Triple Crown of Motorsport

The Triple Crown of Motorsport is an unofficial motorsport achievement, often regarded as winning three of the most prestigious races in the world in one's career:

• the Monaco Grand Prix
• the 24 Hours of Le Mans
• the Indianapolis 500

Graham Hill is the only driver to have completed the Triple Crown.

The fact that the Monaco and Indianapolis practices, qualifying and races often clash, makes it difficult for one driver to compete effectively in both races the same year, as the two races take place on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean and, since 1961, have been part of different championships.

Alternate definitions

Including F1 Drivers' Championship

An alternate, and older, definition replaces the Monaco Grand Prix with the Formula One World Championship, though Graham Hill is still the only driver to have accomplished this, winning the F1 Drivers' Title in 1962 and 1968.

Endurance racing

Endurance sports car racing has its own Triple Crown which features Le Mans and has added the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. This crown has been won by several drivers, namely A. J. Foyt, Hans Herrmann, Jackie Oliver, Jacky Ickx, Al Holbert, Hurley Haywood, Mauro Baldi, Andy Wallace, Marco Werner and Timo Bernhard.

Indy car racing

From 1971-1980, Indy car racing contested their own "triple crown," which consisted of the three 500-mile events on the calendar: the Indianapolis 500, Pocono 500, and California 500. Al Unser (1978) is the only driver to win all three in the same season. Ontario was closed in 1980, and replaced with the Michigan 500. The triple crown continued through 1989, after which Pocono was discontinued. No driver won all three events during the 1980s.

Active competitors

As of 2010, the only active drivers who have won two legs of the Triple Crown are Juan Pablo Montoya (currently racing in NASCAR) and Jacques Villeneuve. Villeneuve competed in the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans where he finished in second place, a victory there would have allowed him to complete the Triple Crown (under the latter definition that includes the F1 Drivers' Championship, under the former definition of the Monaco GP his best finish was 4th in 2001).

List of Triple Crown winners

Driver	Indianapolis winner	Le Mans winner	Monaco Grand Prix winner	F1 World Champion
Graham Hill	1966	1972	1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969	1962, 1968
Drivers listed below have completed two of the three legs of the Triple Crown
Tazio Nuvolari	—	1933	1932	—
Maurice Trintignant	—	1954	1955, 1958	—
Mike Hawthorn	—	1955	—	1958
Phil Hill	—	1958, 1961, 1962	—	1961
Jim Clark	1965	—	—	1963, 1965
A.J. Foyt	1961, 1964, 1967, 1977	1967	—	—
Bruce McLaren	—	1966	1962	—
Jochen Rindt	—	1965	1970	1970
Mario Andretti	1969	—	—	1978
Emerson Fittipaldi	1989, 1993	—	—	1972, 1974
Jacques Villeneuve	1995	—	—	1997
Juan Pablo Montoya	2000	—	2003	—

Key: Drivers who are still active are indicated in italics.

See also

• Triple Crown (disambiguation)