F1 Fanatic

This was an idea I had, and basically, it’s this: what if open-wheel racing was an Olympic sport, carried out in a similar fashion to A1 Grand Prix? It would virtually be like A1GP but because it would be Olympic and non-championship, it would encourage top-notch Formula One drivers to race head-to-head- in identical machinery. For the London Ooympics, for example, the race could be held in Brands Hatch (correct me if I’m wrong, Brits, I’m a Yankee) which I think is the closest track to London. Plenty of nations would have a competitive representative, even if the selected driver is not a Formula One driver. Thoughts?

The problem with such an idea – assuming that motorsport was allowed at the Olympics – is that any new sport has to go through a demonstration run first. It has to appear at an Olympic Games as an exhibition match, from which it can be promoted to a full Olympic sport.

Also, Formula One drivers would not actually be allowed to compete in such an event. Olympians must be amateurs only.

As a variation of this, I was thinking, with Superleague Formula becoming even more like A1GP (they now have national teams), per each World Cup, there should be a non-points-paying race at the nation the World Cup is being held. For example, if there was a race like this at last year’s tournament in South Africa, it would be held at Kyalami and the only teams would be those that qualified for the FIFA World Cup. There would be Team Brazil, Team Korea, Team USA, Team Mexico, Team Japan, Team Ghana, etc.

The next World Cup is in Brasil, and it is unfortunate that the Jacarépagua circuit in Rio was closed in preparation for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. However, Superleague Formula was aiming for two Brazilian races this year, so the Curitiba venue could be a good location for a Superleague Formula race at the 2014 World Cup.

Some events have amateurs, some don’t. Track and field events don’t, whilst sports like boxing and football are just for amateurs.

For football, its’ under 23′s and two over the age of 23. I don’t think they are amateurs though as last Olympics had Javier Mascherano and Roy Makaay. Going off topic here.

I always had an idea in my head like this but it would be more like ‘Race of Champions’. A circuit inside a stadium and two from each nationality. But I think it would also cause ‘burnout’ for drivers if there is such a thing as this.

I view a full size spec series as a bit to expensive for some of the smaller nations.

That’s why i purpose a Karting even all run on spec karts, it would be cheaper, the younger kids can race it, it would be more accessible to the whole world, and the country wouldn’t need its own GP track

the problem with Motorsport is that the IOC doesn’t really want Machine coming into the equation of driver ability.. (but hey! the have equestrian!)

i had an idea last year about putting Karting on @ the Olympics. Sounds crazy! but it really isn’t.

The Chassis and Engine are provided to competitors on practice day, and there are limited setup adjustments allowed. Every driver is in the same Kart and Engine Package, and the result is down to minute adjustments made my the team (tyre pressures, etc), and driver ability.

Check http://www.maxchallenge-rotax.com/event2011/grand_final.html for an example..

You can have F1 Drivers, Touring car Drivers, Rally Drivers, Karter’s, etc, fighting for a gold medal!

the only downside is that handing out a Chassis and Engine to each competitor costs money.. Normally the Manufacturers provide them free of charge along with advertising, but i’m not sure what the IOC’s stance on Advertising is..

Motorsport doesn’t really fit in with the Olympic principles of “faster, higher, further”.