Thank goodness for historic racing
I have just read with horror the proposal that the World Rallycross Championship from 2020 is to be for electric cars. I thought they were trying to reduce costs, but I fail to see how a carbon monocoque and a composite body kit will achieve this. I believe at one of the Scandinavian rounds last year they had more than 100 entries; can’t see that with all-electric, can you?
I am quickly becoming turned off by modern motorsport, electric/ hybrids, halo, silly aerodynamics, etc, etc. Gone are the days when you could tell a car by its engine note; I can’t tell the difference between the whine of an electric motor or a transmission. Give me the sound of a Healey 3000, Lotus twin cam, DFV or a 3.5 V10 any day.
So now I am going to be left with the only top-level motorsport worth watching being the WRC, WEC and Motogp. Unfortunately they are all on pay TV, which I can’t afford.
Thank goodness for historics, no wonder it is so popular, great cars, great drivers, great sounds and great racing too. Terry Dutton By email
Money talks loudest
Does anybody know where I can buy a radio or an app that automatically recognises when the presenter is going to give out the results of Formula 1 qualifying and the race, so mutes the transmission or changes the station?
Sarcastic comment over; this year terrestrial UK TV (Channel 4) will not show 11 races live, 11 occasions when I have to dodge the news so as not to spoil my highlights viewing. In 2019 terrestrial TV will transmit highlights only.
Can we please have some common sense instead of chasing the dollar at the expense of both diehard and casual fans? I am 100% an F1 guy who has avidly followed and watched the sport since the early 1970s. I am now retired and while I am lucky I could afford to pay for Sky, I will not subscribe. I know Liberty will use the excuse, ‘It was Bernie who put these deals together, guv, not us, we must respect them’. Well, they could come up with a solution for the future, but Sky’s £200million for the rights speaks loudly for CVC as was and Liberty now.
Also I guarantee the teams will find it a lot easier to sell space on their cars if F1 was free-to-air. With the pending threats of a pull-out by Ferrari (a bluff or not), for Italy, a diehard racing nation, to go behind the paywall is utterly crazy.
We hear a lot from Liberty that they are promoting F1, helping fans get closer, plus generating new fans, but it looks to me they are just trying to make another quick buck. Chris Hamlin By email
Grand Prix date clash
My daughter’s wedding is on the same weekend as the British Grand Prix! I am thinking of asking Fernando Alonso to drive the wedding car (not a Honda, hopefully). If he accepts the ‘drive’, he will then be able to get the grand prix moved to the following week so that I can attend both events. Peter Allen By email
Close encounters
Was just thinking it’s a pity there are no viewing areas for spectators at Thruxton’s Church Corner or the Jim Clark Esses at Croft. It would be great to see the BTCC cars close up at these corners. Ronnie Boyd Newry, N Ireland The spectacular nature of these corners is likely the very reason spectators need to be kept well clear. Serious suggestion: if you want to get closer to the action, how about becoming a marshal? – ed