Forget the Melbourne Cup, here are motorsport’s five best-ever finishes

Apparently some horses are running around a paddock today. If you, like us, need to fill in some time between pretending to know what a Winx is and placing a spread bet on a quinella double decaf (or something), have these top-five motorsport finishes playing in a small corner of your screen today. Trust us, they are epic.

No.5: Chaz Mostert/Paul Morris, Bathurst 1000, 2014

Ford drivers Chaz Mostert and co-driver Paul Morris – 1000/1 long shots to win the race – started dead last and even crashed on lap 45. But 10 safety cars, 13 pit stops, and a one-hour suspension of the race to repair turn two pushed them up the field, overtaking Holden’s Jamie Whincup – who ran out of fuel with just a kilometre to go after ignoring his team – to take an unlikely win. The nearly eight-hour epic was the longest in Bathurst 1000 history.

No.4: Marcos Ambrose, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Watkins Glen, 2011

Former Supercar champ Marcos Ambrose headed to the USA in 2006 to take on the Yanks at their own game. After graduating through the ranks, his breakthrough win came in 2011 in thrilling style at Watkins Glen, just outside New York. From fourth at the start of the last lap … you get the picture.

No.3: 2013 Freedom 100, Indianapolis Speedway, 2013

The Indy 500 is the world’s premier motorsport event, but Indy Lights (the IndyCar’s feeder category) always turn it on in the lead-up at The Brickyard. This finish in 2013 was just the most incredible finish to a race that you will ever see.

No.2: Ayrton Senna, Spanish Grand Prix, 1986

An amazing duel between Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna came down to the wire, after the Englishman pitted for fresh tyres and Senna elected to stay out with 12 laps to go. Mansell made up nearly 20 seconds in 10 laps and on the last lap he was right with him. Mansell lunged out of the final corner and drew alongside Senna, but the Lotus had just enough to hang on and claim victory.

No.1: Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup, Bathurst 1000, 2006

As car races go, it was a pretty close win… but in terms of raw emotion, there are few race finishes like it. Only a month after the shock death of motorsport scion Peter Brock in a tarmac rally, his protégé Craig Lowndes pulled together some almighty stints amidst a day of high emotion to claim the first win for Triple Eight at Bathurst, the first Ford win since 1998 … and the Peter Brock Trophy.