Santa Pod

Originally Posted by SV1000s

I'm sure there is a skill, just can't see what it is.

Try to keep something in a straight line at 300+ mph. Now try to keep that straight line pointing away from the other straight lines, namely walls!

Originally Posted by SV1000s

I've never seen the point in this, all that money and effort for 10 seconds??

Sounds like a normal friday/saturday night to me....













COAT!

Originally Posted by Filipe M.

Try to keep something in a straight line at 300+ mph. Now try to keep that straight line pointing away from the other straight lines, namely walls!

So, don't turn the wheel then...no?

Originally Posted by SV1000s

So, don't turn the wheel then...no?

I guess someone will be here shortly to correct me, but I guess at that kind of speeds the wheel will pretty much try to turn itself!

Originally Posted by SV1000s

oh, I agree, hence me saying that I have never seen the point, I was watching it on TV the other night and just didn't 'get it' I guess, other than the mechanics I just fail to see the skill involved. I'm sure there is a skill, just can't see what it is.

Give me bends and lean any day.

It's like any live motor sport, television just convey the feelings that being there does.

As far as the top fuelers dragsters go, the trick is getting 8000 horespower onto the track without spinning out. That strikes me as quite skillful

So no-one saw anything then?

Originally Posted by Daimo

So no-one saw anything then?

Eh?

Read my replies, a spectator got killed.

[northwind]

Yup, read about that on OSS... Either a piece of debris from a parachute launch, or a bit of debris kicked off the track by the parachute, looks like. Very sad. All motorsport has risks, but you still don't expect that.

The whole classes/breakouts thing in Straightliners always struck me as ridiculous. You run your qualifier, which decides what class you're in. But if you run a fast qualifier, you get put into a fast class where you might be unable to compete. You run a slow one, and you get in a slow class, where you might be able to clean up. It's not done on engine sizes or similiar (though there's specific classes like top bike, funnybike, supertwins, most road-legals go into the timed classes I think.

Then, you get the breakout rules. If you're in 10.4 and you run a 10.39, you lose. So you're not actually trying to go faster, you're trying to hit the target time. Ridiculous, to me. You see people win a session because they fluffed the start, and the other guy takes off and breaks out. Imagine it "Sorry Valentino, you lose because you lapped in 1.30 and broke out, Max ran a 1.40 which was fastest time in class"

So, there's skill in that, I suppose, but getting the timing that precise is as much luck as judgement, I reckon. If you're aiming at 10.4, you're surely as likely to get a 10.39 as a 10.41. One is a win, the other is disqualification.