OK, gotta rant here about how COVID-19 affects us motorsports fans....

Or is it a rant on television programming?

Or just boredom from sheltering?

Whatever it is, I'm just NOT at all excited about watching VIRTUAL MOTOR RACING on TV (replacing cancelled live events of course).

Maybe I'm not a gamer and while I understand the role of virtual racing in actual motorsports (enabling drivers to acclimate to different tracks before actually running on them), I just find the notion of videogame racing ON TV to be just, well, stupid.

But I guess watching last year's Indy 500 or earlier this season's Daytona IMSA (and/or other re-runs) is pretty dead too.

So what's the solution? I dunno.... just ranting. Probably because I'm bored and I can. (Oh, and we're coming up on Indy month with no Indy in sight. Ehhhhhh)

 

I DVRd a bunch of racing last year and am still in the process of getting through it all. Maybe by the time I'm done there will be new stuff to record.. here's hoping. My favorite is the BTCC, those guys are awesome to watch.

As for the virtual stuff, yeah, I'm not real excited about watching it. I watched the first IMSA virtual race.. which was actually not bad, the commentators did a great job (i thought).. But it didn't stick with me. I may watch another one.

 

Speaking of which, I was so excited about going to the French GP this year and already bought the weekend pass. Then I found out yesterday that it's cancelled due to the virus. I don't sub to any motorsports channels, but I'm thinking I may have to start soon. I was looking forward to the French GP!

 

BTCC, DTM, all the saloon racers are exceptionally cool. My favorite car to ever run in the BTCC was the Volvo STATION WAGON! (Yeah, I was into Volvos for a long time - some here may recall I had an S60R that could easily outrun my 33... in a straight line).



But gotta tell ya, not many drivers attack (the track and each other) like the Aussie Supercars drivers. Unbelievable at times.

Oh suck!!! My first ever trip to Europe (just four years ago) included (planned that way actually) two F1 races... Austria and British. While I don't watch much F1 anymore (how many times can I sit and watch Hamilton dominate to the degree that they don't even show him on TV and the race is 2nd through 8th? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....), there IS nothing like actually being at an F1 event. So much fanfare, extreme diehard fans, so much pomp and circumstance. It's so over the top that it's almost sickening to know how much money is spent on a single race. But that's part of the charm of being there. I sure hope you'll be able to attend a postponed French GP!!!

Yet, the F1 race at COTA is only a few hours away from me yet, never go. Hmmmm, why is that? I mean, besides the chance of running into Travlee....

 

Yeah I'm with you Mic....virtual racing just doesn't interest me. I don't care how realistic it looks and I keep thinking even with the fancy rigs some of the guys are using they are probably feeling like "Dude, this is just NOT racing". I SHOULD like it....I grew up a hardcore gamer...I WORK in the gaming industry for pete's sake...but yeah...I have zero interest in virtual and sorely miss the Indy and F1 season. I know they are still trying to plan/salvage both seasons but I have a feeling neither are going to happen this year.

 

What online services do you use to watch any race? I don't have cable or satellite, so I'm streaming everything. I checked out some apps on Amazon, but all the ratings are 1 star because of the crappy content and pay per view issues.

 

Me personally.... cable 90+%. NBC-SN for Indy (and a few others), ESPN for F1 (re-broadcast of Sky News coverage from UK), Fox Sports for drag racing, CBS Sports for assorted motor sports (Australia, Rallycross). And, of course, YouTube for everything else. Been on a "Hill Climb" binge lately. The motorsport that most closely resembles my own "attack of the hills at a quarter of their speed". Laff... but serious. Would never do anything to endanger others out and about.

Only app I would consider would HAVE BEEN the Motor Trend app. Except that their programming consists mostly of really stupid car shows. Even my favorite, Bitchin' RIdes has gotten kinda lame, moving too far into the "characters over the cars". Ehhhhhhhhhh.....

 

i wore my Rolex Gran Prix / Circuit of the Americas hat the other day......

my fav memory from going to see that was the "gentlemen start your engines"

 

The Motor Trend app has horrible ratings and reviews, so I'm not even going to touch that. I'm "forced" to watch YT vids and surfing for anything interesting. I don't have ESPN and refuse to pay for it.

 

YouTube TV is probably the best thing out there to watch racing these days. I know for sure they have all of the Supercross and most of the Motocross events live (my favorite racing to watch). It's a little pricey at $50/month, but if you have a family or friend with an account they can share it with a few users under the single account.

 

MAVTV has a bunch of good stuff. IFO, lots of drifting, Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge, pretty much whatever floats your racing boat. Yes, they even have racing boats. Channel 214 on DirecTV.

 

I've subscribed to Fubo for both our regular TV and various sports channels (but somehow they do not have ESPN.. go figure).. But with all the other series out there, I don't miss F1 for the reasons Mic already stated. Then I'll use a website called http://www.tvracer.com/ to get the schedule and set the DVR..

 

I get the whole Sim racing thing. Its pretty fun once you get a proper set up. This is not your typical arcade style driving game. Now how it translates into on track driving I cannot comment yet since I've only bought my set up this winter to curb the HPDE addiction. I haven't watched any of these sim races yet but I was looking forwards to F1 this year. Also IMSA is coming to Lime Rock July 17th and I'm hoping that's still going on because I am PUMPED to watch it in person!

Overall this whole 'Rona had eaten away about 1 full month of HPDE events for me already. I'm really missing track days and everything that comes along with it from the prep to the friends, the adrenaline and the crash ~7pm when you get outta the shower after a long day at the track.

 

UGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!

More lame cartoon racing!!!!!

And to add insult.... they’re currently broadcasting Indy!!! GRRRRRRRR.

Playing/“driving”, fine. Probably great fun. But Don’t even try to sell advertising on virtual snoozefests!

Can you tell I can’t wait for real racing to resume? 🤡🤣