Which form of motorsport do you think is the best to watch?

Solberg2005

Jus trying to see how many people follow which type of motorsport and why.

hebejebees

Rallying, motogp and karting are my favorites
-Rallying because of the conditions involved, the fact they are on public roads, the sense of adventure that is still has and the drivers respect for eachother and fans. Plus a fan can still get up close to their heros on the stages, see how far the common fan can get to Kimi raikonen at a grand prix
-Motogp speaks for itself, so much better than F1, its not just a race its a show
-Karting because of the karts simplicity, speed and close racing along with the drivers skill. Theres alot of great drivers in karts that don't have the money to progress but with talent that can match lewis Hamilton

aidan_dunne

Rallying for me as well. I think most of the people who reply will probably say the same because it's the form of motorsport most accessible to us in this country and is the one most of us grew up going out to stand on walls and ditches in the freezing cold and pissing rain to watch over years (I know I did!)! Also, as hebejebees said, you can get much closer to rally cars and the drivers than you can, say, F1. Plus the varied conditions rally drivers have to adapt to, particularly in the WRC (tarmac, gravel, mud, snow, ice, etc.), make it the best form of motorsport for me.

Like hebejebees, I'd place MotoGP second. More overtaking and much more exciting to watch than F1 these days.

Thirdly, hmmm, it's a toss-up between touring cars (WTCC, BTCC, etc.) and rallycross. Both exciting to watch and I can't really choose between them for third place.

Unfortunately, F1 comes well down the list for me these days. I still watch it and follow it religiously but, in terms of spectacle, it's really lost it. Then again, some would say F1 has "lost it" completely these days and has gone right up it's own arse and, particularly with everything that's happened in the past year, has turned into a right joke! It's still the pinnacle of motorsport, admitedly, and the speed and noise of the cars is unbelievable but, to be honest, that's probably the main attraction of F1 these days. It's certainly not the quality of racing, that's for sure, and that's something which the FIA really needs to sort out.

I wouldn't be a huge fan of IndyCar/ChampCar racing (I think the cars are pig-ugly, for a start) or NASCAR but I'll watch them if I get the chance. I used to follow Indy/ChampCar more back in the 90's and early 00's when it was one series and then, after the split, when the big teams were still in ChampCar but I haven't followed either series much in the past few years.

Frank Bullitt

Im a die-hard F1 fan so im obviously going to say that, the Brazilian GP last year had me all over the shop.

nikimere

My top 3 would have to be...

1) Karting
2) BTCC
3) Aussie V8

projectmayhem

f1 closely followed by rallying tbh. also enjoy btcc though, good fun to be had there

Timmaay

I was a big F1 fan, but its gone downhill since the '99 season with Jordan. I gave up watching it when I use to literally fall asleep watching it on sunday afternoons. I've been watching BTCC for the last few years, Its always full of action and has some very skilled drivers in it. I follow the Irish single seaters classes also, There a few local boys in the Fsheanes/Vees.

More recently I've switched over to 2 wheels and I do motocross most weekends. I'd love to give karting a go someday also but in terms of money, motocross has way more bang for buck, considering I get to race nearly every weekend of the summer. Only slight disadvantage of being on the bikes the whole time is I dont get to watch most of the BTCC races anymore.

Tragedy

What channel do you folks watch BTCC/Aussie V8 on?

Jor

It would depend on what you mean by "watch".
What may be good to see on TV may not be as good live, and vice versa.

I have been to 2 F1 races over the years and while it was good to experience the crowds, the engine noise and so on, we spent half the time watching the big screen to follow how the race was going.
This would be different from rallying where you can get the experience, as live TV is not an option for the full event.

Assuming it is a close and eventful race, I would put MotoGP first (the 2006 season was brilliant), BTCC second (the drivers are all maniacs) and F1 third.

Jor

ITV show the BTCC races. But like the have done with WRC, most of the coverage is being sidelined to ITV4. They are too busy showing soaps and lack-of-talent shows on ITV1.

http://www.btccpages.com/news/NewsStory.php?SeriesID=1&ArticleID=1001

The used to have a round of BTCC at Mondello Park but not this year.

Robbo

I believe ITV are putting a lot more coverage of the BTCC on this year (even if it is on ITV7). I think they're going to do a full live programme for the afternoon (sort of like the way Motors used to do it 2 years ago).

Interesting that no one's mentioned A1GP yet. Too contrived? Lacking in talent? Unlikely to be there in 10 years? Home to some shocking drivers who were it not for the Turkmenistani Government funding a team would be lucky to have a competition license?

If you can answer yes to all of the above, welcome to my world...

IanCurtis

F1 will always be number one for me, but I really got into the BTCC last year and also a bit of Nascar on Setanta. The coverage seems to last for about ten hours, but some of the finishes were very close.

The BTCC action is great, but the drivers are a bit bland, circuits are amazing though.

Also what footage we get of the Aussie V8s and the DTM series can be great.

Plus, of course, the Le Mans 24 hour can be very immersive if you stick with it for the weekend.

It takes a bit of concentration at the start though as it is such a long race & weekend.

bitemybanger

Irish rally stages, lads in thier cars built from thier own pockets and driven down wee roads like they just nicked it from the pub carpark. cant beat that

OSiriS

I used to watch F1 religiously up until 98 or 99 when college and work starting making that difficult. since then it has lost it's appeal, and while I still like to watch it, I'm rarely able to sit in front of a full race before I leave from boredom. Lately it is more BTCC, WTCC, DTM, and GT that I watch when I can find them. I'd love to see more racing at club level televised. True the talent might not be up there with the professionals, but it ca be great to watch.

thegoth

F1 and Champcar for me.

Shame Champcar and Indy seperated.

thegoth

Looks like they might be coming back together !!

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jUZ2LXp2ovalf3bXKHapBKVY_nnw

Kinetic^

Moto GP.

SouperComputer

I wouldnt dare say they are "best", but my favs would be, in no particular order.............

Karting (dont see a lot of it here)
BTCC, (dont see ANY here)
NASCAR (although I usually watch the last half maybe, the races are too feckin long unless you are at the track)
MotoGP (by far the best RACING, in the truest sense of the word I have ever seen) Not sure what year it was but I remeber one of the championships went down to the wire and there was literllally half a wheel in the difference at the end of the entire seaon.
Australian V8's
Rallying, live, standing there (TV FTL!)

I used to watch F1, TBH I think its beyond a procession and beyond a joke at this stage. The cars arent conducive to "battles" and the drivers are just plain boring and nerdy. Senna, Berger, Irvine, even Haakinen, Alesi these guys had a personality, like em or not (that's my point!) they (along with many others) were interesting to listen to and watch. Racing is meant to be a spectacle, F1 is a long, long, long, long away from that right now at least watching it on TV is.

Timmaay

bitemybanger wrote: »

Irish rally stages, lads in thier cars built from thier own pockets and driven down wee roads like they just nicked it from the pub carpark. cant beat that

Hmm, you must be joking, lads like Boland, MacHale etc with WRXs that cost a million a pop, It's just become cheque book racing by this stage. Still a million times better than F1 though.

De Hipster

Rallying is the best grass-roots sport to watch...especially from inside the cockpit! Irish Rallying is one of the best on the planet, a rich (wo)mans sport but the clubmen still provide plenty of entertainment with the scandanavian flicks on wet, mucky, tight, bumpy Irish roads.

Moto GP & British Superbikes for balls, speed & skill.

F1 lost the appeal for me shortly after the demise of the Prost, Piquet, Mansell & Senna era...they now parade on without my interest.

Grim.

moto gp

Niall06

MotoGP
British Superbikes
World Superbikes

fabsoul

Timmaay wrote: »

Hmm, you must be joking, lads like Boland, MacHale etc with WRXs that cost a million a pop, It's just become cheque book racing by this stage. Still a million times better than F1 though.

Yes but there is still plenty of clubmen rallying here. If there were no clubmen left not a lot of rally would be able to run.

Traumadoc

Paris-Dakar rally covered by French TV in helicopters. stunning shots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoh4oLstCU

carchaeologist

Banger racing, we watch motorsport hoping to see a crash, with bangers,its nothing but!!!!:DAs long as theyre not wrecking old and rare stuff. that isnt good.

elmolesto

My top 3 would be

1) rallying
2) f1
3) dakar

Biro

Rallying would be my No. 1, then F1, then the rest a joint 3rd!

maximus02

Niall06 wrote: »

MotoGP
British Superbikes
World Superbikes

And all LIVE on Eurosport this year !!!!

LadyTBolt

Moto GP because of the sheer edge of your seat excitement from the warm up lap til the last rider crosses the finish line.

I've been to two Moto GPs, Valencia 2004 & Mugello 2006 and it's so much better than watching it on TV - Almost addictive - when you've been once you're hooked. Both races were fantastic and I can't wait til the next time I go. With the cheap flights around Europe it's so easy to go for a weekend and can be cheap enough too. I'd recommend it to everybody.