Dear Dick.
I quite expect you're as bored with Ecclestone's Formula One Racing as I am (as, I suspect, are many others).
All this tyre changing, filling up with petrol, and stop/go drives-through, is making the whole business of motor racing no more than a series of split-second-timed, blousy, pit-stops, with the occasional slap on the wrist for dangerous driving (a.k.a. overtaking).
So, now that this year's season is over, may I suggest the following. How about a new FORMULA VIRGIN, where racing would be done with one tank of petrol, one set of tyres, and no real limit on engine size etc (maybe a max of 5000cc). Man and motor, against man and motor. Proper, actual, hard-graft, motor racing.
OK, the cars would need to be scrutinised, but let's have some real, Fangio-style, flat-cap-n-goggles, flame spitting, racing. I want to see smoke, oil stained faces, and gritted teeth.
Let's rid the sport of its over-paid prima donnas (including Ecclestone), let's do away with pits stuffed full of geeky overalled technicians, let's banish multi-million pound teams and replace them with talented privateers.
Oh, and Dick; you might just make yourself another fortune in the process!
It is all a bit dismal these days. Texas has announced that it cannot afford Golden-Eggleston's fees to hold a race next year and has stopped work on the track. Her Majesty's Britannic BBC can only afford HALF (every other, alternate) race next year, the rest will be on SKY only. They (we) are in danger of losing the notion of a World Champion driver because they have to bring so much sponsorship with themselves to just get a seat and the trend is towards Force India style mising and matching throughout the year.
ReplyDeleteIt's just not a motorsport any more.
If it were not for the occasional wheel heading for the horizon or one of the teenage tooth-brace wearing prima donnas not being able to judge the front of his car from the back of the next there would be little action.
I love it, I still really do, but I so much want to slap the sport these days (and most of those "celebs" within it too)!
Mr B is probably too busy taking his billionaire playmates into space though to do much.
Like the old graffiti slogan on the rail between Woking and Waterloo used to say: "Bring Back Brooklands"
ReplyDeleteI used to think horse racing was boring but after watching a few laps of a car race and finding myself hoping for a major crash out I decided car racing is about the most boring "sport" on the planet. I think I'd rather watch paint dry.
ReplyDeleteOh yes...goodbye little Ecclestone with your enormous daughters? and no more boring sunday afternoon nothings!!!hooray!
ReplyDeleteI'm more a fan of the old drag racing, when the racers and their pit crews were shade tree mechanics, and big money and corporations had nothing to do with it. Plus the duration of a race was measured in seconds ...
ReplyDeleteWe have the Bathurst races here each year and it is more realistic,still financially motivated but not so glam,real racing as they say on a winding mountain road,it was only for Australians originally the race was always between Holden and Fords but now all makes are in but still dominated but the previous,just like our Melbourne cup famous horse race,more and more internationals are in and for an Aussie to win more a rarety..and it is bigger than Ben Hur as they say.
ReplyDelete