A1 at Brands Hatch

[pistonbroke]

Jeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzz  

thanks Mrs W

can't believe all that hype , motor race or pop fes  

[Blatman]

Watched it last night on telly (Sky+). Time for a Blatters special

Sprint race was a procession, and nothing to get excited about.

Feature race seemed to bring out the sort of driving we usually see from inexperienced F1 drivers, in so far as they were getting in each others way, the midfield were spinning/crashing, and at least one car/driver ended up upside down at Paddock Hill Bend after locking wheels with another car. Picquet Jnr seems to be a genuine talent and the only redeeming feature of either race. He'll be in F1 before too long, I suspect. The rest seemed to be pretty average for what was supposed to be a reasonably experienced set of drivers.

And the pit stops were awful. None of the teams semed to be able to do one without some sort of delay, and just like F1, it seemed that the race for places could be decided in the pits, although it was mostly by accident rather than by design.

On top of the general averageness of the "racing", I strongly suspect that many of the issues were the result of Brands Hatch showing it's age. It seemed to me that it was mostly too narrow, with too many corners and not enough long straights to give anyone a chance to use the boost buttons to much effect. Or the boost buttons were all being used on the straight/Hawthorns by all the drivers as a matter of course, cancelling out any advantage that may be there. It will be far more interesting to watch them at a proper F1 circuit where they have room to move around the track and attempt different lines and overtaking moves without the fear of running out of space.

In summary, and in my opinion, the A1GP opener was average at best, with all parties (drivers, organisers and the track) conspiring to make it a bit of a damp squib.

The TV coverage was crap too, with the studio anchors (Georgie someone, blonde girl, and Andy Priaulx, WTCC driver) showing their lack of presentation skills, knowledge and belief in the script only too well. The only chap I liked was Keith Heuwen (bike commentator and all around good guy), and even he wasn't able to do much with the tools given, with his co pit lane host (an instantly forgettable bird) showing her lack of knowledge and skill by asking inane and obvious questions.

All that said, I'll watch again at a better circuit to see if they've improved any, but they're only gonna get one or two more chances. After that, I'll tape it, but only so I can see me brother working

Made F1 look good, which is probably the exact opposite of the intention...

*Climbs off soap box and is helped in to waiting ambulance*

[markboyce]

http://www.jackals-forge.com/lotus/outings2005.html

[Robandcolin]

Me dad asked the guy who supplied the hospitality tents for the event for tickets.

He refused as he said the organisation for the event was so poor that they were not giving out any tickets.

Says it all really.  

Rob

[pistonbroke]

I think the problem with the cars is the same as F1 in that there is too much design dependance on downforce to aid traction .

A distinct lack of mechanical grip on low speed / bumpy tracks e.g.  Brands means the cars would be very nervous and probably pigs to drive .

Was rather hoping to see  something more akin to the american Champ car series of Juan Montoyas day where close racing on a large variety of tracks was the order of the day !

But then perhaps I am a just a dreamer