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ERIK'S EXPOSE'
The coming of Grand Prix Legends has revolutionized the simulated racing experience and brought back many a memory of days gone by. CanAm, The Indy 500, The Daytona 500,Jim Clark, Bruce McLaren, Mario Andretti, Richard Petty...names any fan from the era holds in reverence. With such widespread nostalgic sentiments floating about, it is inevitable that one should begin comparing what once was with what presently is. Those of us who were not able to enjoy racing's "Golden Era" have missed out on more than excellent competition, we've missed a time when racing was simply that, racing.
No longer will you see homespun racers miraculously beating a series' superstars. Gone are the days when driving a car required complete mastery of the machine, using hands, feet, mind and body to keep the beast trackbound and whole. Anyone who has tried to turn a quick lap at Mexico City or Kyalami in GPL knows just how difficult wingless racing can be. Modern racers pilot racing machines with downforce equivalent to three times the vehicles weight around tracks tamed in the name of safety and prudence. We will not ever see a performance like Clark's near miracle at Monza, Gurney's wondrous drive at the Nürburgring or Mario Andretti's "drive-it-all" versatility. Racing has changed in the past 30 years and I doubt any fan would say it has been for the better.
I have more fun now imagining what it must have been like to see Clark, Hill, Petty, or McLaren race in person, driving their cars on the edge of possibility. How exciting it would be to watch, mystified as Clark charged the field at the Italian Grand Prix or CanAm's unrestricted monsters roared around North America. Factory work's teams, privately owned and designed race cars, sponsor-less operations, drivers you might run into at the corner market...what a grand time to be an enthusiast.
A modern Formula One driver is about as accessible as the main vault of the U.S. Treasury Department. NASCAR maintains a certain level of intimacy with its fanbase and CART continues to try and make itself more fan friendly, but steadily the distance between fan and racer grows.
Sponsorship obligations require a driver to make appearances all over the world. TV broadcasts have become commercial marathons interrupted only briefly by race coverage, when races are broadcast at all. Costs increase every year, ticket prices rise, drivers demand more and more money and all the while racing's constituents are given less and less exciting shows. Outside of NASCAR, passing has become a dirty word. Watch a Formula One or CART road race and count the number of overtakes you see on-track. Gone through the fingers on one hand yet? Probably not. Granted, passing has always been a rarity in open-wheel roadcourse racing, but an overtake maneuver in modern racing has become the stuff of myth and fantasy.
Modern mastery of aerodynamics, engine preparation and computer technology makes racing a sterilized experience. A driver today only stands a solid chance of victory if his car is the superior machine. With some luck, an underfunded racer might benefit from another competitor's failure to finish. Argue the merits of Michael Schumacher, Jeff Gordon or Alex Zanardi as much as you like, they are the beneficiaries of technology and teamwork. Not to say that none of these men could have driven well in previous ages of auto-racing, but their reliance on the technology at hand makes it difficult to argue for 'best ever' status. Until one of today's star drivers does the impossible and astounds and amazes us with a truly historic feat of driving and courage, their winning is simply proof that, given a mechanical advantage, they are more than capable of driving a car to victory.
-Erik
| Jan's
Rebuttal
Hmmm...we're agreeing again, Erik...;] I too have gotten rather disconcerted with the modern media circus which has become racing, and it's almost as tiring at times as seeing Clinton/Monica diatribes on news channels. What's happened to the racing? When different channels broadcast a race, and you see a little mundane little news items (like statistics about a driver that mean absolutely nothing) or they go on and on about how long it's been that a driver hasn't won a race (given that there are about 20 good drivers that haven't won one period), it gets very annoying. That brings me to another point...the taming of the tracks to where they are 'safe' for racing. What the hell is this??? I don't want tracks to be driver-killers, and am glad that they have fixed such things as the full-on backstretch wall at Atlanta that has killed a few drivers and left a few others very lucky to escape, but the alternative is boring. Watching all the cars drive round and round the California-Michigan-Las Vegas clones are NOT what I want to see in the future. Racing is supposed to be difficult, and seeing drivers persevere at tracks as Bristol and Martinsville, or road-courses, or even Texas show the real kings of the sport. If Richard Petty's record of 7 championships and 200 races, and 13 wins in a year ever get broken, he can at least get pleasure in knowing he did them in an ill-handling car (compared to today's glue-stuck aero-shells) on tracks where conditions were sometimes appalling. Ricky Rudd won the most demanding race this year at Martinsville, and to see him come through at that race gave you the feeling that all was well again...someone had blown away the competition even at the expense of self, there was no company sponsorship, no media, no NASCAR, it was just Rudd and car, and he pulled it off. While I don't want to see all races with such terrible conditions, I get tired of hearing drivers and media complain about tracks like Texas because they are difficult. GEEZ! You didn't hear Richard complain except at extreme circumstances (like when Talladega was first built and the drivers rebelled, saying that the new track was too dangerous). It was, but they still raced there, and the tire companies eventually came through with tires that would hold up to the 200 mph speeds. I thought racing was supposed to be difficult? And my last point...want to get a seat in a real race car? Want do really be able to drive one day at the real Daytona 500, or 24 hours of Le Mans, or at Monaco? Well, unless you're about 13 right now, and already have established yourself on a local circuit, it's not real likely. I would love to race full time, but my given pay level will never get me to the major leagues...heck, I can't even afford to fix my daily driver all the time! To be able to shell out the cash to get even a local race car is going to run you into several thousand dollars. But the real kicker is this...if you're about 25+, and hope to get into a full time race car (let's say like F1 or NASCAR or CART), you're chances are slim. To foot the bill yourself is too costly, and you'll still be uncompetative against the established teams, which means you'll get little or no sponsorship. And the big teams no more want a driver that's older than 25 or so...because they look to the success of Jeff Gordon and other young racers. They see the future of drivers like that, and they think of the success and money of the future, and any driver that's older than that, no matter how successful, gets overlooked because of their age. And guess what...the McLaren F1 team has already hired a 13 year old for the future! That's not to say that this is they way things always are, but it's coming. Look at Jerry Nadeau, Jeff Gordon, Elliott Sadler...even Dale Earnhardt Jr. They are established drivers at the age I joined the USAF...I don't think you'll see another Harry Gant again...in name or age. But enough of the bleak outlook. You can still find racing where it's still at the raw roots, where perseverence and determination can still win you the race or the championship, where bailing wire still may hold something on the car, where the tracks are all not pretty and the pits are open to all. Just turn off your TV set, go down to your local track for a great Saturday night, and then go to church Sunday and sleep the rest of the afternoon... |
