Other Motorsports (merged)

[Ondrej Kapal]

This year, on Race of Champions event, will F1 stars compete in rally car, Škoda Fabia S2000 from Škoda Motorsport. To the same car will sit one of the best rally driver in history, Sebastien Loeb, too. And thats not all, confirmed is Jenson Button's participation also!

For WTCC fans, Andy Priaulx is signed up as well. Mattias Ekstrom will represent DTM.

Event starts on 3.12.2011 in Düsseldorf

http://www.raceofchampions.com/index.aspx

 

[Stuart Rinck]

I have never even known of this type of racing untill I started SIM racing this year. I am watching this on ESPN3 on my PC. This is AWESOME stuff! these cars are unbelievable, and seeing names, and cars that are in the game, its too cool. I'm a fan for life now.

 

[Xosé Estrada]

In 1923, Enzo Ferrari met counts Baracca, parents of Italy's national hero Francesco Baracca, ace of the WWI with 34 victories. The mother, Paulina, suggested Enzo to put the prancing horse his son had painted in the sides of his plane in his cars. Enzo put the black horse over a yellow background, the color of the city of Modena.


The horse on Baracca's plane may come from the Coat of Arms of the City of Stuttgart. Apparently Baracca copied the rampant horse design from a shot down German pilot having the emblem of the city of Stuttgart on his plane.

German sports car manufacturer Porsche, from Stuttgart, borrowed its prancing horse logo from the city's emblem. Stuttgart's emblem it's a horse because the name of the city is an over the centuries modified version of Stutengarten (an ancient german word for "Gestüt", translated into English as mare garden or stud farm, and interestingly into Italian as "scuderia").



The Scuderia used the horse for the first time in 1932, still as private racing team using Alfa Romeo cars. The Scuderia Ferrari won.

The prancing horse has not always identified the Ferrari brand only: Fabio Taglioni used it on his Ducati motorbikes. Taglioni's father was in fact a companion of Baracca's and fought with him in the same Air Squad, but as Ferrari's fame grew, Ducati abandoned the horse. It's curious that nowadays Ducati and Ferrari are still linked in philosophy, spirit and economical interests.

Source | World Brands

 

[Paul Maher]

Just spotted that the film SENNA is on SKY HD Box Office (UK) if anyone (Who am I kidding anyone) is interested?

*Apologies if this is the wrong forum, but I thought there may be more F1 aficionados who would appreciate it in here, than anywhere else on the forum.

Cheers

PM

 

[Scott Webber]

Former Formula 1 world champion Jody Scheckter wants his son to quit IndyCar racing following the death of Briton Dan Wheldon.

Scheckter was a spectator at Sunday's Las Vegas Indy 300 and had an anxious wait before discovering son Tomas had escaped unharmed from the 15-car crash.
"I've wanted him to give up for a while," said Scheckter.

"Hopefully this will knock some sense into him and realise there is more to life. It really isn't worth it."

Asked whether the sport was safe, Scheckter told BBC Radio Berkshire: "No. It is the most dangerous form of motor racing at the moment.
"I think the set-up they put in so it can be more of a spectacle makes it very, very dangerous on circuits like this. Some others [circuits] aren't as bad."

Scheckter, 61, who won the Formula 1 title for Ferrari in 1979, claimed the crash was "inevitable" due to the changes designed at making IndyCar more competitive.
He said wings allowing more downforce were aiding the speed of cars, and also pointed to the number of drivers - 34 - who took part in the race.


"There is hardly any difference in speed between the good drivers and the bad drivers," said Scheckter, a South African who now runs an organic farm near Basingstoke.

Tomas Scheckter made his IndyCar debut in 2002
"They were basically touching wheels at 220mph. They all bunch up together so there are 34 cars in a small space of track.
"One person makes a mistake and this happens. You [shouldn't] have to get killed if you make a mistake. It was madness. Formula 1 is not like that anymore and it is still quite exciting."


Scheckter said he was in a hospitality suite when the crash happened and feared the worst for his son, who has competed in 115 races, winning two.

"We really just hoped," he said. "I had the headset on through to his channel and I heard him say 'someone had hit me in the back' so I knew he was OK after that.

"Dan raced with or against some of my sons in England in Formula Vauxhall. We have known him for years really. He has been very successful. A bubbly guy all the time. It is very sad."

Former Formula 1 and IndyCar driver Mark Blundell said the Las Vegas track was unsuitable for cars of the power and speed used in Indy 300.
"It was inevitable in many ways," the Briton said of Sunday's accident. "It was a recipe for disaster. These type of cars shouldn't be on these type of circuits.
"Fifteen cars wiped out - 40% of the grid - and we've had a fatality. That's not acceptable."

Jody Scheckter competed in 113 F1 races, winning 10

Former Formula 1 driver and BBC commentator Anthony Davidson said a $5m offer to any non-regular series driver who won the season finale in Las Vegas was not to blame.

"We drive our hearts out - you know, whether it's at the back of the grid or the front of the grid - our goal is always to win a race and you know it was a great idea and I wouldn't put any blame on the organisers or that style of the race," he said.
"You've got to look to the root of the problem and the root of the problem is just the fact that you've got very high speed cars travelling around very closely fought races with open cockpits.

"You have to question, do they have to go that fast? Can the spectators see the difference between 250mph or 160mph? I am not so sure.

"I don't think it is down to the style of the race or the carrot at the end of it. The temptation and carrot of the money is always there no matter what race you are in."

Scottish IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti, who clinched his fourth IndyCar series title after the cancelled event, also had concerns about the race.

Track was packed for Wheldon crash - Legard
"I could see within five laps people were starting to do crazy stuff," he said.
"I love hard racing but that to me is not really what it's about, one small mistake from somebody.
"Right now I'm numb and speechless. One minute you're joking around and the next he's gone.

"He was six years old when I first met him. He was this little kid and the next thing you know he was my team-mate.

source

 

[Chris Mackenzie]

Hmmm, sorry I just dont get it....Motorsport IS about pushing yourself to the limit! Motorsport IS about running side by side with other drivers doing the same...is it dangerous YES!

It is a tragic situation...but running the sport down by "over"stating the obvious just sounds weird.....Sheckter (Jody) should be well aware of the risks involved in motorsport, likewise he should be more aware of the advancements in modern motorsport safety - heck! when he was behind the wheel the risk (I would say) of fatalities was far greater....

Ha says Formula one is exciting....how wrong is he, I havent watched a F1 race for some 5 years.....seeing those Indycar drivers run close together is a spectacle and something that I admire each and everyone of them for, Formula one would be the same if cars ran wheel to wheel for longer than just the run to the first corner.....

Are the cars too fast??? Isnt that the challenge in racing..to be fast? If we were to "dumb down" speed i'm sure the lure for spectators and drivers alike would drop away
Can the cars be made safer??? Sad to say (and I'm no expert on it, or have all the data) this tragic event was a case of "bad situation" - short of encasing the drivers compartment completely (think F1 Hydroplane cockpits) the driver is always at risk of some form of impact whether that be from debris (think Massa and the spring in F1) or in this case the wall....In saying that would an enclosed cockpit be any safer?

Seems to me like a storm in a tea-cup.....YES we tragicly lost a great competitor, but in the bigger picture we had 14 other drivers walk away from a horrendous incident...go back even ten years and that outcome would, I'm sure have been a far different story.

On this unfortunate day things just came unstuck in the worst possible way......

Chris

 

[My993C2]

I am not going to call for a ban on open wheelers on oval tracks, that would mean banning the Indy 500 and since the Indy 500 is one of the three crown jewels of motorsports (Indy 500, Monaco and Lemans) that would be sacrilege. However IZOD does need to rethink what they are doing on these short oval tracks. Open wheelers are not safe, then put 34 of them in a confined space all driving over 220+ mph and sooner or later something bad is going to happen (and we see "sooner" happened yesterday).

 

[William Levesque]

+1 Chris !

I mean, c'mon Jody... Obviously age is not doing him so well...

 

[Koray Can]

I'm sorry, but I've always found Indy quite less safe than F1. The cars are definitely not as safe as F1 cars. They're surrounded by walls and backmarkers "averaging" 200+ mph on an oval where you can run side by side because that's how the spectators like it.

Frankly, the Indy 500 is not as big as its name any more, either. If, say, Kimi Raikkonen were to win the Daytona 500 I'd be very surprised whereas "meh" would be my response for his winning the Indy 500.

 

[ufunacaoenn]

But who would want his son to live a short life? I belive non so I can understand him being worried about his son.

 

[Fredrik Arbegard]

The thing is that when Jody drove, fatal accidents were more common and a more or less accepted part of racing.
Nowadays it isn't and safety is the number one priority any time.
We as spectators doesn't really have anything to say about this as we are not the ones driving these cars, priority should always be on safety first, then we can talk about speeds and tracks.

 

[William Levesque]

Yeah sure, then he can destroy his kid life

 

[Trebor901]

Paul Tracy is also considering retiring from racing after this weekends sad events

 

[Terry Rock]

Racing is dangerous, BUT putting 34 open-wheel cars on a track where maybe 20 should be, is irresponsible at best and quite possibly criminal. At any speed with open wheeled cars, tire contact can become the recipe for disaster. Though the last word is with the drivers and teams, the sanctioning body must do all that it can to minimize the risks to all involved..from drivers, to track workers, to spectators. This tragedy is a bitter pill to swallow, with an even more bitter after-taste. Dan Wheldon had a family. He was somebody's son. He probably had siblings. He had kids and a wife to support. Those catch-fences have killed or maimed too many drivers. It is time to re-evaluate running open-wheeled cars at banked venues, and especially those with linked fences. Properly prepared road courses, with runoff areas and no catch fences offer the same level of excitement, without the added risks. Leave the high banked and linked fences to Nascar...where they're better suited. The difference between a tin-top sliding along the fence (with it's driver's head inside and somewhat better protected) versus an open-wheeler's helmet trying to rip his spinal cord out, all the while bashing support post is unacceptable. The Indycar racing community needs to learn from this, much as Formula One had to learn from the events of 1994. What they choose to do at the start of next season will speak volumes if money takes the place of safety, for the benefit of 'the show'.

 

[Scott Webber]

Tony Stewart says criticism of IndyCar safety is unfair

Tony Stewart has defended the IndyCar Series and says the criticism its officials are receiving following the death of Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas last weekend is unfair.

Stewart won the 1997 title in what was then known as the Indy Racing League, and believes many have voiced emotional opinions after 33-year-old Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a multi-car incident early in the series finale last Sunday.

He underlined that despite racing now being safer than ever, danger will always be a part of the sport and is something drivers have always lived with.

Stewart does not believe anyone should be held responsible for what happened last Sunday as such incidents are part of the sport.

"[IndyCar chief] Randy Bernard has been getting beat up over it and he shouldn't," said Stewart. "It's part of racing, it's part of what can happen.
"Everybody is a back chair quarterback going 'no we should do this or shouldn't do that'. It's racing; I mean it's always been racing. Auto racing as a whole is safer than it's ever been.

"It still boils down to the people that are steering the cars around. It's not that the cars are unsafe, there's still people that tell the cars where to go so we've got to take responsibility. There is no reason for anybody to point fault anywhere. There's no fault in it. It's racing.

"Racing has always been dangerous. That's why people come to watch races because there is an element of danger involved. You're never going to get it all out but like we said it's safer than it's ever been. It's a freak thing that happened and it can happen every race.

"I think everybody has got to take a deep breath and let the emotions settle down. Everybody is obviously thinking about Dan and his family, his wife and two children, there's a lot of great charity stuff coming up to help them out which we are really proud to be a part of but I think everybody has to take a step back from it and realise this is auto racing.

"It's always been dangerous but everybody still does it. If it was so bad none of us would want to do this but we still love doing this every week and it's just part of the sport unfortunately. It's never going to be 100 per cent safe."

The two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion believes IndyCar racing has been gaining momentum recently and he remains a fan of the series competing on ovals - which formed the entire schedule in Stewart's IRL days.

source

 

[Juen-Jen Wang]

Thank you Tony

 

[Chris Jenkins]

Yes a lot of people are probably over-reacting a bit, but the fact remains that the cars aren't safe enough.
I still believe that if you had 15 Formula One cars in that crash, that there would've been 1. No Fatalities, and 2. No Fire.

 

[Nuno Martins]

"He underlined that despite racing now being safer than ever, danger will always be a part of the sport and is something drivers have always lived with."

This says it all.
Dan Wheldon's death was hard to the sport for sure, but attack like there was no tomorrow is not gonna solve anything, sure they could be safer, but at speed like that? the answer is not necessarily safer cars, but safer tracks, this oval tracks, with concrete walls, sorry but this can be fatal at high speeds.

 

[Luke McVicar]

Yes a lot of people are probably over-reacting a bit, but the fact remains that the cars aren't safe enough.
I still believe that if you had 15 Formula One cars in that crash, that there would've been 1. No Fatalities, and 2. No Fire.

Tbh i highly doubt this, when was the last time a formula one hit a catch fence at over 340km/h. oval racing isn't comparible to circuit racing in terms of crashes.

they can barely get to that speed at Monza.

 

[William Levesque]

They don't even get there anymore by the way... Max 320-330km/h at Monza with DRS, KERS and draft ?