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Motor Racing Nirvana


BigJag

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A weekend of massive accidents and lucky escapes in the USA..

 

Massive accident during yesterday's Indycar race in Houston with Dario Franchitti being incredibly lucky to escape this one with his life. Concussion, spinal fracture that luckily won't require surgery and a fractured ankle are on the injury list for Dario, but that could have been much, much worse. Some major questions need to be asked about the catch fencing and whether it really did the job. Yes, it stopped Dario from going into the grandstand (which almost certainly would have been a fatal incident, whether for him or fans) but the fencing was hit with force to remove it and send it flying towards the grandstands

 

 

Then this accident at VIR during the ALMS race on Saturday evening with a car going airborne once again and rolling past a marshals post. This is far more of a freak accident than Indycar, but still brilliant to see everyone walk away without injury.

http://www.motorsport.com/alms/video/main-...-massive-crash/

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Good news is i've been the dreaded Bronchitis so will be adding some new articles by the lads to the site over the course of the week.

:thumbsup:

 

Glad to hear you are better, was wondering why my article had not been put up.

 

Thanks mate. Just seen the Indy Car crash and hope DF makes a speedy recovery, can someone fill me in on when the cars became so "futuristic" looking?

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Good news is i've been the dreaded Bronchitis so will be adding some new articles by the lads to the site over the course of the week.

:thumbsup:

 

Glad to hear you are better, was wondering why my article had not been put up.

 

Thanks mate. Just seen the Indy Car crash and hope DF makes a speedy recovery, can someone fill me in on when the cars became so "futuristic" looking?

 

They started using the new look Dallara chassis last year, I think it looks hideous myself.

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The previous chassis had been used in the series for a number of years. Dallara were then asked to build a car to suit certain requirements after a string of high speed crashes. The idea behind some of the futuristic looking parts were to stop cars going airborne in one-on-one incidents where they'd ride up on the wing and fly. Sadly, that isn't the case and we've seen a couple of accidents where cars have gone airborne. However, nothing as dramatic as yesterday's accident. There will be questions asked of the organisers in Houston regarding the chain link fencing that they were using which isn't used anywhere else for very good reason, but it was a freak accident.

 

They may look hideous, but they've provided some of the best on-track action Indycar has seen for many many years. Small price to pay for great racing!

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Wow! Two scary crashes there. I caught a little bit of the Indy race on ESPN this morning. They had difficulties getting the race going with at least one big shunt at the start. Caused by someone at the back of the grid running into the back of a car, that had stalled further up.

I'm a fan of the Dallarra chassis too. Looks very cool and has contributed to great racing this season.

Didn't we have a similar accident in NASCAR this year.? When parts from a car flew into the crowd.

 

The cameraman in the Porsche race went above and beyond the call of duty. That shot of the car landing yards from the camera is both scary and amazing.

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  • 6 months later...

Without wanting to sound like a dull, cynical bastard, Loeb is driving a Citroen. That car is stupidly quick and seemingly miles ahead of the competition making this as good as the World Touring Citroen Championship. To be honest, it would be much more of a surprise if he didn't come out of the blocks winning races. Loeb is a ridiculously quick driver and probably one of the best of his generation. I'm disappointed that his LMP2 squad pulled out of Le Mans since that could have been a fantastic opportunity for him to get in the car and I don't believe he's actually involved in the ELMS entries (they've also entered an Audi R8 LMS ultra).

 

If you're into a bit of GT racing, Blancpain started their season yesterday with a three hour race at Monza. They stream races on Youtube for those who don't have the TV channels required which is fantastic. Great race too. The new Bentley Continental GT3 is ridiculously good. It's a Bentley...it's a big, wide car. But my word, that thing has some speed. Absolute bugger to overtake too!

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He conquered WRC, Pikes Peak, and now seemingly WTCC. At least his teammate at Citroen looks to have just as much skill. So them two racing eachother could be fun.

Anychance of some background information on Blancpain? Are they a racing team?

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That's what I mean, he reigned supreme in WRC and shattered records at his first attempt up Pikes Peak and will most likely win the WTCC at his first attempt barring some bizarre turn of events. Oh, and he finished second in the world's greatest motor race in 2006, beating factory Audi entries. It goes without saying that he's one of the greatest drivers of his generation.

 

Blancpain GT Series is 12 round GT championship, with two seperate championships within: The Endurance series and Sprint series. Endurance races typically run to three hour rules, though they also run a 1000km race at Nurburgring in September and the Total 24 Hours of Spa at the end of July. Sprint races last an hour (taking over what used to be the FIA GT3 Championship). The 12 round concept is a new one for 2014, so it remains to be seen just how well they cross over. I imagine some teams will focus only on the Sprint series and some on the longer races, though hopefully plenty go for the full 12 rounds. For my money, it's the best GT3 championship running at the moment (though Pirelli World Challenge in the USA is pretty bloody good and British GT returns next weekend after their best season in years) and they've got the BOP absolutely spot on. They had a field of 40 cars yesterday, but they've had fields as big as 50 or 60 entries at some rounds which looks unbelievable.

 

This is a short highlight video of the race, worth a watch.

If you've got three hours to spare, I really do recommend sticking the race on and giving it a watch. As I say, they're all on Youtube through the GT1World channel.

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Thanks for the information. I'll definitely give the Blancpain series a watch.

Did Loeb race at Le Mans in 2006? Do you think he will ever get the same sort of recognition a great like Fangio receives. Loeb seems to suffer on this front due to his lack of charisma and squeeky clean public image. Whenever you see him in interviews he can come across as a little dour.

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Just about Pat. It's a weird one, they seem to have replaced him with a guy who has no sort of record in motorsport. The suggestion of Ross Brawn coming in seems a bit far fetched. Never say never, but I believe he's more likely to be involved in Honda's return next year than going back to Maranello.

 

Thanks for the information. I'll definitely give the Blancpain series a watch.

Did Loeb race at Le Mans in 2006? Do you think he will ever get the same sort of recognition a great like Fangio receives. Loeb seems to suffer on this front due to his lack of charisma and squeeky clean public image. Whenever you see him in interviews he can come across as a little dour.

 

Loeb raced a Pescarolo LMP1 in 2006, cracking result for the team to take the fight to factory teams. I think he'll certainly go down as one of the all-time great drivers, though mainly in circles who know there's life in motorsport outside of F1. Loeb has been magic at virtually any category of racing he's turned his hand to. He may stick to WTCC but I'd love to see him in the cockpit of his LMP2 car over a full season. He might get involved for the 24...but who knows.

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Just watching the repeat of the WTCC race on Eurosport. Full of incidents and exciting racing.

Well worth a watch. Also watched the highlights of the Sports Car race LariatTom reccomended. Another fun watch.

 

Just watched the review show of last weekend's WTCC race. Its done in a fly on the wall documentary style, covering all the events of the weekend. Very interesting and informative. There's a brilliant part where we see a verbal altercation between two drivers after one had pushed the other off the track. WTCC is going to be very good this year.

Edited by BigJag
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