre of Ickx, Oliver, Andretti (although I can’t remember who else was driving at Brands, so eclipsed by the Porsche stars were they.) The rivalry between Rodriguez and Siffert particularly left some breathtaking clashes and battered cars, and some sensational racing.
My abiding memory of that race as I walked a lap in pouring rain and deep deep mud, was actually Vic Elford’s drive in the Salzburg 917 he shared with Hulme. I can remember him now, absolutely powersliding as the car went light at the start of the Top Straight to level with the Grandstand. Amazing car control.

[John Turner]

Stirling Moss on several occasions, but if you just want one, try 1959 Nurburgring 1000 kms in the sole woks Aston DBR1/300 against full works Ferrari team. His co-driver, Jack Fairman, was forced off the road and had to physically lift the car back onto the track (a feat in itself) and got back to the pits just when Moss, having assumed the long overdue Aston was out, had packed up to go home. He jumped in and proceeded to provide one of his virtuoso performances to win the race and set the scene for what was to be Aston Martin's World sportscar Championship year.

[Splatz the Cow]

gfm, when you say you drove a GT1, what car do you mean?
Are you refering to the McLaren F1 GTR gearshift (as Lehto had) or some other car?

[Woolley]

I was at Brands when Raol Boesel put the Jaguar in the wall at Paddock (2nd lap I think, 1986ish) and then fought back to win the race. somebody will remind me who he was sharing with that day.

Also I remember the Lancia LC2 at Silverstone, having been completely rebuilt in a pit-stop for an hour being sent out for one flying lap to set fastest time. Awesome lap. It might have been Alessandro Nannini?

[simon c]

It was Boesel and Big John Nielsen in 1987 (regular partner Eddie Cheever was on GP duty at Hockenheim I think). A titanic battle with the BLR 962GTi.

The Lancia driver was Andrea de Ceasaris at the 1000km in 1986 (Nannini was his partner). Magnificent cars.

[gfm]

Splatz - Porsche GT1. We had a normal shift 6 speeder.

[marcosgt]

3 spring to mind.

Hans Stuck in a Sauber C6(?) at that very wet Brands Hatch way back in the 80s. Would've walked the race if it had stayed wet.

Michael Schumacher at Le Mans in the Merc - First sign I saw that he really was quite good...

JJ Lehto in the McLaren at Le Mans in 1995 - Stormingly quick at night.

Cheers.

[Mal]

Read this:

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_feature_item.php

and I think it sums up why so many people are saying Rodriguez at Brands was the greatest performance in a sportscar.