Motor Sport - What do you like?, also some Aussie racing info... Options

[KAMiX]

It's kind of hard for me as an Australian to figure out where the American motorsport fans flock to in general. On cable I see countless categories including CART, IRL, NASCAR (about a billion sub categories), ALMS (lemans), and many more.

The only other international racing that we get is Formula 1 (of course), WRC, the occasional Drag or Sprint Car meet, and the European (or British?) Touring Cars..

If you are a serious motorsport fan, can you tell me a few things about your favorite category, and why it holds your attention?




I'm a big V8 and F1 fan. I love the V8's for several reasons, they are pure Australian muscle cars, they race all around my country (including winding through the blocked off city streets of my hometown, the Adelaide street circuit which some of you will remember from formula 1 days) and they are closely competitive - many rounds the top 10 cars qualify within 0.4 of a second, with the last car (usually around 25-35) only about a second or two away. These cars can reach speeds of over 320kph (200mph), with many different event formats including 3 100km "sprint" races over the weekend, to the historic bathurst 1000 (1000km duh), which has been rated one of the worlds best race tracks, and has lured many many international drivers in the past. - And recently started hosting an international 24hr race with big prize money.

Pit stops are incredible, with the teams running only one man on each wheel and still getting 7 or 8 second stops - as fast as the f1 with 3 people on each wheel!! The other main point about the V8 Supercars is that the whole kabang is based around the biggest rivalry in the country - Ford VS Holden! (Holden is our better version of GM) The cars are restricted to these two manufacturers, with the current road model car the base for your favorite teams ultimate race car! In other words, people can drive to the track in their Holden Commodore VY, or Ford Falcon BA, and see a tricked up version of the car on the race track. It really creates a lot of rivalry and attention towards the series. Oh btw you can get street versions of the bodykits on the cars shown below - and they look mean!

The cars run a highly modified NA V8 engine, rear wheel drive and no traction control!

I have always wondered how much publicity this series gets - all I know is that asia-pacific and europe get the full series. Have you 6g people ever seen these cars before??


Here are some V8 Supercar pictures for those who still have no idea what I am talking about:

2003 Holden Commodore


2003 Holden Commodore


2002 Ford Falcon


2003 Ford Falcon


2002 Cars



And also - I highly recommend you check out this 5mb Video file of a huge smash at Phillip Island raceway. They didn't even make it to the first corner It will let you see and hear the cars in action!

Do you all think they are as sexy as I do? Please feel free to post some thoughts / images / whatever on your favorite motor sport!

Oh as I said, I am a huge F1 fan as well! - Reason I started this post is because I am bored waiting around till 2:30am to watch the Canadian GP Anyway I used to be a big schumi fan, but ever since the Aussie driver Mark Webber moved to jaguar I have been following him - Go Mark!