TBK-Light.com

And we're not seeing that with the engines now, no we sure aren't.

Yea and I hate that too , it's appauling seeing a team like McLaren in the position they're in

_________________
"An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped by any army or any government"


3x TBKL rFactor Hillclimb champion

2018 calendar is released. GER and FRA are back and Malaysia gone like known for some time already.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong but Le Castellet has nothing but tarmac run-offs and not a single patch of gravel these days? I vaguely recall watching some AutoGP races there three years ago and it was a terrible sight...

_________________
07.04.1968 - Flower of Scotland when will we see your like again?
01.05.1994 - We'll never forget...

looks like World Cup will have a great influence on the schedule, we got 2 races on the same time as the French GP (match 30 - group G) and the Austrian GP (match 52 - round of 16) and obviously the Russian GP finishing euro season

_________________
Motorsports trend for 2024: climate change ruining races everywhere

It's a shame they're going to that hideous eyesore of a track. Magny-Cours would be better and that's saying something.

Even a small patch of grass would help. To this day I haven't been able to watch a single race (F3, Blancpain etc.) at Paul Ricard, because it hurts my eyes so much. Just scroll the page and notice the moiré pattern.

I'm glad it's not just me then

I don't know whether it counts as a mild form of epilepsy or what but I find that kind of strobing from the run off hurts my eyes after 10 mins or so :s

Even if they miraculously decided to put gravel in, I don't think the layout is that great these days, when in the past you had challenging corners, now you have chicanes.

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

That is the most puke/ seizure inducing image there. Why have they done that? Is it high grip paint? And if so why not paint it green as Scotty suggested.

Also, is there actually going to be any spectators at the track? There aren't any grandstands are there? There are only so many temporary ones that you can make. If the track looks like that and there are only a smattering of spectators then that to me sums up modern F1. Soulless, bland disconnected shit that I only watch and comment out of habit and no longer knowing what to do.

Hell this year I haven't even been downloading the free practices or pre and post race stuff like I have for the better part of 10 years. These should be the golden days of F1 and I should be raving about it , all the ingredients are there, but that image sums up modern F1 to me. But I am well aware that that is most likely a reflection of me...is it?

I just don't get why they went to all the effort to make the track a literal eyesore. What is the point? I mean, that must've been a hell of a lot of work and money put into that shit...and for what?

Tarmac run-offs is the worst thing to ever happen to motorsports. The symbol of why you shouldn't listen to some sources on all they say. Took down a lot of challenge and excitement, and even has helped on concussions and charging the cars towards the wall given the right circumstances.

Ugly, boring, easy, destroyer of memories and great racetracks, tarmacs run-offs should burn in hell with all other pussyfications of motorsports.

Anyone who wanted them because you can then re-join the track due to your own mistake should not be taken into account. It's a race track, not a child's playground. Or make other tracks for this kind of recreation, and leave the big ones for real racers.

Pussyfication indeed.

And F1 really don't need all that, gravel would stop the cars just enough, just put longer tyre barriers. But looking at Kubica on Canada, F1 is safe enough for gravel or tarmac run-offs, really curious to see how that Schumi 99 crash would go today, or Kubica one with the 99 Ferrari..... And tarmac run-offs, when they make the crash worse they really do it. Though those are mostly on ovals, one day we will have a serious crash that, if it was grass instead of tarmac it would just be a small hiccup in a F1 weekend with a F1 car.

How often are they asked about it? Drivers tend to accept whatever FIA tells is "for their best".
But at least Ricciardo would welcome gravel back, as does Kvyat.

Also Hamilton, Magnussen and Bottas weren't happy when Parabolica was changed.
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/09/04/d ... arabolica/


I'm sure many FIA officials - as racing fans - would like to see gravel instead of tarmac, but they have to put their reputation ahead of fan service. If a big accident happens due to gravel, FIA thinks it will make them look incompetent if they don't act to prevent that happening again. Burti's accident at Spa was a shock for FIA and by 2002 multiple tracks had newly installed tarmac run-off areas.

Stavelot also was said to be really scary with gravel, not due to crashing, but the punishment of a mistake on a real racer corner, and now it's just meh....

Burti's incident would have changed nothing with gravel or asphalt. Derek Warwick accident on Hockenhem was the scariest thing that can happen regarding gravel traps. He was fine.

Safety is part politics, part safety. Because of safety, we get moronic actions like Stroll's antics in F3 and just blazing through a dust cloud full throttle without even seeing if anything is there. Drivers have zero respect for anything because they know whatever happens only a super freak accident can kill them.

Gravel traps will never come back because that how 'old men' who make policy rule. They loose face if they overturn their own decisions. This happens everywhere, in politics and in companies. It's just plain said that common sense goes and logic out the door as soon as someone wants to show the world how tiny their cock really is.

Talking about Spa, Eau rouge was a corner, nou it's a paved hill with some random curbs and white lines who are ignored since day 1.

wouldn't it be worse with asphalt? The asphalt would have scraped away a lot more than gravel ever could.

Yeah, indeed they use "safety" as the reason for a LOT of things, as it's the only way to make people agree with it 95% of the time, specially F1 as there's so many conflicts of interest.

they should keep tarmac runoff, but they should make it as something that could punish the cars, like a highly abrasive mix that could wear the tires

_________________
Motorsports trend for 2024: climate change ruining races everywhere

Your last sentence contradicts your first.

The scariest thing that can happen with gravel is not Warwick, it's Zonta 1999 at Eau Rouge precisely. You turn an already huge crash into a freak accident where he could've gone into the fence cockpit first and killed himself, easily.

Tarmac in high speed corners is perfectly fine, because you slow down better on tarmac (granted, in dry conditions) and don't end on your head after a spin. That's how it started back in 2001/2002, and it was the sensible decision to make on low run-off, high-speed death-trap corners like Blanchimont, Eau Rouge, Suzuka turn 1 (where gravel killed an F3000 driver back in the early 90s).

Then, for some God-forsaken reason, and I completely agree with you there, they started putting them everywhere: in slow corners, hairpins, slow chicanes, etc... where they bring no additional safety and just ease the driver's task. That is definitely a no-no.

My personal preference would be;

High speed corners - 50% tarmac and then 50% gravel. If it's wet, or if the car has lost a wheel, the gravel is far more effective. The tarmac should be helpful when it's dry, and slow the car down enough so that it doesn't go full Zonta when it hits the gravel.

Medium to High speed corners - A small strip of grass/astroturf to discourage the drivers from taking the easy option of running wide. A little bit of tarmac, so that a small mistake (late braking or a little correction) doesn't completely end your race. Lots of gravel beyond this, to punish bigger mistakes or spins.

Slow to Medium corners - A little bit of grass followed by gravel. No chance to shortcut chicanes. I don't mind tarmac escape roads if they cost time (see the first chicane at Monza).

I don't have a problem with tarmac at Eau Rouge. Whilst it was an amazing sight to see the cars on the edge, with no margain for error, I can understand why they did it. But Rivage? Les Combes? Most of Hungary? Why?