More than 14 1/2 hours to go…
Brain debris… The way I recalled it…
When I was younger (I think I was once) I went to a couple races, not 24 hour, but big time races. I saw Jackie Stewart (plaid band on helmet) win at Watkins Glen NY whenever that was (drove out in my fairly new 71 Super Beetle). We could stand in the infield practically leaning on the guardrail as they flew past at 200 mph!
I went to… is there something called like Can-Am or some such thing in Canada? We took dirt bikes in an Econoline, camped in the infield, and drank beer and rode dirt bikes (OMG!) around the race.
I saw Donahue (Mark or troy?) (before his head injury crash that eventually cost him his life in another race crash) driving some kind of loud McLaren passing everybody with raw, raucous, cubic inch power). I believe there were Porsche 917Ks there with excess of 1000 HP (but they wouldn’t say, exactly) that must have had turbos (they were very quiet while hauling axx).
Now, to me, racing is like watching paint dry. It’s too regulated, homogenized, made too safe, too many rules for fans, too expensive to enjoy. Oh well, I have the memories, sort of.
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Thank you. I spaced out and of course it was not advertised. I now have my DVR set on FOX sports-1 for the final 6 hours. I have been an auto racing fan from the age of 10 (1962).
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I sympathize with your current lack of interest. I also remember the infield passes for a few bucks. Now it costs hundreds for a seat to squeeze into with a view of 10% of the course. Motorsports are killing themselves. I still enjoy them on TV.
Well, NOT being an auto racing fan, I have no disagreement with you.
But I am a Le Mans fan because it is so unique in its combination of factors to make racing interesting.
Too safe, eh . . . ?
Yet several drivers have died over the years. I’m not talking about LeMans specifically, but about automobile racing in general
I’m sure we would NOT want less safety, more excitement, etc., at the expense of the drivers
I’m not into racing, but I wouldn’t want these guys to be in more danger
Sadly, I can’t get it live here in Canada, at least on my cable package. Gonna have to download I guess, hopefully I can get a copy that isn’t too compressed.
Yes, racing in general is a lot more sanitized than it was before, but the racing is still pretty exciting to me.
Re: safety - it will never be perfect, but drivers are walking away fromincredible wrecks these days that would have killed them just a few years ago. Most recent example being Scott Dixon at Indy.
try youtube. There seem to be some free live streams this year (at least in the US).
Cheers Waterbuff
Yes! Long time endurance racing fan. LeMans 24, Daytona 24 hour, Sebring 12 hour, Nurburgring 24 hour. All the great events.
I used to love watching showroom stock endurance racing. Lightly prepped street cars with roll cages racing 6, 12 or 24 hours. At hour 1, the paddock is filled with cars the same models as the racers. At hour 12, those very same cars are on jackstands missing suspension parts or a fender or an engine! The garages are filled with crew, elbows over rears, swapping an engine or transmission in a couple of hours to get the car back into the race to earn some points for the year end championship. I’ve seen an entire rear axle assembly in a Camaro swapped out in under 4 minutes as a standard procedure because the posi units failed after 12 hours! All while the front brakes and all 4 tires were being replaced.
Sprint races are great, endurance racing is a special kind of racing.
Watched the end this morning. A car that was second from last at one point came back to win the overall. Part of the WOW factor of this race.
And for fans of more traditional cars, a Corvette nearly won its class until the last lap or so (final 3-4 minutes). Suspense down to the end.
Whoa! It’s important to understand that I’m not advocating for danger, injuries, and deaths, not at all.
I’m merely pointing out that I believe people (some/many people) have always been attracted to risky events and those defying the risks using skill.
People watch knife throwers with their human targets (that they attempt to miss), motorcycle and car “jumpers” trying to fly through the air, air show stunt pilots, etcetera.
“Aerialist daredevil Erendira Wallenda hangs by teeth from helicopter above Niagara Falls.”
CSA
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And what a fight it was. Just before the final lap, Jordan Taylor in the Corvette ran out of tires during the battle against two faster Aston Martins. He still managed to get the Corvette in, in third place despite front left and right rear tire flat and the car looking like a wreck. A very good job done.
Also, an applaud to Porsche for coming from being in a big loser situation, to be the winners. That was hard work.
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