Motorsport Off Topic Thread

chrismscotland said:
Pole position for Romain Grosjean at the Indycar Grand Prix of Indianapolis, not bad for his 3rd Indycar race!
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Was a great effort! Just came on here to post the same myself.

Listened to the beyond the grid podcast with him on it a couple of weeks back and he sounded like hes really enjoying it out there is a very different atmosphere amongst the drivers i.e a lot more welcoming and a community having bbqs together at the race venue etc
 
poosemon said:
Was a great effort! Just came on here to post the same myself.

Listened to the beyond the grid podcast with him on it a couple of weeks back and he sounded like hes really enjoying it out there is a very different atmosphere amongst the drivers i.e a lot more welcoming and a community having bbqs together at the race venue etc
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Although not so much at the moment, loads more fan interaction too, and not just fans with paddock passes or paddock club tickets either.
 
I posted this in the film thread.

The bike film, Road (2014) the story based on the two sets of Dunlop brothers is currently on iPlayer, well worth a watch if you like motorsport films. Extraordinary and sadly tragic story, road racers are crazy. I would love to go and spectate once in my life a TT or road race. Incredible.
 
chrismscotland said:
Without Max and Bernie there probably wouldn't be an F1 as we know it; not sure if it would have been better or worse! But financially F1 appears to be in a much stronger position than most other sports.
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Indeed.

It was only 24 years ago, during the usually fondly remembered BBC years, that we didn't even get qualifying live for most races, they cut away to cover other sports repeatedly and the commentary was often done over the telephone.

ITV, for all their critics (and I was one of their biggest in their later years when they dumbed everything down), did a huge amount in the early years, showing every qualifying session and race with much more pre and post-race coverage. Bernie had a big hand in that and it's the blue-print for most small screen F1 coverage still. Not that Bernie wasn't a pain and a dinosaur who saw little need in expanding in other ways (social media in particular as "it made no money") but he did do a heck of a lot of good that often gets brushed under the carpet.



As for Mosely I'm more mixed. Motorsport safety under him was very much reactive rather than proactive. Post Imola the changes were hastily thought through and circuits were altered dramatically, mostly temporarily to my relief.

Thankfully the approach to safety has mostly changed since Todt stepped up (eg head protection and ever-increasing survival cells and crash structure improvements), but something like virtual safety cars should have been in long before things like Bianchi's crash, and I still think Charlie Whiting should have been held to more account for there not being a safety car deployed with a car in the firing line with standing water causing aquaplaning (and previous instance of a near identical incident years before); it still makes me angry now. Driver's gloves (see Grosjean's injuries) are a small example that the FIA can still be naive.

That said, ultimately the FIA under his control did do a lot for safety not just in F1 but across motorsport and motoring in general, and while it was too late too often I suppose those who came later can be thankful.


People also forget that they were both drivers and engineers themselves, Bernie a team owner too while Mosely ran the business affairs at March. They were very much motor-racing men before businessmen.


RIP Max.
 
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There used to be live qualifying on BBC, Eurosport and RTL1 for those of use that had cable in the 90s. Also used to get the race warm up on a Sunday. For all anyone knows the FIA had it not sold commercial rights for 100 years, would have been in a much better position, and we might have better quality racing throughout motorsport as a whole. It's all just guess work.
 
englishpremier said:
There used to be live qualifying on BBC, Eurosport and RTL1 for those of use that had cable in the 90s. Also used to get the race warm up on a Sunday. For all anyone knows the FIA had it not sold commercial rights for 100 years, would have been in a much better position, and we might have better quality racing throughout motorsport as a whole. It's all just guess work.
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One things for sure, Bernie made a lot of money and I have to pay sky to watch f1. But I watch more football now.
 
Slam62 said:
One things for sure, Bernie made a lot of money and I have to pay sky to watch f1. But I watch more football now.
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I do miss the free to view/air days but there's no denying that Sky have made more of a "spectacle" of the whole thing; especially with a dedicated F1 channel.
However I think for a lot of people who just tune in for Qualifying and the Races that the F1TV service makes more sense these days; easy to use on any device, etc; just be good to officially get it in the UK!
 
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