The Ones That Got Away: 5 Last Gasp Motorsport Heartbreaks

The outpouring of sympathy from rivals Audi and Porsche, as well as fans all around the world, was huge. Toyota was robbed last Sunday and everyone knew it. Watching the reaction among the Toyota family, including Nakajima’s team-mates Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi, was a lesson in the very public portrayal of dignified disappointment. 

It’s not the first time, of course, that motorsport has dealt a cruel hand like that. And it won’t be the last. Here are five other infamous occasions that immediately spring to mind, featuring everyone’s favourite international series: Formula 1, IndyCar, Le Mans, WRC and MotoGP. Don’t forget to let us know any others you can remember…

Mansell’s F1 title blows away in Adelaide (above)

British Williams star Nigel Mansell had won in Belgium, Canada, France, Britain and Portugal – more often than anyone else – and came to the 1986 finale on the streets of Australian city Adelaide with a six-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship. He needed a third-place finish or better to guarantee becoming our seventh World Champion. And that’s exactly where he found himself on lap 64 of the 82-lap when the left-rear Goodyear Eagle tyre exploded on the Honda-powered FW11, instantaneously robbing him of the title. Cue athletic wrestling of a high-speed, three-wheeled Williams as Mansell fought to keep control. He parked the broken machine in the escape road, unaware that it would be another six years before he could finally secure the crown.

Final-corner Indy blunder for home-hero Hildebrand

American JR Hildebrand was on course for an historic maiden IndyCar win – in the big one, the Indianapolis 500. The 23-year-old was cruising to victory for Panther Racing in the 2011 event, the race’s centenary year. There was no bigger a moment for an American racer. And then, within sight of the chequered flag, he ran wide at Turn 4 while passing a backmarker on the outside, and smacked into the wall. Shattered car, shattered dreams. The Dallara-Honda ricocheted along the wall, as the pursuing Dan Wheldon raced past to claim a last-gasp second Indy 500 win. Hildebrand crawled across the line, just holding on to second. It’s a painful clip to watch, so what must it have been like from inside Hildebrand’s car?

Levegh’s solo Le Mans stint falls agonisingly short

French racer Pierre Levegh desperately wanted to win the Le Mans 24 Hours in a French car. He’d only raced there twice before but had been absorbing the culture of the event and observing drivers at work since the inaugural enduro in 1923. He and countryman René Marchand had finished fourth in 1951, and paired up again in a 4.5-litre, six-cylinder Talbot T26 GS Spider for ’52. This time, though, Marchand wouldn’t get a look in; owner Levegh chose to drive solo, for reasons that would become clear much later on. Sadly, deep into the final hour, the engine broke its crank, leaving a dejected and exhausted Levegh unrewarded and Mercedes to take a one-two with its 300 SLs. Many believed Levegh had missed a gear and over-revved the engine, but that was thought unlikely with a pre-selector ‘box. What’s closer to the truth is that Levegh had detected an engine issue early in the race and believed that he, and he alone, would be able to nurse it along, in the hope that it would last…    

Sainz’s third WRC title goes up in smoke

Reigning World Rally Champion and 1998 points leader Tommi Mäkinen had ripped a wheel off his Mitsubishi much earlier in the championship-deciding Rally Great Britain. He’d gone home to Finland to lick his wounds and hope, beyond hope, that Toyota nemesis and fellow two-time champion Carlos Sainz, who languished just two points behind, would somehow fail to finish at least fourth to snatch the title away. It all looked good for the Spaniard, who headed into the rally’s 28th and final stage, South Wales’ Margam Park, in the right place to emerge as a three-time champion. And then, unbelievably and inexplicably, within 500 metres of the stage end, the Corolla WRC’s engine – and Sainz’s title hopes – went up in smoke. The sight of a forlorn Sainz and his furious co-driver Luis Moya, who hurled his helmet through the rear window, is etched in rally fans’ memories. The Le Mans disaster last weekend must have brought back chilling memories for Toyota. 

Dutch disaster for Yamaha nearly-man Edwards

Yamaha’s MotoGP king Valentino Rossi was a long way back. The day was all about the Japanese giant’s understudy, American Colin Edwards. A faithful number-two to the multiple world champion Italian, he was in the form of his life around the legendary Dutch Assen venue for the eighth round of the 2006 season. He led the first 24 laps before countryman and Honda rider Nicky Hayden pounced with a lap to go. Into the final chicane, Edwards saw his chance to get back in front and take a maiden top-class bike GP win by sticking it up the inside. The move forced Hayden to run wide and clatter through the gravel. Crucially for the Honda man, though, Edwards ran too deep in the middle of the chicane, firing the YZR-M1 across a tiny strip of grass. And it didn’t like that, flicking its rider off and cruelly denying him a maiden win. Hayden gathered the RC211V together and crossed the line for his first win of the year. In more than 130 further attempts, Edwards never did nail that maiden MotoGP win.