Home  
Site Partners: SpotterGuides Veloce Books  
Related Sites: Your Link Here  

Go Back   TenTenths Motorsport Forum > Saloon & Sportscar Racing > Sportscar & GT Racing

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 30 Jul 2017, 19:43 (Ref:3756140)   #26
chernaudi
Veteran
 
chernaudi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
United States
Mansfield, Ohio
Posts: 8,827
chernaudi has a real shot at the championship!chernaudi has a real shot at the championship!chernaudi has a real shot at the championship!chernaudi has a real shot at the championship!chernaudi has a real shot at the championship!chernaudi has a real shot at the championship!
But where does a sport go from being a "sport" to being entertainment? As pointed out in the LMP1 future thread, MotoGP, F1, NASCAR and Indy Car have what I call a "cult of personality" in so far as that a lot of the stuff in those series are driver centered. The drivers are the main stars, at least as much as the cars.

And yes, until we have driverless cars, we'd have no racing without the drivers. After all, it's the drivers and teams who the fans and media interact with the most, not the otherwise inanimate objects that wouldn't even move without drivers or teams.

But in road racing, how can we have that on the same level when you have two or three drivers per car instead of just one? And where each team usually shares the same corporate sponsorship backing, even if it's from the car maker itself? In those sports mentioned, especially NASCAR and Indy Car, each team also has it's own sponsors who help fund the team. You don't see that very much in road racing.

As to the whole contrived competition thing, my thoughts are this. I've already mentioned that I'm not a big fan of BOP and that teams should be allowed and encouraged to sort out their issues without crying for performance balancing right off the bat.

But as I've also mentioned, purse strings have been tightening and people in high places want results and want them fast. That's one reason for BOP.

The other is to try and encourage different cars to race on a theoretical near-equal playing field. Let's face it, for better or worse, if there was no BOP, everyone would be racing Audi R8s, McLaren 650s, and Ferrari 488s. Why? Because they're the best cars out there. Without BOP, there'd probably be no front engine or rear engine cars.

And one thing that GT racing has done very well at is that the cars are identifiable and look different. You look at a car and tell it's an Audi, a Ferrari, a Porsche, an Aston Martin, a Corvette, and on and on. Without BOP, I don't think we'd have that.

The only alternatives to this BOP mess is the probably even messier realm of no BOP (no way to keep budgets in check or encourage customer programs, teams making up low volume homolgation specials, etc). Or we could have a situation like NASCAR or Indy Car where the cars are largely spec. I don't think that the road racing crowd would like that, either. Mostly because a lot of people would probably say that the racing is more convoluted with cookie cutter cars.

Is auto racing a sport? In broad terms, yes. Is road racing a sport? It's probably the most sport of them all right now. I'd argue that road racing is much bigger team sport than say F1 or NASCAR or other driver-centric racing classes.

My question is when and where is the line between a "pure" sport (which I don't think there's very many "pure" sports out there, even outside of racing), when does things become an entertainment exercise?

Allow me to give my own opinion on that question. When we talk more about soap opera-like things like driver rivalries and controversies that don't effect the bigger whole of the sport, then it becomes sports entertainment. And what comes to mind when we think of that phrase?

At least road racing doesn't have that type of ego problem among most competitors or teams.
chernaudi is offline  
Quote
Old 30 Jul 2017, 20:13 (Ref:3756159)   #27
Adam43
14th
1% Club
 
Adam43's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
European Union
New Orleans
Posts: 42,422
Adam43 is the undisputed Champion of the World!Adam43 is the undisputed Champion of the World!Adam43 is the undisputed Champion of the World!Adam43 is the undisputed Champion of the World!Adam43 is the undisputed Champion of the World!Adam43 is the undisputed Champion of the World!Adam43 is the undisputed Champion of the World!Adam43 is the undisputed Champion of the World!Adam43 is the undisputed Champion of the World!Adam43 is the undisputed Champion of the World!Adam43 is the undisputed Champion of the World!
It's all a sport. Or it all isn't. It always has been. Or it never has been.

It is.
Adam43 is offline  
__________________
Seriously not taking motorsport too seriously.
Quote
Old 30 Jul 2017, 23:51 (Ref:3756216)   #28
Maelochs
Veteran
 
Maelochs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 4,434
Maelochs will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMaelochs will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMaelochs will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMaelochs will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMaelochs will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMaelochs will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMaelochs will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMaelochs will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMaelochs will be entering the Motorsport Hall of Fame
So long as the rules don't outright determine who will win and lose and the event is not a choreographed acting of of a script, it is a sport.

So long as officials don't take actions during the race to deliberately improve the position of some competitors and hinder others, it is a sport.

if enough people running the sport are sane enough to reject Bernie Ecclestone's "artificial rain zones" .....
Maelochs is offline  
Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Your Sport, My Sport, Who's Sport D.R.T. Australasian Touring Cars. 34 19 Oct 2004 12:22


All times are GMT. The time now is 12:04.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Original Website Copyright © 1998-2003 Craig Antil. All Rights Reserved.
Ten-Tenths Motorsport Forums Copyright © 2004-2021 Royalridge Computing. All Rights Reserved.
Ten-Tenths Motorsport Forums Copyright © 2021-2022 Grant MacDonald. All Rights Reserved.