The Weekend Racing Felt Alive Again
A full slate of racing for the first time in 2020 is cause for celebration. What happens next is anyone's guess.
Happy Race Day, especially to the World Rally Championship. Any motorsport that produces images like this has a special place in my heart:
God, how I missed WRC.
This weekend felt like a throwback. There were all kinds of motorsports on display, like there used to be in the pre-pandemic life we once knew. Fans are slowly starting to return, there were thrilling and surprising results, and in general it feels that we’re beginning to work racing back into our routines.
Things aren’t normal yet. But the variety, the personality, the small moments of joy that make racing so addictive seemed more abundant. Maybe that’s the power of a car jumping with fireworks exploding overhead.
Regardless, it made me think back to one of my favorite racing books. Go Like Hell isn’t just the story of Ford beating Ferrari at their own game. It’s a detailed account of all those tiny little magical moments that added up to a momentous victory in racing history.
You can find Go Like Hell and a dozen other great automotive books in our curated list on Bookshop.org. We’re part of the affiliate program there and receive a portion of the proceeds from any sale in our shop.
And of course our own book, Slow Car Fast, is always available in our own store. New paperbacks are in now and ship upon order.
Now on with Race Day!
Culture
Netflix is producing an 8-episode miniseries on the life of F1 legend Ayrton Senna. First thought: this has the potential to introduce a lot of American viewers to an iconic figure for the first time. That’s exciting stuff.
Claire Williams officially stepped down as Deputy Team Principal of the F1 team her father founded, effectively ending the Williams family run of control. This seemed inevitable, but her impact cannot be understated. One look at the replies to this tweet from girls and women expressing their gratitude tells you all you need to know.
A new racing series called Extreme E will race around the world in electric buggies next year, in an effort to highlight countries impacted by climate change. Lewis Hamilton is among the team owners.
What does it mean???
Video Reel
McLaren teammates Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris eating Italian food. That’s it. That’s the video.
Here’s a great behind-the-scenes vlog from Pikes Peak class-winner Dai Yoshihara. It shows the frantic race preparations, the adrenaline and the relief that come with earning that trophy.
Race Results
WRC finally returned for its first event since March, and the inaugural Rally Estonia saw hometown hero Ott Tänak capture the win and produced a ton of epic highlights:
We also get to welcome Formula Drift back to 2020! Its first event of the year went off in St. Louis without a hitch. I love how the cars just emerge from the smoke in these Round 1 and Round 2 recaps.
What’s the best cure for a boring F1 season? Monza. The answer is always Monza. A first-time winner, a huge surprise podium and tons of overtaking. Let’s just run all of 2021 at Monza. Highlights here.
This shot of Pierre Gasly basking in his first career win really says it all:
IMSA tackled the heat at Road Atlanta, with its wild elevation changes and high-speed corners. Watch for the first lap carnage — stay for the helicopter shots.
German sports cars more your style? Some interesting racing in DTM, both Race 1 and Race 2, but the loss of Mercedes and most of BMW has undeniably hurt the series.
The biggest plus was the reaction from Sheldon Van Der Linde on his first career victory:
While some series are gearing back up, Formula E was able to wrap its 2020 championship and this 6-minute video brings you through all the madness.
I just can’t stop giggling at this footage of McLarens, Aston Martins and Bentleys banging into each other in a furious British GT race. Man I missed racing.
Just because real racing is back doesn’t mean we forgot about sim racing. Here are ten of the best overtakes from last week, including a couple of really impressive ones:
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is prepping for its running on September 19-20. The race released this epic trailer to get your blood going (it worked on me).
Ask A Millennial! Bozi Tatarevic, 34
Spend any time scrolling through car posts on Twitter and you’ll invariably come across Bozi. A mechanic, journalist and racing nut, his posts bring a razor-sharp insight to the casual fan that makes the intricacies of the sport both fun and easy to understand. He’s also famous for pointing out cars that share parts you would never imagine. I mean, just look at this thread. Or this article. Or this:
It’s a pleasure to have Bozi this week. Here is an edited version of our conversation:
The biggest difference this year is the lack of fans. IMSA is fairly unique in the fact that it allows fans to access the paddock so on any given day there are fans standing while I'm working on a car and asking questions and that's completely gone now. It often feels more like a testing day than a race day.
When I think of "Slow car fast" I think of one of my first cars which was a 1997 Mitsubishi Mirage. It had the lower spec 1.5L engine but it had a manual transmission and that made it incredibly fun for me. I had not figured out how to actually make it fast but did modify it with lights and a body kit and that was one of the first cars that turned me into an enthusiast even though it was incredibly slow, it felt fast whenever I got to wring out and pull on that shift lever.
I have many gigs and some of them involve sourcing parts for clients. The car parts posts often come when I am working and notice an interesting part and then start digging in. They do come fairly naturally as I've trained myself to look at competitors' cars in racing to recognize unique details. I believe they are popular because they fit outside of the mold of the usual technical posts which are mostly just specs being rattled off.
I believe that car culture will continue to grow and we'll see electric vehicles become a bigger part as more used EVs come to market and younger people are able to afford and modify them. As far as racing is concerned, we're at a turning point with many of the big series like Formula 1 and NASCAR moving to new cars fairly soon and some traditional series adopting hybrid technology. This is an opportunity to capitalize on younger fans as they have a fresh slate of information to spread but I do believe that rules will need to be simplified in many series in order to bring in new fans and retain interest.
Auction Block
Remember that mid-engine Honda Civic from last week? It sold for $42,000 which is a tremendous steal or a tremendous rip-off depending on who you ask.
Starting an online auction site is all the rage. This summer we’ve already seen Stratas (high-dollar) and Cars & Bids (interesting and quirky), and now there’s AutoHunter which launched on Wednesday. There doesn’t seem to be much of a theme — besides “fun.” Good enough for me.
And Finally…
Your cargo capacity is unlimited when you drive a convertible:
Drive hard and be safe. Black Lives Matter.
Want your event included? Shoot me a note with subject line “Race Day” at ryan@carrarabooks.com.
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