Le Mans

[mattb]

If you have Motor Trend TV, this is broadcast today. I just got home and started the dvr to watch the beginning. I hate to say it, but after 10 minutes, It doesn't hold my interest at all. I guess I'm just the wrong age for today's racing. I want to see Lolas, Chaparrals, Ford Gt's, Ferrari's. I want to see those old cars I knew and could tell the difference between them. I hate these bubble top cars they run.

Anyway it's on if anybody cares!

[Pappy]

It's like watching a TV series now a days. The only good one's are "Young Sheldon" and "Last Man Standing", the rest are crap. The only thing we watch are old TV series (mostly westerns) from the 60's and 70's.

Matt, I think we are showing our age. :lol:

[WB2]

Forget the LMP stuff: watch the GT cars.
For those without cable, you can do a trial of the Motor Trend app, then cancel it.

[PetesLightKits]

[slothead]

Though I've loved auto racing all my life, I was never that interested in Le Mans until Ford went Ferrari hunting with the GT40 (and later versions), and then joining the cult for Steve McQueen's movie.

We have become our parents, or better/worse, our grand parents. My dad hated the new TV shows in the 60's and could watch Gunsmoke and Andy Griffith all the time. Batman's ZAP!-POW!-BOOM! made no sense at all to him. And all that "yeah, Yeah, yeah" crap from those long hair Beatles guys was just a lot of noise. (All British or similar bands were the Beatles, individual names were irrelevant.)

From a background in psychology and studying behavior; where a sentiment originates from is more important than who or what that sentiment is meant to be descriptive of. What's wrong with stuff today in general - racing, sports, media, etc., is it's not what we once knew and liked. I remember watching an Indy 500 recap from the early 60's and guys were holding up signs saying the rear engined cars should be banned. Why not just keep racing Offenhauser roadsters forever? If Le Mans could bring back Dan Gurney and Ken Miles and have some GT40's racing against some 917K's and T70's I'd not just watch it, I might be there fulfilling a dream. But, that was then and this is now. Except on my slot car track, where it's whenever I want it to be!

Excuse me, I've got to go into the pits and break up an argument between Penske and Bud Moore team members. Something about the Sunoco Camaro being underweight.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Okay, I gotta speak my mind, feel free to skip this if you are sensitive, I won't mind at all. (I keep thinking about Dana Carvey's "And we liked it that way!" character, but I can't help it.)

I have been an LMP1, 2, 3, and GT1, 2, 3, (yes, all those used to be run every year before corporate jerks got control of FIA in France) and a Formula Racing fan since I was in 2nd grade, some 60 years ago, watching newsreels in theaters and then Wide World of Sports on TV. The same kind of two-legged walking garbage corporate stooges have limited broadcasts of racing in this country to racing that might sell the kind of pickup trucks that have nothing to do with working, however real the racing within that not-at-all-stock-car racing actually is. I stay faithful, even when they drop entire classes of race cars because an American team (Corvette) dominates the class for a few years, and other class eliminations that were closed for reasons that don't make any more sense. So, making us pay extra for real racing, on classic tracks (and college football- don't get me started), has become the rule. Because we let them. The whole "vote with your wallet" idea seems dead on arrival these days, I regret to say. I'm watching Le Mans all chopped up on You Tube.

There. I feel better. Please resume normal interaction.

[docdoom]

There is a live feed of the race on you tube. Only bad thing it is in french........

[slothead]

Waay - glad you spoke your mind. Voting with our dollars is about all we can do, which I do constantly. I won't shop at the grocery store chain in town that had a security breach in which customer's financial data was stolen and they waited 3 months to disclose it.

As for sports and media, the only reason anything is broadcast is to be a vehicle for selling advertising (with the exception of premier or pay-per-view services which make their $ from upfront fees). It's crazy to play a World Series game in New York or Boston at night in November, except when you realize it brings in more ad revenue than a day game.

Thankfully, HRW has remained devoid of such blatant endeavors. But, if it wasn't for Harry would you be surprised to see ads for testosterone products inserted into every thread?

As for Le Mans - kudos to whoever the winners are. To build cars that can go that fast for 24 straight hours is quite a feat. I think the overall winning car last year traveled over 3000 miles in 24 hours. I've driven cross country and know how far that is.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

It really hits you when you have done it. My longest run with only fuel stops was Washington D.C. to San Francisco and that was just short of 3000. Mexico City to Memphis was even shorter, though it felt like it was around the world. Imagining those trips in 24 hours is mind-blowing. Both of those trips required gallons of coffee and pounds of chocolate for 2 days, with the radio blaring loud- and a lot of youthful immortality. Not to mention several days to recover.

Come to think of it, I didn't want to do either of those runs. The San Francisco trip was for a girlfriend who had to move back home and made the trip memorable, and the speedy return from Mexico City was because I was robbed in Mexico and barely had enough money left to buy the gas to get home (motorcycle). Sometimes, I think about my sons, who are grown men now, and can't believe how lucky a parent I was all those years- they take after their mother.

[patwa]

I love the GT classes and have just spent an enjoyable two nights or part there of ,watching the race.
I am on night shift in the centre of the great southern land and slept through the middle section.
A couple of years ago after 24 hrs there where Corvettes, GT fords, Ferraris and Astons banging door handles in the final couple of laps after
what is by any standard a monumental achievement just to be there. Doesn't sound all that bad to me.
There was plenty of live timing and in car views for free on YouTube thanks to Ford performance among others.
The spirit of Ford v Ferrari still haunts the race.
Bring it on.

[Kevan]

GTE Pro spoiled by the safety car preventing the Corvette getting out of pit lane...bloody stupid rules and BoP to prevent the TQ car being competitive...but I'm not bitter, at least the Porsches didn't win :text-thankyouyellow:

[bigman]

[Kevan]

Yes, lived here since '75. I prefer cars to bikes though.

[downtowndeco]

I'll throw out a couple different things here.

First, I enjoyed the race. Great coverage & commentary. Yes, there were parts when it was not as exciting, but as the lead change in the last hour showed, you never know what might happen.

TV coverage of motorsports now vs back in the 70's.Back then it was often tape delayed, sometimes by as much as a week. Of course, no qualifying or practice either.

Racing these days of all types seems less exciting because of the reliability of the equipment & the blandness of the circuits. If you think sports car racing is slow my god F1 is 10x worse. Whoever makes it to turn one first usually never loses the lead. Boring. NASCAR isn't much better, but still has at least some action. For me NHRA drag racing is the most unpredictable. True, the best cars and teams usually win, but on any given day a guy who built a car in his garage has a 50/50 shot at beating the world champion.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

What planet were you watching F-1 on?