OT: Racing 2008-2009 (Spoiler Alert)

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 7:07 pm

DChaps wrote:Man, 10 years ago I could not get enough of the WRC. I imported mags, searched all over the internet, and watched what I could find on "Speedvision", and I hate to admit that this year I did not watch or follow closely any rallies.

Sadly, Don, you didn't miss much. We still watch because we love it, but the series is in deep, deep trouble.

Take care,
PK

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 8:22 pm

Man, what a shame. Yet another major motorsport heading south.

At least I have my endurance racing. There will always be a Le Mans!

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 8:45 pm

Grant not to be the bearer of bad news but even the Le Mans series is not unscathed.

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/n ... 4104.shtml

"Audi subsequently pulled out of the European and American Le Mans series', and Porsche also scaled back its involvement on the US scene."

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:26 am

Holy cow, I hadn't heard that! Man, what the hell is going on with auto racing? It looks like they just can't afford the huge costs anymore.

Man, I remember going to NASCAR races as a kid, and seeing the cars brought in on trailers. Not the huge mobile garages you see now days, I'm talking something similar to what many lawn services pull their equipment around on, open topped carts for the most part. Maybe auto racing needs to take a step back and return in some ways to the old days.

Fingers crossed that Grand Am remains unscathed, I know they just signed a deal with NASCAR, in order to help ease the advertising and promotion costs.

PK, how is Indycar looking in the current economic environment?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 12:45 pm

Gurantsu wrote:PK, how is Indycar looking in the current economic environment?

Car count probably around 24 for 2009, two down from last year.

Sorry, can't type much with a broken wrist. Brevity from me at DSP -- what everyone has dreamed of the last five years is now reality!

Take care,
PK

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 1:25 pm

pk500 wrote: Car count probably around 24 for 2009, two down from last year.

That's 6 better than F1. I don't follow Indycars anymore but isn't it safe to assume Indycars is in the best shape financially of all the major motorsport series?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 2:03 pm

Rodster wrote:That's 6 better than F1. I don't follow Indycars anymore but isn't it safe to assume Indycars is in the best shape financially of all the major motorsport series?

Yes, probably because it operates on the leanest margins of any series. But everything is so damn tenuous now, so don't take that as any kind of gloating.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 2:04 pm

Rumors floating of a Honda pullout from MotoGP:

http://www.motogpmatters.com/news/2008/ ... wal_o.html

That would be catastrophic.

Take care,
PK

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:10 pm

pk500 wrote:
Rodster wrote:That's 6 better than F1. I don't follow Indycars anymore but isn't it safe to assume Indycars is in the best shape financially of all the major motorsport series?
Yes, probably because it operates on the leanest margins of any series. But everything is so damn tenuous now, so don't take that as any kind of gloating.

Take care,
PK

I have no reason to gloat as I don't want to see anyone lose their job. March on Indycars, march on. Now if it were Nascar it would be a different story. That's one series i've come to dislike and I use to be a diehard Dale Sr. fan.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:13 pm

pk500 wrote:Rumors floating of a Honda pullout from MotoGP:

http://www.motogpmatters.com/news/2008/ ... wal_o.html

That would be catastrophic.

Take care,
PK

Based on this paragraph it doesn't sound like they'll pull the plug on MotoGP.

"Honda's MotoGP program does have a number of things stacked in its favor, however. Firstly, the MotoGP program costs about one tenth of the approximately $500 million Honda is believed to have spent on Formula One every year. Secondly, and more importantly, most of the tab for Honda's MotoGP budget is picked up by Repsol, the sponsor for the factory squad fielding Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso. So pulling out of MotoGP would not produce much of an actual saving."

fletcher21 · Post by **fletcher21** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 8:40 pm

really sad to see Subi leave the wrc... I know of 3 guys alone who bought an Sti purely due to their love of Wrc and Colin Mcrae lol

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:00 am

Apparently much ado about nothing regarding Honda's rumored pullout from MotoGP:

http://www.motogpmatters.com/news/2008/ ... _year.html

Phew!

Take care,
PK

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:10 pm

Something to keep you occupied for a minute or two, and since I've started on it, it's given me a reminder of how privileged these racing drivers are:

http://www.quizardry.com/index.php?site=1&id=23&qid=138

Edit: If you attempt this, the occasional bit of bad research might trip you up, so you might notice things like two pictures of the same man being given different names, or surnames acquiring an extra letter...

According to the compiler of that there quiz, put together in September 2004, the pictures represent the men who, at that time, were the top 100 in the world in terms of Formula One world championship points scored. Forgive me for giving away a couple of answers if you're planning to have a go yourself, but I'm astonished that Tony Maggs, whose face I recognise but whose racing achievements I cannot recall, could have featured in the top 100 points scorers for so long, and that another of the top 100 should be a man whose nickname was 'The Bike'.

That's not to denigrate the talents of those men (the one I know about, at least, might have really been something in cars as well as bikes given more luck), but knowing the names of some of that top 100 is going to make me want to kick the TV screen next time I see a Formula One driver looking sullen. It's an incredibly rare opportunity these men have, and some of the miserablists among the current crop might do well to remember that.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:32 am

Gotta love this quote from Bernie Ecclestone:

"Ferrari get so much more money than everyone else. They know exactly what they get; they are not that stupid, although they are not that bright, either. They get about $80 million (£54 million) more. When they win the constructors' championship, which they did this year, they got $80 million more than if McLaren had won it."

He added: "What he should do, rather than asking for money, with all the extra money Ferrari gets, he should share all that amongst the teams."

Ecclestone says the terms of the current special Ferrari deal were agreed back in 2003, when some teams were considering a breakaway championship because they were unhappy about the running of the sport.

"They were the only team that broke ranks with the other manufacturers - why did they break ranks?" he said. "That's where the $80 million comes in. We 'bought' Ferrari. We 'bought' Ferrari's loyalty. Our deal with Ferrari was that we 'bought' them so they would not go to the others."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72546

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:07 pm

The other teams must know about a sweetheart deal for Ferrari. The news about this story is the dollar amount attached to that deal.

This either will cause cracks in the teams' new united front or it will stiffen the solidarity of the teams against Bernie.

It will be very interesting to see which way the pendulum swings.

Take care,
PK

Smurfy · Post by **Smurfy** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:41 am

GB_Simo wrote:Something to keep you occupied for a minute or two, and since I've started on it, it's given me a reminder of how privileged these racing drivers are:

http://www.quizardry.com/index.php?site=1&id=23&qid=138

Edit: If you attempt this, the occasional bit of bad research might trip you up, so you might notice things like two pictures of the same man being given different names, or surnames acquiring an extra letter...

Nice find. I scored 55, but that took about 45 minutes and trying a bunch of names I already knew against faces I didn't.

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 8:03 pm

I had to do the same with the ones I didn't know. Everything from the 60's onwards I can manage, but a lot of the drivers from the 50's are known to me by name, deed and action photo rather than their faces; I could pick a couple of them out if they were sat in a car, but not if I was introduced to them, which is a bit strange to say the least. Somehow, I've always managed to find better things to do than look up a picture of Maurice Trintignant's face.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:15 pm

GB_Simo wrote:I had to do the same with the ones I didn't know. Everything from the 60's onwards I can manage, but a lot of the drivers from the 50's are known to me by name, deed and action photo rather than their faces; I could pick a couple of them out if they were sat in a car, but not if I was introduced to them, which is a bit strange to say the least. Somehow, I've always managed to find better things to do than look up a picture of Maurice Trintignant's face.

Agreed! I really struggle with the guys from the 50s who weren't champions, except for Moss.

Take care,
PK

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 6:28 pm

Kawasaki poised to quit MotoGP

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72588

"Kawasaki is poised to withdraw from the MotoGP World Championship with immediate effect, autosport.com has learned.

According to sources, the Japanese manufacturer is set to make an announcement regarding its plans for 2009 on Monday, January 5, when it is expected to confirm details of its withdrawal from the premier motorcycle racing class."

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 4:45 pm

I still say calling it the Dakar is a bit of a stretch, but...:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72603

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 5:28 pm

GB_Simo wrote:I still say calling it the Dakar is a bit of a stretch, but...:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72603

It's certainly different but i'll reserve judgment until after the event. I'm still looking forward to it.

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:22 pm

Idly flicking back through the thread when I happened upon this:

pk500 wrote:One of the finest saves you'll ever see on a motorcycle -- Colin Edwards during qualifying Saturday in Jerez:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPUiYbmB ... re=related

Yowza!

Take care,
PK

The video ain't there anymore, but the post has inspired me to raise this: Randy Mamola not killing himself to death at Misano in a year that currently escapes me:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=cOARPjMb6 ... re=related

Why my YouTube has decided I'm in Australia, I really don't know. Anyway, it's a save and a half, even if I can't imagine he knew that much about it.

Edited to add slo-mo of the same thing: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=TGuV2GipQ ... re=related

I don't know if there's a US equivalent, but in the UK there were two series of crash compilations released by VideoVision, called Havoc and Car Wars (Havoc may, in fact, still be going, but I've long since given up checking). While Mamola was a regular feature of both series each year, this failure to fall off was his most celebrated contribution.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:34 pm

Damn, that was one genius of a save by Randy. Is that the same Randy who did the Eurosport reporting for MotoGP?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:44 pm

Rodster wrote:Damn, that was one genius of a save by Randy. Is that the same Randy who did the Eurosport reporting for MotoGP?

Yes. Same dude. One of the best riders never to win the title.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 1:02 pm

It is SO nice to see an F1 car on slicks and without all of those stupid, fiddly aero bits bolted on the sidepods. The Ferrari F60, unveiled today:

http://www.autosport.com/gallery/pictur ... nte_2009-2

http://www.autosport.com/gallery/pictur ... F2009_22-2

Take care,
PK[/img]