Motorsports are boring...

C

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Not trying to offend with the title, just trying to entice you into my thread.:)
But seriously I've always had a general disinterest in motorsports, and feel kinda guilty about it considering my massive love of cars. So I want you to change this. What are some of the most exciting racing events out there? Who's involved with them? And most importantly where can I watch them?
 
Go watch a live event, doesn't matter what it is. But the noise and smells should get you going...
 
You are spot on, party the main issue is the whole politics behind motorsport and the fact you have people that drive cars consider it a sport where talent is supposed to be the defining factor --> Athletes (and you know what that means)

The politics issue, is based on if your on top, you'll use all your behind the scenes effort to make sure by rules changes etc to stay that way. The simplest way (these days) is to talk about money (sponsorship, TV rites, keeping the raceing exciting etc). Your position could be challenged by innovation, so its in you best interest to keep the rules as static as possible.

Look in the class's I play race cars with (Group 2A) If I could change the rules to ensure I was on top I'd do it in a heartbeat. :p


People are so naive to believe motor-sport is only about car's and drivers!


The most interesting racing is when there is a massive rule/technological change and a pecking order hasn't been re-established through politics or money. Add in very large media coverage and you have a "golden era" in any motor-sport class. Sadly this doesn't happen often :(

/Sorry to sound bitter going through the games of designing a new Group 2C car.....grrrrrrrrrrrr
 
I find the quite "simplistic" races where there are few strategic elements to deal with (eg when to do tyre/fuel changes, massive in race mods to stuff) are best to start off with- I watch V8 supercars occasionally as well as F1, but the real races that I follow religiously are World Superbikes (WSBK) and (to a lesser extent) MotoGP. If you like motorbikes, take a look at these- no fuel stops, tyre changes, etc. Just the riders and their bikes lapping the track with some truly amazing passes. This years WSBK is turning out great as there is genuinely at least 10 people that could win each race- the field is so good this year. I'm not as big a fan of MotoGP as it seems a bit overhyped to me, but I'm still following Ben Spies' progress (absolutely blew the WSBK field away last year- won on his rookie year!)
But yeah, enough ranting about bikes :D
 
car racing is in most cases very boring, the higher up on the prestige ladder you go the more boring it gets, no point in sugarcoating it. Obviously there are exceptions, even F1 has the odd half exciting 10 laps every decade or so, but you best bet would be motorcycle racing, as mentioned above, World Superbike and MotoGp always delivers.
 
Karoug said:
Go watch a live event, doesn't matter what it is. But the noise and smells should get you going...
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meh, TV > live

each time i've been to a live race, i was bored within 20 laps, and found the carpark a lot more interesting than the race itself...
 
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bone said:
meh, TV > live

each time i've been to a live race, i was bored within 20 laps, and found the carpark a lot more interesting than the race itself...
Click to expand...

Depends on the person and also on the type of event. Drag racing, for example, is great fun on site, as are rallycross type events where the races are short, packed with action and everything happens in such a small venue that from most vantage points you can see the whole circuit. Also, these tend to be much more fan friendly events and if you are technically minded there's a lot to see in the pits as well. Touring cars generally fall to that same category. Long races, though, can get boring especially if you only have a view of a part of the circuit and no other way to know what is going on elsewhere on the track.

I absolutely recommend visiting the events every now and then. Following a race on TV is much easier and you see more of the action but at the same time it completely takes away the atmosphere, and it also kills the noise and especially the speed.
 
Road rally's are great, I watch a variety of world class cars blow past my front lawn every september at Targa Newfoundland. I can see what you mean about the track racing though. It's not like you can be everywhere and get everything absorbed from one race.

I agree with KaBoom about the basis of exciting racing, I enjoy watching one car with a good idea or trick to keep it in the lead and then watching other people try and top that in the next race. But since 70's Can Am racing this has been rare stuff.
 
Go to a live race for the party, watch it on TV if you actually care.

To enjoy motor racing on TV you have to care about it already. It takes a special kind of person to sit through a live, non-abbreviated event that doesn't have a favorite driver, favorite team, and a decent amount of knowledge of the regulations and technical specs. I guarantee you, the only reason why I watch road racing is purely for professional reasons:

1. Media tips (good to know how to woo reporters, F1 is a good example of how not to).
2. Strategy insight (watching various strategies unfold in various situations is useful, and insight into team or race strategy is one of the few areas where the commentator is actually useful - they have the lap time and precise positioning data).
3. Driving tips (watching onboards in various dynamic conditions is useful. Clips on youtube tend to only be in ideal conditions or appalling conditions and rarely show the critically frequent light-to-moderate mistakes professional drivers make).
4. Learn circuits (the best way to learn a circuit short of driving or walking it is to watch other people go round it, even from the outside).
5. Know who's who (from reporters to team bosses to even midlevel managers and mechanics, it's nice to walk into a paddock with a decent vocabulary for names and faces and it helps your case immensely when you don't give a blank look when people start talking about team history or recent past events).

I actually, really, 100% do not care who wins. I'm equally happy for all of them.

For me, yes, watching motorsports on TV is boring. At least, compared to what I'm used to when I'm driving. I like actually going to races a bit better, because I like the sound, and I get to talk to people that might give me a car to drive at some point, or I'm supporting a friend, and I get to see the cool tech up close, but ultimately I'm still bored by it at the end of the day because I didn't get to drive anything. Watching other people do the thing that I want most in the world to do is very depressing. The depressingness is less bad on TV however.

At least with GT racing I get to watch some sexy looking cars go around.
 
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I'd recommend Rallycross or something, short heats and lots of races in a day, and it doesn't require you to move yourself from place to place
 
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