{"id":459462,"date":"2001-04-01T13:00:03","date_gmt":"2001-04-01T20:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=118243"},"modified":"2024-12-27T01:24:17","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T01:24:17","slug":"the-best-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/the-best-season\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='memberful-global-teaser-content'>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Motorsport magazine, which I had the privilege to edit in the mid-1980s, recently ran a piece which claimed that 1976 was the best year in the history of the World Championship. It\u2019s in my nature to argue with any such statement, but I think the writer was right. Had Hollywood come up with a scenario with Niki Lauda at death\u2019s door and back in a racing car six weeks later, Hollywood would have been mocked.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The 1976 F1 season was so gripping that the then wife, a person not noted for her devotion to motor racing, was awake at four in the morning and listening to the wireless on October 24, 1976. In 1976, the Japanese Grand Prix was an aural experience only \u2013 back then, Bernie Ecclestone had yet to select first gear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n        .memberful-global-teaser-content p:last-child{\n            -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent);\n            mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent);\n        }\n    <\/style>\n<div class='memberful-global-marketing-content'>\n<div class=\"a07online-global-marketing-content-wrapper\">\n<h2 class=\"a07online-global-marketing-title\">No Subscription? You&#8217;re missing out<\/h2>\n<p class=\"a07online-global-marketing-content\">Any Text Here<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"a07online-global-marketing-prompt\" href=\"https:\/\/supercars.memberful.com\/checkout?plan=86696\">Get Started<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"a07online-global-marketing-signin\">\n<h4 class=\"a07online-global-marketing-signin\">Already a Member? <a href=\"https:\/\/supercars.memberful.com\/account\">Sign in to your account here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Motorsport magazine, which I had the privilege to edit in the mid-1980s, recently ran a piece which claimed that 1976 was the best year in the history of the World Championship. It\u2019s in my nature to argue with any such statement, but I think the writer was right. Had Hollywood come up with a scenario with Niki Lauda at death\u2019s door and back in a racing car six weeks later, Hollywood would have been mocked. The 1976 F1 season was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":322,"featured_media":683046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263,11272,261,18207],"tags":[18322,17152,17140,548,11656,11363,17143,17201],"class_list":["post-459462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car-culture","category-members-only","category-motorsport-racing","category-special-feature","tag-2000s-all","tag-car-culture","tag-members-only","tag-motorsport","tag-james-hunt","tag-niki-lauda","tag-special-feature","tag-last-lap-column"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Best Season<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mike Lawrence explores the strange connection between Hunt and Lauda\u2019s sexual escapades and racing\u2019s most influential season.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/the-best-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Best Season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mike Lawrence explores the strange connection between Hunt and Lauda\u2019s sexual escapades and racing\u2019s most influential season.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/the-best-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Supercars.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2001-04-01T20:00:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-27T01:24:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2001\/04\/Lauda-Ferrari-312-T2-e1622924289725-770x393-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"770\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"393\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Lawrence\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Lawrence\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/the-best-season\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/the-best-season\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Lawrence\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9ecce5f233369521caad554c1241d5d6\"},\"headline\":\"The Best Season\",\"datePublished\":\"2001-04-01T20:00:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-27T01:24:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/the-best-season\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1025,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/the-best-season\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2001\\\/04\\\/Lauda-Ferrari-312-T2-e1622924289725-770x393-2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2000s All\",\"Car Culture\",\"Members Only\",\"Motorsport &amp; 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