Matt's Thread of Racing...

[Lady Marion]

So who dares to make a bet on the winner in Monaco?

 

[chamber-music]

I think Alonso or Webber will win.

Cool interview Eddie Jordan had with Ron Howard about the Chris Hemsworth James Hunt movie his got coming out next year.

Celebs I've seen so far are Will Smith and Antonio Banderas.

 

[Dr Lee]

Fassbender, Eric Clapton and Jools Holland have been spotted on UK TV

Heavy rain on way in about ten laps.....

 

[chamber-music]

All ways crashes as Monaco. That course is as tight as hell.

 

[Lady Marion]

I think Alonso or Webber will win.

Cool interview Eddie Jordan had with Ron Howard about the Chris Hemsworth James Hunt movie his got coming out next year.

Celebs I've seen so far are Will Smith and Antonio Banderas.

Nice. James Hunt seems to be a hot topic this weekend since Raikkonen wears a helmet in Hunt style.

Following this year's rule about every race has a new winner I'd go for Webber too. But I think he's too unreliable for this circuit. We'll see how many cars will be wrecked up when the rain comes.

 

[chamber-music]

Called it Webber got a good start and mantained his nerve.

6 different winners now.

 

[Dr Lee]

I'd hold off on saying 6 out of 6 until the protests are sorted... seems there's a hole on the Red Bull that shouldn't be where it is......

 

[Lady Marion]

This season doesn't get boring. Congrats to Marc Webber!

 

[Dr Lee]

who's watching the 500? Harsh crash for Conway again.... climbing the wall on his own after breaking his front win on his crew.... power and Castronevez were taken out by Conway's car and almost hit by a loose wheel respectively

 

[TMC1982]

Do You Really Need ESPN? Lessons from IndyCar

With the exception of a few months in 1996, the IRL had ABC/ESPN as its partner. However, ABC/ESPN offered the cash-strapped IRL barter deal for the cable contract. The IRL, needing the money, jumped at the money offered by Versus and moved the majority of its races to the upstart cable network under a ten-year contract. On the broadcast side, ABC/ESPN was the only bidder for the Indianapolis 500 and several other races so it kept that part of the contract.

Beginning in 2009, the open wheel fans faced a major dilemma.

On the one hand, Versus stepped up to the plate and produced a superior product. It brought back long-time ESPN auto-racing play-by-play man Bob Jenkins to anchor a well received broadcast team. Versus also found a jewel with analyst Jon Beekhuis. The broadcasts were technically excellent and Versus promoted the races throughout its schedule. The problem was nobody was watching. Versus’ inferior brand name and distribution meant race fans had to struggle to find the channel and, based on the ratings, not a lot of them made the effort.

On the other, ABC/ESPN treated IndyCar as its redheaded stepchild. Unlike the NBA and college football, there was no parallel programming on ESPN so the channel, with the exception of the Indianapolis 500, rarely went out of its way to promote the series. It also didn’t seem to put a lot of effort into the broadcasts. ABC/ESPN announcers Marty Reid and Scott Goodyear were significantly inferior to their counterparts on Versus. Mispronounced names and misidentified drivers were common. The tone of the broadcasts was flat. Technically, the races were even worse. More often that not, the producers botched shots, missed key moments and generally produced a poor product.

The neglect was also seen in the coverage ESPN gave the IRL on its other programs. Barring a spectacular crash, the Versus races rarely got coverage on SportsCenter, Around the Horn, PTI or the channel’s other programs. However, again with the exception of the Indianapolis 500, the ABC races were also ignored. One race made SportsCenter only because Danica Patrick, once the IRL’s biggest star, got into a post-crash screaming match with perennial back marker Milka Duno.

On the broadcast side, fans were disappointed when ABC/ESPN kept the over-the-air rights when NBC chose not to bid. Fans are now resigned to more of the same inferior coverage and promotion though 2018.

As an example, after last weekend’s race in Detroit, ESPN not only deemed the race unworthy of coverage on its Sunday late night SportsCenter, but also did not include the race results on the ticker on the bottom of the screen. It did, however, manage to find time to cover the NCAA women’s softball semifinals and a Brazil-Mexico soccer friendly.

 

[Lady Marion]

OK, so who might win the formula one Grand Prix in Montreal? 7th winner in the 7th race? I'd go with Vettel this weekend.

 

[Dr Lee]

Hamilton's been quick all weekend....

 

[Lady Marion]

Hamilton would be the 7th winner this season, lol.

 

[chamber-music]

I wonder who each going to hit the wall of champions this year?

 

[Lady Marion]

Can't believe it. Hamilton is the 7th winner in the 7th race.

Don't really understand, why Vettel had this late pit stop, but well.... Schumacher has very bad luck this year. And the top of the championship chart is very tight. It 's further exciting. Good thing.

 

[Dr Lee]

Oh Bloody hell.... that was a race and a half. Ferrari threw a HUGE gamble and it completely blew up in their faces.

Seven out of Seven....

 

[chamber-music]

I'm sure alot of the teams complained about the FIA's rule changes but you can't fault these results as they have made formula 1 more competitive.

 

[Lady Marion]

And that's good. Remember the endless boring years when Ferrari won nearly every race. And last year wasn't very thrilling, too. I don't need this again.

 

[Dr Lee]

What happened with Schumi's DRS?

 

[Lady Marion]

I have no idea, it just stuck and didn't close anymore. The funny thing: Schumi don't know either what happened.

[YT]cALxDraGBnQ[/YT]

 

[cherokeesam]

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES...IN JUNIOR NATION

Congrats to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for ending a 4-year winless streak in the Dark Knight Rises Chevy at Michigan on Sunday.....been a long time coming!

 

[Dr Lee]

Anyone see the Le Mans? Anthony Davidson (one of the pundits on F1 in the UK was involved in frankly a ****-your-pants crash where his car was launched up into the air before slamming into the tire barrier. While he got out the car unaided and walked away, it was revealed yesterday that he's cracked both his T11 and T12 vertebrae.

 

[cherokeesam]

Anyone see the Le Mans? Anthony Davidson (one of the pundits on F1 in the UK was involved in frankly a ****-your-pants crash where his car was launched up into the air before slamming into the tire barrier. While he got out the car unaided and walked away, it was revealed yesterday that he's cracked both his T11 and T12 vertebrae.

Yeah, it was a miracle he even survived. That was a pretty spectacular end-over-end flip.

On the subject of LeMans: is *anyone* ever gonna beat 1-2-3 Audi....???

 

[Dr Lee]

It just goes to show how good the safety standards are in Le Mans style racing...

Had Peugeot not pulled out this year, then i think the fight could have been a lot closer and potentially they could have broken the 1-2-3-4.

 

[TMC1982]

Report: FOX Looking to Extend NASCAR Deal Early