RE: Motorsport on Monday: 15/9/14
Discussion
The whole thing reminded me of old fashioned kettles that whistle.
Something reinforced when you drive the Spark in Forza5.
I think the TV coverage needs to be better so you can properly see and hear the racing, otherwise it's just a whine and a squeak.
Hopefully by the time it reaches London, many of the weaknesses will be ironed out.
Hopefully in a year or two, battery tech will improve enough so you don't have the stupid car swap.
Something reinforced when you drive the Spark in Forza5.
I think the TV coverage needs to be better so you can properly see and hear the racing, otherwise it's just a whine and a squeak.
Hopefully by the time it reaches London, many of the weaknesses will be ironed out.
Hopefully in a year or two, battery tech will improve enough so you don't have the stupid car swap.
I sat down to watch Formula Scalextric whilst trying to keep an open mind. Yes, the warm-up lap (to warm the batteries?!) was slow and tedious. Then the race started and I thought they seemed pretty quick off the line which seemed to bode well.
Then after a couple of laps you start to tune in and realise that they're not travelling very quickly at all. I mean, when you're watching the in-car camera work and find yourself thinking "Hey, I reckon I could handle one of those cars at these speeds..." then you know you're not watching a top-rate performance sport.
Someone's mentioned the street circuit conundrum vis-a-vis how the cars would look on a proper race track (i.e. way too slow) but Beijing was soooo unimaginative with its straights, artificial chicanes and 90-degree turns that I felt it did the series no good at all spectacle-wise for a debut race. I think they'd look (and perform) much better say on Monaco's streets - but then where do you go after that? They need to choose some cities where the urban street layout has some character (ie. not New York!)
Then after a couple of laps you start to tune in and realise that they're not travelling very quickly at all. I mean, when you're watching the in-car camera work and find yourself thinking "Hey, I reckon I could handle one of those cars at these speeds..." then you know you're not watching a top-rate performance sport.
Someone's mentioned the street circuit conundrum vis-a-vis how the cars would look on a proper race track (i.e. way too slow) but Beijing was soooo unimaginative with its straights, artificial chicanes and 90-degree turns that I felt it did the series no good at all spectacle-wise for a debut race. I think they'd look (and perform) much better say on Monaco's streets - but then where do you go after that? They need to choose some cities where the urban street layout has some character (ie. not New York!)
PtheP said:
So that's how electric cars are going to catch on. You just buy half a dozen or so and leave them parked up and plugged in at various points along your route so as you can jump from one to t'other!
My thoughts exactly.The car ownership model may change to this one day though - maybe that is why leasing is so popular, and the phrase 'you will not own the car' has crept into the T's and C' and advertising blurb!
Agent Orange said:
Munter said:
Someone on Twitter said if Heidfeld had won. It would have been his 1st win since 1999 in F3000.
That's tough to take.
One of the commentators said on Saturday that a Prost on pole was the first Prost since 1963 to take pole....That's tough to take.
I assume you were pointing that out as a "don't believe everything you hear/read" comment. According to Wiki, the stat on Heidfeld is right, tho.
Fire99 said:
The most interesting point to come from this article is just how different people's opinions can be.
I thought the race was a complete mess with utterly underwhelming cars being driven very slowly on a lash-up of a track.
The car changeover all but hit a giant 'pause' to the racing, especially with a minimum time being allowed during the 'car switch'.
Regarding Prost and Heidfeld, yes it was good that Prost smoothed it over post-race but his move was more than "a little early for the apex". It was a blatant, and very clumsy shoulder barge to defend against Heidfeld on the last corner of the race.
Then add a bit of 'fan-boost' into the mix where effectively a position could be decided by popularity rather than speed or ability, it generates a laughable racing series...
All in my opinion of course
And my opinion also. Thanks for saving me the typing!I thought the race was a complete mess with utterly underwhelming cars being driven very slowly on a lash-up of a track.
The car changeover all but hit a giant 'pause' to the racing, especially with a minimum time being allowed during the 'car switch'.
Regarding Prost and Heidfeld, yes it was good that Prost smoothed it over post-race but his move was more than "a little early for the apex". It was a blatant, and very clumsy shoulder barge to defend against Heidfeld on the last corner of the race.
Then add a bit of 'fan-boost' into the mix where effectively a position could be decided by popularity rather than speed or ability, it generates a laughable racing series...
All in my opinion of course
Firstly I thought the move Prost made was disgraceful - now that's out of the way...
I thought the cars look good but didn't go like they looked, the track was really bad and although there were a couple of good overtakes the biggest difference was in the pits. I didn't mind the car swap.. but as a whole it really lacked something - the coverage was so bad and no qually coverage in a 3 hour programme... :S
The worst part of this is the fact that there is some serious talent in that field, give them Aussie v8's on that track or better yet DTM cars on a proper track and it would have been wonderful.
Also shame on anyone who didn't, like us, give Trulli a fanboost to try and get him off the line at the start.. poor guy...
I thought the cars look good but didn't go like they looked, the track was really bad and although there were a couple of good overtakes the biggest difference was in the pits. I didn't mind the car swap.. but as a whole it really lacked something - the coverage was so bad and no qually coverage in a 3 hour programme... :S
The worst part of this is the fact that there is some serious talent in that field, give them Aussie v8's on that track or better yet DTM cars on a proper track and it would have been wonderful.
Also shame on anyone who didn't, like us, give Trulli a fanboost to try and get him off the line at the start.. poor guy...
Munter said:
Esseesse said:
Just to be clear, all the cars are identical aren't they?
Yes. All identical this year. Teams to develop their own stuff (if they want to) for next year.I haven't re-watched multiple times but would Heidfeld have made the corner coming from where he was? How far alongside was he? I assumed it was a last corner 'all or nothing' type attempt and that it was rather clumsy, whereas I had assumed Prost was maintaining his line? He isn't known for being a dirty driver and he had it all to lose so I'm not sure all the Prost 'hating' is fully justified?
Maybe it was beacause i watched the Goodwoos revival Live stream all weekend. I treally tried, but the E race was absolutely stunningly boring. They had way to little power, so it they just floored it and waited. Although the sound was boring, why did they have to put a DJ playing music during the race, really odd.. I hope they step it up a BIG notch for next year..
I have to say I like the sleak looks though, way better than the current F1 cars !
I have to say I like the sleak looks though, way better than the current F1 cars !
tPhantomPH said:
I assume you were pointing that out as a "don't believe everything you hear/read" comment. According to Wiki, the stat on Heidfeld is right, tho.
Only if you disregard his class win in this years Le Mans 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_24_Hours_of_Le_M...
"The LMP1-L category was won by the No. 12 Rebellion Racing Rebellion-Toyota of Nick Heidfeld, Mathias Beche, and Nicolas Prost"
zebedee said:
I haven't re-watched multiple times but would Heidfeld have made the corner coming from where he was? How far alongside was he? I assumed it was a last corner 'all or nothing' type attempt and that it was rather clumsy, whereas I had assumed Prost was maintaining his line? He isn't known for being a dirty driver and he had it all to lose so I'm not sure all the Prost 'hating' is fully justified?
Yes, Heidfeld would have easily made the corner, he wasn't alongside, he was behind, but Prost started braking far far earlier than expected, to me it looked like he mistook the pit lane entry for the corner only realising his mistake after he'd lifted off/started to brake (watch his head in the on board shot). He wasn't turning into the corner, there was still about four car lengths before they got there, he was just protecting the inside line.I'm sure it wasn't malicious, but it was a mistake.
MrLizard said:
Firstly I thought the move Prost made was disgraceful - now that's out of the way...
I think that's a bit harsh. If you pause the video at 2 seconds you can see that Prost has to turn his head a fair way to check his mirror. At 4 seconds he starts to turn left, I beleive to defend the corner, not realising that Heidfeld is going for the pass (there's no head turn to check the left hand mirror). He almost immediately catches a glimps of Heidfeld's car and try's to steer away, but too late. It's definitely Prost's mistake, but I think he was caught by surprise and a bit clumsy rather than overly aggressive. In the picture below you can see that he's already trying to steer away from contact.
Edited by VladD on Monday 15th September 15:54
Yeah the pitlane entry was a bit confusing, I remember not quite computing which apex he was aiming for (or not). I guess he looked right, couldn't see him, assumed he had dropped back rather than been right on him, braked earlier to take it easy for the final corner and the win and then had a last minute panic about 'what if he is there'. Shame anyway, those two had dominated the 'race' and neither deserved that.
My biggest issue with all this is that there is now real development here, its a single company working on each side of things so where does real developmetn and challenge come from. They should have made this like the good/ bad old days of F1 and let the teams go for broke and design and build whatever they want, still limit car numbers and tyre optins but let them get crazy with the build, if you want a fan to suck you down to the road, go ahead, You want a 6 wheeled car, knock yourself out.
As it is this is completely anodyne, sterile and not even quick. If your sport is based on cars that could be outpaced by your average Caterham then its not really "a thing" is it?
As it is this is completely anodyne, sterile and not even quick. If your sport is based on cars that could be outpaced by your average Caterham then its not really "a thing" is it?
As a 1 make series (all cars sharing the same platforms, power units etc) this year they should always have close racing especially with the driver line up they have, I was not a fan before and still not a fan of electric race cars but maybe F1 could learn a few things ie have 2 shorter races rather than 1 70 lap carnival. Better racing this weekend at Goodwood
Hmmm fan base, dj mixing in the toones is the "new audience" all teenagers?
Hmmm fan base, dj mixing in the toones is the "new audience" all teenagers?
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