Motorsport’s 10 Best Races of the 2010’s

There have been some amazing, exciting and even heartbreaking races this decade in the motorsport world. From teammates colliding, to maiden victories. From championship deciders and brilliant battles – this decade has seen it all.

Choosing just ten races from the thousands of events that have happened in motorsport is extremely tough. Without doubt, some classic and key races will not be on the list.

To makes things every-so slightly easier, I have chosen just one race from one motorsport series so that there is a variety of races on the list.

Supercars: Bathurst 2014

Imagine leading less than half a lap in a 1000KM race, being in the tyre wall and a lap down yet still winning the biggest race in Australia. That is exactly what Chaz Mostert and Paul Morris did in the 2014 Bathurst 1000.

There were so many lead changes with safety cars and even a red flag shuffling the order from the very first hour of the race to the last minute. Everyone had a chance of winning or getting onto the podium and it made for a fantastic race.

In the end, it came down to a Ford vs. Holden battle. Shane Van Gisbergan was on course for a memorable win but at his last pitstop, his car would not restart and he painfully could not compete for the win.

Just laps later, Craig Lowndes turned Mark Winterbottom round on a safety car restart leaving Jamie Whincup and Mostert to battle it out for victory around Mount Panorama.

Whincup was told multiple times to save fuel but he did not listen and continued pushing on. It was only with a couple of laps to go, that Whincup began to eventually save fuel so Mostert pushed Whincup on and started looking for an opportunity to overtake.

It went down to the last lap and Whincup was defending like crazy over the top of the mountain. After hundreds of kilometres and millions of decisions made over the course of the race, it came down to the dying stages.

Mostert went for it at Forest’s Elbow and pulled off one of the most dramatic victories you will ever see. Whincup limped home to 5th whilst a Ford, Nissan and Holden all got onto the podium

Incredible scenes.

Formula E: Mexico 2019

It’s another case of running out of fuel, or in Formula E’s case, energy. Prior to the final five minutes of the Mexico the battle was already on as Pascal Wehrlein was fending off the challenge of Oliver Rowland and Lucas Di Grassi in a titanic scrap for the lead.

Mexico is one of the most popular Formula E events and this year’s race was a thriller. The drivers were on the limit of everything, carrying piles of speed into the corners whilst trying to save energy; they had nothing left to give.

However, they were pushing so hard that the teams miscalculated the number of laps that would be raced so nearly everyone got caught out by the extra lap that came about due to the fast pace of the race.

Di Grassi made a bold move on Rowland to steal second position after the second attack mode activations and put the pressure onto Wehrlein. Rowland and teammate Sebastien Buemi were the first cars to run out of energy as Nissan got things badly wrong.

The whole field closed up suddenly as Wehrlein was defending like crazy from Di Grassi. His defence was immaculate and Di Grassi was nearly pushing the German on multiple occasions in the final three laps.

Wehrlein controversially cut a chicane (which he was subsequently penalised for post-race) and looked able to somehow hold onto victory. But in the final meters, he ran out of energy and Di Grassi took advantage by sliding past and drifting across the line to win by a car’s length in the most dramatic of circumstances.

It was not the first time Di Grassi put on a show in Mexico having won from being at the back of the pack in 2017.

Petit Le Mans 2015

One of the biggest upsets in modern sportscar history happened in the prestigious Petit Le Mans when a GT car won the event outright.

Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet guided their Porsche GTLM to an extraordinary victory in heavy rain conditions.

Tandy’s exemplary driving in the Porsche 911 with Michelin’s WEC specification tyres saw him at his best as he eased by the leading Action Express Daytona Prototype to lead the overall race. Madness and something that is a rarity to say the least.

Will we ever see it again in any major sportcar race?

Nordschleife 24 Hours 2017

The Green Hell produces some stunning racing every year but two years ago, sudden rain in the final hour of the race turned the race on its head.

Kelvin van der Linde in the #29 Audi lead much of the race but an electrical fault meant it lost the lead and dropped to third place as the Audi driver crawled back to the pits.

But, at the final pitstop, rain began to fall and the now lead Audi of Rene Rast and second place man Alexander Sims in a BMW were in dry tyres having just pitted.

Van der Linde came in and initially put dry tyres on too but the fuel car was loose so delayed him from getting away.

This delay meant the pit crew boldly and bravely decided to put wet tyres on the car amongst the confusion.

It was an inspired decision as van der Linde retook the lead after looking like he was heartbreakingly going to lose the win.

The Nordschleife’s weird and wonderful weather has made for some incredible scenes in the last ten years.

World Rally Championship: Rally Italy 2018

Sebastien Ogier and Theirry Neuville went toe to toe over 20 stages in Italy’s Rally Sardegna last year. Ogier led much of the rally following Andreas Mikkelsen’s retirement from a gearbox issue.

Neuville had a lot of catching up to do during the final two days but won six consecutive stages to snatch victory away from Ogier by just 0.7 of a second after nearly 200 miles.

Ogier and Neuville finished nearly two minutes clear ahead of the rest of the field showing that they were in a league of their own and were pushing each other to new limits throughout the weekend.

WRC has had a golden few years since 2017 but it goes into the new decade with some uncertainty after Citroen pulled out of the sport a month ago.

Indycar: Indy 500 2011

Possibly one of the most dramatic finishes to a motorsport event happened at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2011, but even before then it was a fantastic race.

There were multiple lead changes between Alex Tagliani, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Ed Carpenter and Orial Servia with some classic Indy 500 racing and overtaking manoeuvres.

On a crucial safety car restart, several cars dived into the pits to hope to make it to the end of the race without pitting again.

Everyone was trying to stretch their fuel to the end with Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon far behind but good to get to the end. Bertrand Baguette was a highly unexpected race leader and kept going and going, somehow making fuel.

However, he pulled out with three laps to go to get a splash of fuel. Franchitti started to conserve lots of fuel too which saw J.R Hildebrand take the lead with a few laps to go.

Franchitti faded so it looked like a rookie was going to win the Indy 500. Hildebrand had a big lead but on the final corner of the final lap, he went high and wide to go around the backmarker of Charlie Kimball and crashed into the wall in one of the most shocking motorsport moments ever.

On three wheels, Hildebrand slid down the wall towards the line but Wheldon flew by to snatch victory away in the dying meters. To this day, many watch the final lap back and are still in shock of what happened.

That’s why we love Indy.

World Endurance Championship: Six Hours of Silverstone 2015

2015 was possible the peak of the WEC golden era which is dearly missed by many. The Silverstone round which opened up the 2015 season set the tone for some incredible racing in the WEC’s LMP1 class.

Porsche looked on course for a relatively easy win but a terminal drivetrain failure for the #17 Porsche after just an hour meant it’s teammate was left to contend for the win.

But, the #18 Porsche of Marc Lieb, Neel Jani and Romain Dumas had to fight super hard with the #7 Audi of Benoit Treluyer, Marcel Fassler and Andre Lotterer to keep the lead.

It was Treluyer and Lieb who had an almighty scrap. Treluyer overtook Lieb around the outside at Becketts but the Porsche immediately retook the lead due to its superior straight line speed.

Both pitted as Jani and Fassler got into their respective vehicles. Mike Conway got into the fight in the Toyota as all three manufacturers battled for victory.

Fassler and Jani battled it out in the final hour with Jani overtaking Fassler down the Wellington Straight, but Fassler reclaimed it back immediately . The racecraft on show was top notch.

The battle continued for the rest of the lap before the final pitstops. But there was drama, Fassler was given a 10-second stop-go penalty for overtaking a slower car off the track. He served it with just 15 minutes to go but retained the lead.

Jani and Sebastien Buemi were pushing hard to catch Fassler but Fassler and the #7 Audi crew just held on in a classic race which saw some of the best racecraft and tactical battles you will see on a racetrack.

Formula One: Canada Grand Prix 2011

Jenson Button was dead last with half of the race remaining. He clashed with teammate Lewis Hamilton, received a drive through penalty for speeding behind the safety car and had clashed with Fernando Alonso. It was a nightmare day for Button.

But, as the track dried the 2009 world champion came through the field. His pace was superior to anyone else. With six laps to go, he found himself in 4th after taking advantage of the carnage in the midfield. Button overtook Webber and Schumacher on the same lap and immediately began chasing down Vettel who had been in the lead all day.

Button was lighting up the timing screen and was less than a second behind Vettel going onto the last lap. Vettel ran wide at turn six, went off line and onto the wet stuff allowing Button to overtake him. The comeback drive was complete.

In terms of battles, Bahrain 2014 and other races were probably better this decade but for sheer drama and excitement, Canada 2011 will go down in history for the drive of Button and for the Grand Prix that felt like it had it all.

BTCC: Brands Hatch 2019

The BTCC has produced so many exciting classics this decade at every venue and nearly every meeting. The last 4-5 years have been a golden era for the series and this decade culminated with a breathtaking finale.

Colin Turkington started in 25th place and had to beat Dan Cammish to have any chance of winning a joint-record 4th title. It had already been a dramatic day but things were about to become off the scale.

Turkington climbed 10 places on the opening lap and found himself on Cammish’s tail midway through the race. Cammish was conservative and made up a few places himself but with four laps to go, Turkington overtook Cammish.

But, Cammish was still in championship-winning position with the tension absolutely unbearable. However, with his brake discs growing hot, Cammish suffered an incredible brake failure with less than two laps to go and crashed out of the race and out of the championship.

The scenes were incredible and Turkington’s 6th place was enough to seal the title by just two points. So much pressure, so much tension and a dramatic brake failure of all things decided the title.

There have been so many side by side finishes for the lead, epic battles and moments and excitement this decade and the finale the BTCC delivered this season did this decade justice.

World RX: Semi-Final 2 Hockeneim 2016

Johan Kristoffersson had a hero drive and nearly hung on to do a miracle job. The two-time World RX champion drove with three wheels and a flat tyre for most of the race after early contact with Petter Solberg at the first turn.

Smoke was pouring off Kristoffersson’s car and he was desperately trying to hold onto a top three position to progress to the final.

On lap four, the gloves came off and everyone wanted a piece of the action. The whole field was side by side and bumping and leaning on each other through the hairpins as Kristoffersson kept the field at bay.

Janis Baumanis emerged from the joker lap and smashed the back of Kristoffersson’s car as Baumanis, Solberg and Liam Doran went three wide over the start/finish line.

Doran with 400 less cylinders than everyone else then started to lean on Solberg and overtook him before finding a way past the fractured Kristoffersson. Solberg followed and Ken Block tried to do the same but Kristoffersson put everything on the line and forced Block to fight his was by.

It was insane racing. Old-school rallycross with a bit of bumping and barging which got the crowd on their feet. What a mad, mega race.