Don't know if it has been said but Massa has already tested with an F1.
Yes, he tested the 2007 car with GP2 tyres. No come-back in 2009 though.
No, you can't see "behind the veil" in karting either. Karting is most open to abuse of testing. At least in many of the one-make racing car series, there are limitations to testing. Most karting championships are a free-for-all, so whoever has the money and time to test and receive coaching have a distinct advantage over the others, especially considering that many young karters are inexperienced and can obtain far greater benefit per dollar spent in testing/coaching than in higher-level racing series where drivers are more refined.
lol yh and they're so adhered to! Get real!
Karting isn't a level playing field, but testing DOES equal to talent. What's the use of a driver who would be quick if only they had practiced more?
Having said that Intrepid is right that sometimes you can look at a driver, one who's rusty even, and you just know what it would take to make them into a winner. I remember watching my brother do a race once and one other guy was 'quite quick'. This guy asked me what I thought of his driving with a view to doing endurance like me and my brother did. I said I could make him quick but I couldnt make him an endurance racer. He asked me why not and I pointed out how he was taking opportunities to relax because he just wasnt fit enough for endurance. The amount of work involved was more than his willingness to invest in himself.
And it's this ratio, the work involved versus how much somebody is able and willing to invest, which determines which karters become a good driver. Wealth does determines how far you go, but investing in yourself involves more than wealth alone. It's fitness, knowing the rule book and learning how to maximise it by 'learning' racing and really studying it, mental preparedness - these are also things drivers must invest in and they show up in karting.
Yes they are, more often than not. For most competitors, it's just not financially viable to cheat in that way.
Your argument for choosing karting over other racing series as a yardstick for talent is based on how much money can be spent by competitors. It's a flawed argument, since karting series generally mandate no limits to testing or components (within tech regs).
Mate, mate, mate, mate... Do you know what car drivers spend on driver coaches? They spend around 2-3k a DAY on coaching. I am not making that up.
They also spend quite a LARGE sums of cash travelling to Holland I think it is, using the simulator facilities that can be found there. And the richest drivers can get around testing bans vevrrryyy easily indeed. aka testing cars for 2-3 years before entering the series with said ban
Karting is so cheap you can test for next to nothing and most people can get to a decent level without testing much. In cars it isn't possible to do this.
When I race I am not racing most competitors, i'm racing the handful of drivers capable of running in the top 6.
There comes a point when you are racing when not finishing on the podium is frustrating not because you as a person just love winning - but because if you dont place highly then things have been going wrong all day, parts broken, an accident, some idiot backmarker taking you off with a wild move etc. and stuff like that.
When you get to that stage, the fact that most of the field dont break or push the rules to breaking point or make use of every loop hole is beside the point - what matters is what your championship rivals do.
This isn't arrogance, it's simply a fact that if you're any good then you are racing at the sharp end of the pack. It's not enough to just go out there and have fun - because if you are not right in the thick of the battle for 1st place then you're having one of those days where nothing works for you and that just isn't any fun at all.
Whilst many competitors I am sure are quite happy to potter around and score the ocassional good result, or they dont mind finishing near the back of the pack and are just out there to have fun, that's grand. The fact is at the sharp end of every series in motorsport is somebody pushing the envelope on everything they can get away with.
If I had the resources I would be competing in a series and pushing every restriction to the limit. I want to win because winning is representative of my skill level. Alas, it's not representative of my physical fitness or wealth, but that just meens I have more bad days than I would like.
The same is true of all club, national and european series in motorsport.
I'm saving up for some driver coaching! Not sure when (probably early next year, before the new season), where or how. But I know I'll benefit from being taught by someone who is better than me (most people). The downside is the cost of tuition - it ain't cheap!!!
It is without doubt the best perormance upgrade you can get though. 
I think even in you're out to have fun you should still at least have a competetive streak, I think not having this cost me during the later races of 2007 where I had decent pace but started settling for top 10 or 5 finishes instead of going on the attack when I could.
I think even in you're out to have fun you should still at least have a competetive streak, I think not having this cost me during the later races of 2007 where I had decent pace but started settling for top 10 or 5 finishes instead of going on the attack when I could.
That's why I want it!
I am competitive. I used to be 'competitive and realistic', and would go into a race saying I'd be happy with, say, a podium. Alex Gassman was actually the trigger to go into races aiming to win every time, and that is now my mindset. My car preparation and pre-race mentality are already improved, and that helps me on track.
Sadly, I haven't actually won since this change in approach, but I still believe in myself relative to my opposition.
I am competitive. I used to be 'competitive and realistic', and would go into a race saying I'd be happy with, say, a podium. Alex Gassman was actually the trigger to go into races aiming to win every time, and that is now my mindset. My car preparation and pre-race mentality are already improved, and that helps me on track.
Sadly, I haven't actually won since this change in approach, but I still believe in myself relative to my opposition.
Well I wont pretend i'm good enough to coach you, i'm not. I can see some weeknesses having just watched your Mallory video though. I feel you could have been able to pass the other guy in the first third of the race by planning half a lap ahead - he was quicker out of the first long turn, you where fast into it when he was defending, I reckon after a few laps of that you could have forefeited the entry to get a better exit speed and have had him into the hairpin. Also, he passed you once when you got slowed by a backmarker, once baulked i'd have positioned my car further right to effectively block the track using the backmarker.
My conclusion being that you could benefit from planning further ahead and considering more about how to manipulate the position of the cars around you.
In all, I dont think anyone will be able to teach you how to go much faster, you're already bloody fast. Only weeknesses I see are in dogfighting other cars. Learn to drive from your opponents viewpoint.
Then again you're probably already a better driver than me, so listening to my opinion may be detrimental.
/end 2p worth
good for you tris 
actually this attitude is what seperates the top people in most fields from the rest, the actual need or craving for success and the effort they are prepared to put in to achieve it plus often how much effort their parents or partners are prepared to put in to satisfy their craving to see their loved one succeed, others often with less talent can't be bothered to put the effort in, be it extra preperation of car and driver, the applications and presentations to find sponsors or even just deciding to sell which is most important, a fancy road car or a more competative race car. perry mcarthy was the classic example of a driver who gambled everything on financing his desire to be at the highest level, lewis hamilton's father at one point was holding down 3 seperate jobs to finance his sons racing, schumacher would go to his local kart track as often as he could if it was raining just to practice his control in slippy conditions, mcarthy may not have been a champion but he had the need to try and be the best (and was the black stig) lauda came back form his accident in 76 probably a bit too early but he needed to be in that car, similary jonny herbert came back after his F3000 crash into his first F1 drive before he was able to do himself justice just because he had the desire to do it. and there are plenty of cases of drivers who may not have had the greatest natural talent but made themselves great through application and hard work.
it's the same in other worlds, i know of at least one local (to me) footballer who could have been a succesfull professional, he was at a lower league club and acording to their development coach had a lot more talent than another player who went on to play in the premiership but instead this local guy was to concerned with enjoying himself and getting drunk etc, these days he's on the dole. ever wondered why people like richard branson crop up again and again with new businesses? it's the need to make money, to prove they can still do it, peter jones off the dragon's den, made a fortune early in life, lost it and clawed his way back to where he is now and both of them haven't got to where they are now by settling for a 9 - 5 job with a comfortable wage, which doesn't stretch them or their abilities
EDIT: just to add this is why i'm doing what i do and live like i do despite haing an IQ pushing 150, i just can't be bothered and to put it bluntly am lazy and will always opt for the course of least effort / confrontation even if it means i loose.
actually this attitude is what seperates the top people in most fields from the rest, the actual need or craving for success and the effort they are prepared to put in to achieve it plus often how much effort their parents or partners are prepared to put in to satisfy their craving to see their loved one succeed, others often with less talent can't be bothered to put the effort in, be it extra preperation of car and driver, the applications and presentations to find sponsors or even just deciding to sell which is most important, a fancy road car or a more competative race car. perry mcarthy was the classic example of a driver who gambled everything on financing his desire to be at the highest level, lewis hamilton's father at one point was holding down 3 seperate jobs to finance his sons racing, schumacher would go to his local kart track as often as he could if it was raining just to practice his control in slippy conditions, mcarthy may not have been a champion but he had the need to try and be the best (and was the black stig) lauda came back form his accident in 76 probably a bit too early but he needed to be in that car, similary jonny herbert came back after his F3000 crash into his first F1 drive before he was able to do himself justice just because he had the desire to do it. and there are plenty of cases of drivers who may not have had the greatest natural talent but made themselves great through application and hard work.
it's the same in other worlds, i know of at least one local (to me) footballer who could have been a succesfull professional, he was at a lower league club and acording to their development coach had a lot more talent than another player who went on to play in the premiership but instead this local guy was to concerned with enjoying himself and getting drunk etc, these days he's on the dole. ever wondered why people like richard branson crop up again and again with new businesses? it's the need to make money, to prove they can still do it, peter jones off the dragon's den, made a fortune early in life, lost it and clawed his way back to where he is now and both of them haven't got to where they are now by settling for a 9 - 5 job with a comfortable wage, which doesn't stretch them or their abilities
EDIT: just to add this is why i'm doing what i do and live like i do despite haing an IQ pushing 150, i just can't be bothered and to put it bluntly am lazy and will always opt for the course of least effort / confrontation even if it means i loose.
I have excuses for the two examples!
1. The car was misfiring badly. It wasn't less talent through Gerrards that lost me so much time, but a cutting engine in right handers (a problem at Mallory; it's ALL left handers!). When we fixed it, I was way quicker. On the Sunday (it didn't record
) I dropped to 2nd at the start, and on the 2nd lap tracked him through that corner literally inches behind him, and passed him on the back straight.2. If you watch, I move over quite a long way to the right. There is about 80% of a car width left. And the sneeky bugger nipped past on the grass. Maybe I could have done a bit more, but at the time I thought I'd done enough to make him back out.
I have lots to learn, but at least I let something sink in each time I go out.
It was funny when Intrepid (Alan) tried to coach me on the forum though
The jokes on you!
After watching a clip posted in the racing videos thread of a Mika vs Schumi battle on the old A1 ring circuit that track just made me vomit my brain out through my eyeballs. Not enough big braking zones, too many slow clunky chicanes and that pit exit is going to be a nightmare if they let Rosberg near it.
I agree, the track looks like a complete dogs arse. Mainly because it looks like a bloody car park more than anything else...
Pit exit = win.
Rest = fail.
/thread.
Rest = fail.
/thread.
those were some really slow laps by the 2 seater though, But expect a huge speed difference when they actually race there. the KERS cars will have a blast here too bad for everyone else.
the pit exit hopefully will provide some entertainament though lol.
the pit exit hopefully will provide some entertainament though lol.
Hmmm, at first i thought he was driving into an underground carpark. Then i thought he was driving in a football stadium. Then i thought he was driving a go-kart track.
Impressive facilities, not such a great track (at first view). No obvious overtaking opportunites, no really demanding corners, it's all stop and go driving. It might be different at full tilt in an F1 car ? but, it doesn't stir my little motorsport soul.
Impressive facilities, not such a great track (at first view). No obvious overtaking opportunites, no really demanding corners, it's all stop and go driving. It might be different at full tilt in an F1 car ? but, it doesn't stir my little motorsport soul.
if you could just see the track and not the surroundings you'd swear its a street circuit very disapointing on first view hopefully it'll be better with a full on f1 lap
very disapointing on first view hopefully it'll be better with a full on f1 lapWho would like to bet that one driver puts it into the wall exiting the pits?
Bonus points if you win the bet on Hamilton.
The circuit will porbrably be rubbish for racing, but at least its got some quirks.
Bonus points if you win the bet on Hamilton.
The circuit will porbrably be rubbish for racing, but at least its got some quirks.
You are joking that's more like some road between airport terminals.
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