Holden wins Hamilton 400

[headhoon]

Garth Tander in the Toll Holden won all three races to take a clean sweep of the first Hamilton 400 Aussie V8 supercar race. It was an awesome weekend with an attendance of 175,000 people over the weekend. I've been to alot of international motorsport events and this was right up there, I'll be there again next year for sure.

Edited by headhoon on Sunday 20th April 22:53

[tim the pool man]

Yep great result for GT. I'm a huge fan of his, he just seems to be a class above the rest. He always manages to pull a second or 2 on cold tyres, either at the start or (on street circuits) at the (many) restarts.

I can't share your enthusiasm about the track though. As I predicted (well it's not hard to) the "racing" was processional, with many cars severely damaged. I know that street circuits attract huge crowds, mainly of non motorsport fans there for the spectacle, noise and the hope that there will be crashes

Without exception, every race driver or true enthusiast I know feels as I do. It is just about the money for VESA, I believe Tony Cochrane would be quite happy to have all rounds at street circuits, and bugger the proper tracks.

If there was any justice, the weekend's event would be reviewed as a failure (except financially of course), and the race would go back to a proper track.

I can't even see the benefit for Hamilton; the track appeared to run through an industrial wasteland which looked like it was stuck in the 1950s... hardly good exposure (although I have been told that a lot of NZ towns look like that...)

Edit for spooling

Edited by tim the pool man on Monday 21st April 13:55

[jumplead]

I watched it on the tele while i'm out here in TAS, have to say it's the first time i've seen it and it was quite a specticle, it's just a shame that the first 10 or so laps of the last race were under the safety car due to crash after crash at each start/restart.

That is one downside about street circuits like this one, there is no run off nowhere to get the cars out of the way and to safety quickly.

I'd say that circuit with the chicanes like they are with a bit of run off would be absolutely spectacular to watch.

What with the targa tasmania it's all go with motorracing down this way at the moment, just a shame I couldn't skip over to NZ to see the supercars in person.

[headhoon]

tim the pool man said:

Yep great result for GT. I'm a huge fan of his, he just seems to be a class above the rest. He always manages to pull a second or 2 on cold tyres, either at the start or (on street circuits) at the (many) restarts.

I can't share your enthusiasm about the track though. As I predicted (well it's not hard to) the "racing" was processional, with many cars severely damaged. I know that street circuits attract huge crowds, mainly of non motorsport fans there for the spectacle, noise and the hope that there will be crashes

Without exception, every race driver or true enthusiast I know feels as I do. It is just about the money for VESA, I believe Tony Cochrane would be quite happy to have all rounds at street circuits, and bugger the proper tracks.

If there was any justice, the weekend's event would be reviewed as a failure (except financially of course), and the race would go back to a proper track.

I can't even see the benefit for Hamilton; the track appeared to run through an industrial wasteland which looked like it was stuck in the 1950s... hardly good exposure (although I have been told that a lot of NZ towns look like that...)

Edit for spooling

Edited by tim the pool man on Monday 21st April 13:55

Mate if your happy just going to circuits then thats your choice but for many people the addition of a couple of street circuits through the series offers a little variety.

Precessional? I saw plenty of outbreaking manouvers (because I was there). Cars severely damaged? Give me a break, I've seen more damage to cars on circuits.

As for the race weekend, it was awesome and even though it was held in what you consider to be a 1950's NZ town in an industial estate it was very well organised and enjoyed by the 175,000 people that turned up over the weekend, plus the huge tree lined park/grass area (yes NZ has grass) in the centre didn't seem like industrial wasteland to me.

As for your Kiwi bashing, I think it says more about you than it does about a country you have never visited...

[tim the pool man]

headhoon said:

tim the pool man said:

Yep great result for GT. I'm a huge fan of his, he just seems to be a class above the rest. He always manages to pull a second or 2 on cold tyres, either at the start or (on street circuits) at the (many) restarts.

I can't share your enthusiasm about the track though. As I predicted (well it's not hard to) the "racing" was processional, with many cars severely damaged. I know that street circuits attract huge crowds, mainly of non motorsport fans there for the spectacle, noise and the hope that there will be crashes

Without exception, every race driver or true enthusiast I know feels as I do. It is just about the money for VESA, I believe Tony Cochrane would be quite happy to have all rounds at street circuits, and bugger the proper tracks.

If there was any justice, the weekend's event would be reviewed as a failure (except financially of course), and the race would go back to a proper track.

I can't even see the benefit for Hamilton; the track appeared to run through an industrial wasteland which looked like it was stuck in the 1950s... hardly good exposure (although I have been told that a lot of NZ towns look like that...)

Edit for spooling

Edited by tim the pool man on Monday 21st April 13:55

Mate if your happy just going to circuits then thats your choice but for many people the addition of a couple of street circuits through the series offers a little variety.

Precessional? I saw plenty of outbreaking manouvers (because I was there). Cars severely damaged? Give me a break, I've seen more damage to cars on circuits.

As for the race weekend, it was awesome and even though it was held in what you consider to be a 1950's NZ town in an industial estate it was very well organised and enjoyed by the 175,000 people that turned up over the weekend, plus the huge tree lined park/grass area (yes NZ has grass) in the centre didn't seem like industrial wasteland to me.

As for your Kiwi bashing, I think it says more about you than it does about a country you have never visited...

You missed the point entirely. If VESA go ahead with their desire for ALL rounds to be street circuits there won't be any tracks to go to (or race on, which is more to the point).

If there were many outbraking passes in the races then the TV did an outstanding job of missing nearly all of them...

Car damage...are you sure you were there? Ask the Whincup team about that, and as for more damage at circuits; sure, accidents happen anywhere, especially car to car impacts. What you don't get at proper tracks is cars being destroyed by missing an apex or running wide at a corner exit.
Because of that, drivers will always make more overtaking moves at a track with decent run off areas.

As for "Kiwi bashing"... WTF?? The only comment I madeabout NZ was that the town looked pretty crappy on TV. That's just a fact, not my fault. No I haven't been there, so the comment that "alot of NZ towns look old" was made by a friend who has been there.

My negative comments are aimed at VESA who have this fascination for street circuits eveywhere. It's dollar driven, pure & simple, with no regard to real racing or real enthusiasts.

Russell Ingal said:

I predicted it would turn into a crash fest and it turned out to be right

I guess that guarantees that we will see more street circuits then

Edited by tim the pool man on Tuesday 22 April 04:03