what's the biggest brain fart you're ever seen a drive have?

I would say Mansell when he lost a GP (can't remember which one) for waving at the crowd on the last lap!

 

Just to name a few:

- DC in the rain of Spa with a broken Mc Laren driving slowly on the ideal line causing a horrific accident for him and Shue.

- JPM diving into the pack at Nuerburgring with nowhere to go.

- Villeneuve in Monaco a week ago. Argh!

 

from Indy about 20 or so years ago: Kevin Cogan who I think was on pole or middle of front row spun on cold tires and took out a bunch of the leading cars right at the start of the race.

And then, Sir Nige. that's why you wave to the crowd AFTER you have won the race. Eddie Irvine when he collected Senna, I think that was back in '91.

 

1990 Brazil-Senna had race locked up, but just had to get past a back marker (Nakajima) in a tight corner in an impossible move. Result-Senna collided with Nakajima pissing away an easy victory in front of the home crowd.
100% bonehead move.

1991 San Marino-Prost, who qualified third in the Ferrari, spins off on the WARM-UP LAP and didn't start the race! WTF????

1991 Canada-Mansell waving good-bye to certain victory...

Goes to show that even the greats are not perfect...

 

If you are not meaning F1 only the blunder of the century was either of the following:

1) Bjord Wirdheim at Monoco last year when he was on the last lap and winning by at least 15 car lengths. He slowed down and pulled up the wall where his pit crew was waiving frantically and he was pumping his fist up in the air in victory....

....only problem was that he was still 100 feet from the finish line when the 2nd place car passed him for the win. Bjord had forgotten where the finish line was.

2) One Mr. Kofod, then racing in SCCA, sitting in the bleachers with wife and kids at the famous Oak Tree turn at VIR expecting to see a pace car coming up the hill leading a field of Spec Miata's ............................... when up the hill come a bunch of ITS BMW's and Porsche's..................

..............Mr Kofod's response: "F'ckin A..that's my race group"

Good thing half the leaders took each other out. I ended up finishing 7th out of 43 cars after driving back to the paddock like a madman where my crew was waiting for me with my nomex suit and gear.

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod
www.flatoutracing.net

 

Jon you really did that?

 

Sad but true. Only good thing about the whole race was that I had qualified poorly for the race when I lost 5th gear in qualifying.

I felt even better when a fellow racer told me he was on the pole for a race a few years back at Watkins Glen. It was raining badly so he stayed in his trailer and fell asleep only to wake up to the sound of his race group going by on the formation lap.

Regards,

Jon

 

Jon I am sorry to say this but that was just hilarious. (I know its mean... but I bet you get a chuckle from it now, years later.)

 

Ayrton Senna fighting with fellow teammate Alain Prost in the pits back in 1988.

 

Just wondering what race was that? Are you speaking about the Spanish GP when he ran Alain close to the wall?

 

No mentioning of MS and the 'warming of the tires' in the tunnel at Monaco of last year. hrmmmmm.

 

Do you mean the brake test on JPM?

 

test, check... whichever. =)

by the look of today's race, it looks like he learned that move from JPM.

 

Are you guys forgetting Michael Andretti's 1993 attempt in F1?
His first 4 races was a joke. IIRC de did not even completed a lap on those 4 starts.

http://www.f1nutter.co.uk/stats/drivers/profile.php?DriverID=Mi_Andretti

 

What about MS sliding off the track at Monaco on the parade lap, or MS, leading the race, hitting the wall coming out of the chicane at Montreal?

 

Jon, that's one of the best racing stories I've ever heard. Thanks for sharing! Hilarious.

 

Taffy:

Michael's attempt at F1 and the subsequent failure wasn't his fault. Do a little research, you'll find his team had a lot to do with it. Better yet, come to California, go to Andretti Winery, when Mario is there, and let him tell you about it. Get some decent wine, and be entertained by one of the most interesting people in racing.

Art

 

Not the biggest mistake I have ever saw ...

1999 Italian GP..
Hakkinen sped away when he knocked his gear selector down once too many, sliding to stall in the first chicane. He was leading the race before that...
MH was very upset and cried.
Frentzen won.

 

1990 Japanese GP - Senna on pole but beaten off the line by Prost then knocking him out in the very fast first corner.

 

After seeing Kimi's brain fade last Sunday, the Speed Channel commentators mentioned the first one I thought of: Senna, in eighty-something at Monaco, about an hour ahead of the pack, driving right into the armco approaching the tunnel.

Michael's spin at Indy was similar brain fade, but with far less consequences on a track with more room for dozing off behind the wheel.

 

I watched F1 quite regularly in 1993, in fact was living in LA as a student from 1989-1995. I don't doubt the Andretti's personality but Michael's first 4 races was a total disaster. It was all in the magazines (no internet in '93). The press compared Michael's disastrous crossover from CART to F1 with the glamorous success of Mansell's F1 to CART. I think Michael was sacked by Ron Dennis later on during the season.

 

Not to mention his alleged brain fart about where the finish line is in Indy...