Motorsport on Monday: 29/06/2015
Formula E: Were you electrified?
Pity; a double pity that the first of the double-header races in the capital - the first since Crystal Palace closed in 1972 - was a processional affair blighted by problems with sections of the track layout. Because the race on Sunday, the last one of Formula E's inaugural year, was a cracker. Truth be told, I wasn't expecting it to be, but I was thoroughly engaged by it and convinced the formula might be onto something by the end.
This was despite the usual Formula E confusion about who'd actually won, who had time penalties because of using all their charge and so forth. Even the commentators took time to realise Brit Sam Bird had won the British race, which didn't help the slightly anticlimactic feel - at least they were able to inform Nelson Piquet Jr he'd become a series champion for the first time since 2004, much to his teary surprise.
I mused on Twitter after the event that I thought it went well, that I was impressed with Formula E's first time in London. Some seemed to agree; others disagreed, saying the lack of noise was an issue and the lack of spectacle was a turn off.
I had expected to be nonplussed by it, and know that there have been some dull races as the series finds its feet. But the lack of screaming engines wasn't an issue: I quite liked the high-tech whines and was fascinated by being able to hear tyre squeals as they locked and lost traction. A very technical sort of motor racing, despite the seemingly contrived nature of it - and, in the confines of street and parkland circuits, they do look quick.
It's not going to be as big as F1 in five years' time, but it deserves a future. And now they've had a season to find out all about it, I'm sure the spectacle will improve for 2016, as the London overnight tweaks proved. Now, if only they can make it less confusing with regards to all the battery charge, power boosts... and you thought F1 was getting complex!
F3 drivers behave; IndyCar drivers get at it
Alarming driving alert switched from F3 to IndyCar this weekend, with some spectacular incidents in the "insane" event at Fontana. Semi-flips, shattering bits of car all over the shop and much driver grumbling at the end. Again, the blame is centered on the new aero packs, which seem to be encouraging ultra-ultra-close racing; exciting for the fans but a bit too heart-in-the-mouth for comfortable watching.
Some of the drivers were more vocal than others, but it's something they'll have to sort quickly: a few drivers said it was the sort of perfect storm that led to the incident which claimed Dan Wheldon's life at Las Vegas in 2011. Here's hoping they do: although we like close racing, this was way too much.
MotoGP brilliance
He was starring at Goodwood on Sunday but on Saturday, Valentino Rossi was creating a storm at the Assen MotoGP with a thrilling performance. Only Marc Marquez wasn't happy, as he felt Rossi stepped over the mark: if you saw it, what do you reckon?
Whatever your thoughts, it was an outstanding race that's why so many watch MotoGP and, as the buzz at Goodwood proved, so many worship Rossi. Even Goodwood regulars were taken aback at how electrified the atmosphere was from his very presence; many car racing types will be looking closely at it.
Lovely shots of Rossi having a tray lunch with Nico Rosberg on Lord March's sofa too, after riding his Yamaha into Goodwood House and then going on a tour of the regal residence. The Doctor really did look quite happy being Lord of the manor...
Testing times for BTCC
Croft BTCC and three wins for the West Surrey Racing BMW 1 Series (with three different winners - Andy Priaulx, Sam Tordoff and Rob Collard). Croft is a track very hard on tyres, apparently, and the front-wheel drive racers suffered, particularly those on the soft tyres. So the BMWs cleaned up, and not just through having super-clean starts, either.
Now we've got six weeks to the next race, and it won't be off to the beach for most of the teams. Unlike F1, where the summer shutdown is absolute, BTCC teams can still go testing and the Team Dynamics Honda Civic Type Rs for one will be off to closed circuits for work. That they can still do this and don't spend a fortune doing so (budgets are a tenth of Super Touring days, I've been told) is good to know: couldn't F1 teams try some in-season testing a bit more to help the strugglers find low-cost speed and equalize the grid? Might be cheaper than another round of rules changes...
[Images: LAT]
- Championship-deciding race
- Championship leader starts in 16th
- Fights his way up the order
- Rival spins, losing places
- Championship leader ends up clinging on to win the season by a single point
Well, it certainly sounds great. However, it still managed to bore me rigid - the cars are too slow to look exciting, the whining noise is awful, and the venue looked like someone plonked a few barriers around a car park. The director showed plenty of crowd shots and they all looked glum.
F1 has many things wrong with it at the moment but it's still an order of magnitude better than the FE soozefest.
Formula E if anything does have great visual appeal, and the tech side is outstanding but the event totally failed to capitalise on either of these aspects. Away from the viewing platforms there was virtually zero visibilty of the race and the pit lane was open for a pitiful 10 mins, unless you were of the gilded elite who always seem to disinterestedly grace these events.
Verdict, must try a lot harder next year.
Formula E if anything does have great visual appeal, and the tech side is outstanding but the event totally failed to capitalise on either of these aspects. Away from the viewing platforms there was virtually zero visibilty of the race and the pit lane was open for a pitiful 10 mins, unless you were of the gilded elite who always seem to disinterestedly grace these events.
Verdict, must try a lot harder next year.
I'm sure this part of it will improve with experience: the tracks side of it really is all new, and many of the problems wouldn't be an issue at a permanent venue because they already know how to lay things out and deal with the public.
Glad to see Rossi being exposed to car enthusiasts. About time motorcycling "stars" were given their proper position in the world of motorsport.
Afterall there were no car racers who have 9 world titles in four different levels of car racing and are also pretty proficient on a bike. John Surtees is the only one who comes close. That is also before he retires in 2016 and starts racing cars again! At 36 he just put one over on the youngest ever champion to extend his lead in MotoGP.
What an excellent FOS, yet again.
Given the limits of the track, and the venue, I think the organisers did a reasonable job of setting up a safe track/spectator facilities. Of course it could have been better given more time, space and money, but the paying public I encountered seemed to be having a great day out close to home, and weren't mostly racing purists.
If the event wanted to attract a new, younger audience to the future of technology, I think it succeeded.
We were lucky enough to get pit lane access, rub shoulders with Branson, Patrick Head, Emerson Fittipaldi and Alain Prost among others. Mechanics, though busy, were happy to chat and explain the cars and tech, and the drivers were friendly and accessible.
Qually was confusing for a newbie to watch, because we didn't realise that the cars needed to do "cooling down" laps to start BEFORE a hot lap!
Sadly, Saturday's race was compromised by the track surface problems at turn 1, but it was still great fun to watch.
Yes, the cars are too quiet, but so is F1 and so were the diesel Audis at Le Mans a few years ago, but hey, there's still Goodwood and other historic stuff for us old farts who get nostalgic for a whiff of Castrol R!
I've seen the future, and it's clean, green and quiet...
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I think in some way's he's right. I mean having seen the coverage of Saturday's race they already have the sorts of spectator attendence F1 races get (in India, Korea, and other just-here-for-the-cash races) and having checked ticket prices going for F1's worst-value-for-money-spectator-ticket position too (£65 for what, an hour of on-track action?).
Think I'll stick to paying £48 for 34hrs on-track action at Le Mans.
£130 quid for me and the kids to watch from a "premium stand", plus another £120 for a pit walk that was cut short by 15 minutes (i.e. cut in half) because the useless twunts couldn't run things even remotely to time.
Couple this with woeful signage (so everyone was lost), British jobsworths of the highest order, obscene prices (£13 for a burger & chips) and you leave with the feeling that you've just been well and truly exploited for everything you've got.
If this is supposed to be "motorsport", then you can keep it. Utter, utter ste. ste of the stiest order.
Battersea park is a park, not a motor racing venue. Holding motor racing there will always be a bit crap. A better option would be hyde park, but the organisers won't do this because it's not surrounded by a fence and hence they'd struggle to charge an arm and a leg (and a kidney) for entrance.
In summary, crap venue, woeful staff, no racing, exorbitant pricing, and nothing to actually look at. Total and utter bag of fking st.
Grrrrr.
Given the limits of the track, and the venue, I think the organisers did a reasonable job of setting up a safe track/spectator facilities. Of course it could have been better given more time, space and money, but the paying public I encountered seemed to be having a great day out close to home, and weren't mostly racing purists.
If the event wanted to attract a new, younger audience to the future of technology, I think it succeeded.
We were lucky enough to get pit lane access, rub shoulders with Branson, Patrick Head, Emerson Fittipaldi and Alain Prost among others. Mechanics, though busy, were happy to chat and explain the cars and tech, and the drivers were friendly and accessible.
Qually was confusing for a newbie to watch, because we didn't realise that the cars needed to do "cooling down" laps to start BEFORE a hot lap!
Sadly, Saturday's race was compromised by the track surface problems at turn 1, but it was still great fun to watch.
Yes, the cars are too quiet, but so is F1 and so were the diesel Audis at Le Mans a few years ago, but hey, there's still Goodwood and other historic stuff for us old farts who get nostalgic for a whiff of Castrol R!
I've seen the future, and it's clean, green and quiet...
If you weren't lucky enough to win tickets or be able to fleece tickets from some corporate entity, it was st. The highlight for my kids was a bouncy castle FFS.
City-centre racing doesn't work unless it's in the city centre, but you can't then exclude people and charge a fortune for entrance.
It's broken before it even starts. Complete st, and you should all avoid it with extreme prejudice - unless, that is, you should be lucky enough to win freebie tickets.
As for the catering costs, you're always going to get fleeced at any event. Blame the caterers, not the organisers. We were in the middle of London, with many many pubs bars cafes sandwich shops all within gobbing distance. My original plan was to have breakfast at the excellent battersea grill and take in a Pret or M&S sandwich & drink, if I'd been able to buy a ticket.
In the event we were given free food and drink all day, but the down side was we were in an enclosure full of tanked up Hooray Henrys and had Branson for a neighbour one side, and Boris on the other..,
We came in at Gate 1 (Chelsea Bridge) openly carrying soft drinks, unchallenged at the ticket check and unchallenged at the hospitality gate.
Only time I've ever had stuff taken off me was at the effing awful Wembley Stadium where Race of Champions fans were treated like football hooligans. Never again...
I just can't see the attraction of watching what are basically fancy milk floats silently floating around.
I'll stick with proper car racing on proper race tracks thank you.
I expect people came away from the first ever GP in France muttering that this nonsense will ever catch on?
The technology will improve, the battery capacity will increase, the spectacle and the racing will become more entertaining.
When all's said and done, motorsport in the middle of London for less than £30 a head - hope it's back next year.
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