Motorsports Thread

[icowden]

AT some point that isn;t enough 0 that point might be coming soon

Only if there is a clause in the contract that enables Williams to break it.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Only if there is a clause in the contract that enables Williams to break it.

They probably have the ability to "redefine his duties" - aka do all the sim work while a newbie does the track stuff

They still have to pay him - but the sponsors need good results and that takes priority long term

 

[figbat]

And just like that, he’s gone.

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/1...nco-colapinto-for-remainder-of-2024-f1-season

 

[derrick]

And just like that, he’s gone.

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/1...nco-colapinto-for-remainder-of-2024-f1-season

How did he get a drive in the first place?

 

[figbat]

How did he get a drive in the first place?

$$$ and 🇺🇸

 

[Reynard]

How did he get a drive in the first place?

As a driver who will never run out of money before he runs out of talent.

He's decent enough - you have to be to get this far - but just not quite on the level of some of the others. The media scrutiny isn't helping, and that will f*ck around with a driver's head enough to affect performances out on track. I suspect he'll end up diverting to one of Indycar / Sportscar / Formula E where there is far less pressure to perform.

 

[icowden]

How did he get a drive in the first place?

Statistically he's not that far behind Albon compared to say Perez when compared to Verstappen. It's just that he kept costing Williams a *lot* of money. Writing off the car during practice was, I think, the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

The problem with F1
well - one of the many problems

is that a driver who comes in will always have looked pretty amazing up to that point

and then suddenly they are in the lion's den
EVERYONE is suddenly better than them
the cars are massively better and more complicated than anything else
the sim and off track requirement are way more

and they need to perform immediately
and that performance needs to be at a higher standard than every before - within a race or maybe two

I can't think of any other sport that rams up the pressure that much so quickly

It does tend to sort the wheat out from the "way above chaff but not wheat" so quickly

 

[Jenkins]

Oops - slight bit of embarrassment for Bernd Maylander in the Aston Martin safety car
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f...-crash-during-high-speed-monza-test/10648812/

 

[raleighnut]

Oops - slight bit of embarrassment for Bernd Maylander in the Aston Martin safety car
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f...-crash-during-high-speed-monza-test/10648812/

At race meetings everybody laughed when the 'safety car' or bike spun or crashed. My girlfriend at the time once accused me of "Only going to see the crashes" but I told her that was wrong, what I liked was somebody having a big 'moment' but saving it.
I still think that the best thing I ever saw was 'Big Trev' (Trevor Nation) getting black flagged in practice for the Superbike race at Mallory Park for wheelieing the Norton rotary down 'Devils Elbow' (pre 'Bus Stop' chicane) he must have done it 5 or 6 times before they decided to have a word with him.

For those that don't know Mallory the 'Devils Elbow' is a downhill, off camber bend with no run off and steel Armco barriers round the outside. Quite a few riders have died after hitting the Armco.

 

[matticus]

They use safety BIKES?!?

I'm ready to be schooled here, but that sounds ... ill-advised?!? (I've only been to one superbike meet - at Donny - and I don't remember much apart from being super-impressed by the sidecar racing. So they MAY have had safety bikes: I guess it's not something that would stand out, whereas a safety CAR would, ironically!)

 

[raleighnut]

They use safety BIKES?!?

I'm ready to be schooled here, but that sounds ... ill-advised?!? (I've only been to one superbike meet - at Donny - and I don't remember much apart from being super-impressed by the sidecar racing. So they MAY have had safety bikes: I guess it's not something that would stand out, whereas a safety CAR would, ironically!)

Yep mainly at 'Clubmans' meetings and generally it'd be a BMW K1000 wallowing about in front of a pack of snarling TZ 350's or highly modified GS1000's and CB 900/1100 R's but this is before bike racing turned to mostly proddy bikes. Mallory was a prestigious circuit in those days with the 'Transatlantic Challenge' The Post TT meeting and the race with the 'highest purse in the world' for the winner The Race Of The Year (1,000 guineas) ......many 'Grand Prix' stars would race there including the time when John Cooper beat Agostini (BSA Rocket 3 against Ago's MV 500 triple)

 

[Reynard]

My abiding memory of Mallory Park is Paul Eaton crashing his V8 Eurocar into the lake He turned up at the next meeting with a periscope stuck to the roof...

 

[raleighnut]

My abiding memory of Mallory Park is Paul Eaton crashing his V8 Eurocar into the lake He turned up at the next meeting with a periscope stuck to the roof...

Was that one of the meetings where they used the 'mile oval' instead of the trek up the hill to the hairpin ?

 

[Reynard]

Was that one of the meetings where they used the 'mile oval' instead of the trek up the hill to the hairpin ?

Yep.