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Most Skilful Motor Racing Sport?

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TRDejaVu

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With apologies if this has already been done.

The Nascar thread made me wonder which group of professional drivers you think need the greatest overall skills to compete in their sport?

Would you put Nascar over rallying; Formula One over drag racing etc.etc.?
 
Rallying!

You don't get to practice the course, every corner is different, so you don't get to perfect your line ether. The road surface constantly changes, you have to be good at driving on many different surfaces (wet/dry tarmac, snow, gravel, mud, etc).
And you have to be able to commit to what your co-driver is telling you
 
Each facet of the sport has its requirements. Rally driving is truly demanding, but the F-1 drivers may take exception to your conclusion! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
When you measure the difference between a good and an average driver, by thousandths of a second in qualifying. I’d say Formula One for natural skill & talent.
 
My opinion for what it is worth, though I admire the skills that each type of racing requires would have to be World Championship Rallying first. Those guys drive in every conceivable type of conditions from sweltering heat to freezing cold, day and night and on every type of road in cars that are virtually as sophisticated as F1 and are always at 10/10ths! 90-100 mph on ice or dirt ruts is equally as skillfull as 200+ on a smooth surface. They must be the best "all around" drivers, though LMS road racers would rate second on my list as they at least drive in wet or dry conditions and day and night. F1 drivers are thoroughbred, overpaid primadonnas whos' skills lie in the mastery and control of awsome machines and rate third on my list even though they represent the premier racing series!
 
Another vote for rallying.
Its not as easy as they make it look...
 
Rallying here, too, with second going to endurance racing.
Drag racing is at the bottom of my list, with NAPCAR just barely above it.
Jeff
 
Another vote for rally drivers, second would
be endurance drivers, third would be off road
racers like the Baja 1000, can you imagine the
pain involved during a 1000 mile race belted
into the seat...

SteveL
 
After having done some professional drag racing and crew work for a road race team, I would have to say there is no way to determine this question. Each has its own set of tests and requires unique skills. Any person in a major division of racing has proven beyond a doubt their ability to be at the top of the skills level. The truly best racers are the beginners who show they have the fortitude to take on a challenge and never doubt themselves. Just my opiion of course. Dave
 
Since you said "motor racing sports", I'd say the FIM International Six Days Trials (now called "International Six Day Enduro" or "ISDE").

Link: https://www.isde06.com/gallery.asp

This is like WRC except you're *waaay* more exposed and going just as fast.
I ran one SCCA Pro-Rally (the US version of the WRC) about 25 years ago in a 510. It was terrifying, but the bike enduros are even more scary.

The big bore ISDE bikes will do 130+ MPH at times, but they also have to snake through impossible landscape. The riders are super-athletes *and* racers.

I ran a junior version of ISDE (AMA East Coast Enduro Association) for nine years.
~ECEA site~

When I hit 40, I quit because it would take me at least two weeks to recover from each event. One of my local pals (Bruce Kenny) represented the USA in the Swedish ISDE in the 80s. He's the best rider I know, but he was second-string at the ISDE.

Running the ~DAKAR RALLY~ on a bike is probably a rough slog too (I'd love to run it in one of those big MAN trucks.

And of course, The Isle of Man TT Races is a fairly intense "commitment" (with all those stone walls).
Ditto, any form of aircraft aerobatics. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

The other end of the spectrum would be School Bus Racing /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

ISDE-06-New Zealand
admire_view_lg.jpg


38_lg.jpg


lg20.jpg
 
Formula One. Choose your vehicle, motorcycle or car. The speed, the power, the exquisite handling characteristics of the vehicles, and, the athletic ability of the drivers. Nothing else seems close, IMHO.

A 34 year old is and "old man" in F1. Just like the most demanding sports: downhill skiing; tennis; track and field, etc. This age limitation barrier is a dead giveaway. If your reflexes are not perfect/young, you're not going to be competitive.

Rally drivers may be much older, but not F1.

My 2 cents' worth.
 
WRC Drivers get my vote. When it comes to drivers that have to 'feel' the car and 'drive' the car at the same time. Rally drivers do that 'dance' on a constant basis as their racing conditions are hardly optimal or consistent. Balancing on the knife edge of having traction or not having traction is a way of life for Rallye drivers more than any other.

They are all top examples of striving for synergy with man and machine and to win, that synergy has to be right on the money. Regardless of what type of motorsport.

When it comes to defining which type of driver/rider might be the most fit athlete? Hands down Motocross/ISDE Racers win that argument in my humble opinion.

I still like watching almost any form of Motorsport though. Regardless of type.
 
vagt6 said:
A 34 year old is and "old man" in F1. Just like the most demanding sports: downhill skiing; tennis; track and field, etc. This age limitation barrier is a dead giveaway. If your reflexes are not perfect/young, you're not going to be competitive.

Rally drivers may be much older, but not F1.

My 2 cents' worth.
Click to expand...

Rally drivers tend to be older because that's when they stop crashing, LOL!
Most rally drivers peak in their early 30's because that is the point where the self preservation "gene" starts to kick in just enough to keep them on the road, but not enough to slow them down too much.
Rallying takes a certain level of maturity and finesse to be successful, not just outright speed and reflexes. You have to drive with your head, because you don't get to practice the same corner over and over and over, you never know how fast you can take the corner. Additionally, because you are racing against the clock and can't see how fast your competition is going, it is difficult to gauge how fast you need to go to stay ahead without crashing, the younger guys tend to have difficulty slowing down enough to stay ahead

Still need to be very fit too


For the rally fans (and non fans), check out my website (see below). There is some relatively famous drivers in the portrait section too /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
I think it is wrong to put ALL forms of motorsports up against each other. Driving in F1 is totally different than NASCAR than drag racing than etc.... For instance, a stock car weighs at least 1/3 more than an F1, has 1/3 less horsepower, tires are half as wide and race on completly different tracks. It's like comparing apples to oranges (could you see an F1 at Talledega 3 deep, inches apart at 200 mph?). I think the fairer (is that a word?) question would be "Who is the better driver?" I like the IROC concept, but I believe it would be better to get away from NASCAR tracks (and I'm a NASCAR fan) and go to various tracks. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
The "best" driver should be able to cross from division to division, class to class and still display superior driving skills, drifters hang the ragged edge, dragsters hit the ultimate acceleration rates, endurance drivers outlast the competition, NASCAR drivers can turn left longer than anyone, F1 drivers deftly handle the most sophisticated machines on the planet, rally drivers do it at whatever is thrown at them, on and on, class by class.

The best drivers surely are the ones that infect us with their die-hard spirit while they dazzle the competition with their superior skills, regardless whether go-karts or F1!!!
 
Good argument Mike, but such versatile drivers really don't exist any longer. John Surtees won world championships on both two wheels and four, and Hailwood also had the potential to win in F1. Stirling Moss, before his tragic career-ending accident, also competed in rallies, saloon-car, endurance, and of course F1 and lower classes of open-wheel racing.

Jimmy Clark was probably the last master-of-all, but he never raced on two wheels.
 
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