Mansell v Senna Hill v Schuey

[Mattracer]

Has anyone else noticed how much we talk about "the good old days"?

[Heebeegeetee]

Originally posted by Hungary 89
I couldn't Swear to it But I'm sure he started 12th,

I was thinking about this again today, and remembered that it was from 11th that he finished 2nd, in the wet, at Silverstone, after Williams had ditched the active ride and bolted springs and shocks, literally overnight.

Which made me think "so where did he start from at Hungary", but I could clearly recall my reaction at the time, as I described, so I knew it must have been about 11th. But 12th is even better, isn't it.

[John Turner]

Originally posted by Heebeegeetee
I can remember that day. I couldn't watch the race, had to be somewhere else, but I was in someone else's car when I heard on the radio that Mansell had won the Hungarian GP, from 11th on the grid. I was absolutely stunned. I mean, it's almost impossible to overtake there, yet he'd won from 11th. Eleventh! And he'd passed Senna on the way! How? It's not possible! I just couldn't understand it! For a good 45 minutes the other people in the car I was with had to listen to me ranting on and on about how it was virtually impossible to win at Hungary from anywhere other than the first couple of rows on the grid, what a fantatic driver Mansell is when he's on it, about how no other single driver in the world could have done it, he's a boring bu**er out of the car but my God, he's one of the most exciting in it, etc. etc. etc.
Opportunistic? Absolutely. Wonderfully, breathtakingly opportunistic. The opening was there, for at least a good nanosecond, and wham! he took it. The opportunity for it to go pear-shaped, and to have a big accident involving an innocent Senna must have been huge, but boy, he threaded the needle that day. Certainly a very very special victory.
Oh! How I wish there were more like Mansell nowadays. I don’t want to have to watch a Ralf sit behind a leader for 40 laps too often, or a DC completely fail to pass a slower car like last Sunday.
Nope, he wasn’t the world’s best by a long chalk, but when Mansell was on track and fired up, anything could happen.

Heebeegeebee, you have a great passion for the subject. Yes, a wonderful drive by Mansell, but he had quite a few during his career. I agree he wasn't the World's best but to say 'by a long chalk' moves him too far from that accolade. Nige was truly spectacular on a number of occasions and his driving excited me far more than Senna's. I think he was pretty close to Senna and Prost in terms of ability but hugely more entertaining. Winning 31 GPs makes him great, in my book. If Championships were won on the most races in a season, he would have been a 3 x WDC. You can probably tell that I have a problem with the point scoring system. I have done ever since Moss lost the 1958 WDC to Hawthorn despite winning 4 GPs to Mike's i. I have some sympathy with MS current point scoring predicament.