What's the best Endurance race?

[MikeHoyer]

Just out of interest really...

[BSchneiderFan]

Le Mans. Obviously.

[SALEEN S7R]

Spa 24hrs for me, its much less predictable than Le Mans. Sure no 24hr race is predictable but u can predict at LM that out of say 4 cars one of them will win. The Spa 24hrs is MUCH closer, as Freisinger proved in 2003..

[Nordic]

You are joking right?

There is only one race that has weathered the ups & downs of sportscar racing without the need to throw open the doors to allcomers. The only race that runs it close would be Sebring.

Le Mans is the race all others are judged against, others may have shone and produced a better race sometimes, and may do again, but that would be missing the point.

[Audi R8R]

Originally Posted by SALEEN S7R

Spa 24hrs for me, its much less predictable than Le Mans. Sure no 24hr race is predictable but u can predict at LM that out of say 4 cars one of them will win. The Spa 24hrs is MUCH closer, as Freisinger proved in 2003..

Freisinger won the Spa 24 hours because of the wet weather and the demise of the GT clas machinery in the early hours. But then, that's part of a 24 hour lottery/race.

That's the beauty of any major sportscar event. The unknown. You wouldn't have said that the GT3 Porsche was going to win, but then every car on the grid is in with a chance, depending on the amount of ill luck by the others.

I would't have said that you can predict what car (whether its out of four or forty) is going to win at Le Mans, the unpredictablity element is still there, whether there's an Audi R8 racing or not!

[Aysedasi]

Le Mans by a mile. Spa is only a GT/GTS race and therefore not a major sportscar event for me.

Nothing comes close.

[Fab]

Who answered "other", and for what race ?

Note that I find difficult to give an answer... I appreciate lobster as well as foie gras, or the Rioja of my friend Javi as well as a Bourgogne...

I voted for LM, but I still appreciate the others for their own quality.

Each one can give its own specific pleasure...

[jj2728]

there IS only one....Lemans

[Gabrio]

Originally Posted by Fab

Who answered "other", and for what race ?

I did The best endurance race is when I go 'round for restaurants......

[simon c]

Depends what you include in definition of "best". Don't get me wrong they all make me drool, but everything is relative

For a spectator Spa 24 has it for me. Been to Sebring a few times and LM since 83. LM is a bit sterile, as I have oft said, and viewing is poor since 96 when the fences went up too
Sebring is great for viewing and for getting up close in the paddock- turn 10 is mega as well, but its always soooo hot and humid when I've been.
Spa is for cars with rooves / roofs (moderator, please inform me of the correct plural!) and these look best imo. Stunning scenery, loads of places to get Stella around the circuit, no dxckheads like at Le Mans, and again an accessible paddock. Also, there are parts of the track where me and Dad can sit down, relatively undisturbed and have a decent catch-up. Simple methodology, but then I'm not clever like other forum readers.

However, its a moving feast I'm sure. So far, nothing has come close Le Mans in the 80's, the cars, the viewing, plus I was only a kid so the excitement was real intense etc, and there may be many forum readers who say that Le Mans in the 917/512 era was tops.

Le Mans is the most important for the manufactuers, teams, drivers and is still THE holy grail, but me - I look forward to a Belgian weekend in July more than a French one in June

[Patrick B]

Clearly the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

- high car counts(usally).
- unpredictable finishes.
- Wide range of drivers.
- Excellent viewing of the track.
- Arguably the toughest endurance race on Earth(tho the 24 @ the Ring is close)

[marcosgt]

24 2CV race at Mondello Park!

No, only kidding, it's got to be Le Mans.

Closest runner WAS Daytona, but my desire to visit there has waned for the moment. Maybe when they get back on the programme, I'll get around to it. Spa or Sebring would be my runner ups now.

Cheers.

[tblincoe]

good poll but you missed an obvious biggie, the 24 hours of Daytona...

i voted for Le Mans which in my mind is the clear-cut winner. no other race has the track, cars, and magic of the 24 hours of Le Mans, and I'm talking about all of motorsport here, not just endurance racing...

[PascaLM]

What do you mean by "best" race ?

[Tim Northcutt]

Le Mans would be the one for me...

But I voted for Sebring....because if you can complete the 12 hours on that circuit, it prepares you to run 24 at the others....and I didn't want it to get zero votes....


Daytona...the best???

C'mon....most of the circuit is on the oval....

Don't even go there....

[Fiorentina 1]

I'd say today the best endurance race is the 24 Hours of Nurburgring. If you can survive that race, you've accomplished something. 24-Hours of driving around that awesome 14-mile track with 180+ cars of various speeds is completely insane. Throw in rain, fog and night and that is a true endurance test.

Le Mans is more prestigest, but Nurburging is a pure endurance, survival test. Beside, the greatest endurance race of all time, was the Marathon de la Route held at the Nurburgring in the late 60’s, early 70’s; 84 to 96 hours of racing with only 3-drivers. That is freaking insane!

[Foster]

I gotta be the idiot and say that they all have their own qualities. Each race is a top notch race, and I would love to take one in.

But the "best" would still go to Le Mans. It's a hard one to beat.

[mikmx]

Le Mans, but I have to say been visiting Spa since it adopted GT and it is a good second.

[vs346]

Marathon de la Route, 84 to 96 hours of racing? anyone have more info on this? I've never even heard of it.

[rdjones]

What a silly question, there is only one answer...........

[billnchristy]

They definitely all have their merits:

LM-classic
Sebring-Brutal
Daytona-Huge driver lineups
Nurburgring-Ridiculous car counts and track
Spa-Ridiculous car counts and unpredictible everything
Bathurst-Unbelievable track...have any of you played a videogame with it in there? (TOCA racedriver 1/2)...youre airborne at least 3 times on the mountain in a 3600lb V8 supercar...scary business!!
Zolder-Dont know too much about it!!
Dont forget there are 25hr Club races too...if anything it is noble because most of that stuff is out of pocket and for the pure fun/masochism of it all!!

[Adam43]

In some ways this is like chosing between several fine wines.

However, for me, it is clearly Le Mans.

All the others have little aspects that top Le Mans, but overall it is Le Mans that is best and by a long way.

My second would be Spa. A wonderful place. For similar reasons, although the cars are closer to Sportscars at Spa, I will have to say the Nurburgring too. Bathurst is an excellent circuit too, but the race is new (and shortlived?).

I have a soft spot for Daytona too, it heralds the start of the season and for some reason I always end up getting into it.

Excluding Zolder (which seems a fun event too) Sebring is the big one that least does it for me and I really don't know why. Although come March I shall be excited to see the race again.

[MikeHoyer]

Sorry, I forgot Daytona. Knew there would be one.

Anyway, I think Le Mans is the classic, would like to go to Spa and the Ring though. But there is definitely something about Le Mans.

[Bob Riebe]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

Le Mans would be the one for me...


Daytona...the best???

C'mon....most of the circuit is on the oval....

Before they put the wussy chicane in, that was what made it tough.

Going fast on a most straight flat straight-away stresses only the brain, going from high-banks, to mostly flat, to high-banks again, especially when are hitting the second section at well over 200 mph, and getting squashed like a bug was a test of car and driver.

That is why GARRA made sure the cars go slow enough so no one is extremely challenged.

Bob

[skycafe]

I voted Le Mans. I have never been but it is something I have wanted to see since I was just a wee tiny little boy and my father and uncle were talking about the Chapperals, Fords, Cobras, Ferraris and Porsches. I also do not think you can discount the effects of tradition, and only two other races begin to approach Le Mans for history and tradition, Monaco and Indy, and one of those has lost a lot of luster in the past several years.

I live between Daytona and Sebring and have been to both countless times. Daytona is a very special place to me, and I will defend watching road races there with anyone! There is something special about going out to the east banking at night and watching the cars fly past, you have to look up, and you can watch them run the entire arc around you, little trails of sparks flying as something just kisses the track's bumps due to the g forces, the exhausts glowing, the howl of acceleration as the car gathers speed from the back straight chicane (do I miss the pre-chicane days!!!) the lights illuminating ahead and in a V shape off the nose of the car ( the Porsche 935's were just mind bending to watch out there in the cold night). OR-walking along the walkway along the front stretch at night, off towards road course turn one, and a Ferrari 333 comes up behind you, ripping along at 190 miles per hour, only about five feet away, blowing past and leaving you in a shower of sand and grit from the track and a shower of unreal sounds from one of those V12s. All that said, several aspects of my one of my favorite places seem to be gone for good now....

Sebring-what can I say about Sebring. Changed over the years (in some ways I miss the old pit boxes and buildings), but so many great places to spectate. It is funny to go there for an amateur meeting or something like the historic races, when the competitors outnumber spectators ten to one, and go out and about the track. It is just a bunch of roads and airport runways and access roads plunked down in a huge clearing. But to stand there and realize that some of those bits of road were traversed over the years by the world's great sports cars and the world's great sports car drivers is an amazing experience. For the 12 Hour, add in spring time Florida weather which is nothing but pure joy....reason on its own to go to nowhere ville Florida and visit 100,000 of your closest friends-throw in Endurace Sports Cars and we have a recipe that will put a smile on your face, I promise!

robert