Andy-R

Just tuned into Skysports to see Brazil win the sprint race from Brands.

Looks like the the Feature Race is about to start 3-00pm.

I personaly havent heard a lot about the series! Whats your thoughts on this series! Do you recon it will catch on and be as big as F1 as we know it?

Discuss!

MadMac

Got it on at the moment quite enjoying it actually

Like the mix of the races, the sprint and then the main race

GrahamM

If you don't have Sky Sports then you can watch @ www.a1gp.com/media

MadMac

What a git, GB gets in 1st only for the car to break down

EIL132

Cant really get into it. The team USA, GB, etc bit sounds a bit too cheesy for me. Just doesn't fit in with motorsport I think, sounds like athletics

Andy-R

Certainly entertaining lots of overtaking made it worthwhile viewing.

I like the idea of the race being down to driver ability rather than how much money the team has.

The footage of the incar crash and roll of the Lebanonese diriver (look forward to seing that again) to have walked away from that is a credit to Lola and the cars construstion.

Must admit it did seem a little scrappy but interesting!

MadMac

I just loved it after the first safty car went back in, they were all going for it

Micky

I enjoyed the race,cars look to be fairly evenly matched,I like the way the cars slide about on the track.What i dont like is the way its presented on the telly,its dumbed down and not really aimed at motorsport enthusiast,for example we were'nt told who makes the engines, how many cc the engine is,how many cylinders it has,who's tyres are they running on,I guess the engine has a turbo as the drivers have a boost button,but a turbo was never mentioned.Plus the blond bimbo presenter would'nt know a camshaft from a driveshaft!!!!Regards Micky

MadMac

Micky, Micky they told you all the specs before qualifying started yesterday and twice today, I think you must have missed that

Jim Galbally

Just got back from Brands

i thought it was bloody good! ive been to F1 and didnt really like it, but this was muchos better, seeing the drivers fight it out properly, lots of tryre smoke, lots of sideways, lots of overtaking etc etc.

the powerbost thing just kicks in a second ECU map that produces 30bhp more for a limited time... VERY good idea imho... they list how many times each team has "boosted" bit like outrun n stuff

theyre 3.4L v8 engines producing 520bhp (+30 with powerboostboost) al the info is on www.a1gp.com

shame about Team GB going out, but lets be honest, brazil woulda beaten us anyway the battle between AUS and GB was v. good to watch and OMFG at that crash (ok, there awere 15 of em i think but the big one where he FLEW!) i SOOOO didnt expect to see the driver get out of that one... good marshaling tho, they were straight on the case

i raly hope it takes off, as i think its a very good idea, and certainly appeals to me more than F1 which i find boring

AndyRST

IMO its going to be a bit slow to take off because you can only view it on sky sports. If it was on a freeview channel or main TV like BBC2 or something, then i think alot more people would follow it

Jim Galbally

andy, if you read the marketing stuff etc. in the poorer countries its been sold to the TV places for f**k all money... theyre practically GIVING AWAY the rights this season trying to get a name for itself. might take a while over here, but globally? i think it might just make it

ps the launch ceremony was BOOOORING ended up reading the newspaper

EIL132

Sorry, but been to the British GP and there's no way that is better The first car I saw was Schumakers and I was gob smacked at the speed and grip, made the whole weekend. A1 is just F3000 suped up

Rab

Who won anyways?

EIL132

Brazil

Rab

No surprises there then

MadMac

This is true A1 is just F3000 with better cars, BUT its superior to F1 in quite a few ways.

i) It tests a number of skills due to the fact the race is split into a sprint and a feature race. The sprint is a test of a drivers ability to gain positions as fast as possiable, while the feature is the traditional style of endurance. And as points are awarded in BOTH races, you have to perform well in both.

ii) Qualifying is not about getting a one hit wonder lap. Each team has four goes and the two best times are added together. SO drivers have to be consistant. So your not gonna get a pole position because of any other factor (driver errors, or just plain luck) and its more focused on driver skill.

iii) All the cars are identicle and much more a test of driver ability as shown by some of the tactics employed in todays races. It was a much more desperate fight to get those positions with other drivers really putting the pressure on each other as they are much closer. A lot of looking down one side then diving round to the other, Locking up brakes, getting cars sideways, getting the best exits on corners for the blast down the straight, getting in slipstreams. Something you see very little off in F1 now

Ok, can't fault the F1 cars for being that much more superior in tearms of performance. But A1 was FAR more entertaining.

I was screaming at the TV "COME ON!!" more times in that one race than I have done in an entire season of F1.

Sorry but A1 GP has had a great start, and its gonna be big if this race was anything to go by.

EIL132

Watch touring cars then If it's entertainment you want then it's there. The A1 suffers from the same problem F3000, GT, etc does, the need to see ultimate cars and ultimate drivers. If you want to talk about driver skill, then they must be driving the fastest cars, as that's what true skill is about and takes every bit as much skill to set them up and have the balls to drive them to there limit. It's like the old F2 FWD rally cars against WRC cars, just isn't the same

andyhardy

I watched the A1GP at Brands Hatch today - it was ok as a spectacle (in terms of amount of people and the atmosphere there) but I don't think it's a very good spectator motorsport. The footage on TV is much better than what you can see at the side of the circuit (unless you work for the media). Great circuit though and the sound from the cars is very impressive (especially the huge backfiring on the over-run).

Touring cars always guarantees action but lacks overall speed (and rwd), Rallycross is the best in terms of action and sense of pace but the races are too short (they finish just as they get going).

I watched Champ Cars at Brands Hatch (indy circuit) last year and the A1GP cars suffered from much the same problems (the circuit is too narrow for the cars and there's only one racing line through most of the circuit) but the A1GP provided more entertainment and gave a greater sense of their speed.

One thing I really do applaud with the A1GP racing series is that it really seems to have pumped alot of money into the event itself, Brands Hatch has never looked so good (and modern!). Did anyone else see the huge marquee they put up? Loads of entertainment for families and kids etc. compared to any other event I've been to at Brands (not been to World Superbikes though but must go sometime).

It's rare to see a circuit spectator area look full except for when holding F1 - it really was impressive to see and the circuit can definitely handle this kind of event (just a shame it takes so long to get out of the bloody car park afterwards )

Just my thoughts - I think the racing will get better as the series moves on (when the 5/6 main teams shake down into their positions in the championship). To really make a comparison I'm thinking about going to watch the F1 at Spa next year After that I'll have to try watching the GB rally somewhere

Andy

timb551

My fried luke is the general manager of team pakistan. He cant stop raving about it. And i have to say i enjoyed it so much more than f1.

RichardPON

Yes, but James, aside from the individual spectacle, and the engineering/technology, F1 is fookin boring.

I fell asleep during the race yesterday........ again.

salmon

Concept is spot on, but having watched the sprint race I thought is was cr*p. Didn't think there was that much over-taking, more like ~2 second gap between cars, not sure what feature race was like though...

andyhardy

The feature race was better - the sprint race order didn't really change when I watched it. It seemed like it was more of an 'installation' race for the teams which I suppose is to be expected on their first race against each other 'in anger'.

They were trying harder in the feature race!

Andy