Random Thoughts... (Motorsports Edition)

Zesty said:
I can't get the vid to embed, but...Eeek! :shock2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K5-CEhz5fo

That could have been very very bad.
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Yeah, fortunately Herck managed to swerve at least a bit before the impact and didn't hit Petrov right in the gearbox. That could have left both drivers far worse than with just some bruises (or at least that's all I know of).

As the old saying goes, if there's a gap opening in front of you in the start of the race, don't go there.
 
MadCat360 said:
That, ladies and gents, is why F1 cars have antistall.

Why it's not mandatory for GP2 is beyond me.
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But even with anti-stall, the F1 cars are stuck in position on the grid for a little bit while the cars behind still have to try and avoid the "stalled" car.
 
Yes, but the time they are standing still is minimized. The driver starting directly behind the standing car has a good chance to avoid the crash because he's still slow. In the chaos of a standing start, with line changes and all, someone ten places behind has very little chances to realize there's a car standing on the road and he's already at high speed when he approaches the standing car.
Therefore, minimizing the time a car is not moving is crucial.
 
What I find surprising is that this kind of accident doesn't happen more often in GP2. I've watched almost all the races since 2005 and honestly, I think my fingers would be enough to count those starts (or warm-up laps) when nobody stalled.
 
Woah, I caught the end of the race and wondered where Petrov had gone...well I guess I know now...that could have been very, very bad...
 
vikiradTG2007 said:
That's so reminiscent of JJ Lehto and Pedro Lamy at the start in Imola in '94. :blink:
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Indeed. Apart from the nasty potential of such an accident, I knew there was another reason seeing it gave me a bit of a prickly feeling in my subconscious.
 
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Allan McNish is going to be coming to my school to select Jim Russell's next two Future Drivers in December. The only problem is that the selection process will cost 8 grand for the 4 day evaluation and I need to do a 3-day run in the F3 cars before that so add another 5 grand.

13 grand to be judged by Allan McNish... and possibly win an 80 grand F3 ride. If only the family business took off sooner...
 
MadCat360 said:
Allan McNish is going to be coming to my school to select Jim Russell's next two Future Drivers in December. The only problem is that the selection process will cost 8 grand for the 4 day evaluation and I need to do a 3-day run in the F3 cars before that so add another 5 grand.

13 grand to be judged by Allan McNish... and possibly win an 80 grand F3 ride. If only the family business took off sooner...
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Well get cracking! :lol: It's not often that you get to get judged by one of the greatest sportscar racers of recent years.

Anyway, where do you actually plan to end up later on in your racing career, if you don't mind me asking?
 
vikiradTG2007 said:
Well get cracking! :lol: It's not often that you get to get judged by one of the greatest sportscar racers of recent years.

Anyway, where do you actually plan to end up later on in your racing career, if you don't mind me asking?
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I would but I don't have any money! My family's put a ton into the business and it hasn't paid off yet, and we won't "break even" until next year! It's a struggle just to pay for the karting right now. 13 grand would buy me half a season in a Formula Mazda, and 3/4ths of a Skip Barber regional!

I plan on taking McNish's seat, actually. I want go go up through the sportscar ranks, Koni Challenge, then Rolex, etc, but I'll start out in Formula probably (planning on buying a Formula Mazda or something next year, but that plan changes every month or so. The only thing for sure is I'll be finally racing real cars of some type next year, unless the business goes kaput then my professional racing dreams will be pretty much over since I'm starting late as it is).
 
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Today's highlight from the NASCAR race at Dover:

[YOUTUBE]iVLSNyU3WSw[/YOUTUBE]
 
The rebuild Imola is made of awesome!!!
 
I've recently found out an amazing thing about Le Mans 1988. It was a Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaag that won, but apparently over the last few laps, including the last pitstop, the car was experiencing gear selection issues and eventually jammed itself in 4th gear.

In a free excerpt from a DVD which I now totally plan on buying in the near future, Tom Walkinshaw was saying that the other two Jags that were still running at the time (out of five which started) were instructed, with four or so laps to go, that if Jan Lammers (in the leading car) lost drive, they would literally have to shove the #2 car over the line. Literally push it, with their own cars, up to the finish line. And all of this knowing that the second placed #17 Porsche was on the same lap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvN_6O5K4hI
 
Such a shame we lost Pentti so early. He was one of my first rallying heroes, even though by the time I was old enough to really get into rallying he was already winding up his career but his only WRC win in RAC Rally 1989 (last WRC event to date where pre-rally recce was not allowed and drivers didn't have proper pace notes) is one of my earliest rallying memories, along with his efforts with Ford Sierra Cosworth in the following year. Well before those days, his way of bringing the RWD Escorts and Chevettes very sideways was spectacular to watch. He was also one of the world class drivers who were actively involved in rallying discussions online, and some of his comments in motorsportsforums were very insightful.

Another great man gone...
 
Anyone have a video of BTCC race 1 today? Apparently it was the closest finish in history...
 
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I'm sure there will be one in Youtube by the end of the day. And it was indeed really close.

In truth, all three races today were very good, especially race 2 and 3 with the championship battle going down to the wire.
 
Colin Turkington really deserves to be champion. A class act.
 
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