Le Mans: More relevant than F1?
 

I came across this article earlier, and thought it to be a very nice write-up.

http://www.wheels24.co.za/News/General_News/Le-Mans-More-relevant-than-F1-20110621

Whilst I have never been to Le Mans myself, I have seen these cars race at our local Kyalami in the late 80s. They really fired me up into becoming the petrolhead that I am today, much as is the case with the writer.

It really was one of the most spectacular racing events I ever attended, and I was absolutely amazed by the speed and the noise, which seemed so much more intense than what my experience of F1 racing was at the time.

What I most fondly remember however is how nice and down to earth the racers and teams were by comparison to the aloof arrogance of the F1 teams that I saw at the same venue a few years before.

I remember as a boy of 16 how one of the teams actually called me into their pit garages and gave me virtually free access to their cars during the practice sessions, just because they noticed how much I was struggeling to get a nice picture of their car from the other side of the public cordon.

So how has F1 conned the world into thinking they present the ultimate in racing, when racing should be about true competition, speed, technical excellence, and keeping the the supporters close to the heart?

Understand where you're coming from, but F1 has always been the pinnacle of motorsport. What they achieve with those cars is nothing short of extraordinary. Imagine what is possible if the restraints were lifted.....

Apples and oranges. Some like the spectacle to last 2 hours. Others, 24. Some, just 4 seconds down a 1/4 mile track.

Endurance racing is all about, well, endurance. Isn't this emphasis why Porsches are more reliable than other brands of sports cars?

And don't proper cars have fenders? :-)

F1 has always been the pinnacle of motorsports, however Le Mans is definitely more relevant to what translates onto road cars.

Enzo Ferrari considered endurance racing, and LeMans in particular, to be the most important type of motorsport and focused much of his energy and resouorces on winning there. He was a firm believer in the notion of "Winning on Sunday = selling on Monday". Victory at LeMans and other European road courses insured strong demand and premium prices for Ferrari's road cars. Ferrari's F1 program was often short on funding in the early days because his GT teams always got the lion's share of his racing budget.

For a great insight into the glory days of LeMans, try reading "Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at LeMans". It's a very thoroughly researched and entertaining behind-the-scenes look at Ford's all-out effort to beat Ferrari at his own game and at Ferrari's efforts not to be out done by these up-start Americans.

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