But there are just ten events that we regard to be the pinnacle of racing, the top races that every car enthusiast should visit at least once in their lives. With another great 24 Hours of Le Mans just completed, the time is perfect to get them down on paper (or online, as the case may be) and inform the public about what we think to be the world’s Top 10 most prestigious motor races.
Rally de Monte Carlo
The Automobile Club de Monaco organises the Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte Carlo (formally Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo) every year. The rally is now taking place in the Principality of Monaco and southeast France along the French Riviera.
It has everything when it comes to racing. With frequently unpredictably changing conditions at each start point (typically comprising dry tarmac, wet tarmac, snow, and ice, sometimes all in a single stage of the rally). It also has one of the world’s most well-known special stages. The stage is run along a steep and narrow mountain road with several hairpin curves, from La Bollène-Vésubie to Sospel, or the other way around. This 31-kilometer route runs through the Col de Turini, a mountain pass road that is usually covered in ice and/or snow at that time of year.
Climbing Pikes Peak
The king of all hill climbs is ‘The Race to the Clouds.’ This is the country’s second-oldest motorsports race, and it has a long history. It is a 12.42 mile circuit with 156 turns that begins at 9,390 feet and ends at the 14,115 foot summit of America’s Mountain, Pikes Peak! It was first competed in 1916.
The thin air inhibits reflexes and depletes muscle power as the drivers approach the summit. Engines lose 30% of their power at the summit due to the thin air. Sebastien Loeb established the current record in 2013 with a time of 08:13.878.
The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is unlike any other race course in the world. That is why race teams are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and months of training to fight for the title of King of the Mountain.
To win this event, you’ll need a lot of focus, perseverance, and pure guts because one misstep might send you plummeting off a cliff. There’s a reason it’s known as “The Devil’s Playground.”
More than a century later, thrill seekers visit the Isle of Man every summer for the same reason that the gentlemen of 1907 did: to compete in the Tourist Trophy, now known as the Isle of Man TT.
This is the race for you if you want to achieve the peak of motorcycle racing and aren’t afraid to look death in the eyes around every corner.
Joey Dunlop won his 26th and last TT race at the age of 48 at the start of the new millennium. In 2001, the TT races were cancelled for the third time because to concerns about the Foot and Mouth outbreak that was ravaging the UK’s mainland. John McGuinness won a triple trick of races in 2004, reaching average speeds of 129.4 mph on his way to his 11th TT triumph and setting new lap and race records.
The 24 Hours Nürburgring is an annual touring car and GT endurance race held on the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife (north loop) in central Germany. The race has been held since 1970 and features a 25-kilometer (15.5-mile) loop length that permits more than 200 cars and 700 drivers to compete.
‘”The Green Hell” is regarded as a very difficult track. Many consider this to be the world’s most difficult and epic endurance race. The scenery is stunning, and the action never stops. Regardless, it’s a breathtaking race, the ultimate test of man and machine.