The Greatest ever One-off performance!

[Clive Brown]

Possibly a winning entry in a 'Greatest-ever one-off performance' thread? I was there, 17 years of age at the time, and I'd never seen the like either before, or since.

Incidentally, it just shows how false memory syndrome can strike; I could have sworn that Rodriquez was paired with Jo Siffert, yet the record shows that he was sharing with Leo Kinnunen. Generally, with the Siffert/Rodriguez pairing, I believe Siffert was usually the lead-off driver, and I'm sure Rodriguez started the race, so this is probably true. I seem to recall that Rodriguez's epic drive started when he was black-flagged and brought in for a *******ing from the Clerk-of-the-Course (spit!) for overtaking under a yellow flag.

Off-topic, but perhaps Leo Kinnunen should be in a 'Whatever happened to' or 'Greatest unfulfilled talent' thread?

[John Turner]

Yep, I like that idea, so a new thread. It is surely a candidate, and whilst I wasn't there (my best mate was though) it is well documented as one of the great drives. Yes, Pedro was well miffed at being called in and I'm sure that one of the other drivers (Redman?) was quoted as saying something like 'will someone tell Pedro it's raining.

Other candidates?

[Graz]

Just a very recent one, Marco Simmoncelli the reigning 250 cc world champion making a guest ride at the recent Imola World Superbike round for Aprillia as Nakano is injured, getting into Superpole and getting a podium, beating established team mate Max Biaggi.

The difference between a light 2 stroke 250 and a heavier 4 stroke 1,000 cannot be underestimated yet he was brilliant. To compare, Leon Camier guested last week and he's been dominating Brititsh Superbike all year setting all kinds of records and he was nowhere in Magny Cours last week. I reckon Simmo could be brilliant in MotoGP next year.

[krt917]

Originally Posted by Clive Brown

Generally, with the Siffert/Rodriguez pairing, I believe Siffert was usually the lead-off driver

Totally agree that Brands 1970 was one of those great drives, though I believe some in the JWA team felt Pedro's 1971 Osterreichring 1000km performance was even better.

Just a small note, Pedro and Jo were very rarely partnered together. Pedro shared with Leo Kinnunen in 1970 and mainly with Jackie Oliver in 1971. Siffert had Redman in 1969 and 1970, and Derek Bell in 1971. Not bad drive line-ups really!

In terms of one-off drives out of the blue, how about Beltoise at Monaco in 1972? Unfancied BRM and a driver who is generally not regarded as one of the all-time greats, but on that day he thrashed Jackie Ickx - in a Ferrari - in the wet by over half a minute and Emerson Fittipaldi (on his way to his first title) by a lap!

[chunder]

To be fair to Camier riding a GP bike is nothing compared to a Superbike, and Simoncelli has been in teh GP paddock for many years so is up against the best riders in teh world.

Camier was not nowhere, he was in and aroudn teh top ten before crashing (as Simoncelli did) and to be honest he may even be offered the ride full time!


I would suggest Marcus Gronholm in Sweden against teh ERC regulars, he won the A Final?

Jim Clark doing amazingly well on teh RAC in teh Cortina many years ago..

Mario for cnaging disciplines many times and winning, short track, CHamp Car, NASCAR, GT etc etc

How about Janne Ahonen going from ski jumping multi champion to Top Fuel drag racing and being up front!! Many will scoff at drag racing on here, but believe me those things are not easy to drive!

[D-Type]

Stirling Moss winning the 1954 Sebring 12 hours in a 1500cc OSCA. The smallest engined car to win a WSCC race by a couple of cc from the Targa-winning Porsche. Or was this more a case of Lancia losing the race?

[sweetchuk]

Although hardly a One Off drive, the greatest Formula 1 drive I've seen thus far was Michael Scumacher's performance in the 1996 Spanish Grand at Catalunya ... in torrential rain.

The Ferrari that year was horridly unreliable, but he lapped every car up to 3rd spot in the rain, and earned the highest praise from no less an authority than Sir Stirling Moss, who said of what he witnessed ... "It was not a race. It was a demonstration of brilliance."

Can't go without honourably mentioning Jacky Ickx' performance in the 1977 Bathurst 1000. He arrived the day before the event, had a couple of hours practice in the heavy Group C Touring cars of the day (no brakes like the F1 or Sports Cars he was used to overseas, huge body roll and bugger all aerodynamics back in the day), then co-drove with Allan Moffat to what is commonly regarded as the greatest win that event has yet seen, in one of the toughest road races on the planet.

[ensign14]

Andre Boillot, 1919 Targa Florio. Held in snow. Driving a voiturette Peugeot, smallest car in the field, and won. Raced at Grand Prix level until 1932; never came close to repeating.

Derrike Cope, 1990 Daytona 500. OK, he got a slice of luck to win when Earnhardt punctured. But everyone forgets that without that he would have been second, easily the best result of his or owner Whitcomb's career. He was running at the front all day for a team so underfinanced it only had a race-by-race sponsorship.

Fernand Gabriel, 1902 Paris-Madrid. Raced from 1899 to 1929. The only race anyone remembers is the one he won - starting something like 140th in the field and racing through blinding dust to arrive at Bordeaux third, and easily in the lead on time. Gabriel was also the first-ever Grand Prix driver...

[MGDavid]

great post Ensign; they seem to fit the thread title perfectly.
Whereas I think that a truly talented driver can be a winner in almost anything. I assumed the 'one-off' referred to the driver's career, not the circumstances of the performance?

[Peter Dunne]

Again, hardly a one off, but who could ever forget Sennas opening lap in the pouring rain at European GP at Donington in 1993.

He dropped to fifth place at the start, and then passed four cars including three past and future Formula One champions (Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill) in the first lap to take the lead by the end of the opening lap.

By the end, Senna had lapped the entire field except for one car and finished over a minute ahead of second place Damon Hill.

[Graz]

Originally Posted by chunder

To be fair to Camier riding a GP bike is nothing compared to a Superbike, and Simoncelli has been in teh GP paddock for many years so is up against the best riders in teh world.

Camier was not nowhere, he was in and aroudn teh top ten before crashing (as Simoncelli did) and to be honest he may even be offered the ride full time!

Camier stepped from a four stroke superbike onto a four stroke superbike and was in the lower reaches of the points outside the top ten. He should have done a lot better. I really thought he was disappointing but it's just imo. He's rumoured to be on a second Aprillia team with Shakey Byrne next year as opposed to the full works outfit.

Simmo should have struggled given the vast differences between a 2 stroke ultra light 250cc bike versus the Superbike but he was incredible. Yes he did fall off in race one but was in fifth at the time and on his way forward. This makes his podium in race 2 even more remarkable.

Just imo and in fairness I can see yours too

[naparsei]

Fangio's last win at the 'ring. 1957. How many times did he destroy the lap record? On one lap, he broke it by 20 seconds - while racing against Hawthorne and Collins - who weren't bad drivers.

[ensign14]

It was a tremendous performance, but everyone broke the lap-record thanks to resurfacing work. In terms of time gained, it is on a par with Mansell hunting down Piquet at Silverstone 1987, on a much more dangerous circuit.

[chunterer]

F1 candidates:
Patrese - Long Beach 1981 (at that time he was a promising also ran, not the front runner he would become from Brabham and then latter Williams years)

Brambilla - Fuji 1976 (until he binned it)

Villeneuve - Silverstone 1977 (well, at the time it really was a one off IIRC)

Other events:

Phil Kempe - 1985 British F3 (Thruxton I think it was.... He was a good driver who made a one season return, having been out of the sport for several years because of lack of money)

Dick Johnson -1988 TT, his one and only foray into the ETC in the series' last season...

Alan Jones - End of season Tricentrol BTCC race , Donington 1980 in a Triplex Rover....

I expect there's several F3000 drives, a subject quite close to my heart but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

[ensign14]

Giovanardi won once in F3000, on his debut because he had DNQ'd before then. Albeit only after Donnelly was DQ'd for not using a homologated nosecone.

[Thundersports]

A F3000 one springs to mind; Paulo Carcasci winning the Oulton Park Gold Cup in 1989.

[naparsei]

Originally Posted by ensign14

It was a tremendous performance, but everyone broke the lap-record thanks to resurfacing work. In terms of time gained, it is on a par with Mansell hunting down Piquet at Silverstone 1987, on a much more dangerous circuit.

He was still lapping 11 seconds faster than two great drivers who were in better cars (the Maserati was the same model Fangio drove when he won in '54); Musso wasn't even in the frame (he finished fourth).

[ensign14]

I doubt the Ferrari was better than the Maserati - the 801 was basically the Lancia which didn't win in 1955 "improved" by Ferrari to such an extent that Hawthorn's 2nd was its best performance.

Another one-off: Leo Kinnunen, Targa Florio 1970. Set the lap record. Otherwise he was there at Porsche to give Pedro a rest.

[Corktree]

I always cringe whenever I see the word "greatest" in the title of anything, especially if automobile racing is involved.

Note: There was not much that the Maserati 250F (2529) that Fangio drove in August 1957 had in common with the one he used in January 1954 (2505) other than the designation and general layout of the machine. Very, very different machines both in looks and under the skin.

Nash probably had its best outing during the inaugural running of the Carrera Panamericana, 1950, when Curtis Turner replaced Roy Pat Connor as the driver for the No. 49 Nash for the final leg of the event, Tuxtla Guitierrez to El Ocotal, a 275 km stretch. Turner not only set the fastest stage for the leg, beating the Alfa Romeo of Piero Taruffi by three and a half minutes, but in doing so pushed the Nash from sixth overall to third overall in the standings.This would have placed the Nash in front of the Felice Bonetto Alfa Romeo as well as a Cadillac and an Oldsmobile. Alas, due to the driver change the Nash was disqualified.

[titan6]

When I think one-off performance, I think of a no-body who had an unbelievable result that he never came close to equaling.

Giancarlo Baghetti in 1961 in a privateer Ferrari F1 won his first ever championship F1 race, French GP. He had a checkered driving career after that victory but never really came close to that initial result.

[broadrun96]

I know it's not as competitive as sportscars or F1 but Travis Pastrana running all the events for the '06 US Race of Champions team and almost winning the whole thing himself. Impressive in my eyes for a guy I thought was just an X games/stunt driver, wished WRC was popular enough here to have brought in sponsors and a round in the US.