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View Full Version : what other single seater championships do you follow?



ryan92
24th November 2010, 16:42
up to this season, I was never really interested in other single seater catergory's, but this season I found myself interested in GP2,and to a certain degree, GP3.

Anyone else interested in other single seater catergory's?

F1boat
24th November 2010, 17:18
Indy Car, but in recent times I am not as hooked as before. I guess that the fact that everything seems the same year after year is slightly annoying, although it is working for my fave driver in the series, Dario.

inimitablestoo
24th November 2010, 17:22
I do tend to prefer a single-seater to a closed-roof racer, so I try and follow as many as possible. TV-wise, the only three with decent TV coverage this year have been British F3, Formula Renault and Formula Ford, but I do follow Indycar as closely as possible (post-reunion especially), GP2 (not so much GP3), F2 and even the Superleague Formula, which has a barmy concept but some good-looking cars.

Further down the ranks, the likes of Formula 4 and Formula Vee appeal to me, but mainly because they're multi-chassis series in a world that seems hell-bent on having every car the same. That's why I'm glad F3 and F.Ford were among the series I could watch regularly this year - even if British F3 was all-Dallara this year, at least the engine choice remains open and you can build a different car if you want to.

Sonic
24th November 2010, 18:30
I do tend to prefer a single-seater to a closed-roof racer, so I try and follow as many as possible. TV-wise, the only three with decent TV coverage this year have been British F3, Formula Renault and Formula Ford, but I do follow Indycar as closely as possible (post-reunion especially), GP2 (not so much GP3), F2 and even the Superleague Formula, which has a barmy concept but some good-looking cars.

Further down the ranks, the likes of Formula 4 and Formula Vee appeal to me, but mainly because they're multi-chassis series in a world that seems hell-bent on having every car the same. That's why I'm glad F3 and F.Ford were among the series I could watch regularly this year - even if British F3 was all-Dallara this year, at least the engine choice remains open and you can build a different car if you want to.

Ditto. Gimmie an engine, a car and the wind in your face and bosh I'm interested.

Indycar is probably the only major series I don't actively follow - I guess I'm one of the fans they have to win back as I used to love watching it in the late '90's cheering on Billy Blundell!

Jag_Warrior
24th November 2010, 20:12
Other than Formula One, GP2 is my favorite single seater formula to watch. Those guys are nuts!!! And I began watching the IRL series this year. Prior to this year, I only followed that series on the forums... usually just to see what was going wrong or who was making wildly optimistic predictions centered around "next year will be the breakout year". If I didn't remember how great CART IndyCar was, maybe I'd enjoy it more. Things do seem to be improving though. But there is still a lack of top quality drivers and there are WAY too many talent challenged ride buyers. But since the series has few paying sponsors, I guess the ride buyers are keeping the series alive until things get better some day. And hey, Danica Patrick is the biggest "star" there, so what more needs to be said? :rolleyes:

IMO, GP2 was a little weak this year. But that's the way development series are. Some years you have Hamiltons and Rosbergs, while in other years you have Pantanos and Maldanados.

I tried watching a couple of A1GP races in the past. But I just never saw the point. And I used to watch a fair amount of Star Mazda. But if they have a TV package these days, I haven't been interested enough to track it down.

F1 is the King Daddy for me! I can skip a race from most any other series. But I can't and won't miss an F1 race. It has EVERYTHING I'm looking for in a racing series. None of the others even come close to giving me the enjoyment I get from watching F1!

racepode1
24th November 2010, 23:40
Y love Indy Car Broadcast. The options you have in web ara amazing. Yo can chose two drivers with onboard cam see both at the same time, with telemetry of each car. Also yo have another options. Races are good at least in circuits.

Dr. Krogshöj
24th November 2010, 23:46
I heavily follow Formula 1 and IndyCar and that fills my time allocated for following motorsports. I used to watch the occassional GP2 race over a cup of coffee on Sunday mornings but they're not on Eurosport anymore. And I always go to the WSR (Formula Renault 3.5) at the Hungaroring.

ShiftingGears
25th November 2010, 00:38
I don't follow other single seater series closely. I probably would follow GP2 more closely if there was coverage here, but my interest is restricted to reading about various feeder series.

nigelred5
25th November 2010, 01:19
Indycar, primarily because that's really the only other openwheel series with any regular live coverage. I've tried but I just can't seem to get into the GP2 telecasts.

Easy Drifter
25th November 2010, 04:49
GP3, Indy Car, WOO.

DexDexter
25th November 2010, 08:15
I don't follow any other motor racing series besides F1. Just not interested at all.

Valve Bounce
25th November 2010, 08:16
up to this season, I was never really interested in other single seater catergory's, but this season I found myself interested in GP2,and to a certain degree, GP3.

Anyone else interested in other single seater catergory's?

Well, not in the F1 forum, if that means anything to you. Maybe we could discuss this in chit chat.

Mark
25th November 2010, 11:09
I used to like IndyCar / CART as much as F1 in the late 90's but I haven't watched it for 10 years now.

Rusty Spanner
25th November 2010, 13:19
A bit of Indycar and a lot of Drag racing. I'll never get bored of the shear violence and noise from a pair of top fuel cars leaving the line.

ShiftingGears
25th November 2010, 13:33
Well, not in the F1 forum, if that means anything to you. Maybe we could discuss this in chit chat.

Well no, because this thread is directed at F1 viewers.

555-04Q2
25th November 2010, 13:35
I used to love A1GP. Equal car standards with "power boosts" made some exciting races and overtaking. Pity the concept never took off :(

V12
25th November 2010, 13:45
My interest in US single seater racing has faded a bit in the past two years, although with the return of multiple engines and allowing aero mods being a step in the right direction I'll probably make more of an effort to watch it. Lower down the ladder I pay attention to F3 and FFord but your GP2s, GP3s, FRenaults of the world are just too samey and boring.

jens
25th November 2010, 15:57
In terms of watching I tend to see only a couple of races per season at best in GP2, IndyCar, also an odd race in WSR/GP3/an F3 series, etc. But in terms of following I'm constantly trying to keep myself up with all the information, especially GP2.

UltimateDanGTR
25th November 2010, 16:34
I watch:
superleague formula-brilliant racing with awesome cars in strange but fun concept
GP2-great sounding cars and where stars of the future are usually made
GP3-other future stars feature as they come up through the ranks
IndyCar-only occasionaly watch this, usually only the street and road races, Indy and texas, but thats not to say I dislike oval racing. rather on the contrary, but ugly cars on NASCAR 'cookie cutter' tracks dont appeal, whereas the good old days of beautiful cars on great ovals like california and Michigan did.......

I'll also catch whatever I can of WSbR, F3, FFord and FRenault

I used to watch;
A1GP-great fun in a series with an interesting concept, shame it never reached its potential and was killed by a moron
ChampCar-great fun in a great series with great racing and great cars, shame it was killed by a moron. (I lie, more than one moron to be fair over the years...)

AndyL
25th November 2010, 18:01
I've seen the old A1GP cars racing in a new series this year but I'm struggling to remember what it was called... anyone? I only caught the occasional glimpse of it so I can't say if it was a good series or not.

inimitablestoo
25th November 2010, 19:06
AutoGP - basically a reinvention of the old Euro 3000 concept, but with the fleet of 2005 A1GP Lolas in place of the ex-F3000 Lolas it had before. Won this year by Romain Grosjean, despite missing the first two meetings.

UltimateDanGTR
25th November 2010, 19:58
^ AutoGP now ofcourse will race with WTCC at race weekends instead of F2, which is interesting. I thought the F2/WTCC partnership was a good one to be honest...

wedge
25th November 2010, 20:44
Well, not in the F1 forum, if that means anything to you. Maybe we could discuss this in chit chat.

You do know there's more to racing than F1? The more people realise this the better.

Dr. Krogshöj
26th November 2010, 09:53
I used to like IndyCar / CART as much as F1 in the late 90's but I haven't watched it for 10 years now.

I can see why but I urge you to give it a try again in 2012. The cars will be powered by V6 turbos of multiple manufacturers (Honda, Chevy, Lotus-Cosworth), there will several different bodyworks, and a good balance of ovals and road/street courses.

UltimateDanGTR
26th November 2010, 10:28
I can see why but I urge you to give it a try again in 2012. The cars will be powered by V6 turbos of multiple manufacturers (Honda, Chevy, Lotus-Cosworth), there will several different bodyworks, and a good balance of ovals and road/street courses.

^ agreed, however although they are getting rid of the most hideous car in motor racing in 2012, I still think the new one looks strange thanks to those wierd side pods and wierd back;

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/07/full.jpg

wedge
26th November 2010, 14:58
I can see why but I urge you to give it a try again in 2012. The cars will be powered by V6 turbos of multiple manufacturers (Honda, Chevy, Lotus-Cosworth), there will several different bodyworks, and a good balance of ovals and road/street courses.

The other major problem is a dearth of talented new drivers. No offense to someone like Dario who's a helluva driver but where's the kids giving a run for his money week in week out on ovals and road courses? (yes, I was referring to you, Will Power)

Jag_Warrior
26th November 2010, 18:20
The other major problem is a dearth of talented new drivers. No offense to someone like Dario who's a helluva driver but where's the kids giving a run for his money week in week out on ovals and road courses? (yes, I was referring to you, Will Power)

Absolutely! I agree with that!^

Unfortunately, most of the more talented youngsters, who would have probably given American open wheel formula car racing a shot ten years ago, are now going to one of the NASCAR series: Camping World trucks, if not Nationwide cars. That's where the money is. Even racing a pickup truck in NASCAR will give you at least as good a paycheck as many/most IRL drivers probably get. If you can get to Nationwide, it's not even a contest. I think of 1995-2011(at least) as our lost generation for AOWR. We lost fans, sponsors, tracks and the aspirations of younger talent to race formula cars here. So now the series is basically being propped up by ride buyers who really have no place else to go... and not that many people seem to want to watch them race.

We have a reason to be more hopeful going forward... with the recent announcement by GM that it will enter the series in 2012. But over the past 10+ years, considering who used to come here to race and where they came from, one could have expected David Coulthard, Kimi Raikkonen, Scott Speed, A.J. Allmendinger, Juan Pablo Montoya, Sebastian Bourdais, Nelson Piquet, Jr. and maybe even Nico Hulkenberg and Bruno Senna to give American open wheel formula cars a shot. But not now - there's almost no sponsor money to pay them. There's still some decent drivers in the series. But we basically have the old men of Champ Car, a collection of ride buyers... and of course, Danica. :rolleyes:

That's another reason I try to keep a close eye on GP2 (and I'd watch GP3 too if we could get coverage here!). That's where I feel I'll see the racers who have a good chance of making it into the series that I love the most. Years ago, a top CART or CCWS driver would probably get a look from an F1 team. But AFAIK, other than a courtesy "test" for Marco Andretti, no IRL driver has ever been given a serious look. One Danica fan(atic) claims that Danica was on Ferrari's short list to replace Michael Schumacher. But when he's off his meds, his credibility is often in question.

schmenke
26th November 2010, 18:37
I can see why but I urge you to give it a try again in 2012. The cars will be powered by V6 turbos of multiple manufacturers (Honda, Chevy, Lotus-Cosworth), there will several different bodyworks, and a good balance of ovals and road/street courses.

Sounds promising. Like Mark, I really enjoyed the CART series of the '90s, but haven't followed Indy/IRL since. Racing on ovals bores me to bits.
I only follow F1 these days and will watch the occasional GP2 race, but that's largely because we don't get much television coverage of anything else around here :mark: .

I know it's probably not considered single-seater, but I do wish we'd get more coverage of the Aussie Supercar series here. That I'd watch!

Valve Bounce
27th November 2010, 01:51
You do know there's more to racing than F1? The more people realise this the better.

You do realise this is the F1 forum, and there are other forums in Motorsport to discuss the other single seater formulae.

Dr. Krogshöj
27th November 2010, 13:17
^ agreed, however although they are getting rid of the most hideous car in motor racing in 2012, I still think the new one looks strange thanks to those wierd side pods and wierd back;

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/07/full.jpg

Actually, that's not an actual car design, it was a fantasy rendering for a press conference. The aero rules are being written as we speak by a team led by Tony Cotman. Altough the Dallara Safety Cell (around which the different bodyworks will be designed), shown in dark grey on the picture, is probably very closed to what it could look like.

UltimateDanGTR
27th November 2010, 14:47
Actually, that's not an actual car design, it was a fantasy rendering for a press conference. The aero rules are being written as we speak by a team led by Tony Cotman. Altough the Dallara Safety Cell (around which the different bodyworks will be designed), shown in dark grey on the picture, is probably very closed to what it could look like.

well, the actual dallara safety cell should look like;

http://openpaddock.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/SafetyCell_Quarter.jpg

still with those silly little bits behind the wheels and funny shaped sidepods.

Having said that, I think I can live with it, after all it's a million times better than the current Dallara :)