Motorsports thread

[Arturia Polaris]

Of course it's important. There's a reason why teams like Red Bull Renault skyrocketed in the F1. Their cars. Of course Vettel and Webber are great drivers, but their machines do as much if not more of the work.

Rally is extremely more dependant on the team that made the car. For example, a few days ago the Argentina WRC ended, and it was brilliant. In any case, you have to do a LOT of work on a car for it to be rally-able, if you intend on not destroying your suspension, that is.

Niker

[escimo]

Originally Posted by DonQuigleone

To be honest, I've always thought the engineering team who built and maintain the car to be more important then the driver, when it comes to motorsport.

Not to say the driver isn't important, but the quality of the car is more decisive. The driver is just a component, as important as the engine or gearbox.

In another sport, the person is the entire vehicle for that sport, but in motorsport, they're only a fraction of the vehicle. That said, there are a lot of unsung heroes in normal sport too (all the coaches and trainers...). I don't think they're as unsung as in motorsport though...

I'd say that's true to a point. Especially in insanely technical motorsports like F1. A great diver can't really achieve all that much in a substandard car. I'd say it's 70% car 30% driver. However given a great car, a substandard driver as a component is completely fatal one. In F1 there's such a small difference between the talent and skill of the top half of the drivers.

There have been quite a few drivers that transcend their equipment though. Senna being the most notable. The stuff he did in his Toleman and Lotus years were absolutely unbelievable. It really was a case of 99% driver 1% car.

One thing I can say from personal experience, you really need to be pretty damn good to make it in even the lowest levels of competitive motorsports. I'm not horribly bad in fast driving but I was still outpaced by 15 seconds a lap in the Formula Ford by a 16 year old racing driver over a 1:20 lap. That was a bit depressing.

[Nappy Hared Azn]

Wait, Shelby's dead?

[Arturia Polaris]

Sadly, yes.

Niker

[DonQuigleone]

Originally Posted by escimo

I'd say that's true to a point. Especially in insanely technical motorsports like F1. A great diver can't really achieve all that much in a substandard car. I'd say it's 70% car 30% driver. However given a great car, a substandard driver as a component is completely fatal one. In F1 there's such a small difference between the talent and skill of the top half of the drivers.

There have been quite a few drivers that transcend their equipment though. Senna being the most notable. The stuff he did in his Toleman and Lotus years were absolutely unbelievable. It really was a case of 99% driver 1% car.

One thing I can say from personal experience, you really need to be pretty damn good to make it in even the lowest levels of competitive motorsports. I'm not horribly bad in fast driving but I was still outpaced by 15 seconds a lap in the Formula Ford by a 16 year old racing driver over a 1:20 lap. That was a bit depressing.

I'd say that most of the drivers in the F1, and other top ranked competitions, are all so close together in skill, that the main differentiator between them is the car. Now any of those drivers could beat any of us with a substandard car quite handily. But the vast majority of drivers out there have only fractions of a second seperating them from one another.

I think it comes down to the fact that people prefer to get behind individuals then large teams, and the driver is more glamourous then the engineers who built the thing.

The question is, when Schumacher was winning every race out there, was it Schumacher? Or was it the Ferrari he was driving.

Ultimately, I think the engineering that goes into the car is far more interesting then the races themselves. At least the car manufacturer names the team.

Still, it would be cool if there were documentaries following the manufacturing and design of the car. Might make a good anime...

[flying ^]

This just in

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/12/sp...ies-at-89.html

[Nightbat®]

Personally I think the addition of 'Race gadgets' like Anti-lock braking, Traction control, etc.
put even less definition of skill in the driver

Hell, even in the MotoGP there's traction control now
leaving a much lower skill level to be able to accelerate out of corners without 'losing it'

[Arturia Polaris]

Regarding motorsports and anime, Highly recomend that anyone that hasn't seen Initial D, check it out.

On Motorsports though, watching the F1 practice and loving it. It's amazing how I remember the track after playing it thousands of times in Forza Motorsport

Niker

[Gawers]

I could recognize Suzuka circuit in Bari Bari Densetsu (1987). Suzuka circuit is for motorsport like koshien for baseball in Japan?

[Nappy Hared Azn]

As a Button fan, I found the qualifying session disappointing. As a racing fan, I found it fantastic! So far, the season really is quite exciting.

Also, WTF is HRT doing? It's almost like they enjoy starting the race from the back row.

[Endless Soul]

It was nice to see Danica get some experience at Darlington last night.

Endless "Typing this while still in bed" Soul

[Marcus H.]

I have watched Formula 1 too, and I watched it more religiously back then. Now, I've started to pick it up back again after Ferrari showed some promise.

It was unfortunate that Hamilton was robbed of his pole after breaking a certain rule. What's even more unfortunate was that Karthikeyan managed to qualify for the race, and so puts Hamilton to the very back.

[Endless Soul]

I'm not a fan of racing bikes, but I thought this looked pretty cool

Endless "Gyro" Soul

[tugatosmk]

Originally Posted by Endless Soul

I'm not a fan of racing bikes, but I thought this looked pretty cool

Endless "Gyro" Soul

That's an amazing video. That guy is pretty brave ride that bike on the Nordschleife. BTW, that GyroCam is cool.

[Nightbat®]

It takes a big man to do 'The Ring" on a bike at that speed
usually the exotic cars are blasting you by

[escimo]

Originally Posted by Nightbat®

It takes a big man to do 'The Ring" on a bike at that speed
usually the exotic cars are blasting you by

And the occasional van, with certain Sabine Schmitz behind the wheel.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/5KiC03_wVjc

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

But, yeah. That's perfectly crazy speed on the bike. That braking into Bergwerk, sheesh...

[Black0raz0r]

just came back today from Barcelona where I watched Formula One LIVE

for THIS sport.... I'll go to the end of the world to watch it

got an autograph from Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber



9 year ago I watch the Formula One GP from Austria LIVE, Last year I watched the GP from Germany LIVE this weekend I watched GP from Spain
lets see which GP is next

[escimo]

Originally Posted by Black0raz0r

just came back today from Barcelona where I watched Formula One LIVE

for THIS sport.... I'll go to the end of the world to watch it

got an autograph from Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber



9 year ago I watch the Formula One GP from Austria LIVE, Last year I watched the GP from Germany LIVE this weekend I watched GP from Spain
lets see which GP is next

Spa? Before Bernie and the boys deem it too good and drop it from the calendar in favor of another stop-n-go street circuit, made incredibly boring with superior skill, by the number one enemy of F1, Hermann Tilke.