Auto Sports Awards....???????????

Matt Pinny · 19 Feb 2002, 01:16 (Ref:218704)

Why is it that all the auto sports nominees and winners are all single seater drivers (rear wheel drivers). I can drive both front and rear wheeldrive well, and know for a fact that front is a much greater skill to master...........

**Stephen Green** · 19 Feb 2002, 12:45 (Ref:218840)

Ahhh the dreaded Autosport Awards once again. Matt there is a rather long thread still in existance I believe?

Matt Pinny · 20 Feb 2002, 00:06 (Ref:219224)

is there must off missed that..... ill check it out

Speedworx · 20 Feb 2002, 20:01 (Ref:219623)

I enjoy the Autosport Awards. I vote each year.

Sato san · 22 Feb 2002, 21:19 (Ref:220876)

ive read that thread.....Matt ..your in for a long read im affraid , but theres a lot of different views in there. Didnt it start of about Steven Kane ?

**Stephen Green** · 22 Feb 2002, 21:47 (Ref:220915)

Yes Sato it did...seems like centuries ago hahaha

Simon Pullan · 23 Feb 2002, 23:07 (Ref:221455)

Quote:

Originally posted by Matt Pinny
Why is it that all the auto sports nominees and winners are all single seater drivers (rear wheel drivers).

I take offense to that comment. My poor old Caterham would never like to be called a single seater. It is a sports car through and through.

Your point is very valid Matt, but where do your ambitions lie? Touring cars or F1? If they lie in Touring cars then I'm afraid you aren't eligible for the prize. It is stipulated in the rules that the winner of the award is a potential future F1 champion (which front wheel drive doesn't prepare you for).

Perhaps they could introduce a separate award for Touring car drivers, or change the rules to allow them in. Just a couple of thoughts.

paulzinho · 23 Feb 2002, 23:36 (Ref:221473)

Were the Autosport awards known as the Grovesnor awards or something like that in the past?

Les · 24 Feb 2002, 09:35 (Ref:221601)

Quote:

Originally posted by Simon Pullan

It is stipulated in the rules that the winner of the award is a potential future F1 champion (which front wheel drive doesn't prepare you for).

Well I think the rules need changing!

SILVERS95 · 24 Feb 2002, 11:03 (Ref:221636)

i dont...well , not much anyway..F1 is the pinnicle of Motorsport. ( well , it's meant to be ) As good as touring cars etc are , they are not at the highest level of speed and braking etc that F1 is.So the award is for youngters that they beleive can reach the highest level.

***Chris Y*** · 24 Feb 2002, 13:39 (Ref:221680)

F1 should be the pinnacle of single seaters. Le-mans could be the pinnacle of sports car racing. In the UK, BTCC should be the pinnacle of touring car racing..

There should be separate awards for each class perhaps..

**Stephen Green** · 24 Feb 2002, 17:41 (Ref:221752)

Good idea, now who's going to suggest it to Ron?

Sato san · 24 Feb 2002, 19:01 (Ref:221836)

i think that the young driver of the year award should go to the overall best young driver who has the most talent to get to the top. Not to touring cars or to champ cars or the IRL or even sports cars , but to the pinnicle , which is Formula 1 . If you have young drivers aswards in different catagories then its making it al very confusing , and also cheapening the award.

1 award per year to the best young talent of the year.

**Stephen Green** · 24 Feb 2002, 20:53 (Ref:221973)

Well I guess we will all have our own opinions on this and I can see both sides of the equation. Maybe a different company could start an equivalent of the Autosport/BRDC blah blah blah awards for BTCC drivers etc etc?

AndyF · 25 Feb 2002, 08:11 (Ref:222173)

Perhaps they should have one award for Single Seaters, and one for Saloon/Sports. However, I think the Saloon/Sports award would be under-valued.

Maisie · 25 Feb 2002, 10:30 (Ref:222209)

It annoys me that, even if you make it to the very top of saloon/sports cars and win every series going, you're still seen as having "failed" for not making it to F1. F1 should not be seen as the Be-all and end-all of motorsport. I don't see why single seaters and saloon/sports can't be seen as two parallel streams of equal value. The sad thing is, sponsors, press and others seem to focus all their attention on the ranks of single seater series, and neglect the saloon and sports cars. If greater importance were placed on other categories, more investment could be encouraged, and perhaps we could have an equally structured progression ladder of feeder series into our top tin-top series. That way, young drivers have 2 options (hopefully equally appealing) for "making it" and twice the chance of success, rather than perhaps finding it difficult to get a single seater drive and giving up or disappearing into obscurity.

**Stephen Green** · 25 Feb 2002, 10:49 (Ref:222217)

I think it was in a different forum that a driver made the point that switching from saloons to single seaters is not as easy as it would appear. The reason being that saloons are by and large, front wheel drive these days, whilst single seaters are all rear wheel drive. The driver in question was saying it takes a completely different driving style to drive one as opposed to the other.

Having said all that, I agree with you that there should be some way a driver in a top saloon class is recognised.

redshoes · 25 Feb 2002, 12:45 (Ref:222271)

Surely the reverse is also true. Being a good single seater driver does not make you a good saloon/sportscar driver. The two techniques are very different but that doesn't mean one is necessarily better than the other.

It's the same in many sports, take athletics for example. The 100m sprint gets all the glory but that doesn't mean that a marathon runner is any less of an athlete.

**Stephen Green** · 25 Feb 2002, 14:06 (Ref:222303)

Sorry Redshoes I should have said that! I'll take myself outside and stand in the cold for 30 minutes as punishment *mumbles under his breath as he walks out of the warm office*