race of champions today

Thanks for this heads-up. It is 8pm EST, 7pm CST.

 

I watched last night on speed channel, looked like a lot of fun for all.

 

That event was the worst I've seen in a long time. The broadcast looked like it was a circus. Can't imagine how bad it must have been to sit through the hours and hours it took live.

 

It was entertaining for a while. They need to use a roval course in the U.S.. Daytona or Indy would be nice. Stadium seating, network broadcast, and sell more tickets.

 

I think that red 360 Challenge had major problems. Schumi and most of others who drove that car didn't win.... at the last race, the car had major problem...

I think the organizers should've had extra backup cars.

 

You guys are being waaaay to harsh. This was an exhibition, no different than the NFL ProBowl or the MLB All Star game. A chance to see your favorite driver do his thing in a different setting. To expect some sort of head-to-head blood battle is to have the wrong expectations. I thought it was fine for what it was, and I was very impressed with Massa, Kanaan, and Kovalainen. It was also fantastic to see Jean Alesi out there.

I agree the track could have been more open, but my only real dissapointment came from the French organizers apparently tampering with the results to favor the French drivers, but then again, who didn't expect that??

tuttebenne, sorry you didn't like it, but I must tell you that a friend of mine from a different message board went and had a blast, and said from the stands it was easy to examine the drivers and compare the various driving techniques.

PS- Schumacher would have won in the red car had he remembered how many laps were left.

 

Yes, I could see how being there had its advantages. Its like going to a hockey game and watching the strategy unfold versus the "follow the puck" coverage you see on TV. Regarding the event being an exhibition rather than a contest, that being the case, there is little reason to want to watch it.

 

I forgot to watch it but from what I'm reading it looks like I didn't miss anything. Can someone post the results? How did the American Team do?

Thanks

 

That's why you won't catch me watching the All-Star Game or the ProBowl. But when it comes to racing, I'll watch just about anything....

 

The problem with the event was that it was like watching thoroughbreds racing around the living room. Ridiculously tight lanes with 10 second penalties for touching the sides? Rather than rally cars and Ferrari 360s, they should use go karts. Either that or go back to the old track.

Americans didn't fare too well, especially because Casey Mears was a last-minute fill-in for Jeff Gordon. Literally. He was at the NASCAR banquet and left, hopped on a plane and arrived just hours before the start. Needless to say he was at a slight disadvantage. Looked OK considering.

 

I agree with that. Did this event btw replace the previous go kart race in Paris?

 

I suppose. I don't really have any info on that, so maybe it did. Too bad I missed that event by only 3 weeks. It would have been pretty awesome to see Michael driving down the Champs Elysee!

 

Heikki Kovalainen. You can get more info here:

www.raceofchampions.com

 

Here's the Autoweek article on the race.

http://www.autoweek.com/article.cms?articleId=101383

I really should say "races", because they ran in elimination rounds, like a tennis tournament. At any given time, only two cars were racing.

 

One thing that ticked me off was that it looked manipulated: Massa beats Schumacher, yet Schumacher moves on because Massa allegedly touched the wall. Well, that's such a major decision, that I'd like to see the replay of it.

But it smelled like they rather wanted to have the champion in the final than a relatively unknown Massa. Sad.

 

They should have used cones like at an autocross. There's no reason to put the walls up because they weren't there for safety. If the driver knocked a cone over, its clear. If he just rubbed it, no harm no foul. Otherwise we have this 10 second penalty administered but few people agreed with it.

 

Nope - it was a separate event - champion of champions or something like that was between him and Loeb. Two reigning WDCs duking it out - thought it was interesting that the reigning IRL and Champcar champions werent included in this battle.

In the Nation's cup - Brazil beat Germany - both Schumi and Shwartz lost their respective races...

 

Aren't the Paris (Bercy) kart event and the race of champions two different events? I thought the race of champions was organised by former rally driver Michele Mouton? The first event I haven't seen much on tv but the one organised by Mouton on the Canary Islands was very entertaining IMHO.

 

Okay, I finally got around to watching this on Speed last night, and noticed one little detail that seemed odd to me. Why didn't the 360 Challenge cars have "Challenge" rear grills? They otherwise appeared to be Challenge cars (i.e., tow hooks, Challenge wheels and seats, sliding perspex side windows, etc.), but the solid, body-colored rear-ends looked strange to me.

 

Wow, good eye! I guess those cars came straight off the assembly line for this event. Just a guess of course.

I found it funny how their windshields would crack because of the jump over the bridge. I guess they're not made for rallying.

 

Andreas: My first thought was that they weren't really Challenge cars, but rather standard 360 Modenas fitted with BBS wheels, but the sliding windows, tow hooks, etc. seem to belie that notion. As for the cracked windshield, jumping that bridge may not have been much worse than having enthusiastic drivers standing on the roof!
Ira

 

they don't let germans do that anymore.