When an underdog comes out on top in sport, it makes for a great story.
For great examples, some may point to Greece winning football’s Euro 2004, Goran Ivanisevic winning Wimbledon, boxing’s Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson or, a much more recent example, Leicester City winning the English Premier League.
Shocking and amazing underdog wins have occurred in the world of motorsport too. Here, we take a look at the cars and drivers behind some of the best underdog race wins.
Formula 1 – Olivier Panis at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1996 Formula 1 season was dominated by the Williams team drivers of Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve (the former won the title in the end), with Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher usually proving the next best challenger.
During this particular season’s Monaco Grand Prix, however, the form book was made irrelevant in what proved to be a frenzied race. Wet weather, mistakes from several of the drivers competing and poor unreliability for others ensured the race was filled with drama non-stop. None of the championship contenders made it to the end of this race.
There were so many incidents in fact, only four of the 21 cars that started the race stayed intact and only three actually saw the chequered flag. The winner in the end was Olivier Panis in the unremarkable Ligier Mugen-Honda.
It was Panis’s only F1 victory in his career. Still, if you’re going to win just one race in your life, the notoriously difficult and much cherished Monaco Grand Prix is certainly a good one to have on your record.
MotoGP – Andrea Dovizioso at the 2009 British Grand Prix
The 2009 MotoGP racing bike season saw well-established riders including Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa compete for the title.
At the year’s British Grand Prix at Donington, however, mixed weather conditions lead competitors to take on different strategies, opening the door to a potential shock winner.
Enter Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso, who had little MotoGP experience at the time and nearly crashed into title challenger Rossi early on in the race.
After that however, Dovizioso smartly climbed up to second and inherited the lead when Rossi out in the front lost control of his bike in the rain. Despite being chased down by two other riders near the end, Dovizioso held on to take an unexpected maiden victory.
Formula 1 – Johnny Herbert at the 1999 European Grand Prix
1999 was a year in Formula 1 when McLaren and Ferrari fought fiercely for the championship, despite Michael Schumacher missing most of this season through injury.
During the year’s European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring circuit, however, current form seemed irrelevant as mixed weather conditions played havoc with the positions of drivers.
While the main title contenders struggled through errors of their own or their team’s making, the race lead changed hands many times between a few different drivers who ultimately span out or suffered a car fault.
Johnny Herbert in the uncompetitive Stewart race car qualified 14th out of 22 cars but quietly climbed up the grid thanks to well-timed switches to wet or dry tyres.
When Ralf Schumacher’s Williams got a puncture in the late stages of the race, Herbert found himself in an unexpected lead and held on to take a shocking but popular win.
As a sign of just how crazy the race was, Herbert’s teammate, Rubens Barrichello, came in third. Completing the podium meanwhile was Jarno Trulli in second in the Prost car which, like the Stewarts, usually occupied the bottom half of the grid.
WRC – Jorge Recalde at the 1988 Rally Argentina
During 1988, competitors and followers of the World Rally Championship were left stunned at that year’s Rally Argentina by the exploits of a little-known competitor called Jorge Recalde.
Jorge was a keen promoter of motorsports in the Cordoba region of Argentina, where the main rally has been held since 1984. When Recalde entered Rally Argentina he had a big advantage because he knew most of the roads used for the stages already, since he had driven through them many times during his youth. In fact, Recalde didn’t even use pace notes when racing at this rally, usually a must-have for competitors.
Thus at the 1988 rally, behind the wheel of a Lancia Delta Integrale, Recalde outdrove all the established names of the time and became the only Argentine to win a round of the World Rally Championship.
Formula 1 – Pastor Maldonado at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix
Pastor Maldonado is no longer on the Formula 1 grid and his stint in the sport, which lasted between 2011 and 2015, will be remembered by many for accidents caused by his erratic driving style.
Maldonado and his defenders can at least say that he did show genuinely impressive pace at times, particularly at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix. At qualifying for this race, Maldonado stunned everyone by setting the second quickest lap, which became the best when Lewis Hamilton was excluded for a technical infringement.
Starting from pole position for the first (and only) time in his career, Maldonado showed remarkable pace as he out-battled Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso to a shock win.
Pastor never really came close to another win during the rest of his F1 stint, but the stunning victory at Spain did show that when he had the opportunity and avoided mistakes, he could beat the best in the field.
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