# Who else is into motorsports, racing, classic cars, car clubs, etc?



## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Passing some time here on TC while I'm waiting for tonight's Formula One race to start made me curious; who else here likes motorsports? Or _anything _ auto related?

We follow Formula One, & pretty much any of the sportscar series ( yes, even Nascar! ) my husband & youngest daughter race in the local (Pacific Northwest) amateur racing clubs, & they crew for each other.  The whole family is involved & it's a blast (I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one in pit lane listening to classical on my headphones, :lol. We also enjoy cruise-in's, car shows, & all kinds of classic cars ... some of those vintage cars are truly works of art!

What about you guys?


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Watching auto racing used to be a major hobby of mine. Used to. I have not watched a race since 2011. In the past, I used to closely follow many racing series including F1, Indycar, Le Mans-style sports car racing, the various super touring series, and even NASCAR for a while! 

Pretty much all of the racing leagues started making the same mistakes starting around the 1990s. A couple of the issues that led to changes were legitimate problems. The cars were becoming too fast given the safety technology. Also, too many racing series would have boom-and-bust cycles depending on factory spending waves. This led to rules that simplified the cars. Perhaps it had to happen, but it made racing more boring to me.

Then there are the unforced business errors the racing leagues made and seemingly still continue to make. I'm going to focus on American leagues here, but a lot of this applies to international racing too. Power struggles (CART-IRL) and greed are obvious things here. A specific form a greed that has hurt the racing worldwide is the abandonment of quality and historic racing circuits for terrible street courses and poorly done circuits in oddball third world places that can afford to write big checks.

Beyond that, it seems that the racing leagues saw the NASCAR fad of the late 1990s-early 2000s and decided that cars didn't matter anymore. The key was promoting the drivers. The thought was to make racing so that people who didn't care at all about cars would flock to the races to see their favorite personalities ala _Dancing with the Stars_. It worked for NASCAR for a few years, but the bubble burst. It never worked for Indycar at all. I know that many fans, myself included, were attracted to racing by the cars and the technology, not by the driver's latest hair cuts and pets. 

In order to make cars less relevant, many series started using spec-cars or almost spec-cars so that everyone theoretically has similar equipment. In the case of sports car and touring car racing, performance balancing was used to hurt successful teams (or promote teams with good political/business connections). Then there are the habits by American leagues to constantly throw yellow flags, even when they are not necessary, to bunch the field to make for close finishes that (in their minds) make for great TV! Who would watch a basketball game where they spot a team points to make for a close 4th quarter finish? Apparently racing leagues think this will cause fans to flock to the gates even though evidence is pointing in the other direction.

Long story short, I'm done with professional auto racing. It was such a revelation when I stopped watching. It turned out that I had been watching it for years not because I liked it, but because it's just something I did every weekend and I never questioned whether I might enjoy doing other things instead. I'm glad that's behind me now, but I do still cherish my memories from the better days of racing.

I never did much racing myself. I did do a little go-kart racing in my college years, but that stopped pretty quickly due to the expenses! If I raced today, all I would think of is the fact that one lap in a go-kart (forget about a proper race car) costs more than a great classical music CD boxset! :lol:

I do still enjoy reading about regular cars, but I have odd tastes in that regard I suppose. I'm not really interested in exotic type cars, I like to read about which manufacturers are producing the most comfortable, powerful, efficient, reliable, sturdy, economical, ergonomic, well-handling, and so forth cars that most everyone can afford. It's funny how some companies can make some kind of performance or luxury beast, but they struggle to be competitive on the above points with their $20,000-$25,000 models. It makes the models that hit on those points all the more remarkable. Again, I know that's an odd taste! :lol:


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Formula one is getting more interesting for us Dutchies. Go, Max, go !!
My wife and I (and our eldest daughter..) enjoy our Z3, but not on the track. Would love a true classic car, but first we need to get a few through college. 
Before the children arrived we dabbled with old race bikes. My wife could seriously hammer the old Tricati, a bitza Ducati with a Triumph t100 engine, through the twisties. She surprised a few blokes with perfect apex.
What do your husband and daughter race, Laurie ?


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## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Jos said:


> Formula one is getting more interesting for us Dutchies. Go, Max, go !!
> My wife and I (and our eldest daughter..) enjoy our Z3, but not on the track. Would love a true classic car, but first we need to get a few through college.
> Before the children arrived we dabbled with old race bikes. My wife could seriously hammer the old Tricati, a bitza Ducati with a Triumph t100 engine, through the twisties. She surprised a few blokes with perfect apex.
> What do your husband and daughter race, Laurie ?


Yeah, Max's "orange army" seems to be growing with every race! How cool (& impressive) that your wife raced motorcycles! That knee-to-the-ground bike racing scares me just _watching _it! 
Do you have "track days" at your local race tracks where you live? The car clubs have them here, where you can bring your normal street car, ride with an experienced racer/instructor for a few laps, & then run the track on your own ... my husband instructs at these & it's very popular.  I think you & your wife might enjoy that!

My husband races a 1967 Mustang; he runs in a mixed Vintage class with every type of vintage race car; it's awesome to see (& hear!) all those classics in action. My daughter drives a ('91) Mazda Miata in a Spec Miata class (in the photo, she's the black car ~ in the lead!). She loves racing, & I'm proud of her; but I still get really nervous watching her races (actually, it's not too bad when I can_ see_ her, but when she disappears from view on the backstretch, I find myself holding my breath until she drives back into sight!).


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

I used to watch MotoGP a few years ago - bike racing.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

The closest I come to being a motorsport fan is when I switch on my electric razor three times a week.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I followed East Coast sports car races back in the 1950s and 1960s, going to Lime Rock, Montgomery, Bridgehampton, and watching the Porsches duel with the Corvettes and a few Jags and Ferraris. Austin Healeys, Sunbeam Alpines, MGs, Alfas, Fiat-Abarths--the list goes on and on, including Formula V cars, using Volkswagen engines. Lots of fun! Many races would have 5 or more disparate models/makes of cars and that made it yet more interesting. I read the magazines and followed the international GP races and racers--Stirling Moss, Juan Fangio, Wolfgang Von Trips.... Loads of great, weird, novel cars back then. NASCAR and Indy racing never appealed, and as the local scene slowly faded, so did my interest. Might be fun to revive that sort of racing with minimally-altered versions of today's "sports cars" from BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Porsche, the Japanese manufacturers, etc., keeping an amateur flavor as much as possible.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

1967 Mustang; excellent vintage, my wife would say 

Not many tracks in the Netherlands; but we did go around "Assen" and "Zandvoort" and some small tracks for police- and fireman practice. Then there is Spa Francochamps and Zolder in nearby Belgium.
Here's a pic of my lovely from a long time ago:


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Strange Magic said:


> Might be fun to revive that sort of racing with minimally-altered versions of today's "sports cars" from BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Porsche, the Japanese manufacturers, etc., keeping an amateur flavor as much as possible.


Strictly amateur racing like this probably exists at local road circuits. Le Mans style sports car racing was the last type of racing that I followed, but it was disgraceful, IMO, that they would performance balance vastly different types of cars so they could all compete in the same class. It was pretty embarrassing to see a BMW sedan outperform a Ferrari just because BMW was buying some commercials for the race.  I'm not calling out BMW specifically, it happened with all sorts of manufacturers.

Some say the glory days of professional/pro-am auto racing was in the 1980s-1990s. Some say it was the 1950s-1960s. I dare to say that few would claim that the 2000s+ are anywhere near the glory days.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Formula one as long as Dan wins and Lewis loses- Go Dan


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Formula one as long as Dan wins and Lewis loses- Go Dan


Ah, it was the same way with MotoGP for me too, only as long as Anyone wins and Lorenzo loses - go Anyone (on Honda preferably)

That was when Lorenzo was with Yamaha


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I've never been a mad-keen motorsport fan (I can't even drive) but when I was a kid during the 1970s I liked watching rallycross. Some of the rally cars during the 70s looked brilliant as well - certainly more pleasing on the eye than the generic-looking hatchbacks of today:

Lancia Stratos driven by Björn Waldegård, Sandro Munari etc:










Ford Escort driven by Roger Clark, Timo Mäkinen etc:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I love fast cars that handle well-I've had BMW's exclusively since 1993, but watching other people drive fast around a track?

The dullest thing ever!!!


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

hpowders said:


> I love fast cars that handle well-I've had BMW's exclusively since 1993, but watching other people drive fast around a track?
> 
> The dullest thing ever!!!


I've found that it depends on the track, and on the cars. My ideal race would be to combine the extended road race over a long and highly-varied course with a whole array of different, nearly-stock vehicles, into a Darwinian struggle for victory!


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

hpowders said:


> I love fast cars that handle well-I've had BMW's exclusively since 1993, but watching other people drive fast around a track?
> 
> The dullest thing ever!!!


Motorcycles are more dynamic. Although I think about regular MotoGP, formula 1, etc - not a dirt track bikes although in the post above I see some cars that could be dirt bikes cousins on four wheels.Besides, those contemporary racing cars all look the same to me, lack personality, also a little unwieldy - they look like mutant sneakers jostling on the track, especially if they're white.


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

From 2006 to 2012 my family and many of my generation were into Formula 1 for the guy you all may know. What great times we spent. Sometimes races were dull, yes. After the Ferrari era was over, sponsors flew of the plane and soon no tv here was willing to pay the broadcast rights. Now they only are in cable tv (with much less consumption in Spain than the US) and now no-one watches it, despite the many positive comments about the current season that I'm reading in Sports websites.

Tenis experienced the same last year with our icon's injury. Some years ago the Public Sports Television (Teledeporte) broadcasted many matches of the ATP Masters500 and Masters1000, but they all went to Cable TV too. Of course, Grand Slam Tenis is always in Eurosport, and our public TV only bought rights for Roland Garros.

Football/Soccer rules in Spain


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

hpowders said:


> I love fast cars that handle well-I've had BMW's exclusively since 1993, but watching other people drive fast around a track?
> 
> The dullest thing ever!!!


I can understand why many people find auto racing to be boring. When I watched it, the most interesting thing to me was the work that went into the race before the race even started. It was interesting to see how teams would build their cars and set them up in order to get an advantage. Sometimes teams would build a car that performed very well, but they didn't have the reliability to match the speed. It was interesting to see who would get things right and who would not.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Marinera said:


> Motorcycles are more dynamic. Although I think about regular MotoGP, formula 1, etc - not a dirt track bikes although in the post above I see some cars that could be dirt bikes cousins on four wheels.Besides, those contemporary racing cars all look the same to me, lack personality, also a little unwieldy - they look like mutant sneakers jostling on the track, especially if they're white.


Motorcycles, like cars can be fun. I'd rather drive them than watch other people drive them around and around.

There are many tracks where I could drive my BMW fast, but the fees are outrageous!!!


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

hpowders said:


> Motorcycles, like cars can be fun. I'd rather drive them than watch other people drive them around and around.
> 
> *There are many tracks where I could drive my BMW fast, but the fees are outrageous!!!*


Perhaps it would be worth visiting Germany then, free motorways, unlimited speed, BMW produced right there too.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Klassik said:


> I can understand why many people find auto racing to be boring. When I watched it, the most interesting thing to me was the work that went into the race before the race even started. It was interesting to see how teams would build their cars and set them up in order to get an advantage. Sometimes teams would build a car that performed very well, but they didn't have the reliability to match the speed. It was interesting to see who would get things right and who would not.


Same with horse racing. The only good thing about it is the last lap around the track, and is really only exciting if you have money on the line and your horse is one of the finishers.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Marinera said:


> Perhaps it would be worth visiting Germany then, free motorways, unlimited speed, BMW produced right there too.


Yeah. The autobahn is tempting.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Granate said:


> From 2006 to 2012 my family and many of my generation were into Formula 1 for the guy you all may know. What great times we spent. Sometimes races were dull, yes. After the Ferrari era was over, sponsors flew of the plane and soon no tv here was willing to pay the broadcast rights. Now they only are in cable tv (with much less consumption in Spain than the US) and now no-one watches it, despite the many positive comments about the current season that I'm reading in Sports websites.
> 
> Tenis experienced the same last year with our icon's injury. Some years ago the Public Sports Television (Teledeporte) broadcasted many matches of the ATP Masters500 and Masters1000, but they all went to Cable TV too. Of course, Grand Slam Tenis is always in Eurosport, and our public TV only bought rights for Roland Garros.
> 
> Football/Soccer rules in Spain


Not only Spain, wait till next year, when the European Championships starts.


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

I like driving in the right conditions (country road, few or no other motorists, small danger of speed traps) but not watching other people doing it.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Dr Johnson said:


> I like driving in the right conditions (country road, few or no other motorists, small danger of speed traps) but not watching other people doing it.


The closest I ever came was the Road to Hana in Maui-twisting all the way, blind curves, hardly any traffic. Scenic stuff to the left and right. My compañion made me turn Bach after about 20 km. The road was 107 km long.


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