I like motorsport, so I watch a lot of it. I try to go in person, where possible. I know some local drivers personally, and I have considered becoming a track “official”. That’s my starting point for this “perspective”.
Recently, I came across Formula E. The all-electric version of Formula 1, basically…
It’s a bit shit, partly because the cars and drivers are like off-brand Formula 1, but mainly because the rules are fucking absurd, and they have chosen absurd temporary tracks, in shitty locations, in old industrial parts of big cities around the world, instead of using existing track infrastructure… So it just… Looks like shit the whole time. Seoul was novel because they used the old Olympic Park, but in general it was just… Shit.
Today I watched Extreme E, which is the rally equivalent (electric), and it is just… A complete fucking joke. Comically absurd.
All teams must have one man and one woman. Each of those does one lap of the course in the car, with a 40-second stationary changeover in between (yes, really). Each of the races is held “in a remote location” WITH NO SPECTATORS. It is purely made for TV. No pit. Everything (external to the car) is done indoors, in tents. Teams aren’t allowed to travel by air, so the series bought their own cargo ship, which they then proceed to use to carry all the equipment to these “vulnerable” locations (which is why no spectators, they claim), which they then destroy with race cars…
Half of each episode is devoted to greenwashing initiatives, climate change shit, and “white man bad”. At one point they were literally planting trees in the desert sand (!!), for virtue signaling purposes…
The whole thing is sponsored by the Saudi government (who else?), with the most convoluted rules I have ever seen in a car race, and yep, the first round held in the Saudi desert…
It’s a joke. A mockery of the sport. And yet all that fucking Saudi blood money means it is is widely promoted, and essentially immune to criticism…
Like, fuck, surely banning spectators tells you what a joke the whole thing is (even Dakar does not do that, and it literally uses some of the same course, now)…
Who would have thought that they could even ruin car racing, in current year (thanks, Hollywood, Jenson Button and fucking Lewis Hamilton once again!! They’re some of the main “sponsors” of this shit) smh…
Agreed on all counts, ha.
It’s funny, because the racing part of the Extreme E shit was ok… So if it was just that, without all the other bullshit on top, I actually wouldn’t care too much.
However, because it is made purely for television, we can’t even escape that. Can’t go and watch in person. Can’t switch to a different broadcaster’s coverage. Utter, utter bullshit…
Formula E I could respect more, as you say, if they just had better tracks. Like, ok, fine, have your street circuits (because the cars are slow), but for god’s sake put them somewhere actually interesting, with decent scenery, not fucking South Brooklyn and East London where you can’t even see the landmarks in the background… /rant
On the females bit - you know, I actually don’t mind that so much, wherein the drivers are decent at what they do… But that notably only applies to some of them, and not, despite the size of her ego, bloody Catie Mullins…
As long as they are good enough drivers, I don’t really care. Though the quota IS dumb, and the forty-second changeover is utterly absurd (there has to be a better way of doing that)… But yeah, maybe it’s because Molly Taylor is the only Aus in the series - I don’t really mind that aspect, ha.
Though I do agree that the female commentator was horrific. On that much we are in full agreement, lol.
The whole thing is just… Surreal, frankly. And that’s coming from someone who grew up watching Targa races in person (and Dakar on TV, before the Saudi blood money got that one, too)…
I'm surprised a series with as much money as this has to throw at it simply hasn't gone for a second car. That'd allow 'em to just start Car B as Car A comes in and also means they could hammer Car A harder...
It would ruin their eco friendly look by having two cars.
I like this. Or just… Co-drivers (like any other rally). Take it in turns as navigator (one can do it in quallies, one can do it in semis, and then swap back for the final). Or hell, if they insist that each has to do a lap, I still think it would be better to have the navigator-driver situation - then at least they only have to change seats, not run in and out of the tent, as now…
But 40 seconds is still bonkers, even now, because enduro racing manages to do this (Touring Cars, Le Mans, etc), without making them layover for 40 seconds each time…
Like in those, sure, it takes time, but at least they don’t mandate that each team must hold there for the 40 seconds, each time (regardless of how long it actually physically takes them), lololol…