|
|
Post by Carl on May 15, 2019 5:26:18 GMT
Bugger I had a whole post about how I feel that seasons are manipulated to improve the show and I got chucked off and lost it. Anyway I feel that 1994, 2007 and the last two seasons were dodgy. I am not a conspiracy theorist at heart but sometimes patterns appear where they shouldn't. A process in my mind brought about maybe by living in Africa. Who knows but should Ferrari suddenly turn it around and the season go down to the wire then I will think all is not right in the State of Denmark! On a much more pleasant note it is so good to see Zandvoort back on the calendar. Congratulations René. Rob, If you're suggesting Bernie Ecclestone would have manipulated outcomes to improve the show and his bank account...I agree. To paraphrase Claude Rains in "Casablanca": "I am shocked—shocked—to find manipulation going on here!"  |
|
|
|
Post by mikael on May 15, 2019 8:08:59 GMT
The manufacturers are in charge to the detriment of racing, which is between drivers. Would corporate boards prefer autonomous race cars? Too often nowadays, when money talks the arena is degraded. Carl, it's a difficult question ... But I think that the sport - in general - has benefited from the interest of manufacturers nonetheless. It is a pity though that Mercedes are running away - and that they have been doing so every year here in the turbo/hybrid era. In the early/mid 00's the field was more on level, even with the presence of more manufacturers than now. It could become like that again, at least in 2021, when the formula/regulations will get a large overhaul. I know it's something very different; but I think that many branches of motorcycle racing also have benefited greatly from the interest of large manufacturers. Motorcycle Grand Prix for sure. But also a sport like motocross. I believe that in Europe in the 1950's, motocross and motorcycle speedway were about the "same size", in terms of the number of amateur riders and their ability to attract spectators. (I am extrapolating from my knowledge of the conditions in Denmark and guessing it was similar in other European countries.) But when the big manufacturers got interested in motocross, that sport grew much, much larger than the sport of speedway (whereto motorcycles were (and are still) supplied by only a little handful of specialist makers). |
|
|
|
Post by Carl on May 15, 2019 21:14:21 GMT
Mikael,
I agree that manufacturer participation improves the sport, but when involvement becomes control, as many believe has happened in Formula One, the essence of the sport can change.
You're absolutely right that manufacturer interest greatly improved motocross almost everywhere. In America, however, the greed of promoters degraded it by insisting on stadium venues and on spectacle replacing nuanced rider skill. Greed always finds the path of least resistance, in this case provided by weak sanctioning bodies abdicating control.
|
|
