The Diesels basically won because of the time saved in refueling, so making smaller fuel cells makes sense. Hopefully a non Diesel will win next year. There are rules that would prohibit a free loader team member. You have to qualify within a certain lap time. Check out the other thread for details.
In my opinion, GP2. Probably also Moto GP but I don't watch it regularly. Also, some lower formula are very competitive -- I'm just referring to major series.
I'm betting it's one that isn't on TV. When the cameras come on and the sponsors move in, competition becomes a secondary consideration.
They will have the same size fuel tanks as the gas-powered P1s next year. Full details coming next month.
To me a competitive race is one where there is substantial side by side racing, and the winner may not be certain until the very last lap. Additionally, the various races provide different winners. Most NASCAR superspeedway events fill that description. In the early days, the BTCC was very exiting. Although due to speed they scare me to watch, sometimes the IRL.
- Spec Miata. THe spec part makes it very competitive. Still I don't think they are the most talented drivers arround, but they are fun to watch. - Star Mazda. Those kids are very competitive. There are only few that are off the pace. - Karting at a national level.
Most competitive? Must be NASCAR or IRL at Indy, where the winner had to battle until the finishing line. You don't see that in F1, GP2, ALMS or else.
Not sure I would agree with that. Although another extreme event like the Dakar rally, the winners are somewhat predictable: For one some classes are very small and second the winners are normally predictable from a small selection based on their equipment/experience. Not surprisingly the champion in the car division has won the race time and again in the past. Same is true for the bike class. PS: Just finished watching the 2005 DVD I bought at the summit. I love the race needless to say, but I wouldn't call it competitive in the sense that anybody could win it at any given day.
I have seen people die while racing at the PPHC(Well I live in Colorado) just because they wanted to win. There vehicle flys off the course and into the wilderness or even sometimes off the mountain itself. Dakar rally is cool but its more fun to watch the PPHC. Especially in person.
Not a single race, but the SCCA runoffs rate right up there, as does the British FF2000 race of champions at Brands Hatch. What does rate not are: Any F1 race--Boring and no competition. Nascar-Too much as entertainment for the masses IRL and/or CART- Too much variability in teams.
I can't bemoan almost any form of racing. The competition/excitement level in all forms of racing comes and goes with rule changes, technology and that driver who stops by to dominate. But when a series goal is to make things close, and keep them close, you get NASCAR and the IRL. In the IRL they take a car with more downforce than motor and put them on a banked track. Then drivers with a lower level of skill level can drive them. And for the front runners, it produces close finishes. When things go wrong no amount of skill can save them. This is proven by the IRL at Indy. Put them on a flat track and the skill rises to the top. NASCAR does it with cautions and rules so conforming that you can be fined for a non approved set of lug nuts. For my part I'll just keep going and watching, and sorting it out as I see fit.
The prototype class for the 24 Hours of Daytona has become a lot more competitive thanks to the Daytona Prototypes coming for the 2003 race. The GT class is lame, imo. It has Prep 1 (cars that retain their production chassis) and Prep 2 (tube-frame ringers).
Out of the ones I follow, it's probably Nextel Cup. F1, LeMans 24 Hours, ALMS, etc, are not. Nextel Cup does give you an edge with extra cash, but the marginal benefit of that dollar doesn't get you much since the technology is relatively constant. Money goes a long way in F1 and in the 24 Hours, which makes it less competitive.
There is the exception... Pedro Lamy won by 0.033 seconds in his # 009 DBR9 over Johnny O'Connell in his # 3 C6-R at Lime Rock Park. The Corvettes were carrying 199 more pounds than the Aston Martins, running smaller intake restrictors, and using smaller fuel tanks as a result of "balance of performance" adjustments mandated by the sanctioning body. Image Unavailable, Please Login
This is exactly why I will not watch that racing. I'm okay with having the cars with equal power to weight ratios, but penalizing a team by removing aero for winning like the S7s before, c'mon!!! Why hurt someone if they dialed the car in right, excellent driver, suspension setting perfect, nice car balance, aero where needed, etc.
I agree. I wish there were more cars in GT1 in ALMS. Zakspeed had their rear wing reduced by 142 mm (around 5.6 inches) after just two races this year. http://www.fiagt.com/newsitem.php?key=979
Oh yea, I almost forgot. I think the only ALMS race I ever watched this year was when the R10 won its first race. I noticed they had something like 3 or 4 different classes, but only around 20 cars in total, what the heck??? I think in one class, it was only the Vettes vs. Astons! I thought it was a joke at first. What kind of competition is this? If both Astons break down, it's a guaranteed class win for Chevy.
35 cars started the 54th running of the Twelve Hours of Sebring. There are two Le Mans Prototype classes (P1: more power and weight than P2) and two GT classes (GT1: more power and mods than GT2). There were two Saleen S7Rs from Konrad Motorsport at Sebring and one at Houston, but Konrad's Saleens need to be rebuilt or replaced as they are neither fast nor reliable. There have only been three P2s in the last two races, but Van der Steur Racing will have a new Radical SR9 with a 500 hp 2.0 liter AER turbocharged I-4 for Petit Le Mans in late September. http://americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=1775
ALS always looks like rush hour to me -- too many cars of too different performance on track at the same time. Sure, there's lots of passing, but 90% of it means about as much as passing a lamp post. Oh, and T-: WRC is dead. When PSA pulled out, FIA killed it. They had no interest in running WRC with Skoda the only euro entry. The 2006 rules look like something from Lewis Carroll. (and shun the fruminous bandersnatch)
