The MOTOR Awards 2021: Gutsiest Racing Move

Welcome to the MOTOR Awards 2021, where our team offer a tip of the hat to those that displayed automotive excellence in the last 12 months.

Gutsiest Racing Move Winner: Kevin Estre, Nurburgring 24 Hour

No one was ready for the Kevin Estre at the start of this year’s Nürburgring 24 Hour. Rain had started to fall on parts of the Nordschleife as the grid prepared for the 24 hour battle. While most chose wet weather tyres Estre was the first runner to start the race with slick tyres from 11th on the grid.

Estre’s viral fame was first established in 2019 with his ‘pass on the grass’ during the 2019 Green Hell enduro, but the first two- and a-bit laps of the 2021 race were something else altogether. In twenty minutes, he dispatches the ten cars ahead of him on the grid in a savage series of attacks and passes that is without peer. The total deconstruction of Estre’s rivals can be viewed in full online. Watching it is an exercise in getting your jaw acquainted with the floor.

The charge is perhaps one of the greatest opening salvos of any racing discipline. Ever. But it is in the granular detail that Estre’s masterclass really amazes. He commits to his line while passing an Audi R8 that squeezes him to the outside of the track on the run toward Flugplatz.

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There’s no time to rest as Estre immediately positions himself on the outside once more to pass a Lamborghini Huracan, holding firm through both Kottenborn and Schwedenkreuz as rain starts dotting the windscreen. It’s heart in the mouth stuff. His fake-out on the second-place BMW M6 is decisive in its clinical aggression.

The final victim is the pole-sitting M6, which Estre chases down for much of the second lap, relentlessly closing the gap even when experiencing a code brown tank-slapper at Hohenrain. Then he puts his wipers on to clear away spots of rain and you remember once again all these moves are performed on rivals that ostensibly have access to more grip thanks to their wet weather tyres.

The sheer relentlessness of the assault is mesmerising. Estre’s brilliance sets up what would be an eventual victory for himself and his teammates in a heavily shortened event. His entire race was without flaw, but it was the opening stint that we’ll talk about for decades to come. A heroic performance that places the Frenchman in the pantheon of Green Hell immortals, alongside the likes of Walter Röhrl and Stefan Bellof. All hail the new Ring Meister.

Honourable mention: Edoardo Mortara, Diriyah E Prix

Edoardo Mortara was able to move from fifth to third in a single move at this year’s Diriyah E Prix when he dispatched Mitch Evans and Pascal Wehrlein in unison. Using his ‘Attack Mode’ to power past Evans down the straight, Mortara sliced through a vanishing gap to simultaneously sell a dummy to Wehrlein who he then moved ahead of by going around the outside of the next turn. Ace work!

Honourable mention: Gresham Wagner, Global Mazda MX-5 Cup

At the exit of the final turn of Global Mazda MX-5 Cup’s race at Daytona, Gresham Wagner was in third place. Having fought his way 12th, he survived an all-out eight car duel to be in the box seat during the run to the line. Timing his exit from the draft to perfection, Wagner claimed victory by just a tenth of a second in 2021’s most exciting finish.