"Vroooommmm." “Five,
four, three, two, one”—red lights extinguished. Tires screech. The
smells of burning rubber and exhaust fumes fill the air.
"I like watching motorsports," one lady told me.
"I go to see the crashes.”
When asked why, she said,
"It's boring without the crashes."
Is that why people watch motorsports?
To see the crashes? But
then, why do those cute little girls in the front row cheer when they
see boxers smashing each other's faces or wrestlers slamming each
other to the matt?
The cars in motorsports have at least put a cocoon around the gladiators;
and as long as they don't burst into flame when they roll over, the
drivers have a chance of ending up in hospital with only a few broken
limbs.
Like
all dangerous sports, motorsports has a following of loyal fans, with
some who love the cars or bikes, and some who, like the circuit girls,
hanker after the drivers or their teams.
When they rev up the engines of the Ferraris and the Fords and BMW's for
the Formula 1 races, the motor sport world has honored the big game
hosts. Hosting a Formula
1 event "ain't nuthin to sneeze at" said a friend from
North Carolina.
Google has over 2 million pages devoted to motorsports and more than 6
million on Formula 1. In
addition to Formula 1, the other motorsports include Drag Racing,
Gran Prix, IRL, Modified, NASCAR, Rally and Sprint Cars.
For those who are new to track racing, the Internet has abundant
information about the cars, sponsors, teams and drivers, though not
much about why drivers risk their lives to beat the clock and other
drivers, racing at 300 kilometers an hour.
For those who aren't regular followers of the drivers in the fast lanes,
here's a brief rundown on the most popular motorsports, along with
some interesting websites for more information:
Drag racing will be familiar to many who have the dubious pleasure of
seeing, on the main highways, and hearing, at night, youth in their
souped-up cars having a go at getting super speed thrills.
Drag racing began in the USA in the late 1920's when young people would
race each other away from the traffic lights down the main `drag'
(highway) of small American towns.
As Police clamped down on this illegal activity, car clubs
formed and these people in their `souped-up' vehicles (`Hot Rods')
moved from the highways to disused airfields and dry lake beds.
Then in 1951 the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) was formed, which
established a set of safety rules.
Permanent drag racing facilities (`drag strips') were then set
up over the whole of the USA.
The Indy Racing League (IRL) is based around the world's greatest motor
race, the Indianapolis 500. Unlike
rival Champ Cars, it races strictly on ovals and caters for single-seater
chassis with 3.5-litre non-turbo engines, with strict measures to keep
costs down.
NASCAR stands for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.
Various series of races and drivers/teams accumulate points in
the standings. For instance, in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, there are
more than 30 scheduled races throughout the year.
Rally - The World Rally Championship is a 14-round series for high-tech,
production-based, four-wheel drive, turbocharged rally cars.
This year, seven manufacturers are battling for the overall
drivers' and constructors' championships, making this the most
competitive era of the sport since the '80s.
There are also categories for two-wheel drive cars and more heavily
production-based cars. From
the icy roads around Monte Carlo in January to the mud of Great
Britain in November, via the yumps of Finland, the World Rally
Championship is one of the toughest motorsport disciplines on the
planet.
Sprint Cars - The second most-popular motorsport in the US, Sprint cars
are easily identified by the big wings on top of each car.
A number of websites have information about most motorsports, including
news, articles, calendars, vehicles and drivers. The most useful include:
http://www.bhmotorsports.com/
http://www.motorsportshalloffame.com/
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.co.jp/motorsports/history/
http://www.formulaone.free-online.co.uk/
http://www.motorsport.com/
http://directory.webguest.com/Sports/Motorsports/Auto_Racing/History
http://paloweb.com/Sports/Motorsports/History/
http://www.mshf.com/
http://www.dmoz.org/Sports/Motorsports/Auto_Racing/
http://www.theautochannel.com/sports/
Formula 1 is the world's premier single-seater racing series, and has
occupied that position since the formation of a World Championship in
1950. Ten teams do battle
with phenomenal, multi-million pound budgets and a high degree of
technical development, across the 18-race Grand Prix season.
The World Championship is truly global, with races taking place in the
United States, Malaysia, Japan and South America as well as the more
traditional European races. Famous
teams such as Ferrari, McLaren and Williams, as well as high-profile
manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, Renault and Honda, take part in the
hotly contested championship.
The official Formula 1 website
has complete information about annual results, drivers and
constructors (those who made the race cars) back to 1993.
For the latest news, events, results, teams and Formula One features,
visit the F1
Factory. The site carries the full standings of the driver and team
championships since 1997.
An interesting F1 website with diagrams of the racecourses and images of
the latest cars, along with information about drivers, teams and
standings is the Formula-1-Racing
Guide.
For more about Formula One, the Open Directory Project provides links to
20 websites,
including F1 for Women.
The crashes I spoke of earlier have not always been accidental.
Other racers have despised Michael Schumaker, the top Formula 1
driver in the world, for his deliberate collisions with Damon Hill
and Jacques Villeneuve.
Schumaker, a German, has established himself as the top racecar driver in
the world. He's
aggressive and has his own personal racing style.
To top it off, Schumacher has won the World Championship title
in seven out of the last 10 years (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
and 2004).
For more information about Schumaker,
two websites have his biography, photos, results and posters at both.
There’s no doubt that race car drivers are a breed apart.
In a film about car racing, a Jean Paul Belmondo character made
the astute observation that race car drivers lacked imagination.
“If they had any imagination,” he said, “they’d never
race again as they’d know what it’s like to crash into a wall at
320 kph.”
Motorsports have a following of beautiful and often scantily clad girls.
These attractive lasses have been called grid girls, pit babes
and just plain babes. If
you can't go to the races, see what you're missing here.
These beautiful young women wear company logos and hold up the placards
at the start of Motorsports Events.
Grid
Girls are usually associated with a series sponsor.
If you're interested in magazines about the various motor sports, you'll
find them described and available for ordering at exceptional
discounts from Magazine
City. The magazines
are listed in a number of categories: Collectible Cars, Contemporary
Cars, Motorcycles, Muscle and Hobby Cars, Racing and Truck and Sport
Vehicles.
Many car magazines appeal to automobile enthusiasts as well as racing
fans. Road and Track
for instance can be ordered worldwide and has 12 issues per year,
reporting on all types of new cars at a 76% reduction from the cover
price.
Let's hope that Formula One proves boring for the
lady who goes to motorsports to see the crashes. It should be exciting for the rest of us.
