What makes a good racing driver?

[ioneabee]

don't disagree with hardly any of the above, however, they have a massive amount of skill - are your reactions that quick doing 200mph ?

 

the only time mine are that quick is when the missus throws something at me

[rtbiscuit]

don't disagree with hardly any of the above, however, they have a massive amount of skill - are your reactions that quick doing 200mph ?

 

the only time mine are that quick is when the missus throws something at me

I think you realise how good they are and how easy they make it look when someone elses tries to do it.

 

 

i agree it takes skill, the speed you need to maintain for the car to work goes against everything your body is telling you to do. carry more speed when you should be braking etc. braking way later, and then contending with very high speeds.

 

but even though it takes great skill i have more fun watching things like the truck racing at snetterton with 4 pickups side by side round a bend and 1 oon the dirt all fighting for the lead, now thats fun watching. DTM and BTCC are also good. and if i want to watch true driver skill i like to watch the rally. its just a shame all the big manufacuturers pulled out. i hope they all come back

[CrumbMC]

People talk about F1 like it is the best motorsport because it has the most cash, newest technology and prestige, when really it is by no means the mostt entertaining. people watch it all weekend then complain about how boring it is blah blah blah. and half of the drivers only get a seat because daddy owns an oil company. i dont get why people choose to exclusively watch f1 when you can watch phenomenal GT racing on youtube with no sky subscription LIVE(!!) or whenever you want without the radio spoiling the result.

 

I just finished watching this weekends GTSeries championship race. Please spend 5 mins and watch the last few laps of this race.. this is VERY TAME by GT series standards, but it is still loads more fun than F1. I have posted about it numerous times on this forum but everyone seems to have their Hamilton blinkers on and still watches a championship that they keep complaining about. The racecraft in GT Series is so much better than F1. The past few years has also seen a lot of decent ex-f1 drivers going into GT (where Webber will most likely end up next year, albeit in an LMP) so you can still get to see the famous people - you can actually go and talk to them if you go watch it live too as a paddock entry ticket is only £30 for a full weekend and all the drooling Jason Plato fan boys have stayed at home to watch touring cars on the TV.

 

I understand why peeople cant be bothered to watch endurance racing as 6 hours is a long time out of anyone's weekend (although i bet a lot of you spend this long watching F1) it's only for a select few nerds like myself but these GT sprint set-ups are awesome

 

Touring cars is just the chavs version of GT racing IMHO. The cars are no way near as good or exiting. FWD , niether is the balance of performance so you end up with a crappy chevrolet with money spread over it dominating against a load of privateers.

 

In answer to the question, "what makes a good racing driver?"...

 

 

Also consider that until 2 years GT series was running GT1 cars which were possibly the most outragous GT cars we will see in a generation

Edited April 23, 2013 by CrumbMC

[JetSet]

Went to a talk by stirling moss a few years back and he said the worst thing for f1 was when they sttarted messing with the aerodynamics and adding big spoliers as it made overtaking extremely difficult, no overtaking means a dull race and trying to avoid that artifically with kurs (curs!!) doesnt help.

 

 

+1, also, the cars have too much power, the racing was great in the 70's when the cars had somewhere around 470-500 bhp and did the entire race on a set of tyres. The only thing that's better today is reliability and safety. Also, today's tracks are so sanitised and bland, even the great tracks like Spa and Monza have been neutered. The sport has also become hugely expensive, back in the 70's you could buy a brand new DFV from Cosworth for 10 grand or pick one up second hand for 7.5k...you could in fact buy a customer car from a company such as March or Surtees and race it in F1.

 

 

Pete

Edited April 23, 2013 by JetSet

[The Bounty Bar Kid]

Really? F1 doesn't have talent. At those speeds you need lots of it!

Current lap record is 1:30, and that's not from a standing start.

[rtbiscuit]

just watched the last 5 min of that race, cracking driving

[CrumbMC]

just watched the last 5 min of that race, cracking driving

 

Thanks you the races up to 2011 were absolutely amazing as the cars were awesome. If you want to see them a few people have uploaded the races to youtube:

 

Anyone who liked the V8 noises in the LS engine thread will like these cars

 

 

unfortunately the GT1world channel on youtube wasn't up until last year so the old vids are hard to find, but you can watch last years, which were like a GT3+ spec and all of this years on the GT1world channel.

 

my last post was a bit of a rant, lol. I like F1 but the ecclestone effect has blinded a lot of people from other forms of motorsport which are far more enjoyable

Edited April 23, 2013 by CrumbMC

[rtbiscuit]

lol at the 3 car race, lonny herbert was a great driver, loved watching him race.

[Ekona]

Not picking on you here bud, honest!

 

Seriously, i dont get it. Ok they are fit and train hard. But if you took the driver from an ok team and put him in the best car at any time he would win, unless something stupid happened.

Is that not the same for every driver from every racing principle ever? You have to be a certain level to get a drive full stop, so obviously they're all going to be around the same level. He's a c*ck and I can't stand him, but Alonso last year in a poor Ferrari was outstanding to watch.

 

What i like about the touring cars is that it's everyday cars taking to the limit!

They're significantly different from everyday cars. It's like comparing a road going WRX to a Group N car, or a Fiesta 1.4D to an S2000 spec one. The only thing really carried over is a basic outline of the car, almost everything else is created from scratch.

 

Lot of stuff about GT endurance racing

Holy sh*t this. The best race for me every year is the LM24. There is nothing like it, four (well, three really) different classes all on the same track for an entire day. Being there is very special, but even just watching it on the TV is still a fantastic experience. It's all the best bits of proper racing (driving balls to the wall) combined with the tech and strategy of F1 (aero, fuel consumption, tyre wear) and the length of an F1 season wrapped into just one day. Utterly stupendous.

[vansman66]

For me the only car based Motorsport I will watch is British GT, F1 doesn't do it me prefer bike racing.

[docwra]

Some interesting replies here, Im quite into F1 as I supply guys to build the cars (along wth DTM, LMP and various other stuff), the technical aspect of it is astonishing (quote from a visit to Red Bull the other day "Not even NASA know about this yet")

 

There may not be as many overtakes as in some other series but you cant knock the outright speed, and saying theres no skill when youre getting 10 cars covered by less than a second over a 2 minute qualifying lap ......... hmmm. Im sure everyone has seen the comparison but just in case:

 

 

As for Le Mans and GT Racing being more exciting .......... I take it you didnt watch the last F1GP then? Endurance racing doesnt exactly breed overtaking manouevres and having been to LM for the last 8 years, while its a spectacle youve lost track after about 3 laps anyway

 

Best racing for me is classic touring cars, 50's, 60's and 70's - not only are the cars cool but the different performance and dynamics means you cant take your eyes off it, whilst the tech is amazing the latest tyres and aero are nowhere near as exciting as watching a MkII Jag on skinny tyres get overtaken by an Austin A35 going sideways.

 

Oh, and to asnwer the original question - the best racing driver is the one that gets round the track quicker than the others

[Ekona]

Hang on a minute, that video is comparing a track day to F1! I'm not surprised they're a bit slower!

 

How many times do we get an F1 GP like the last one though? I'm a massive fan of F1 too, so enjoy both that and the GT stuff, but for different reasons. I don't think one is 'better' than the other really.

 

 

The only thing I don't care much for these days is WRC, but that's because all the good manufacturers have left so we're left with crappy cars and even the man that retired last year is back and still cantering to victory in every race. It should be so much better supported as when it's good it's unbelievable to watch, but it really needs some funding chucked at it.

[Ekona]

To be fair though, an F1 car is about 15 secs quicker over a lap of Spa than an LMP1 car, so I don't think there's much comparison there really in terms of outright pace.

[docwra]

Hang on a minute, that video is comparing a track day to F1! I'm not surprised they're a bit slower!

 

I know, there used to be a clip kicking about of proper GT3 cars vs LMP vs F1, that was a real eye opener but seems to be gone now

 

Definitely prefer closed wheel racing to open wheel though, more margin for error

[StevoD]

F1 has got skill but its boring as watching paint dry get as much drama ibn 1 btcc round as a season of f1

[BulletMagnet]

Football is boring as hell...20 blokes running around a bit of grass chasing a ball with the other 2 just standing about most of the time...BOOOOOOORING.

 

Point being, we are all different and we all like different things (which is good)

[raduv66]

This might of been said already as didn't look back through all the posts so what make a good race driver . Well first thing is that all race drivers don't seem to suffer from that " What if " mentally that we do. Second would be reaction time the best seem to have in F1 for example everything going on inside and outside the cockpit. Third and most important that inherent skill that's already there from day one practice make perfect but you need that spark of skill. When you see top race drivers interviewed they can come across as almost arrogant but that is just self belief and confidence in there abilities.

[JetSet]

This might of been said already as didn't look back through all the posts so what make a good race driver . Well first thing is that all race drivers don't seem to suffer from that " What if " mentally that we do. Second would be reaction time the best seem to have in F1 for example everything going on inside and outside the cockpit. Third and most important that inherent skill that's already there from day one practice make perfect but you need that spark of skill. When you see top race drivers interviewed they can come across as almost arrogant but that is just self belief and confidence in there abilities.

 

Being smaller than average is also a big help, Most of the all time greats have been small...Fangio, Senna, Prost, Moss, Stewart, Surtees, Alonso, Villenueve all very small guys. Only one driver over 6 foot tall has ever won the championship (Hunt) and only 2 others over 5-11" (Damon Hill and Button) . You also need very good eye sight, as far as I can remember only 3 F1 drivers have worn glasses.

 

Pete

[Ekona]

Does that include Grosjean and Maldonado?

[CrumbMC]

Lot of stuff about GT endurance racing

Holy sh*t this. The best race for me every year is the LM24. There is nothing like it, four (well, three really) different classes all on the same track for an entire day. Being there is very special, but even just watching it on the TV is still a fantastic experience. It's all the best bits of proper racing (driving balls to the wall) combined with the tech and strategy of F1 (aero, fuel consumption, tyre wear) and the length of an F1 season wrapped into just one day. Utterly stupendous.

 

hehe. I like your summary of my quote and enthusiasm too. this year i could have gone to leMans and F1 at silverstone/lakez meet. But i already have a holiday booked that spans both weekends. My mates are still going though which is the most annoying thing.

[raduv66]

This might of been said already as didn't look back through all the posts so what make a good race driver . Well first thing is that all race drivers don't seem to suffer from that " What if " mentally that we do. Second would be reaction time the best seem to have in F1 for example everything going on inside and outside the cockpit. Third and most important that inherent skill that's already there from day one practice make perfect but you need that spark of skill. When you see top race drivers interviewed they can come across as almost arrogant but that is just self belief and confidence in there abilities.

 

Being smaller than average is also a big help, Most of the all time greats have been small...Fangio, Senna, Prost, Moss, Stewart, Surtees, Alonso, Villenueve all very small guys. Only one driver over 6 foot tall has ever won the championship (Hunt) and only 2 others over 5-11" (Damon Hill and Button) . You also need very good eye sight, as far as I can remember only 3 F1 drivers have worn glasses.

 

Pete

 

Don't follow it that close to know those stats but it makes sense but it's that lack of fear in them all that gets me . Still if your driving someone's else's car and not your own why not . i expect thats why i don't do track day's

[The Bounty Bar Kid]

Football is boring as hell...20 blokes running around a bit of grass chasing a ball with the other 2 just standing about most of the time...BOOOOOOORING.

 

Point being, we are all different and we all like different things (which is good)

 

+1 football is boring.

[ioneabee]

Football is boring as hell...20 blokes running around a bit of grass chasing a ball with the other 2 just standing about most of the time...BOOOOOOORING.

 

Point being, we are all different and we all like different things (which is good)

 

+1 football is boring.

and I thought it was just me

[CrumbMC]

This might of been said already as didn't look back through all the posts so what make a good race driver . Well first thing is that all race drivers don't seem to suffer from that " What if " mentally that we do. Second would be reaction time the best seem to have in F1 for example everything going on inside and outside the cockpit. Third and most important that inherent skill that's already there from day one practice make perfect but you need that spark of skill. When you see top race drivers interviewed they can come across as almost arrogant but that is just self belief and confidence in there abilities.

 

Being smaller than average is also a big help, Most of the all time greats have been small...Fangio, Senna, Prost, Moss, Stewart, Surtees, Alonso, Villenueve all very small guys. Only one driver over 6 foot tall has ever won the championship (Hunt) and only 2 others over 5-11" (Damon Hill and Button) . You also need very good eye sight, as far as I can remember only 3 F1 drivers have worn glasses.

 

Pete

 

Don't follow it that close to know those stats but it makes sense but it's that lack of fear in them all that gets me . Still if your driving someone's else's car and not your own why not . i expect thats why i don't do track day's

 

Bordais wore glasses, but he was pretty hopeless in the wet as a result because they fogged up

[JetSet]

Bordais wore glasses, but he was pretty hopeless in the wet as a result because they fogged up

 

Yes, Bordais came from Indy racing and of course they never raced in the wet. The other 2 were Jacques Villeneuve and little known Italian Andrea De Adamich. Rolf Stommelen who did a bit of F1 in the 70's but was better known as a sports car driver was another one.

 

EDIT, some further research has shown up another 4 (little known) F1 drivers who wore specs and apparently Villeneuve only wore contacts while racing. Ralf Schumacher, Timo Glock, Fisichella and Kubica are also rumoured to wear contacts. The main problems with contacts is that they dry out and the lateral G-Forces can move them out of position!!

 

I remember reading about Jackie Stewart some years ago and not only did he have perfect vision but a much wider peripheral range than an average human.

 

Pete

Edited April 24, 2013 by JetSet