The American Elite 18/02/2008 John F has written a comment on my last post that I think is so important and eloquent that it bears repeating today. I have been particularly busy this morning with other sites and projects and was going to fob off F1 Insight with a few thoughts on Renault's possible sandbagging during testing - John's contribution is much more interesting and revealing and needs to be read by those who control the sport. Max says he reads the blogs - let him read this then:As a red blooded American who loves F1, I think that the reasons for how NASCAR is perceived by us 'elitists' is not unique. I feel that most American F1 fans are somewhat like myself.Monaco"I am now 44 years old and have loved openwheel racing since I was a child. My father still thinks that racing is for rednecks. I think that was the reason for me to like another form of racing besides NASCAR. I was willing as a young boy to agree with Dad about NASCAR but not racing. I used to watch the tape delay broadcast of Indy. It was always on the same day as the race - at 11:30 at night and, until I was a teenager, I could only watch until 12:00. Dad would give me 1/2 hour to watch something that I enjoyed even more than football. ABC would then broadcast Monaco on their 'Wild World of Sports' and this is how I was introduced to F1."I was able to watch only two abbreviated races a year until I was 16. I was the only one of my friends who liked openwheel racing. Most northerners did not think racing was a sport at the time. They thought it was a thing like entertainment, similar to professional wrestling. So for a person such as myself, I did feel somewhat different."I immersed myself in everything I could read about 'my' sport. When I began to meet people who enjoy 'my' sport, I noticed that they acted and felt the same way. Because we did not get much coverage for our sport we would take whatever the papers and networks would give us."As NASCAR's popularity climbed CART rose on it's shirt-tails. Thus 'my' sport was becoming more popular. I enjoyed schooling new fans, bringing them out of the dark and into the light. You see, Clive, for us American fans, we are just not used to getting what we want when it comes to openwheel racing, F1 or otherwise. I read the blogs because I feel that you guys know more then me about the sport. I feel how you feel from your writings. But also as the sport became harder to find (after the split) the internet exploded and became my highway for information. The ambivalence and social elitist feelings that Americans fans feel are related to the way we discovered 'our' sport."I am sure that fans all over the world over get much satisfaction from following a sport as rarified and technical as F1. But John reveals how the American F1 fan has had to struggle to gain his view of the sport. He truly has a right to feel superior after so long a battle.This also throws light upon something that always mystified me somewhat - Scott Speed's passionate desire from an early age to race in F1. It is clear that there are Americans who can and do appreciate the sport and this makes the treatment meted out to them (and to Scott) the more shameful and worthy of protest to the administrators of F1. I hope that Max does read this and is moved to have a strong word with Bernie about his heartless destruction of important races on the calendar.The news of CVC's loss of $3 million through its investment in F1 gains no sympathy from me. CVC is a faceless investment corporation that was beguiled by Bernie into believing it could make a fat profit from our sport (yes, it does really belong to us - we foot the bill in the long run); they deserve everything they get.F1 is now in the terrible position of being owned and run by people who care nothing for the sport itself. They are involved because they see the chance to make a lot of money. The sport exists because a minority of a minority chose to support it and they remain the best hope for its continuance as a competition between the best that humanity can aspire to, both in technology and in skill. And, while the powers that be continue to ignore the thoughts and dreams of these, the core supporters, F1 will continue to slide towards something that is not watchable, that is no more than a test facility for manufacturers and a series of artificially manipulated contests between identical cars.John's comment is a cry from the heart that needs to be heard.
Clive
sidepodcast "Max says he reads the blogs..."he's so coool, ain't he? strange that he chose to make this statement via the Sunday Times though, don't ya think?maybe it's a subtle threat. Date Added: 18/02/2008
Clive Who knows the machinations of Mighty Max? Subtle threat or idle boast, you can bet we'll be the ones that pay! Date Added: 18/02/2008
F1Minute.com What I hate the most, is that those people in charge pretend to care. They do the surveys, they want to know what we think. But do they act on any of the information they get? I think not. Date Added: 18/02/2008
Clive Seems it's a publicity exercise and little more, F1Minute. I do find it interesting that the FIA stopped conducting its surveys after I used the statistics it produced to construct arguments against what they were doing. Not that I imagine for one moment that Max really does read my blog.And at least I can be certain that I'm not "the odd blogger" who supports him. That must be a very odd blogger indeed! Date Added: 18/02/2008
Steven Roy The FIA-AMD survey. What a waste of 20 minutes that turned out to be. Less than a week after it closed Max produces the plan for his version of F1. His plan of course bears absolutely no similarity either to what people voted for or what the FIA press release said we voted for.I have filled it in twice. I won't waste 20 minutes of my life filling it in again. Date Added: 18/02/2008
Clive Not entirely wasted, Steven. They provided some very interesting statistics even though the FIA was asking all the wrong questions. Date Added: 18/02/2008
John F Steven, What is th FIA-AMD survey. Can you provide a link? Must be some GOOD READIN!!! Date Added: 18/02/2008
Clive It's a survey of F1 fans' opinions that the FIA conducted in 2005 and 2006, John. You can find the 2006 version at this link. It can be downloaded as a PDF file or printed out. Date Added: 19/02/2008
John F If this was the survey on F1 website I remember that I too filled it out and nothing came of it Date Added: 19/02/2008
Clive Errr, yup. That's about the size of it, John. Date Added: 19/02/2008
Alianora La Canta Particularly frustrating as it took me three-and-a-half hours to get the 2005 one to work long enough for me to fill it in... Date Added: 20/02/2008
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