Motorsport on Monday: 08/06/2015
Amateurism in Canada, missing Marquez and BTCC's ballast boost
Vettel passes a frustrated Alonso
That's probably why he battled so hard with man-on-a-mission Vettel, to spice up another otherwise frustrating race. He gave what for and then some, before Ferrari's horses made mincemeat of Honda's down-on-power motor. Inefficient AND weak? it's currently about as far from being a proper Honda motor as can be. Bit of a contrast to the Civic Type R road car, that's for sure. On the launch Matt Neal told me the engine was willing to give plenty more than 310hp at the drop of a hat. Maybe road car engineers should cross over to race car, rather than the traditional other way around...
Well what other result did you expect?
Mind you, those purists who say such driving is not like the good old days should remember that we had just this sort of thing in the 80s too. With similar frustration from the drivers. Remember Mansell at Silverstone in '87? He said the dash readout was reading negative for the last lap, but still he didn't peg it back. High stakes low fuel light lottery indeed; thank goodness he won.
MotoGP: where's Marc Marquez?
Valentino Rossi is currently points leader in MotoGP, with six races down and 12 to go. Champ Marc Marquez? Way back in fifth, 49 points behind Rossi, a situation #46 says is "unbelievable". He's certainly had a rum run of luck but it's got to turn at some point. As the other guys point out, he's more than once proved how much speed he and his factory Honda possess. Rossi's waiting for it, for one: the rest of us should look forward to quite the summer of MotoGP action.
But if it's action you're after...
A lively weekend at Oulton Park saw some smart racing throughout to leave things tantalisingly tight in the points table: 13 points separate Jason Plato, Gordon Shedden, Matt Neal and Andrew Jordan. And with success ballast, tyre variances and Alan Gow's ongoing success of such uber-closely-matched cars, it's a close season ahead for the touring car boys, too.
Also present on the Type R launch, Gordon Shedden told me equalisation of turbo cars and success ballast can sometimes go a bit far for the racers. But it still overcomes a perrenial dilemma impacting on the drama and spectacle of motorsport - namely the fastest guy having the fastest car, starting from the front and then clearing off into the distance. That's why so many fans like BTCC racing; purists shouldn't grumble as it is, in one sense, a purer form of motor racing than many others - the guys have to race one another each and every time. Rather than rely on a fast car to ease them into a title.
Which would you rather watch, the snooze-fest of Canada or three energising races from Oulton Park - with a plethora of support races thrown in for free too? No wonder BTCC circuit gates are swelling.
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[Images: LAT]
Agree wholeheartedly. BTCC coverage is so much better value than F1 - more actual racing drama per hour.
I think the Junior Ginetta racing is a good add to the programme too. Perhaps because of the less experienced drivers (still fantastic skill though!) there tend to be more mistakes made and more back and forth? The porsches were going at it hammer and tongs too.
Shame really as it was a feast of racing on the menu, and all I came away with was a puck of gristle.
Clios were good value, even though that seemed a bit more banger racing than anything else.
Shame really as it was a feast of racing on the menu, and all I came away with was a puck of gristle.
Clios were good value, even though that seemed a bit more banger racing than anything else.
Shame really as it was a feast of racing on the menu, and all I came away with was a puck of gristle.
Clios were good value, even though that seemed a bit more banger racing than anything else.
F1 is dull as dish water though this coming from a huge f1 fan sorry but rather watch wec/btcc than f1 these days.
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