Have you ever watched a real race (you know, overtaking etc)

[Ordinary Bloke]

I worked in F1 in the 80's, in the days when they were allowed to overtake. I met drivers like James Hunt and Keke Rosberg and Ayrton Senna, long before the electronics, lawyers and money men took over.

I don't even bother with F1 now, I wouldn't even call it racing. Go watch a kart race or any old saloon car race at Brands and you'll see what I mean.

MotoGP tonight, they actually pass each other on the track!!!

Anyone else think F1 is a pile of P0O?

[mark69sheer]

Me . . .

only worth watching till the first corner ,
thereafter generally a procession.

[curlie467]

I agree.

Motogp or any bike racing is better by far.

[stephen300o]

F1 is the king of motorsport, proper prototypes pushing the limits of technology with the best drivers in the world. Motogp on the other hand has a load of whiny bicycles that lack any charisma, not to sure why the commentators get so excited just because one passes the other, believe it or not theirs more to motor sport than overtaking(which is still alive and well in f1 thanks).

[RedexRob]

F1 in my opinion could do with a good sort out to encourage overtaking , basically take off all the gizmos (trac control etc) and put back some decent sized wheels and tyres to give more mechanical grip not just an expensive aero package and lets not forget a starter motor so if they do stall in a dangerous or even non dangerous place they can get the hell on with it , there is of course an alternative to all this...sprinklers on every corner so that if a race becomes too dull...

[curlie467]

stephen300o said:

F1 is the king of motorsport, proper prototypes pushing the limits of technology with the best drivers in the world. Motogp on the other hand has a load of whiny bicycles that lack any charisma, not to sure why the commentators get so excited just because one passes the other, believe it or not theirs more to motor sport than overtaking(which is still alive and well in f1 thanks).

You are entitled to your opinion i suppose but they sure as heck aiint whiny bicycles, they are also `prototypes`, you will also have to explain your comment on `charisma`.

[WEREWOLF]

should have a f/ford race off at the end of the season to see who the best really is.lol!

[alman]

Should make it a winter sport

[Get Karter]

stephen300o said:

believe it or not theirs (sic) more to motor sport than overtaking

Tell that to Plato.

Edited by Get Karter on Sunday 21st October 12:05

[mattsayle]

erm yes its called touring cars, BSB and Moto GP. Also on trips to circuits club events contain a lot of overtaking and should get more TV coverage.

[stew-S160]

i didnt realise real racing was 'overtaking'? what about defending a position lap after lap? gaining on a car that is miles in front? etc

[stephen300o]

curlie467 said:

stephen300o said:

F1 is the king of motorsport, proper prototypes pushing the limits of technology with the best drivers in the world. Motogp on the other hand has a load of whiny bicycles that lack any charisma, not to sure why the commentators get so excited just because one passes the other, believe it or not theirs more to motor sport than overtaking(which is still alive and well in f1 thanks).

You are entitled to your opinion i suppose but they sure as heck aiint whiny bicycles, they are also `prototypes`, you will also have to explain your comment on `charisma`.

Bike racing does'nt "do it for me" even the Motogp look just like regular bikes and the noise they claim is great when the bloke in the pitlane opens the mike so we can here them fly past sounds similar to the annoying whining things that pass my house,(I have heard them live at donnington and it was the same, just louder).
F1 on the other hand are beautifully detailed masterpieces with engines that sound nice and rich, even better when the traction control clatter is removed from next year on.
As for touring cars, banger racing isn't my thing either

[shadowninja]

GT racing (British, European or Japanese) is where it's at. Beautiful cars driven hard. Lots of bumping and overtaking. Very exciting. I haven't watched F1 from start to finish in about 4 years. The best bit of F1 is at the start, within the first lap. Then I go to watch the grass grow for further excitement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yOqD4gxnTM&mod...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh81yJS-_l4&mod...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lmPCJ67aEs&mod...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlsLS7u7Oao
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJgDIwL3oxA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFavetjNJk8

And then there's this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM4nhxA5hQs

Edited by shadowninja on Sunday 21st October 13:16

[stephen300o]

shadowninja said:

GT racing (British, European or Japanese) is where it's at. Beautiful cars driven hard. Lots of bumping and overtaking. Very exciting. I haven't watched F1 from start to finish in about 4 years. The best bit of F1 is at the start, within the first lap. Then I go to watch the grass grow for further excitement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yOqD4gxnTM&mod...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh81yJS-_l4&mod...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lmPCJ67aEs&mod...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlsLS7u7Oao
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJgDIwL3oxA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFavetjNJk8

And then there's this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM4nhxA5hQs

Edited by shadowninja on Sunday 21st October 13:16

I love GT racing myself, I really can't work out why attendances at these races are so low
edit: in this country.

Edited by stephen300o on Sunday 21st October 15:21

[Terry Tibbs]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f42xQbEPNLo&mod...

or this which is where i go every year (rather than le mans)

[AJS-]

A lot of F1 racing is utterly boring, and I think grooved tyres and narrow cars are a travesty. But there's still something that makes it a bit special. Although other series offer much better track action, and GT cars even offer more interesting strategy challenges if that's your thing, the difference with F1 is the level of the drivers and the teams.

Simply put, the very best there is. Guys like Schumacher and Senna who can make things happen, bring an extra dimension to racing that can throw up a surprise. And the teams - McLaren with their fantastic organisation and engineering, Williams, Lotus in the past, and of course Ferrari who are just sort of magical, to me.

There's also the historical dimension, especially racing on circuits like the old Hokenheim, Spa, Silverstone, Imola and Monza, even though they've changed dramatically from the past they are some sort of a link to nearly 100 years of motor racing and in some way make Alonso, Raikonnen, Hamilton and co comparable with Nuvalari, Jim Clark and the heroes of the past.

You can say the same of Le Mans on the historical front, or Indianapolis if that's your thing, but for me F1 is still the ultimate of all these things brought together.

Last year I watched the FIA GT cars at Silverstone, and the Champ Cars and Australian Touring cars on the Gold Coast. The year before I watched the Spa 24 hours, and I've been to club meetings, historic F1 and Ferrari race club meetings, and seen BTCC and all the support races, as well as the F3 and British GT cars. All great racing, and far better as a spectator sport than F1 in most senses.

F1 doesn't have side by side wheel banging action like that, because the drivers are so professional they don't generally make the sort of mistakes that allow overtaking. They don't have huge differences in performance based on strategy or tyre changes because every microscopic detail is worked out to the nth degree using absurd amounts of data, so they're all broadly in the same place, and they don't have the ability to pull out an extra 10% when it really matters, because it all really matters to them and they are as close to 100% as they can possibly be the whole time.

There's still a sort of sense of occasion though about Grand Prix racing which makes it the main event. The feeling that these are the best drivers, the best teams and the fastest cars around, and if you watch enough, just now and then, you might see something special.

[shadowninja]

AJS- said:

F1 does some good marketing.

EFA.

[AJS-]

shadowninja said:

AJS- said:

F1 does some good marketing.

EFA.

Haha, very true and I don't deny being a huge sucker for it

[SpeedyGonzales]

There is also overtaking in:

WTCC
BTCC
Britsh GT Championship
Le Mans
Moto Gp
Karting

[Dr JonboyG]

What a pathetic troll. You only have to have watched races like Montreal or Fuji this year to have seen real racing and real overtaking.