Best championship deciders

#16

Bottom post of the previous page:

Sorry, I forgot they were still using the old old points system back then.

FloP · #17

EB wrote:The 1985 World Championship was far and away the most dramatic decider ever.

I still wish Davis hadn't overcut the final black though

If I ever got the chance, I'd watch that anytime!

#18

CART in 2000 I think at least 4 drivers could win the championship at the end. Kenny Bräck, Adrian Fernandez, Paul Tracy, Gil de Ferran and Roberto Moreno I think could potentially win the championship before the weekend. de Ferran took home the championship without much drama against the other contenders. Moreno had to win the race from pole and lead the most laps, and when he didn't take pole position he was out of the hunt. Tracy and Bräck had to win and de Ferran couldn't score more than 2 points. Tracy retired early, Bräck led the most laps but retired too. Then de Ferran just had to keep Fernandez in sight, and he finished ahead of him.

EB · #19

Surely 1964 is the ultimate F1 decider, with the championship changing hands between 3 drivers during the course of the last lap - I struggle to think of any other title deciders in motorsport that come near that.

#20

EB wrote:Surely 1964 is the ultimate F1 decider, with the championship changing hands between 3 drivers during the course of the last lap - I struggle to think of any other title deciders in motorsport that come near that.

I struggle to find any good explanation of what happened there. Only video I've seen about the event was a short bit with a very boring and not very unenthusiastic commentator. Which didn't show any ontrack action.
Care to help?

EB · #21

Clark entered the last lap leading (and on his way to the title), but was losing oil and never completed the lap.

This temporarily made Hill the favourite, because although he was well down the order (thanks to a famous little incident when Bandini rammed him), Surtees was only running 3rd, and needed 2nd to be champion.

Fortunately for him, running 2nd was his team-mate Bandini, who having nearly buggered Hill's chances earlier, now did for them completely by backing off and letting Surtees through.

bigears · #22

FloP wrote:
EB wrote:The 1985 World Championship was far and away the most dramatic decider ever.

I still wish Davis hadn't overcut the final black though
If I ever got the chance, I'd watch that anytime!

Here...

EB · #23

bigears wrote:
FloP wrote:
EB wrote:The 1985 World Championship was far and away the most dramatic decider ever.

I still wish Davis hadn't overcut the final black though
If I ever got the chance, I'd watch that anytime!
Here...

I remember Davis won the first 8 frames of the match, that made the end even more remarkable.

And that I fell asleep in History the next day because I stayed up to watch it.

kals · #24

@PTRACER, the 1988 Championship was decided at the penultimate round. But looking at that list you've provided, it makes impressive reading.

#25

kals wrote:@PTRACER, the 1988 Championship was decided at the penultimate round. But looking at that list you've provided, it makes impressive reading.

How so?

After the Japanese race, the points scores were as follows:

1st - Senna - 87 points
2nd - Prost - 84 points
3rd - Berger - 41 points

So, with only Australia to go, surely the championship was still wide open with only 3 points between them?

OSNOF · #26

The 'x best scores' rule was still enforced. Prost could only take 3 more points than he already had (if he won, he would lose a second place, which he did), which would've brought him level with Senna, and Ayrton had already secured the most wins out of the pair of them in Japan (8-6), which Prost then made 8-7 in Australia.

kals · #27

OSNOF wrote:The 'x best scores' rule was still enforced. Prost could only take 3 more points than he already had (if he won, he would lose a second place, which he did), which would've brought him level with Senna, and Ayrton had already secured the most wins out of the pair of them in Japan (8-6), which Prost then made 8-7 in Australia.

Couldn't have put it better myself. It was the best 11 scores that counted. Prost actually had the greatest number of points following the Australian GP (which he won).

crazydude1992 · #28

Excuse if this was explained,but could someone give more info about the whole 64 Monza Bandini vs Hill thing?

#29

crazydude1992 wrote:Excuse if this was explained,but could someone give more info about the whole 64 Monza Bandini vs Hill thing?

First of all, it was in Mexico

EB explained it pretty good.

gd49 · #30

2001 BTCC is one of the best finales I've seen. In atrocious conditions, Muller had to finish ahead of Plato to take the championship. Plato was well down the order, so Muller could easily cruise to victory. Muller slid off the track a couple of times, damaging the underside of the car. A fire started underneath the car (despite the very wet conditions!), but Muller was able to continue for a few more laps at competitive speed before finally having to retire.
The drawn out nature of his retirement made it agonizing to watch.

kals · #31

gd49 wrote:2001 BTCC is one of the best finales I've seen. In atrocious conditions, Muller had to finish ahead of Plato to take the championship. Plato was well down the order, so Muller could easily cruise to victory. Muller slid off the track a couple of times, damaging the underside of the car. A fire started underneath the car (despite the very wet conditions!), but Muller was able to continue for a few more laps at competitive speed before finally having to retire.
The drawn out nature of his retirement made it agonizing to watch.

It was a good final. Muller's fire was during a safety car period. Had the race continued at racing speed it's likely the rain water would have stopped the fire igniting.