Tag: racing

Rocket Through the Trees: Onboard an Audi quattro S1

Audi quattro S1

Strap in and watch this Audi quattro S1 rip through a special stage of the FIA European Historic Rally Championship.

Since this is a site dedicated to everything Four Rings related, I’m always stoked to learn about the latest and greatest kit that the wizards of Ingolstadt are bringing to market. But while the emerging tech like e-tron GT and hot rod wagons like the MTM Avant are all well and good, there’s a special place in my heart for the ferocious rally cars that Audi built its reputation on — like the incredible quattro S1. Seriously, I wish I was cool enough to drive a killer replica, like this amazing tribute.

But while we Audi fans might talk about how just how dominating the S1 was in the World Rally Championship all the time, it’s tough for mere mortals to conceive of just how incredibly fast this machine was in that rough and tumble world. Fortunately, videos like this clip from the FIA European Historic Rally Championship exists, and while it’s not exactly like riding shotgun on stage, if it doesn’t get your blood moving, you should probably see a doctor.

This was shot on Special Stage 11 of the historic Vltava Rallye, and features Italians “Zippo” and Denis Piceno ripping down some scary-tight roads at speeds which will make your toes curl. Thanks to the pair’s teamwork, they would go on to win the stage overall, snatching victory from driver Karl Wagner’s Porsche 911 SC. But even if they hadn’t managed to claim victory, this footage would still be killer to watch. Race tracks are one thing, but can you imagine going past homes and barns at this pace?

This is exactly the kind of video which makes me want to book a class with Dirtfish, the rally school in my neck of the woods. While I’ve never been over to their facility, a brief introduction to high-performance techniques at Team O’Neil Rally School a few years back gave me a taste of what to expect, so I know it would be an absolute blast. Check out the video below, and let me know if you stumble across any awesome POV rally videos — I love these things!

Photos: YouTube

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GRID GIRLS: AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?

GRID GIRLS: AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?

Stephen Cox blogs about auto racing’s long-standing tradition of grid girls being the next casualty in the war for political correctness.

GRID GIRLS: AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?GRID GIRLS: AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?It was early 2015 when the World Endurance Championships (WEC) got rid of them, and Formula 1 may be next. Director Ross Brawn of Liberty Media, the new controlling group of Formula 1, recently said that the tradition of grid girls is being reconsidered. For the uninitiated, “grid girls” are the pretty women who stand beside the racecars prior to many events to hold grid markers and sponsor signs, and, well… look pretty.

Traditionally, grid girls have dressed to look attractive and feminine. That’s all well and good. Recent years have seen (some of) them dressing more and more scantily. In my opinion that’s not so good. But if I don’t like it, I’m still free to stay home. And that’s good.

This is precisely why I don’t attend boxing matches and MMA fights, by the way. The ring girls aren’t just dressed attractively. Some of them are downright indecent. So I stay home, shut up and mind my own business. The girls can keep their jobs, the fight promoters can put on the show they like and everyone is happy.

What, precisely, is being accomplished if Formula 1 decides to defend women around the world by firing hundreds of women around the world? The girls that needed these jobs will no longer have them. The girls who aspire to be models, spokeswomen, media personalities or actresses will have one less avenue available to enter their chosen field. The grid girls are not being well served by getting fired. The only people satisfied by their unemployment are people who demand that their agenda be dismissed no matter what the cost may be to anyone else.

GRID GIRLS: AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?Have you see auto-racing enthusiasts protesting and rioting against grid girls at the last race you attended? Me neither. Motorsports series are not firing grid girls in response to an overwhelming mandate from fans.

They’re doing this to please people who have little or no interest in motor racing, who may never attend an auto race, and who, in some cases, oppose the very existence of the sport. By definition, these are not people who are willing to live and let live. If they were, they would refuse to have grid girls at their book burnings and witch hunts, but leave you free to have them at your auto races.

Racing officials need to understand one point very clearly – these people will not become fans once you fire the grid girls. Auto racing is a loud, dangerous, fatality causing, fossil fuel burning; cut throat competition that does not award trophies for participation. These people hate you. They are not suddenly going to embrace you as a forward thinking intellectual simply because you caved in to their demands and kicked a few recently unemployed women to the curb.

If this artificially manufactured non-issue needs to be revisited at all, it should be revisited solely on the basis of what the teams, their fans and the grid girls want rather than on political pressure to conform to the demands of outside groups who don’t care one whit about the sport. Make your own decision and listen to your own fans and we’ll be happy no matter what the outcome may be.

If I don’t like it, I’m free to stay home.

Stephen Cox is Sopwith Motorsports Television Productions Driver, Super Cup Stock Car Series & EGT Championship, and Co-Host, Mecum Auctions on NBCSN. Sponsored by http://www.mcgunegillengines.com/

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