The brief was simple. An email to all the journalists on Autocar: pick your favourite racing driver of all time.
What we didn’t expect was quite the repertoire of answers that came back. Covering most eras and a vast spectrum of the sport - from Formula 1 to club racing - it just goes to show how varied motorsport and its followers are. For once, there are no wrong answers: it has led to many discussions and a fair amount of incredulity but, in the end, it’s all about personal choice.
Do you agree with us? Would you go for someone different? Let us know in the comments below.
Markku Alen
When Markku Alen competed on the 2001 Rally Finland; a one-off drive to celebrate his 50th birthday – something of a tradition among Finnish rally drivers – a sticker on the rear bumper of his Ford Focus WRC simply said: “The original maximum attack”.
That’s all you need to know about Markku. He blended speed, style, charisma and determination of the sort that has never been seen before or since.
The “Italian Finn” – who drove for Fiat and Lancia for more than 15 years, forming part of their Le Mans squad as well – won 20 rallies but never the world title, which was largely down to his no-compromise approach.
People like me would of course say that he did actually win the world title – certainly for at least 11 days – until it was taken away from him after the FIA annulled the results of the 1986 Sanremo Rally. But that’s a whole other story…
Many rate Markku as the quickest ever. Proof is the incredible number of WRC special stages he won: 821. It was such an enduring benchmark that it was only beaten by Sebastien Loeb in 2011 – and don’t forget that in Markku’s day there were far fewer rallies.
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Not one of my favourite drivers. I once asked him for an autograph after an RAC stage at Oulton Park and he totally blanked me, then pushed past to get back in his Alitalia Stratos. The car was beautiful though.
Always looked a taciturn, humourless guy to me. Yes, he was fast, but also broke a lot of cars (maybe because they were Lancias) and as you say, had no great record in rallying. Hardly worth a mention in my top 20.