OT: F1 vs. IMSA

[William]

The first part of the F1 season was pretty boring to me so I started watching IMSA and I’m finding it much more entertaining racing. Multiple classes on the track at the same time which can shake things up. Pit rules and strategy can have a big effect. Rubbing and bumping thrown in for good measure. I watched the Road America 120 yesterday which got shaved down to 75 minutes of racing due to weather, but that 75 minutes was more entertaining with changing weather, decisions to run slicks or rain tires, pit cut off time to add pressure, and the last lap had more action than the whole first part of the F1 season…just sayin’.

Any other IMSA fans here?







W.

[BdaGhisallo]

I have been following F1 very closely for over 30 years now and you are right - it can be pretty boring most of the time. Le Mans and IMSA sports car racing is a lot more entertaining to watch. Indy cars are pretty entertaining too.

These days, half the enjoyment of F1 for me is the off track action. The machinations of the Piranha Club, as Frank Williams so memorably termed the collective of F1 teams and owners, can be fascinating to watch.

[William]

I get it, and that was part of why I started watching but this past season left me feeling meh.

LeMans Hyper car class coming up? Should be interesting to see what develops there.





W.

[72gmc]

Newly minted IMSA fan here. Only paid attention to LeMans and Spa in prior years, now following the full season and enjoying it (a race on the second screen makes after-hours work more fun). Also a fan of the Radio LeMans crew.

[Hindmost]

I just noticed today that at the Monterey Historics this weekend IMSA is the featured "brand." 30 year anniversary.

[denapista]

I like watching IMSA racing and F1 alike. I agree that F1 has been a snooze lately, but that can be attributed to team finances and the power of Merc/Ferrari. The only thing that's exciting to me in F1 is the cliff falloff of Sebastian Vettel. I can't stand that guy for some reason. Lewis Hamilton isn't getting his due credit for being one of the most dominant drivers, partly due to the era of politics in F1. He won a title with McLaren and now Merc.

He's one of the best "Technical Track" drivers ever. Schumacher was also an amazing technical track drivers. That type of driver reminds me of cart racing at the youth level.

When IMSA is on TV over the weekend, I'll always watch the races. The racing is so tight and there's lots of passing and jockeying for corners, etc. Super good racing.

[BdaGhisallo]

The only thing that's exciting to me in F1 is the cliff falloff of Sebastian Vettel. I can't stand that guy for some reason. Lewis Hamilton isn't getting his due credit for being one of the most dominant drivers, partly due to the era of politics in F1. He won a title with McLaren and now Merc.



I am in your camp these days. Vettel has been so disappointing since he's gone to Ferrari. He's made too many dumb mistakes - Singapore 2017, Baku 2018, Germany 2018 and Britain 2019 to name only a few.

I have come to the conclusion that he is a terrifically fast driver but not a good racer. Put him on the track alone in a good car and he will bang in quick laps like a metronome, but don't let him loose when there are other cars on the track with similar speed to him. He is a disaster of late.


And you are right on Hamilton. He will be recognized as one of the top five drivers in F1 history, imo. I don't warm to him but one can't deny his talent.


I like Riciardo these days. He's a great racer with great overtaking nous and always has a smile on his face. He gets it - he knows how lucky he is to be driving fast race cars and to be paid many millions to do so. Some of the others don't seem to get that so well.

Now if only Williams could get themselves sorted out...

[denapista]

There's a weird do I like this guy or not when it comes to Lewis Hamilton. Vettel makes so many mistakes and he's always complaining and never owning up to his mistakes. The Ferrari has so much speed, but I bet if you put Lewis in that car he would get the same race results.

[glepore]

Yes! This season has been spectacular, all around. Will likely be headed to VIR next Sunday...

And the last few F1 races have been far from snoozable.

[Plum Hill]

Been IMSA fan since the ‘70s.
They really came up with something great with the Daytona Prototypes. While ballyhooed as ugly spec racers, they gave fantastic door-to-door competition. Amazing to have three cars battling for the lead at the end of 24 hours of racing.
Don’t really care for current DPi cars but really like the GTLM and GTD classes.

Check out the last lap of the Road America 120.
I don’t buy the driver’s “excuse”.

Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion live streaming details: http://vintagemotorsport.com/2019/08/imsa-tv-will-live-streaming-weekends-rolex-monterey-motorsports-reunion/

[Moorecw]

IMSA 100%. I Grew up loving F1 and went to all the Indy F1 races in the early/mid 2000’s. Once F1 switched to turbo, I lost interest and it became boring. IMSA/ALMS is and always has been exciting. I can think of several races that came down to a battle on the last lap. Several classes with great racing in each class. All the cars look and sound different. On top of that, IMSA/ALMS was or is very fan friendly. I went to petit lemans at road Atlanta for 7 years and you can get right in the paddock area to watch them prep and work on the cars.

Youtube the porsche (flying lizard)/Ferrari battle at Sebring or the Porsche/corvette battle from Laguna Sega. Great racing!!!

[William]

Been IMSA fan since the ‘70s.
They really came up with something great with the Daytona Prototypes. While ballyhooed as ugly spec racers, they gave fantastic door-to-door competition. Amazing to have three cars battling for the lead at the end of 24 hours of racing.
Don’t really care for current DPi cars but really like the GTLM and GTD classes.

Check out the last lap of the Road America 120.
I don’t buy the driver’s “excuse”.

Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion live streaming details: http://vintagemotorsport.com/2019/08/imsa-tv-will-live-streaming-weekends-rolex-monterey-motorsports-reunion/


Yeah, that pass on the last lap in the Canada Corner...on the outside...in the rain...:eek::cool:

And then the finish...Whaaaaat?!?!?!? :banana:



Good stuff!





W.

[denapista]

Youtube the porsche (flying lizard)/Ferrari battle at Sebring or the Porsche/corvette battle from Laguna Sega. Great racing!!!

Those Corvette cars were simply the best sounding cars in the pits. I was there at Laguna and in the pits. Those cars used to shake the ground! The Flying Lizard 996RSR was rebuilt by ninelevendesign in Montclair CA and I'm always drooling on Instagram, when they post it idling.

The sound of the 996RSR cars idling is car porn x1000

https://live.staticflickr.com/1933/31769020118_b9316ebc02_m.jpg