Driving Standards ?

**Craig** · 3 Jun 2001, 12:32 (Ref:100472)

Well, finally, I got to see a program on cable which showed (brief) highlights of the V8s! Woohoo! They showed 2 races from Adelaide earlier this season, but I was absolutely amazed at the driving standards (or lack of) showed by the drivers - is this normal, or did the drivers simply leave their brains at home that weekend ?

RaceTime · 3 Jun 2001, 12:40 (Ref:100474)

Depends on the driver - some don't leave home without them, others don't even have a home to leave them whilst the rest just don't have any

**Craig** · 3 Jun 2001, 12:48 (Ref:100479)

Seemed to me that pretty much half the field were trying to run each other off the road at one point or other... even Lowndes and Skaife were getting intimate with each other

marcus · 3 Jun 2001, 13:36 (Ref:100488)

glad you got to see something at least Craig.

Adelaide always seems to bring in endless amounts of brain fade..even the Old F1 days were quite amazing to see at times..i think its just the nature of the track..but in some ways ..yes this is the usual for V8's..and I think thats why we love..plenty of sideways action and a bit of biff and barge and just full on from the green flag.

would be interested in the particular incidents you are refering to but hey thats V8 racing..is hard to pass and you have to realy on the guy in front making a mistake ..if he doesnt ..help him make one

Ray Bell · 3 Jun 2001, 16:40 (Ref:100611)

All of this boosted along by a commentary team intent on making more of a spectacle of it than it really is or should be...

Like virtually everything about the class, the enforcement of rules is only done for show.

Crash Test · 4 Jun 2001, 00:47 (Ref:100812)

Craig- After Adelaide, everyone on the recieving end of the hard driving *****ed and moaned about the driving and the penalty standards, so since then, if you so much as contemplate overtaking a car you get pinged...

**Craig** · 4 Jun 2001, 05:44 (Ref:100886)

I'm not surprised that they moaned - what I saw was absolutey ridiculous!

As I say though, i've hardly seen enough of the series to know anything about it, but if they have to do *that* to make a pass then it suggests there's something wrong with the cars ?

Crash Test · 4 Jun 2001, 06:34 (Ref:100897)

There was a lot of good racing amoungst the lunacy, it was just because the Adelaide race is a make or break one for everyone's championship, thus everyone goes like mad dogs....miss the big points there and you may as well pack your bags for the rest of the season. Add to the points, you also have the biggest crowd for the year, in front of all of the sponsors.

Also I'd imagine in the Bright Vs Seton crash, there would have been an element of fatigue. Many of the drivers had to be put on drips after the races because it was so bloody hot and hard.

RaceTime · 4 Jun 2001, 07:02 (Ref:100899)

Reference the drips - you would have thought that after last year that AVESCO had learnt something about that time of year? Or are they really that mentally challenged?

Ray Bell · 4 Jun 2001, 08:01 (Ref:100912)

Must be, they're running the Canberra farce on the same cold weekend as last time... and it might be wet, too...

Canberra cold and wet is not to be toyed with.

Buckshot · 4 Jun 2001, 10:10 (Ref:100959)

Yeah the driving standards for V8 Supercars are often critiscised around the time of Bathurst when the full time drivers meet up with once a year racers.

There was one particular chap at last years Bathurst who's driving standards were an absolute disgrace...I think his name was Matt Neal or something like that.

Crash Test · 4 Jun 2001, 11:55 (Ref:100992)

Sorry to say this, but I am praying for snow at the 400.....lets see how good the AVESCO control chains go

marcus · 4 Jun 2001, 16:24 (Ref:101065)

oh er misses...do they have whips as well ?

**Craig** · 4 Jun 2001, 17:16 (Ref:101082)

Quote:

Originally posted by Crash Test
miss the big points there and you may as well pack your bags for the rest of the season.

To score points you also have to finish the race...

After seeing that fiasco on TV I am amazed that anyone can claim Matt Neal has no skills as a driver - he may not be good, but he's better than the lunatics I saw on TV the other night. Good god, i've seen better driving at the local banger track!

Ray Bell · 4 Jun 2001, 23:19 (Ref:101238)

Apart from a few biff and barge experts, Craig, I can assure you it's not the norm.

If it was, Bathurst would be over before halfway... none would survive.

Crash Test · 4 Jun 2001, 23:40 (Ref:101253)

Craig- Remember you only saw the highlights....there were probably 450km of clean racing

. Also you have to put it in perspective- Matt Neal, a lapped car, took out a car that was going for the championship, in the last and most important race of the season, and also took out another factory backed guy that was well on his way to a podium finish. I mean, nobody who has seen it has defended Neal....

Marcus- Whips are for the shell girls, in a bid to get the crowds back to the tracks....

kev · 4 Jun 2001, 23:45 (Ref:101256)

Bathurst is an enduro, not a sprint race. I would say that what Craig saw was normal for the sprint races. It seems to me that there is only two overtaking methods.
1. Wait for the other guy to make a mistake. He probably will.
2. Punt him off the track.

RaceTime · 5 Jun 2001, 00:06 (Ref:101261)

Except that Adelaide isn't even calssified as a sprint race really, is it?

Crash Test · 5 Jun 2001, 01:47 (Ref:101281)

Haven't you been listening to the commentators? Adelaide is a 500km sprint, and Bathurst is a 1000km sprint

RaceTime · 5 Jun 2001, 01:59 (Ref:101286)

LOL - why would I be listening to the commentators - there is no way I would go to either race meeting <g> - I like to WATCH a race, not just see cars flash past me.

marcus · 5 Jun 2001, 02:09 (Ref:101292)

actually you bring up an interesting point Crash test..Craig you did see highlights..so they obviously just took all the nasty and exciting bits and threw it togehter..but most people believe that Adelaide this year was one of the most exciting and entertaining races the V8's have ever had.

yes there was a few crazy moves but for the most part the racing was just fast and furious ..but clean and very enjoyable.

just interested to know Craig ..has this turned you off V8's or has it just fuelled the fire to see more of them ?

Diabando · 5 Jun 2001, 02:13 (Ref:101293)

*holds my head in my hands*

Craig - you have got the whole wrong idea!! There is nothing I can do to convince you right now, but let the racing speak for itself when you get the video's from Tim (organised

).

All I ask is that you wait, watch the tapes, and comment after.

**Craig** · 5 Jun 2001, 04:52 (Ref:101338)

Highlights or no, if they can put together 30 minutes of shunts, crashing and general carnage from one race... well, what can I say ?

Crash Test · 5 Jun 2001, 04:55 (Ref:101340)

There there, there there.

Australia is a dangerous place. We have spiders and snakes, and boxing kangeroos, and these ferral touring car drivers. I swear the BTCC used to be a crash fest, what's going on???

There there.

**Craig** · 5 Jun 2001, 04:58 (Ref:101341)

We got rid of Derek Warwick...

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Driving Standards	Cryos	Rallying & Rallycross	6	14 Sep 2005 16:13
Driving Standards	terje	Racers Forum	11	29 May 2003 10:02
Driving standards	flyingkipper	Touring Car Racing	2	5 Jun 2002 20:00
F3 driving standards	Sid The Manager	National & International Single Seaters	81	16 Apr 2002 15:38
Driving Standards?	Daz	Touring Car Racing	6	10 Sep 2001 20:36