Have really got into Formula 1, anything else out there just as exciting?

Dohnjoe wrote: »

I signed up to F1TV for the F2, but I can't find replays of this years races, any idea where they are?

So I’m assuming you’re Irish cos this is an Irish website. You want something as exciting as formula 1. Well sir I’m going to introduce you to the best motorsport on the planet and it’s on your door step. Have you ever heard of Irish road racing? It’s motorbike racing on normal everyday roads around Ireland that get closed for a weekend kind of like a rally. It’s the scariest and rawest form of motorsport. It’ll make any of them formula 1 boys look like ballerinas. They close a series of roads to create a circuit. It’s just a normal road lined with trees, Stone walls, houses, signs ect. If you drive past it on your way to work then they race by it at 200+mph. Guy Martin is one of the more famous road racers and he said “if you make a single tiny mistake then you’re dead , I like that sort of thing “. It’s the most dangerous sport on a planet because if they fall off that bike there isn’t any gravel traps or run off space. It’s trees and walls and it’s very often that riders will die from a crash. And that’s what makes the sport soo exciting. It’s like formula 1 back in the early days when drivers knew a crash could kill them. That’s what made old formula 1 great. It was what made those men heroes. How they can race on the limit knowing they are on the thin line between success and tragedy. And that what road racing has always been. It’s better then f1 because these are normal every day people who you’re watching. Most of them have normal day to day lives to pay for their racing. It’s not money who decides who wins like in f1. It’s who is the bravest rider and willing to push the line between life and death. In 2014 in f1 at the Australian gp the average speed on the fastest lap was 128.27 mph. In 2019 at the Ulster Grand Prix which is on a 7 mile circuit just outside Belfast, Peter Hickman set an average speed of 136.415 mph. The tt Isle of Man is the biggest race which is on a 37 mile circuit and then average speed there is 135.62 mph again by Peter Hickman (he’s kinda fast). One race is in a car with 4 wheels on a wide open race track. The other is on a motorbike. 2 wheels. And a narrow tree lined road. The top speed at the Ulster Grand Prix is somewhere around 205mph. And then best part is you can stand in a field beside the road. Only an arms width away from the bikes. You can feel the heat off the bike as it screams past and if you are stupid enough and don’t mind losing a limb you could reach out and touch the bike. There are many races around Ireland. The biggest ones are the northwest 200 which goes from portrush to portstewart and then down to coleraine and back up to portrush. Then there is the Ulster Grand Prix near Belfast. That’s the best race in my opinion. There is the skerries 100 in Dublin. Kells road races in Meath. You have armoy road races in Antrim. That was on about 2 weeks ago. There is cookstown 100 which is up north again and if you see this post in time you could still get tickets to the race. It’s on in September. You can find information if you look up cookstown 100 on Facebook. There is a road race in cork too. And walderstown in west Meath. There is faugheen road races in Tipperary. Also enniskillen road races and I’m probably forgetting 1 or 2. Then the biggest race of them all which you might of heard of is the tt Isle of Man. That’s a different beast altogether. Usually 2 riders lose their lives chacing their tt dreams each year. That’s my recommendation to you anyway. Check it out. I recommend watching the 2019 Ulster Grand Prix on YouTube. There is a great race between lee Johnston and peter Hickman. It was a great race. And then obviously the tt is another great watch. It’s a spectacle to watch. Anyway hope you give it a look. It’s true

Like F1, absolutely nothing - and that's the whole deal of F1. Close...Indycar for sure; The coverage in Europe is frankly abysmal for reasons I can't understand (there seems to be a lot of potential, especially with a lot of EU drivers competing at the top), but if you can find it, it's worth the watch - even 'though the US coverage is stupidly fragmented by endless advertising (literally, you might miss like the crucial parts of the race 'cause you're watching the same GEICO ad for the 27th time in 2 hours).

Live, at the track, however, is where Indycar shines. Kinda still has that old fashion event feel to it, where the race really is something that attracts everyone and there's a lot going on around it. Also, the cars "feel" somewhat more primal and...analog, from the trackside - compared to the absolutely perfect, sanitized, force-field-protected feel you get when attending an F1 race.

Then F2, when the field is good enough. Last couple of years it has been ok, but in the past it has been an absolute sh1tshow of poor driving/competition.

Formula E could be good, but they're trying SO DAMN HARD to appeal to young kids that it is less motorsport and more Mario Kart at times; Driving standards also used to be atrocious - 75% of overtakes/battles would end with carbon fibre flying everywhere.

Right now, Touring Car is basically a dead horse...the days of the ETCC/WTCC are long gone, not to mention the DTM. Now it's a bunch of small cars, some from Chinese manufacturers you've never heard of in Europe, dicing it out in the most cost-saving friendly way possible.

In general 'though, the issue with other series is coverage - even in the supposedly "hyper-information era", it's surprisingly hard to follow any "non-F1" series live, mostly due to stupid and short-sighted commmercial agreements (Eg. like Indycar, where the organizers fail to recognize they have a potential audience outside of the US).

Not into drifting, but I assume you are referring to James Dean?

They are all only "over the road" from me.

I do like watching the DTM racing .. as mentioned before it is very technical.

I was a big F1 fan back 20 years ago and sort of fell out of love with the sport - got back in to it about 5 years ago and to be fair the 24 hours a day coverage by sky does really help getting background info etc which fuels the interest.

Then about 2 years ago I decided to get back in to Scalextric (from my childhood) and that has morphed in to an obsession .. I find myself watching all sorts of motorsports to see cars I'd like to add to my collection ... the old RS500 Sierras from the BTCC are my favourites along with some 90s F1 cars. Currently waiting on a pre order limited edition McLaren MP4/4.

i use the Magic Arc App and it's really good ... built a permanent lay out on a 2.5m x 3.5m table .. pit lanes and high fencing .. going to put in floodlights for some night time racing !