Unpopular Motorsport Opinions
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Joey D
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- GTP Joey
I know I have unpopular opinions about motorsports which is why I'll avoid this section of the forum for the most part, but hey, since it's on topic.
- I think F1 is probably the most boring racing there is today.
- Senna's death was tragic, but I think he was a bit of a tool.
- NASCAR gets a bad wrap for being boring.
- Global Rally Cross could be awesome, but to me they tried to make it to XTREME TO THE MAXXXX!!!!1! and ruined it.
- The WRC in its current state isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be.
- SCORE Internaional races and the Dakar Rally are probably the coolest motorsports on the planet. Also, I wish they'd change the name of the Dakar.
- Swedish Racing Green is the best color ever put on any racecar.
- 12,123
- Liverpool
- CARBOYXJR
The fact that we're in a huge push to reduce emissions and improve efficiency in top-flight series yet we still have cars that waste bucket loads of energy through noise. The R18 is a brilliant car because it works with such efficiency. No technology-driven formula, such as F1 or LMP1, should have deafening cars in the year 2016, nor should they ever make it an aim.
By "modern" I mean cutting-edge or technologically advanced.
Roo
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- Hampshire, UK
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I'll still watch motorsport - indeed, I'll still attend in person - but I'll go despite the noise rather than because of it. It's something to be put up with, like the chance of getting soaked or having to get up super early to get to an event and fit work in, but I'll still go anyway.
Imagine being stuck on a 2 hour flight with 20 screaming babies. That's what the 2005 British GP was like for me, and is just one of the reasons I've not been to a GP since.
I find hearing them on TV to be the best way to experience the V10s and V8s, because you can get a good idea of the sound without the obscene volume.
(I know this an each-to-their-own thing, but this is the Unpopular Motorsport Opinions thread
) If you're wasting energy as noise, then (assuming similar heat outputs) you're not going as fast as you could. If there's less energy going to the wheels, you're not just losing performance from that but you're also having to carry more fuel, which is more weight, so you're going slower for that reason too. For me, race cars should be function over form. I don't see why performance should be sacrificed just to make attending a race more unpleasant.
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I find hearing them on TV to be the best way to experience the V10s and V8s, because you can get a good idea of the sound without the obscene volume.
(I know this an each-to-their-own thing, but this is the Unpopular Motorsport Opinions thread
Worst I've experienced was A1GP at Brands from a hospitality suite. The thunderous roar was funnelled into our little box, and it became too much, so I went for a bit or a walk down paddock hill, and it was far more agreeable. If you're stuck in one spot then I understand it might get a bit much, but for the most part, if it's too loud, stand somewhere else. Adrian Neweys Lotus Exige at the Britcar 24 is probably the most unpleasant racing car I've ever tried to sleep through!
Roo
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- Hampshire, UK
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I don't hang around for too long in any one place anyway, because then you just get the same old photos, but at the GP there's so many people you're tied to one spot. As I say, I'll still put up with the noise, I'd just rather not have to.
- 1,291
- So. California
- UnkaD
A friend and I went to see the Super GT event at Fontana, CA. At one point we decided to go to the fence on the inside of a corner exit. All the GT500 cars roared by and we were having a good time. Booming sound shaking everything to the core. Then, surprisingly, the pair of GT300 Z cars came by and we both fell to the ground covering our ears. Truly headsplitting. It was back to the bleachers after that.
- 28,541
- Bratvegas
- GTP_Liquid
Interesting.
I would disagree that he couldn't drive his way out of a wet paper bag but I would agree that Schumacher did rely on having a superior car, especially compared to his teammates. He learnt his lesson from having Brundle as his teammate, Brundle having been fairly on par with him, and went out of his way to ensure he got supremely preferable treatment.
As the story goes, Herbert bested Schumacher in free practice for Argentina 1995 and Schumacher thusly prohibited Herbert from seeing any of Schumacher's telemetry for the rest of the season.
Irvine and Barrichello were 'perfect' foils as number two drivers but I think Barrichello would have given MSC a fight in actually equal machinery and not Animal Farm equal machinery.
I suppose it depends how you look at it; he did make a career out of having a car better than anyone else and we can only speculate how he might have done in equal or worse machinery but doesn't that make him rather talented by virtue of being able to set up and develop a car which was superior to all the others over such a long period of time? He made sure that Verstappen, Lehto, Herbert, Irvine and Barrichello didn't have the same car as he did but he wasn't responsible for Williams or McLaren or Ferrari (94/95) making cars which sometimes were horribly inferior.
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- Addison,Texas
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To be honest, I'm likely not attending a race anytime soon purely based on luck so Noise isn't an issue for me. Only thing I ever really care for sound wise is for cars to sound different from one another, its what kinda makes racing audibly enjoyable for me. For instance, I actually have enjoyed the unique combination of sounds from various eras of F1. I liked what you posted there (from the V10 era I think?) because the combination that engine along with the Traction control and the just brutal gears upshifting and downshifting. I liked in particular 2011 of the V8 era because the combination of those engines AND of course, the Blown diffuser, which just made for this odd variety of awesome and gnarly noises. And currently, I actually like the V6s from this year not only for the noise of the engine but also from the nearly added waste gates and of course that strange noise they make mid-corner (The McLaren Honda being the huge favorite)
- 20,681
- TenEightyOne
- TenEightyOne
Jacques Villenueve was (and still is) over-rated.
- 28,541
- Bratvegas
- GTP_Liquid
I think you'll find that to be a rather popular opinion.
To be unpopular, I'd say that he did deserve the title in 1997. And then the rest of his career fell apart once he left Williams.
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- Arizona
- HamiltonMP427
It's being wasted more than anything, all that noise is potential effeciency being waste. Which is why in a logical and performance stand point, the current V6 tt Merc engine is 3 times the engine of the Merc V10.
- 24,608
- Anoka, MN
A couple more from me;
- Le Mans was worse without Nissan this year. Sure their debut was terrible but they had the balls to try something completely out of left field which added something to the VAG Vs. Toyota storyline we've had for some time.
- Bernie is doing a good job with F1, his job is to make the sport money which he is still able to do on a consistent basis.
- Throwback schemes are stupid.
I know this has already been responded too but I'd like to add onto that response.
A growing number of tracks have had noise limits placed on them and usually only have a weekend or two where they can surpass that limit. This obviously limits the income a track can earn which means they go under. By having quieter cars they are able to have additional race weekends which means more income and the track stays open.
That's not to say there isn't something awesome about the ground shaking when a car goes by at full-throttle, but with the way things are it's not a recipe for long term success.
- Le Mans was worse without Nissan this year. Sure their debut was terrible but they had the balls to try something completely out of left field which added something to the VAG Vs. Toyota storyline we've had for some time.
- Bernie is doing a good job with F1, his job is to make the sport money which he is still able to do on a consistent basis.
- Throwback schemes are stupid.
I know this has already been responded too but I'd like to add onto that response.
A growing number of tracks have had noise limits placed on them and usually only have a weekend or two where they can surpass that limit. This obviously limits the income a track can earn which means they go under. By having quieter cars they are able to have additional race weekends which means more income and the track stays open.
That's not to say there isn't something awesome about the ground shaking when a car goes by at full-throttle, but with the way things are it's not a recipe for long term success.
- 1,067
- Haywards Heath, West Sussex (i think)
- MMR_LukeMitchell
Ginetta Junior is the best racing series, as with most other amateur series.
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- Somewhere.
DISCLAIMER: I never liked Michael Schumacher, nor did I believe he was worthy of being the most successful F1 driver ever and no one's gonna be able to change my mind about it, so your mileage may vary, and take this with a grain of salt.
The wet paperbag thing was mostly an exaggeration, as much as I've disliked the man, there's no doubt he had the talent to drive in F1. But did he actually have the natural talent to win 7 championships? I doubt it, I strongly believe 6 of those were won by having the best car (and maybe not always a legal one, but that's another story) and having teammates that were pretty much coaxed into helping him. I still wonder what would have happened aside the obvious sacking if Barrichello didn't give way in Austria, or if Irvine didn't suddently suffer from a novice pitcrew every so often. It was pretty much always "let Michael have his way or you're out of here" at Ferrari, and the early 2000's greatly suffered from it, I think. That and the fact no other team had a chance back then really didn't help.
Speaking of which, more unpopular opinions:
-Sebastien Loeb was pretty much racing against himself for most of his career and never actually had any real competition. The fact he's a 10x champion doesn't really highlight his talent but has more to do with WRC slowly dying...
-We'll never see another good, championship worthy North American driver in F1. Because Indycar is a joke and there's more money to be made in NASCAR.
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- GTP_TheCracker
In the UK, and i imagine most of Europe and probably North America now or in the near future, race circuits are under massive pressure to reduce noise levels. Local authorities allow a track a certain amount of 'noisy' days a year and the other days have a dB figure they must keep under or get heavily fined. A quiet race car means more days a track can be operational - ie make money to stay open.
- 44,184
- Blackburn
- Furinkazen_54
@Carbonox it's why Oulton Park and a few other tracks have noise curfews of 6pm as well.
- 4,487
- YorkshireLand
- SVTlover
Is this based on the locals being t***s and complaining about the noise AFTER they moved to a house near a circuit? Or something else?
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- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
Yep. Mostly that. Result of living on a small, highly populated island - you can never be that far away from civilisation.
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