Very nice !
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Open Wheel Racing, Anyone?
- Thread starter YamadudeXS650C
- Start date
Lindsay G
XS650 Enthusiast
Actually Yamadude we are pretty well serviced with sealed tracks . In the South Island alone we have -Ruapuna (Christchurch)
Levels ( Timaru) Teretonga (Invercargill , Where Burt Munro came from) and Highlands Motorsport Park at Cromwell which is new but built with no expense spared by a private owner.
That new F5000 class seems to be by the owners of the V8 Supercars series and is in competition with another motorsport body which already has a similar class so could be interesting.
Didn't Indy cars and Cart have a similar battle years ago?
Lindsay G
XS650 Enthusiast
You mentioned somewhere else how things were simpler years ago (couldn't agree more) but how about this story from the 60's.
In the late 60's New Zealand and Australia ran a series called the Tasman series. It was held over the summer down here which was the off season for the northern hemisphere so a lot of the F1 drivers came down to compete.The cars were usually Formula 1 cars a year or so old and some locally built .Some of the drivers who competed were Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon and Denny Hulme as it was their home events, but the series also attracted international F1 stars like Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Jochen Rindt, Pedro Rodríguez and Jackie Stewart.
Now I read a story many years ago written by a motorsport journalist and he said how after the Teretonga meeting ( New Zealands southernmost track) he went back to his motel and wrote up the story . When he was finished he went for a walk to find a pub and have a beer. The first one he walked into was empty except for one table, where all of the drivers who had been competing in the Tasman races that day ( this is the F1 drivers )were sitting around the table, all mates having a beer together so they invited him to join them.
Can you imagine that happening today?
http://www.sergent.com.au/motor/tasman.html
In the late 60's New Zealand and Australia ran a series called the Tasman series. It was held over the summer down here which was the off season for the northern hemisphere so a lot of the F1 drivers came down to compete.The cars were usually Formula 1 cars a year or so old and some locally built .Some of the drivers who competed were Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon and Denny Hulme as it was their home events, but the series also attracted international F1 stars like Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Jochen Rindt, Pedro Rodríguez and Jackie Stewart.
Now I read a story many years ago written by a motorsport journalist and he said how after the Teretonga meeting ( New Zealands southernmost track) he went back to his motel and wrote up the story . When he was finished he went for a walk to find a pub and have a beer. The first one he walked into was empty except for one table, where all of the drivers who had been competing in the Tasman races that day ( this is the F1 drivers )were sitting around the table, all mates having a beer together so they invited him to join them.
Can you imagine that happening today?
http://www.sergent.com.au/motor/tasman.html
Yeah, I remember those days. When I was a youngster my parents would take me to the makeshift track that was Ardmore, just outside Auckland, not sure if it still is an active airport or not. Later as I got older, would head out to Pukekoe, on my own, take the train and spend the day at the track. Puke was new in those days, and Mclaren hated the place, said it was too fast and dangerous. Saw many of the big names of F1 from those days, like Clark, Hill, Brabham, etc, and the local guys like Amon, Hulme and Bruce Mclaren. When we went to Ardmore in the 50s there was a interesting blend of the old front engine cars and the new rear engine Coopers. We would sit beside the track, just a couple of hay bales between us and the cars. I reckon those days are why I went into the Auto trade as a Mechanic, and I still love my racing, mostly F1. I don't know if any of you guys remember the old F5000 series back in the early 70s, had to run small block fords or Chev engines. They didn't last long, a couple of years and gone. Another Kiwi by the name of MacRae did very well in that series, can't remember his first name. One series I would have liked to see back in the late 60s was the CanAm. Very impressive to see those cars, and the place and time that Mclaren got his start building race winners. Lindsay, I have been to Teretonga, Ruapuna, and Timaru, but many many years ago, followed the saloon cars for a while. Watched a young Jim Richards do his thing in a Ford Falcon. I think he went on to do pretty good in Aus. Anyway I am starting to age myself here. Yeah I like open wheel racing, whats not to like?
Yes, the infighting between the Indycar factions went on and on and was eventually destructive to the sport, as much of the audience turned away in disgust. Indycar racing never has really recovered, sadly.
I've enjoyed watching some of the V8 Supercar series, which is televised here in the States.
For those who are even slightly interested in open wheel racing, this is a great weekend for tuning in. The Indycar season has become highly competitive, and they are racing in Toronto tomorrow.
The Formula E electric race cars are difficult to get excited about, but they are racing today and tomorrow at a NEW facility in Brooklyn, NY. TV on FOX Sports 1 and 2.
And the F1 series lead has tightened up, and the boys are racing in perhaps the most classic track aside from Watkins Glen, Silverstone in England. Should be great.
Silverstone:
The Formula E electric race cars are difficult to get excited about, but they are racing today and tomorrow at a NEW facility in Brooklyn, NY. TV on FOX Sports 1 and 2.
And the F1 series lead has tightened up, and the boys are racing in perhaps the most classic track aside from Watkins Glen, Silverstone in England. Should be great.
Silverstone:
