LoneWolf said:
BTW, forgive me for my complete and utter ignorance, but I wasn't aware there was a viable F1 audience in the states (I've assumed CBS is a mainstream channel). I always thought you guys were more interested in you're NASCAR and CART/Indy rather then F1? Or am I mistaken in that you're actually British ex-pats?
After all, F1 tickets for as cheap as ?30/$50 at Indianapolis and near empty grandstands, there are people here who would kill for those cheap tickets, we can't even get kids in for that price!
As an American, I never really got into NASCAR/Indy/IRL...go fast, turn left...just too boring for me.
Sure, they all run a couple roadcourses like Laguna Seca/Infineon but the big events are large ovals...it just seems everyone watches it to see the crashes and not the driver skill or individual car setup. Probably for the same reason a majority of people watch Boxing and American Footbal...we are a culture that loves to see violence, just look at our Primetime TV series' and blockbuster movies.
NASCAR was once truthfully referred to as "Stock Car Racing" The cars were the same ones you would buy from the dealer, only modified a little for safety and speed (till about the late 70's/early 80's).....now they all run the same motors, same bodies...all exactly the same except the stick on headlights and badging. NASCAR is more like a video game or a big Beer/Viagra comercial now.
Indy and IRL...well I'll watch it if it's on but I don't exactly check the TV listings for it. The street circuits are great to watch but the Indy 500 is boring to me. In fact I was highly dissapointed when they announced the US F1 race would be there...They modified a circle track into a roadcourse...WTF?, There are dozens of world class roadcourses that would have been a lot better, Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio. And what about a street circuit like Long Beach, Denver, San Francisco, Houston, etc.........?
WRC, WTCC, DTM and Speed World Challenge...now that is a lot closer to "Stock Car Racing". You watch it raced on Sunday, go down to your local car dealer and buy one on Monday. I mean you can actually tell what kind of cars these are...granted most of them we don't get here in the USA. This was a contributing factor to my Subaru WRX purchase.
I've watched WRC for about 10 years and fell in love with the WRX.
I have watched F1 for decades and have been hot/cold about the sport due to rule changes and technology changes but it is still far better than Indy/IRL...I mean they actually race on circuits and not round-and-round in a circle (how do the drivers keep from getting dizzy?)
Ok, sorry for the long post but you asked why some americans are more interested in the European series...well, it's simply more interesting than what we have and you can recognize/follow the drivers and mfgs.