Gentlemen Start Your Engines
Monday, June 14, 2010 at 10:51AM
I have commented before on the performance, or lack of, of Lord Peter Drayson, definitely a gentleman driver. This weekend he was not the one to stick it in the gravel, that was left to his professional co-driver, and the Lord seemed to acquit himself OK, when the car was going. There were a few "amateur" drivers in the field, which is part of the spirit of Le Mans going back to "The Bentley Boys" of the thirties, but Last Turn Club asks the question in their lead up piece to the race "should we be paying to watch amateurs?" I admit to having it both ways on this very good question. As paying spectators, sponsors and advertisers should we not expect to see the very best in action? The point was made that just because you own the team should you be playing? Should Jerry Jones quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys if he feels so inclined?
The other side of the coin is that the car would probably not be there at all if it were not for the amateur paying for his fun, and there are some very good cars in this category. We would have missed Emanuele Pirro giving it to the Peugeot at Sebring, and the Strakka LMP2 car won its class this weekend and ran faultlessly with a gentleman owner/driver. He was admittedly a lot slower than his professional mates, but they got there in the end in front of the all pro Highcroft team. It can be argued that mixing up the ability of drivers adds a level of strategy and interest, who is quicker when and who to put in the car when. The Flying Lizards Porsche was actually the subject of LTC's comment, but this is a fan favorite in the US and usually a very competitive car.
So I would say on balance let them come and pay/play. Le Mans has divided the GT class next year into Pro and Amateur to presumably address this, but have limited the amateurs to one year old cars. If they can afford it why exclude them from buying a new car. This is hurting the manufacturers. Some classes require you to have at least one amateur in the car, which may resolve the issue and mix it up a bit. Perhaps Duncan Dayton can drive the Highcroft, but then again some amateurs are more professional than others!
Formula One was on the Fox Network this weekend, presumably the NASCAR Channel was too busy with NASCAR at this time slot to show it. Or did some programmer think that he might get a lot of new viewers to watch it if it is shown at noon and not 6 am? It must have been the latter, because we were treated to half of the show being "taught" about F1 and how it difered from NASCAR. Why they should do that I do not know, it "dumbed down" the broadcast. Next time I tune in to watch a World Series Baseball game I expect the rules to be explained to me as an Englishman for at least half the game, and how it is different to cricket. Never happen will it, nor will they explain how they play basketball or American Football, so why do they feel they have to do it here? If someone is interested enough to watch it and they like it then they will presumably go and find out about it. SPEED/Fox need to look at how VERSUS handles the Tour de France.
And why would you compare it to NASCAR? Presumably all the NASCAR fans are watching NASCAR on the SPEED Channel aka NASCAR Channel. That's why you moved it over in the first place. Until a Network treats F1 with the respect it deserves it is never going to be accepted in the US. We went straight into the race, the cars were already on the formation lap. Can you imagine tuning in to the Daytona 500 when they are behind the pace car? Of course not. Worse, despite being told how fast the race had gone, they cut away from interviewing Alonso as they had run out of time. I guess we only saw the other two because the race was quicker? Saturday, when SPEED left Le Mans to go to NASCAR they stayed with the truck race for a half an hour longer, delaying the F1 qualifying, so they could show the podium and interviews. Is a truck race really more important than F1? That is the message Fox who owns SPEED is sending.
It was actually a very interesting race. As I said yesterday, the track surface and its effect on tires reminded me of Adelaide. What were the FIA going to do if the boys had run out of their allotted number of tires? This is the first time the two compound of tire rule was clearly instrumental in deciding the race, so maybe there is a reason to keep it. Hamilton seems to have stepped up a gear after Turkey, smell of blood maybe? Kubica continued to impress, and show us that the dollars spent in the wind tunnel and front wings really means nothing, being the fastest car on the track with half the right front end of the wing missing. Shades of Massa and Barcelona. Schumacher must have taught Anthony Davidson how to drive. He continues to push people off without penalty, and he is not even driving a Ferrari! Interesting how the silver and red teams this weekend showed what experience, knowledge, determination and teamwork can produce.
To my Australian friends, do not be too despondent. Germany look to be the team to beat so far.
The other side of the coin is that the car would probably not be there at all if it were not for the amateur paying for his fun, and there are some very good cars in this category. We would have missed Emanuele Pirro giving it to the Peugeot at Sebring, and the Strakka LMP2 car won its class this weekend and ran faultlessly with a gentleman owner/driver. He was admittedly a lot slower than his professional mates, but they got there in the end in front of the all pro Highcroft team. It can be argued that mixing up the ability of drivers adds a level of strategy and interest, who is quicker when and who to put in the car when. The Flying Lizards Porsche was actually the subject of LTC's comment, but this is a fan favorite in the US and usually a very competitive car.
So I would say on balance let them come and pay/play. Le Mans has divided the GT class next year into Pro and Amateur to presumably address this, but have limited the amateurs to one year old cars. If they can afford it why exclude them from buying a new car. This is hurting the manufacturers. Some classes require you to have at least one amateur in the car, which may resolve the issue and mix it up a bit. Perhaps Duncan Dayton can drive the Highcroft, but then again some amateurs are more professional than others!
Formula One was on the Fox Network this weekend, presumably the NASCAR Channel was too busy with NASCAR at this time slot to show it. Or did some programmer think that he might get a lot of new viewers to watch it if it is shown at noon and not 6 am? It must have been the latter, because we were treated to half of the show being "taught" about F1 and how it difered from NASCAR. Why they should do that I do not know, it "dumbed down" the broadcast. Next time I tune in to watch a World Series Baseball game I expect the rules to be explained to me as an Englishman for at least half the game, and how it is different to cricket. Never happen will it, nor will they explain how they play basketball or American Football, so why do they feel they have to do it here? If someone is interested enough to watch it and they like it then they will presumably go and find out about it. SPEED/Fox need to look at how VERSUS handles the Tour de France.
And why would you compare it to NASCAR? Presumably all the NASCAR fans are watching NASCAR on the SPEED Channel aka NASCAR Channel. That's why you moved it over in the first place. Until a Network treats F1 with the respect it deserves it is never going to be accepted in the US. We went straight into the race, the cars were already on the formation lap. Can you imagine tuning in to the Daytona 500 when they are behind the pace car? Of course not. Worse, despite being told how fast the race had gone, they cut away from interviewing Alonso as they had run out of time. I guess we only saw the other two because the race was quicker? Saturday, when SPEED left Le Mans to go to NASCAR they stayed with the truck race for a half an hour longer, delaying the F1 qualifying, so they could show the podium and interviews. Is a truck race really more important than F1? That is the message Fox who owns SPEED is sending.
It was actually a very interesting race. As I said yesterday, the track surface and its effect on tires reminded me of Adelaide. What were the FIA going to do if the boys had run out of their allotted number of tires? This is the first time the two compound of tire rule was clearly instrumental in deciding the race, so maybe there is a reason to keep it. Hamilton seems to have stepped up a gear after Turkey, smell of blood maybe? Kubica continued to impress, and show us that the dollars spent in the wind tunnel and front wings really means nothing, being the fastest car on the track with half the right front end of the wing missing. Shades of Massa and Barcelona. Schumacher must have taught Anthony Davidson how to drive. He continues to push people off without penalty, and he is not even driving a Ferrari! Interesting how the silver and red teams this weekend showed what experience, knowledge, determination and teamwork can produce.
To my Australian friends, do not be too despondent. Germany look to be the team to beat so far.
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