On the 12th of April, the racing community lost one of its most talented and decorated members, Sir Stirling Moss. At the age of 90, Sir Moss succumbed to a long-lasting illness. His exploits in a racing car were truly legendary and deserve to be remembered forever.
Sir Moss never won a world championship, but that has made him even more famous, known as “the greatest driver to never win a championship”. Moss won 16 Grands Prix, 16 pole positions and 20 fastest laps. The British public adored him in his heyday and hailed him as a national hero. Moss was always at full throttle. He believed in pushing to the absolute limit, no matter what. “I am a racer, I’m not a driver”, he had once said. Moss finished 2nd in the championship 4 times, consecutively, from 1955 to 1958. The next 3 years, Moss came 3rd. But F1 was not the only form of racing in which Moss was blisteringly quick.
Moss was similarly fast in the world of sportscar racing, winning the 1955 Mille Miglia, a prestigious thousand-mile race in Italy. It was described as “the most iconic single day’s drive in motor racing history”. Moss won several major races, like the 1956 Nassau Cup, the 1954 12 Hours of Sebring and 3 consecutive wins at the 1000km of Nürburgring. Moss performed admirably in rally and offroad racing as well, showing his raw talent and pure class. His exploits in F1 were quite magnificent as well.
Moss was a true sportsman, often defending his rivals from penalties and even allowing his teammates to overtake him, if they had done the same. He shared an especially strong bond with the Argentine maestro, Juan Manuel Fangio, 5-time world champion. in 1957, Moss won on the longest ever circuit to host an F1 race at the 25 km long Pescara Circuit, demonstrating his skills in long-distance driving. Moss beat Fangio, who is regarded as one of the greatest ever, by 3 minutes! In a sport where a second is considered as an eternity, such a long gap truly shows how good a racer Sir Moss was. Moss competed with and beat legends of the sport, like world champions Fangio, Phil Hill and Mike Hawthorn. In 1962, Moss crashed heavily and was in a coma for a month. His body was partially paralysed for 6 months and he retired from professional racing, feeling that he had lost his instinctive command of the car.
Moss, even after his racing days, continued to drive cars, mainly in showcases and racing festivals, even during his old age. In 2000, Moss was given a knighthood from the British Crown. Moss was also a superb racing commentator. In his entire racing career, Moss won an astonishing 212 races. Sir Moss was one of the true greats of racing and his demise leaves us with memories of his stunning drives and his charming personality. As a racing fan, I never witnessed Moss in a racing car. Yet, decades after his day, I am able to feel the legend of the man who deserved to win so much more. Sir Stirling Moss is nothing less than a legend of the world of racing.
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