Motorsport Olympics: Insane? Genious? Both?

[UltimateDanGTR]

I was thinking about the olympics today (bye bye vancouver, hello london and all that) and then started thinking about motorsport. pretty soon I came up with an idea in my random dream world: The Motorsport Olympics!

I realise this is totally unrealistic, totally mad, nearly impossible etc. Its a stupid idea. BUT-imagine the fun we would have! Some events for you:

Car Football (soccer)
Car Rugby
Car Ice Hockey
Car Tennis
Car Baseball
Open Wheel Track racing ______ miles (all sorts of lengths-10 miles, 20, 50 etc. same idea for touring cars, sports cars etc)
Track racing Sports car Endurance (different events with different lengths: 2 hours, 4, 6, 12, 24 or something of the like)
Oval Racing _______ (open wheel, stock car etc different cars for different events) __________ miles

plus events for airplanes, speedboats and rallying etc.

You could have medals for drivers and manufacturers (in certain events manufacturers at least) plus nations for the team sports.

Id also say only manufacturers who compete or support at least one 'Elite' motorsport could take part (Elite examples: F1, BTCC, WTCC, DTM, LMS, GT1, GT2, WRC, IRC, IndyCar, Nascar etc)


now, it would be great fun. but this idea I admit, is totally ridiculous.

thoughts?

[christophulus]

Sounds like another Top Gear special..

[UltimateDanGTR]

Sounds like another Top Gear special..

:D top gear meets motorsport meets the olympics.

sounds like fun to me. still insane though. :D

[truefan72]

sounds insane

[Sonic]

Sounds like another Top Gear special..

Save this thread peeps. If Clarkson and co do a winter olympics we sue, right? ;)

[call_me_andrew]

I think Car Rugby would require pick-up trucks.

I'm more interested in getting karting at the Summer Olympics, but I'll settle for snocross in the Winter Olympics.

[Saint Devote]

Crap. Why demean motor racing by including in the Olympics?

Its bad enough that half the people who watch F1 today are preetty clueless and watch with the intelligence and interest of fat couch potatoes aka "sports fans" - spare me!!!

[harvick#1]

Save this thread peeps. If Clarkson and co do a winter olympics we sue, right? ;)

what considering they've already done Car Soccer and Hockey, along with the Ski Jump :p :

[K-Pu]

We are forgetting about the most noble of all motor disciplines, one that must be in these Olympics:

DESTRUCTION DERBY!

[maximilian]

We are forgetting about the most noble of all motor disciplines, one that must be in these Olympics:

DESTRUCTION DERBY!
I was gonna say that, too :D

While I would like to see a multi-disciplinary motorsports festival "Olympics", I think events like car-ball sports are nonsense :p

I could envision it where every 4 years, all the major racing series in the world descend on 2-4 major motorsports centers in the world, and we get to see a cornucopia of motorsports competition at all highest levels over a time period of about 2-3 weeks - including open-wheel (ideally with a road course, street course and an oval event, the categories could be something like F1 road, F1 street, Indy oval, Indy road, F3 street), le mans prototypes (including a 24-hr race and a sprint race), GT sports cars, touring cars, stock cars (superspeedway, small oval, road course), road motorcycles and sidecars, motorcross, rally (WRC style), off-road cars and bikes (Baja style, Dakar style), targa, trials, trucks, drag racing, motor boats, air race, karts, speedway, demolition derby - what am I forgetting? :D

Every 4 years would give each sub-series enough time to work it into their schedules. Some things would of course be really difficult, such as finding venues reasonably close to each other that have all the needed tracks for oval, street, road, and off-road racing... then again, just like the Olympics, they'd have 4 years to prepare and build something! ;)

[UltimateDanGTR]

spot on Max! :D

SD: demeaning? forget that for a moment (I quite disagree btw) and think how fun it would be :D

i like andrew's idea of having karting at the summer olympics.

and to avoid clashes with the olympics and world cups/euros at football, we'd have it held every four years in odd numbered years.

I love the pickups for car rugby and demo derby events, commence mayhem!

I think it would be a festival of fun, excitement and motor racing. and you can't beat that can you!

[Langdale Forest]

Top gear have already done an winter olympics, that was epic. :)

Sounds like a brilliant idea, but how would car tennis work?

[Garry Walker]

Why not have an event for handicapped cars to be politically correct? That would involve drivers having to race cars with either no tyres or no engine.

[Daniel]

Lame idea

[UltimateDanGTR]

Top gear have already done an winter olympics, that was epic. :)

Sounds like a brilliant idea, but how would car tennis work?

a giant tennis court (tarmac of course) maybe 3/4 times the size of a normal one. One (or two in the team version) small city car on each side takes it in turns to bounce the ball over the short net in the middle (using the car bonnets and windscreens). failing to hit the ball over the net after up to two bounces on the players side wins a point for the opposing player/team.


simple :D

[UltimateDanGTR]

Why not have an event for handicapped cars to be politically correct? That would involve drivers having to race cars with either no tyres or no engine.

maybe a race where each car has two punctured tyres. :p

[Big Ben]

Crap. Why demean motor racing by including in the Olympics?

Its bad enough that half the people who watch F1 today are preetty clueless and watch with the intelligence and interest of fat couch potatoes aka "sports fans" - spare me!!!

Don´t mind if i don´t spare you.

The usual much longer version of your posts includes less non sense than this one.

Deameaning? What´s deamening about Olimpics? I respect the work and dedication of all those athletes that take part in this event and I can very easily understand other people finding interest in following different sports than I do. Not to mention that even though I don´t follow too closely the event I found much more interesting the 100m and 200m finals than the entire 2009 f1 season.

About the second BS... well that´s pretty idiotic. You should consider the fact that these clueless fans are the ones that keep your sport going. What do you think f1 would be today if followed only by obsessed people like yourself? I know it´s hard to understand but not everybody likes what you like. And besides that everyone´s free to watch f1 for whatever reason they want.

Very strange things to hear from a man that keeps preaching capitalism on a motor sport forum. You wouldn´t expect him to be so clueless when it comes to marketing and keeping the f1 business going.

Pretty hypocritical to talk like that about such a beloved character as the couch potato... considering it comes from one of his closest relatives.

[call_me_andrew]

About the second BS... well that´s pretty idiotic. You should consider the fact that these clueless fans are the ones that keep your sport going. What do you think f1 would be today if followed only by obsessed people like yourself?

*raises hand*

I know! I know! It would be the IndyCar Series!

[raybak]

Actually a Motorsport olympics is a great idea.

This is my take on it.

Run over 2 weeks.

Utilise the Castrol World Rankings for entries. Top 2 from each nation in each category to be accepted. One wildcard from host nation.

Categories would be as follows:-

Premier Open Wheel - to include F1, IRL
Touring cars - to include WTCC, V8Supercars, NASCAR and the top touring car category in each country. Cars could be run as basically a stock car with different stickers on it to give it a different look.

Formula Ford

Formula 3

Dirt Speedway

Off Road

Trucks

Superkarts

MotoGP/Superbikes

Rally, WRC, PWRC Group N, basically all classes. It actually could be a round of the WRC and IRC in the same week.

The motorsport olympics would be run in one country and have qualifying, also knockout events as well. Similar to ROC.

Would be an amazing 2 weeks for us motorsport freaks :)

By the way I will copyright this idea and then sell it to the FIA for millions of dollars :)

Ray

[K-Pu]

There´s another thing I´d also want to see...

The comeback of Group B! Only as an exhibition category, I´m not asking for them to be at the same level as the F1, MotoGP or WRC disciplines... Could it be possible?

[UltimateDanGTR]

ray: you cant copyright this idea, its mine! :D

although the events are pretty much spot on, plus the team sports of course :D

Id also add short track tarmac oval racing in Brisca cars, and some speedboat and airplane disciplines to add some striking variety.

[woody2goody]

I think they should consider having a motorsport event in the olympics, but then you can't guarantee the cars will be equal, even in a single spec race.

However nobody says anything about bobsleigh (where they have F1 technology to design sleds for different teams) and shooting (where surely the quality of the gun must play a part) or sailing (the boat).

[call_me_andrew]

Power boat racing was an Olympic sport at the 1908 London games.

[AndyL]

Power boat racing was an Olympic sport at the 1908 London games.

That's a great piece of trivia!

I think indoor motorcycle trials would make a good Olympic sport - it's one form of motorsport where the competitor's skill makes much more difference than the cost of the machinery.

[UltimateDanGTR]

Races of the First Motorsport Olympiad

Tarmac

Circuit-Sprint Length
Class Three Open Wheel Grand Prix Sprint
Class Four Open Wheel Grand Prix Sprint
Class Five Open Wheel Grand Prix Sprint
KF3 Karting Grand Prix Sprint
KF4 Karting Grand Prix Sprint
Super Saloon Car Sprint
Compact Saloon Car Sprint
Grand Touring Class 3 Sprint
Grand Touring Class 4 Sprint
GP Motorcycle Race Class 3 Sprint

Circuit-Standard Length
Class One Open Wheel Grand Prix Standard
Class Two Open Wheel Grand Prix Standard
Class Three Open Wheel Grand Prix Standard
Class Four Open Wheel Grand Prix Standard
Class Five Open Wheel Grand Prix Standard
KF1 Karting Grand Prix Standard
KF2 Karting Grand Prix Standard
KF3 Karting Grand Prix Standard
KF4 Karting Grand Prix Standard
Premier Saloon Car Standard
Super Saloon Car Standard
Compact Saloon Car Standard
Truck Racing Standard
Grand Touring Class 1 Standard
Grand Touring Class 2 Standard
Grand Touring Class 3 Standard
Grand Touring Class 4 Standard
Prototype Class 1 Grand Prix Standard
Prototype Class 2 Grand Prix Standard
GP Motorcycle Race Class 1 Standard
GP Motorcycle Race Class 2 Standard
GP Motorcycle Race Class 3 Standard










Circuit-Endurance Length
Class One Open Wheel Grand Prix Endurance
Class Two Open Wheel Grand Prix Endurance
Class Three Open Wheel Grand Prix Endurance
KF1 Karting Grand Prix Endurance
KF2 Karting Grand Prix Endurance
Premier Saloon Car Endurance
Super Saloon Car Endurance
Grand Touring Class 1 Endurance
Grand Touring Class 2 Endurance
Grand Touring Class 3 Endurance
Grand Touring Class 4 Endurance
Truck Racing Endurance
Prototype Class 1 Grand Prix Endurance
Prototype Class 2 Grand Prix Endurance
GP Motorcycle Race Class 1 Endurance
Olympic Racing Car 6 Hour Race
Olympic Racing Car 12 Hour Race
Olympic Racing Car 24 Hour Race
Olympic Motorcycle 12 Hour Race
Olympic Motorcycle 24 Hour Race

Oval-Sprint Length
Open Wheel Sprint
Stock car Sprint
Sprint Car Sprint
Hot Rod Sprint
Demolition Derby Sprint
Truck Racing Sprint

Oval-Standard Length
Open Wheel Standard
Stock Car Short Track
Stock Car Standard Track
Stock Car Superspeedway
Truck Racing Standard
Thunder Car Challenge

Oval-Endurance Length
Open Wheel 4 Hour Oval
Stock Car 4 Hour Oval







Street-Sprint Length
Class One Open Wheel Street Sprint
Class Two Open Wheel Street Sprint
Class Three Open Wheel Street Sprint

Street-Standard Length
Class One Open Wheel Street Standard
Class Two Open Wheel Street Standard
Class Three Open Wheel Street Standard
Premier Saloon Car Street
Super Saloon Car Street
Grand Touring Class 1 Street
Grand Touring Class 2 Street
Prototype Class 1 Street

Stadium
Race of Champions
Race of Nations
Stadium Drift
Stadium Saloon

Rally
Open Wheel Hillclimb
Saloon Car Hillclimb

Off-Road

Rally-Dirt
Dirt Rally Car Class 1
Dirt Rally Car Class 2

Rally-Gravel
Gravel Rally Car Class 1
Gravel Rally Car Class 2

Off Road Circuit
Truck Racing Circuit
Car Racing Class 1 Circuit
Car Racing Class 2 Circuit
Motorcycle Class 1 Circuit
Motorcycle Class 2 Circuit









Off Road Cross Country
Truck Racing Cross Country
Car Racing Class 1 Cross Country
Car Racing Class 2 Cross Country
Motorcycle Class 1 Cross Country
Motorcycle Class 2 Cross Country

Freestyle
Motorcycle Freestyle Jumps
Motorcycle Freestyle Arena

[UltimateDanGTR]

Air

Air Race-Show
Freestyle Air Show

Air Race-Time Trial
Time Trial Air race

Air Race-Speed Trial Short Distance
Speed Trial Short Distance Air Race

Air Race-Speed Trial Long Distance
Speed Trial Long Distance Air Race


Water

OpenSea
SpeedBoat Open SeaRace
PowerBoat Open SeaRace

Shore Side
SpeedBoat ShoreSide Race
PowerBoat ShoreSide Race

Sport

Team
Nations Car Football
Nations Car Rugby
Nations Car Ice Hockey
Nations Car Basketball





Individual
Car Tennis
Car Volleyball

Combined

Team
Team race Relay Oval
Team Race Relay Off-Road

Individual
Car Biathlon
Car Pentathlon
Car Decathlon

Drag

Quarter Mile
Quarter Mile Drag Class 1
Quarter Mile Drag Class 2
Quarter Mile Drag Class 3
Quarter Mile Drag Class 4

Half Mile
Half Mile Drag Class 1
Half Mile Drag Class 2
Half Mile Drag Class 3
Half Mile Drag Class 4

One Mile
One Mile Drag Class 1
One Mile Drag Class 2
One Mile Drag Class 3
One Mile Drag Class 4

[Rollo]

Maybe it's not so utterly strange:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_art_competitions

Personally I'd like to see other exotic events like Queueing, Mornington Crescent, Chess Boxing, Tiddlywinks (both target and racing) and Water Unravelling.

[ozrevhead]

Maybe it's not so utterly strange:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic_medalists_in_art_competitions

Personally I'd like to see other exotic events like Queueing, Mornington Crescent, Chess Boxing, Tiddlywinks (both target and racing) and Water Unravelling.
great find

Would there be speedboat & hovercraft racing & the air redbull ones as well?

[wedge]

Touge, time attack, drifting.....

[Rollo]

great find

I admit that I looked it up after watching QI at the weekend. Mr Fry's story about that lady winning a gold medal for "Clipping Poodles" at the 1900 Olympics I'm afraid was an April Fools' gag though.

[jens]

I don't see motorsports being be part of the olympics. IMO it's just too technical and dependant on other issues than the performance of a sportsperson. Yes, there are so-called technical sports in the OG's and not in all disciplines everyone is equal in terms of equipment, but what I see being the key factor here is that in a classical olympic sports a human being does the most of the effort in achieving a result in an event. Yes, one could say that a car would move nowhere without the input of a driver, but then again without a functioning engine a car won't move anywhere either. In olympics we should talk about sportspersons and their activities (they are in the spotlight), but in motorsports too much emphasis would be put on machinery. Besides all, it's just too expensive. You can ski, shoot, play different games, at a fraction of a cost of managing a racecar. Olympic sports should be accessible to the masses, not a tiny group of people. Okay, maybe karting would be an acceptable idea for an Olympic sport, but more complicated race cars surely not.