Motorsport Off Topic Thread

[MagicBoy]

BBC has a new F1 quiz up - 20 questions, 7 minutes.

20/20 in 2:58 here Though it took me a good minute of that to remember where Hamilton got his record-breaking pole position

4:35, 20/20. Couldn’t quite remember the dentist one, was on the tip of my tongue for a while!

 

[ThestigGT999]

F1 Reacts: Drivers And Pundits Re-Live F1's Greatest Moments | Race 1000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leWJBiZaCf4

We put the F1 family past and present in front of a screen and replayed some memorable moments from the F1 archives - here are their reactions!

 

[Housey]

OK, time to throw some pussies into the birds.

One of, if not the most, overhyped race car in history.

Discuss.

My view...

I never missed a Group C race in the UK in period. I attended 89/90 Le Mans races too. I can confirm the following facts, these can not be disputed....

1: It wasn't close to a front running race winner, bar it's Le Mans win when the other cars were restricted and then broke. It was several seconds off the qualifying pace. 12 seconds off pole I think.
2: It was a real pain to listen to once you had heard it for a few laps. It went from wow, that sounds incredible to "oh my god it's that ******* Mazda again"

Without question a car that has risen to a level it's success didn't really warrant. Winning Le Mans is an achievement, no matter if the fast cars break or were restricted. But put that to one side and it was an also run. Both Nissan and Toyota were significantly quicker Group C cars in era, though neither won Le Mans to be fair. Why has this car become some sort of God car. Is it Grand Tourismo generation making it so?

 

[JRS]

1: It wasn't close to a front running race winner, bar it's Le Mans win when the other cars were restricted and then broke. It was several seconds off the qualifying pace. 12 seconds off pole I think.

This.

And yeah, it's absolutely the Gran Turismo series of games that has turned it into a legend.

 

[timmeh]

I don't know very much about the whole Group C era of racing but I much prefer the looks and sound of the Sauber C9, it looks like it was more successful too.

 

[Housey]

I don't know very much about the whole Group C era of racing but I much prefer the looks and sound of the Sauber C9, it looks like it was more successful too.

When sorted it was the quickest Group C car, Jag's struggled when they went Turbo really and couldn't really match the Sauber at their peak.

3.5L was not Group C to me, it was sadly the ruination of the greatest sports car era because of the fact they were competing with F1.

 

[Housey]

1:57 to 2:40 sums up Group C for me. I was lucky enough to be at this race and spent the last 4 hours sitting above the Mercedes garages in the old pits!

 

[timmeh]

That Porsche 956 looked like it was about to fall apart at 400kph!

It's a pity that there's never going to be anything quite like that ever again, same with Group B rally. It makes me feel like I missed such an epic part of motorsport.

 

[Flibster]

I really like the Mazda 787B, purely because it's the most unloved Le Mans winner, especially by the drivers. They were doing full on qualifying laps throughout as they wanted to break it so they could go home.
Also, it's a rotary... and I have a bit of a perversion for them...

But I can't say that it's a great car...

It's a bit like the Toyota GT-One, Gran Turismo made it more popular. GT-One is a pretty car, but I prefer the look of the 787B and Sauber C9 style cars.

 

[timmeh]

Only in NASCAR...

The pit debacle at the end too - wtf. Looks like safety isn't the top concern in NASCAR

 

[Flibster]

Only in NASCAR...

The pit debacle at the end too - wtf. Looks like safety isn't the top concern in NASCAR

Not only that, the guy refuelling the 2 car was dumping a large quantity of it onto the pit lane.
Oh god... just seen the guy reversing down the pit lane as well...

 

[JRS]

snip

Looks like safety isn't the top concern in NASCAR

Yeah, 'cause F1 has never had anyone **** up pit entry ever.

Not only that, the guy refuelling the 2 car was dumping a large quantity of it onto the pit lane.

Wasn't all that much. I've spilt more than that refuelling a lawn mower! At least unlike when they bugger it up in F1 they aren't spraying it all over a hot exhaust or brake at a huge flow rate...

Oh god... just seen the guy reversing down the pit lane as well...

Which he only did once his spotter told him the path was clear.

Honestly, this place is hilarious. It's like NASCAR doesn't exist for months/years at a time, then suddenly something only slightly out of the ordinary happens and there's posts on here decrying the 'lack of safety' in the sport

 

[timmeh]

Yeah, 'cause F1 has never had anyone **** up pit entry ever.



Wasn't all that much. I've spilt more than that refuelling a lawn mower! At least unlike when they bugger it up in F1 they aren't spraying it all over a hot exhaust or brake at a huge flow rate...



Which he only did once his spotter told him the path was clear.

Honestly, this place is hilarious. It's like NASCAR doesn't exist for months/years at a time, then suddenly something only slightly out of the ordinary happens and there's posts on here decrying the 'lack of safety' in the sport

lol got a video of an F1 car going backwards into their pit box?

Maybe you need an electric mower if you spill more fuel than that filling it up.

 

[JRS]

Annoyingly, F1 disables video embedding for their channel so you have to click through and watch it on YT itself

lol got a video of an F1 car going backwards into their pit box?

It would be a neat trick, considering that the pitlanes in F1 are considerably more narrow than they are in NASCAR. They can barely turn out of their garages into the pitlanes let alone spin around on them! But certainly we've seen drivers pull up at the wrong point before like David Ragan did in the video you posted - indeed, some bloke called Hamilton managed it a few years ago, pulling up at McLaren before remembering that he didn't work for them any more and driving on to the Mercedes pit box

 

[MissChief]

Annoyingly, F1 disables video embedding for their channel so you have to click through and watch it on YT itself



It would be a neat trick, considering that the pitlanes in F1 are considerably more narrow than they are in NASCAR. They can barely turn out of their garages into the pitlanes let alone spin around on them! But certainly we've seen drivers pull up at the wrong point before like David Ragan did in the video you posted - indeed, some bloke called Hamilton managed it a few years ago, pulling up at McLaren before remembering that he didn't work for them any more and driving on to the Mercedes pit box

Jenson Button did it once as well. Wait, I think it was someone else who stopped in his pit box and he had to queue behind them.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Jenson Button did it once as well. Wait, I think it was someone else who stopped in his pit box and he had to queue behind them.

Hamilton moved to Mercedes and managed to stop in Button's McLaren pit box.

NASCAR gonna NASCAR.

 

[poosemon]

Anyone heading to Spa for the WEC? Organised the trip a while ago with a mate, assumed being beginning of May there might be a chance of some good weather.....

Then reminded that this is Spa where pretty much anything goes. Current forecast is Snow/Hail and Rain and temperatures no higher the 7 C. Could be interesting, just hoping it doesnt get cancelled/curtailed due to dangerous conditions!

 

[The_Abyss]

There are a few (deep) rumours that F1 has dropped Barcelona for 2020/2021 and Holland is back. Anyone else hearing anything similar?

 

[MissChief]

There are a few (deep) rumours that F1 has dropped Barcelona for 2020/2021 and Holland is back. Anyone else hearing anything similar?

I've read as such, but probably from the same places you have. Barcelona is a poor track for racing, the teams know every square inch of the place and it's an Aero dominated track too so there's rarely a good race there unless it rains. Now that Alonso has retired (I doubt he'll be back) Carlos doesn't have the same pull and isn't fighting for WDC's like Alonso was a few years ago. Can't say I'm surprised that it's going to be dropped.

A Dutch GP though? Zandvoort needs a substantial amount of money spent to develop the circuit and the other infrastructure and transport links. And I can't imagine the German GP, Austrian and Belgian GP are particularly impressed about a Dutch GP as a lot of them go to those GP's already. As sensible as it would be to have them back to back I'd expect them to be split in some ways if it does happen. One towards the beginning of the season, possibly the Dutch one, then the usual Spa/Monza back to back.

 

[GravyMonster]

To be honest it sounds more like posturing from the FIA in order to get Catalunya to pay a higher fee in order to keep the Spanish GP.

I can't see how Zandvoort would work for modern F1, and I don't just mean the track. They'd have to completely re-build the infrastructure around the circuit, ie. roads in and out, car parks, as well as the pit buildings and stands. The Dutch government isn't stupid enough to pay for that, so it'll mean private investment. Then there's the complete lack of run off areas mandated by a Grade 1 circuit. Adding those, as well as removing the raised curbs, would ruin the spirit of the current circuit, which works well for GT3 and lower classes. Then there's the fact that, like @MissChief said, the main problem with Catalunya is the lack of overtaking and subsequently dull races. So to replace it with Zandvoort - which would be *even worse* for overtaking - just does not add up.

If a Dutch GP was really the end goal (which I doubt), then Assen would make far more sense, but frankly I can't see either happening. We'll be back in Spain in 2020 with a new, more valuable contract for the FIA.