In today’s politically correct world, there are many who decry the notion that some people and some things are more equal than others. After all, we wouldn’t, as the thought process goes, want to hurt anyone’s feelings by insinuating that in some way they might be inferior.
Unfortunately for those holding such thoughts, the reality is that there are rankings, a truism which definitely applies to motorsports.

Recently, there have been those who have suggested that the two road-racing events haven’t quite lived up to their respective historic traditions. Yet, somehow this viewpoint doesn’t jive with reality.

And, while there are those who might disagree, there are several racing events which do stand out above others. Among them are the Daytona and Indianapolis 500s and the Sebring 12- and Le Mans 24-hour road-racing classics.
Recently, there have been those who have suggested that the two road-racing events haven’t quite lived up to their respective historic traditions. Yet, somehow this viewpoint doesn’t jive with reality. At Sebring, for example in 2007, there was the fender-banging finish between the top- two cars in the GT2 production class that saw Jaime Melo push his Ferrari to a one foot victory over Jorg Bergmeister’s Porsche, all taking place within a hundred yards of the checkered flag. Then, this past March, there was the memorable upset by the LMP2 category Penske Porsche RS Spyders over the supposedly superior LMP1 Audi R10 diesels. All this, it turns out, was just a warm up for the 2008 Le Mans race.
There have been closer finishes at the Sarthe circuit than this year’s triumph by the same R10 clan that suffered defeat this past March, and in France pulled their own upset over the favored Peugeot contingent.
However, never have viewers been able to get so close to the action as was the case when Peugeot’s Nicolas Minassian and Audi’s Tom Kristensen battled it out head-to-head in the affair’s final hours on a rain-slick track.
It was the best in drama as the two slithered on the treacherous pavement, trying to control their vehicles with huge and constant amounts of steering input while speeds, even in the rain, reached more than 200 miles per hour. One didn’t have to actually be in the cockpit to appreciate what was happening, especially when one, or both would come up on a much slower vehicle with a breath- taking suddenness that caused a momentary pause in one’s normal heart rhythm.
Simply put, it was riveting entertainment. Unhappily, it was entertainment with a potentially high price tag, for if something did happen, it could transform the spine tingling thrills into memories most of us might want to forget. In recent decades, motorsport has spent as much time, energy and money on keeping people — both drivers and spectators — safe as it has making cars go fast. The results of those efforts were clear at Le Mans where in the numerous crashes, everyone walked away — if unsteadily at times — while in many cases the cars, some of which had taken head-on shots in the barriers, were repaired and rejoined the fray.
Even so, this year between the test weekend and qualifying, no less than three cars became airborne in high-speed incidents, fortunately without serious consequences. The risks involved in all of this are unacceptable, which is why NASCAR, with its roof flaps, has spent and continues to seek new and even better solutions to the prevention of these occurrences.
How these might be in a road-racing universe where wings and spoilers, which work well when the vehicle remains in contact with the ground, but are not nearly as effective when not, remains an unanswered question.
What is certain is that something must be done, for not only is this happening in road racing, but also in the single-seat arena. At Le Mans, the organizers, who are the authors of their own rules, were already suggesting that they would reduce performance and speeds to keep their fields earthbound. Will that also reduce the thrills that we enjoyed over the weekend? Most likely it will.
However, I, for one, would rather savor the memories than live with the horrors that could well be the result. After all, unlike Steve McQueen in the movie “Le Mans,” I don’t believe racing is “a blood sport,” no matter how exciting it might otherwise be.