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March 28, 2024, 02:30:07 PM

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The Motorsport Thread

Started by Ambient Sheep, December 07, 2005, 12:59:50 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Ambient Sheep

Ooooh!!  Reading very much between the lines of this DS post from an ITV insider, is it just about possible that a certain crappy commentator has been given the elbow?

I'd almost feel sorry for him if so, 'cos he upped his game a lot during the last few races, but then hearing Ben Edwards doing the A1GP races has reminded me of how it SHOULD be done.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

It's equally interesting considering the rumours that are going around about Renault wanting to pull out of F1 sometime soon. It sounds as if Bernie's not too happy about the prospect of seeing the best two drivers driving for the same team.

I expect this story is going to unfold over the next couple of months...

TOCMFIC

I think I said before that I feel Ben Edwards is the best commentator in racing.

I mean Murray, god bless him, would get excited watching his washing machine. Murray is TOO enthusiastic for my liking. Ben gets it just right.

I assume by crappy commentator, you mean James "cunt" Allen?

As for the whole Ron/Flav thing... Since when has F1 been populated by anything other than grown men who act like children?

Hope Renault don't pull out. I've read two things. One said that their decision to stay will hinge on car sales, not results. I've also read the complete opposite.

Shoulders?-Stomach!


Ambient Sheep

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph (found via this PF1 story), Briatore is considering suing!
QuoteAlonso's relationship with Briatore now seems irretrievable, an appalling state of affairs for Renault, for whom Alonso is contracted to drive next year. Briatore is understood to have instructed lawyers to examine the validity of Alonso's actions.

Ambient Sheep

Ron Dennis takes lessons from Frank Williams on "How to Demotivate your Drivers"

http://www.planet-f1.com/news/story_21750.shtml

(original quote that that article refers to, buried in this Grauniad interview here)

Ambient Sheep

A1 GP resumes this coming weekend at an interesting looking Durban street circuit (which I got muddled up in my head with Dubai on the previous page here).

Should be worth watching, with a bit of luck.

EDIT: no it doesn't, it's the 28th/29th.  What a twat.  I'll bump this if I remember in a week's time.

Ambient Sheep

Something for your amusment (make sure you follow the enclosed link)...

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns16162.html

Ambient Sheep

Amusing article here, based on an interview with Cosworth CEO Tim Routsis about the V10 equivalency formula.  Basically he's saying that the formula makes the V10 equivalent to less than Cosworth's own V8 across a whole season...and if other teams' V8s aren't up to that, then that's their problem...

Quote from: "That article in part""The equivalency rule causes a lot of fluttering in the F1 pit lane, there is no doubt about that," said Cosworth CEO Tim Routsis.

"Equivalency is a difficult thing to define, and we have tried to take it on lap times across the season.

"I know a lot of other people are looking at how their V10 would perform against those parameters and measured up against what their V8 could do, and that has caused some teeth-sucking.

"We have made it very clear [to the FIA] that taking all the factors as being equal, a car with our V8 should finish ahead of a car with our restricted V10.

"Where that will put everyone else in the pecking order, is outside the conversation we had."
<big evil grin>


Meanwhile, did anyone else see the Durban A1GP?  Cracking stuff.


imitationleather

Ooh, only a month until the F1 season kicks off.

There's a lot of new (or rather, rebranded) teams this year, and sadly no Minardi of course. Oh, the back of the grid just won't be the same without them. I'm not too sure about there being two Red Bull teams really, it just doesn't feel right to me for some reason. Red Bull have a very bad reputation for buying sports teams and completely changing them, don't they? There's that football team in Austria which got renamed Red Bull FC or something and the team colours and mascot were changed. Bastards. Although, I suppose people aren't as attached to F1 teams as they are football ones.

Also, the Belgian GP has been withdrawn from the calender because of delays in track improvement works. Ah well.

Ambient Sheep

Yes, just came here to post up about Spa.  I'm really REALLY pissed off about that...2003 just wasn't the same without a Belgian Grand Prix, it really ruins the season.  :-(
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4632126.stm

Apparently though part of the problem is that they only have 10 pit garages and now we have 11 teams.  Then again this page says not, and it's true, we did have 11 teams back then.

I smell bullshit.


Meanwhile, I read a funny story the other day (further details here).  Apparently the reason Michael Schumacher (or any other racing driver) living in Switzerland gets such good tax breaks is because - since motor racing has been banned there since 1955 - he cannot perform his chosen trade, and thus is registered as unemployed!!!  Which means that he only pays 20% of the €170,000 land rent that he should.

Obviously the Swiss have never heard of Norman Tebbit.  Bizarre that a country normally thought of as being right-wing could allow a loophole like that!

Quote from: "Ambient Sheep"
Apparently though part of the problem is that they only have 10 pit garages and now we have 11 teams.

I smell bullshit.
Yeah.

Speaking of numbers of teams, it was much better setup when they had 16+ teams out on the track.

danielreal2k

Quote from: "Ambient Sheep"Yes, just came here to post up about Spa.  I'm really REALLY pissed off about that...2003 just wasn't the same without a Belgian Grand Prix, it really ruins the season.  :-(
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4632126.stm

Apparently though part of the problem is that they only have 10 pit garages and now we have 11 teams.  Then again this page says not, and it's true, we did have 11 teams back then.

I smell bullshit.


Meanwhile, I read a funny story the other day (further details here).  Apparently the reason Michael Schumacher (or any other racing driver) living in Switzerland gets such good tax breaks is because - since motor racing has been banned there since 1955 - he cannot perform his chosen trade, and thus is registered as unemployed!!!  Which means that he only pays 20% of the €170,000 land rent that he should.

Obviously the Swiss have never heard of Norman Tebbit.  Bizarre that a country normally thought of as being right-wing could allow a loophole like that!

Registered unemployed and earns a cool £30 million or so a year with his own Castle being built.  

Can I be unemployed in Switzerland too  please

TOCMFIC

If I recall, there is some law being pushed through in Switzerland called the "Schumacher Law" to close that very loophole.

Spa is gone? For fucks sake... They used to race there when they had 39 cars for fucks sake. (Back in the days of pre-qualifying.) That smells like crap to me. If Spa is missing, that's the high point of my season gone:( Cunts... Couldn't be fucking Magny Cours... Or Hungary... Or that go-kart track that passes for Hockenheim. (The ghost of Jim Clark will have his revenge.) Or any of the other shitty fucking awful European tracks. No, has to be Spa doesn't it...

To get me in the mood, I'm going through my F1 review stuff. Watched the Duke Video 1981 season review last night. Christ Simon Taylor is dull... Got 1982 next. Official FIA video, narrated by Clive James. He fucking rocks! Too bad he only did a few. 1983 is sadly missing from my collection. And I didn't bother "acquiring" the review vids of Schumacher dominant seasons like 2004.

Very nasty accident in 1981. Patrese stalls, so a mechanic runs out to help him. He's crouched down behind the back of his car as the field rolls away. Patrese teammate is unsighted, and ploughs right into said mechanic:( VERY nasty. Amazingly he survived. (On the Friday an Osella mechanic had been killed in the pitlane when he slipped into the path of Reutemanns car.)

It's amazing to see just how chaotic F1 was in those days.

danielreal2k

86 was darn good and 88/89 was it? when Senna took Prost off.

Some classic races in those 80's Turbo days.

TOCMFIC

1989: Prost told Senna prior to the Japanese GP that if he tried to overtake him, he'd close the door. Senna tried. Prost did, handing himself the title.

1990: Senna felt he was on the wrong side of the track as he had pole, but was on the dirty side of the track, but they wouldn't change it. He deliberately crashed into Prost at the first corner, handing himself the title.

I started following in 1986. (MANSELLMANIA!) The 1982 review is rough. (Seen it before.) Villeneuve and Palletti killed within weeks of each other:(

danielreal2k

Genius

Some footage  testing a Honda Road Car which I hadnt seen before

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-94755092649073561&q=senna

Although the whites socks does make it look like a race back from an Essex night club.

TOCMFIC

Watching any onboard footage of Senna around Monaco is very close to heaven. The guy was just incredible. I was never a big fan of Senna, but I always admired him in qualifying, especially there. God like.

Pisses me off that Senna's pole record, which was hugely deserved when he often outqualified everyone by over a second, will be taken by that cunt Schumacher this year (if it hasn't fallen already.) I was hoping that one record would stand. I really think Senna, along with Clark, are the greatest drivers in the history of the sport. And Schumacher will have pillaged every single record:(

I've got a Japanese compilation here of all the battles Senna and Prost had. Amazing stuff. I mean not just when they were fighting for the championship in the late 80's, but also in 1993, when Senna had the grossly underpowered customer Ford he gave him a hard time. (Though the best one was at Silverstone, by which point, if I recall, McLaren had engine parity with Benetton.)

And of course you can't mention Senna without Donnington 1993. Sixth to first in one very wet lap. Incredible.

I still miss him:(

Ambient Sheep

Nope, Schumacher hasn't beaten it yet.  I think he's on about 55, Senna's record is definitely 61.

Quote from: "TOCMFIC"Watching any onboard footage of Senna around Monaco is very close to heaven. The guy was just incredible. I was never a big fan of Senna, but I always admired him in qualifying, especially there. God like.

Pisses me off that Senna's pole record, which was hugely deserved when he often outqualified everyone by over a second, will be taken by that cunt Schumacher this year (if it hasn't fallen already.)
Manual gearstick in an F1 car. Those were the days.

TOCMFIC

Quote from: "Garfield And Friends"
Quote from: "TOCMFIC"Watching any onboard footage of Senna around Monaco is very close to heaven. The guy was just incredible. I was never a big fan of Senna, but I always admired him in qualifying, especially there. God like.

Pisses me off that Senna's pole record, which was hugely deserved when he often outqualified everyone by over a second, will be taken by that cunt Schumacher this year (if it hasn't fallen already.)
Manual geatstick in an F1 car. Those were the days.

Manual gears, no traction control... Those were the days. I find it funny watching onboard feeds now. You can tell which drivers suck and which have real skill. Raikkonen, you'll rarely hear his traction control. Compare that to Webber, whose TC is on pretty much all the time in corners.

Every other sport is trying to kill off TC, and F1 is the only sport that currently allows it I think.

I have a ton more respect for drivers who drive Monaco with a manual than a flappy paddle. I remember Brundle once saying his palms were bleeding at the end of one Monaco race... Todays drivers are a bunch of pussies.

RFT

Sadly, lt's not just formula one, Le Mans let cars run with traction control as well.

TOCMFIC

All classes? I did not know that. Didn't get to see Le Mans last year. We usually get about 17 hours live coverage here, but I didn't have cable.

As a well known racing journalist over here said, "Traction control was sent here by the devil to destroy motorsport."

RFT

the GT2s might not have it, but GT1 and LMP1&2 both allow TC.

In a way it bothers me less in endurance racing and LM in particular, because they do want to push technlogy that's useful on road cars- hence the encouragament for alternative fuels and so on. Endurance racing's the ultimate test of machinery so traction control seems almost acceptable in it.

That said, I do wish they hadn't banned active suspension. there was technology that didn't actually detract from driver skill and just made the cars faster- and had real uses for road cars, but got banned with the rest of the stuff in 1994.

one final thought about TC- You mentioned above senna's '93 lap at donny. Senna himself didn't think it was as much of a career highpoint as everyone else- because his car had traction control.

monkeyfart

Quote from: "TOCMFIC"Manual gears, no traction control... Those were the days. I find it funny watching onboard feeds now. You can tell which drivers suck and which have real skill. Raikkonen, you'll rarely hear his traction control. Compare that to Webber, whose TC is on pretty much all the time in corners.

Its been mentioned in this thread before but this is why I have been following GPMasters. Watching them *really* driving the cars just made me realise how 'controlled' the current F1 is. It's more about technology than the actual racing.

Rallying has much the same effect - my eyes are wide with interest at the first glance of power sliding, rapid hand manoeuvres, etc

TOCMFIC

Rally drivers are just fucking nuts:) Not sure what WRC coverage we get here anymore. Probably none. It went from 2 hours per day of each round, down to a 2 hour show on Sunday, down to a 90 minute show on Sunday. Given I've been away for a year from cable now, it's probably down to none at all.

GP Masters will be fun I think. But they're not going to go out of their way to take big risks I think.

The other problem F1 has is the cars are too reliable. Watched the 1982 season review last night. Rosberg won the title with 49 points. That'd barely be enough to be in the top 5 now. It was a tremendous season. Some great drives from John Watson. Ecclestone starting the mid-race pitstop idea with his Brabhams. Marred by two deaths (Villeneuve and Palletti) and one career ending accident (Pironi). But you never knew who'd win due to reliability. The Renaults blew up every race. The turbos were supposed to dominate, but the Cosworths easily stayed with them at most tracks.

In those days, if a driver was leading by 30 seconds, there was still a good chance his car would fall to pieces. Now when a driver leads by that, that's pretty much it.

Don't have the 1983 review sadly, so on to 1984 for me tonight.

Ambient Sheep

Toyota have just unveiled their new aero package for 2006, as promised.  I don't think I've ever seen so many wings, sub-wings, sub-sub-wings, etc. etc. in my life...

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_gallery_image_display.php?fes_gal_id=575&fes_image_number=13

(from http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_gallery_display.php?fes_gal_id=575)

TOCMFIC

Even the wings have wings!!!

I've got a bunch of hi-res pictures here of the new cars, and I have to say, from the colour scheme to the design, the new McLaren is quite possibly the sexiest F1 car ever designed since they started putting wings on them in 1969.

That Pitpass site is arse. The third story, about an "error or something sinister"... That exact story is in this months F1 magazine, which bear in mind they went to press well over a month ago...

I should never have lost my site...

gazzyk1ns

Yeah, I saw the new McLaren (on the net) a couple of weeks sgo, it really does look good. I thought it might be a one-off or an extremely flattering picture, but looking at that Toyota, the cars this year are looking ultra-futuristic, in a good way. We've come a long way from the ridiculous winglets which were banned... what, 2 years ago? I see the Toyota has nice miniature versions of them. The car is designed so sleekly you can only properly see them in half of the pictures in that gallery.