Anyone think formula-d is wank?

[Matts Turbo'd]

The problem with most 'grassroot' events is the driving mostly sucks so nobody wants to watch it. Fun to do, not to watch.

Can have all the coverage in the world, but if it's not entertaining enough, nobody watches it.

It's why Sky Sports don't show people playing football in the park on a Sunday.

Sorry Stavros i mean stuff like drift cup could be a spring board seeing people in basic (ish) spec cars just going to have fun but drifting at an okish level but still not the likes of formula drift (if that makes any sense) but the sorta level that a couple of weekends worth a month for a year could have you at that sorta standard if you really commit to it

 

[gaz_moose]

yeah, but he wands it into the corner which is wank.
I pulled 5th at pod yesterday. zoink.

I don't really care what happens if formula drift.

 

[superclarkey]

The biggest problem with drifting its not agenst the clock or a known entity its comes down to 3 people's matter of opinion,
To me this is why drifting is floored as a Motorsport, so with that in mind its just fun show off sport so big power cars on big tyres are still good to watch.

you can't get upset because you can't afford to do it at that level.

Its all very well slagging someone off for driving a certain way in a fd car vs your e36 shitter on 16" narrow rims with 90psi, but end of the day not everyone has tried a car with huge amounts of grip and power, it shocks me when I drive people's cars with big power how little traction they have and they are happy with it..

 

[mattc]

FD is good fun to watch (my opinion) and is what happens when sport get backing and sponsorship. Look at the premiership and the stupid wages for crap players and the huge backing and money invovled with that is it really that much better at times than lower leagues???

There is some great talent in FD and even the top BDC drivers would be shamed in FD in equal cars. And as previously said on this thread no one wants to watch E36 shitters going up agains each other that would be crap, they are hi tech cars with seroius amount sof hours spent on them. Just look at Dai's BRZ, the money involved must be huge.

As above when I try to explain the sport of drifting to others is hard to explain that someone wins by a persons opinion, that is the major fundimental problem with all drift comps its purely opinion based, which for an outsider is hard to grasp. Not like F1 when its first over the line wins.

Anyway I'll stillb e watching and hope to get to see a round live next year.

 

[BenRice]

I hear what you are saying on the difficulty to explain thing.

Our national sports talkback show asked for someone to call up and explain how it worked so i gave it a go. Easiest was to start by explaining the idea of clipping points, then the judges and their criteria, then the battle element. For a second i was tempted to just say the person with the most stickers and hottest promo girl's wins though

By the end of the explanation it sounds less like a motorsport and more like an extreme sport (fmx, freestyle snowboard etc) with its subjective nature of deciding the victor. That lends itself to losing credibility in the eyes of Joe-motorsport who is used to seeing winning cars clearly winning and anything else is just confusing (Danny George v Saito anyone?).

We have a 30min TV slot each week with voice overs done explaining who one. I make the mrs watch them and she points out "well that guy put two wheels off and won, and that guy was shallow and won" so unless you invest the time to understand the judging and how hard it is, it can appear very hit and miss, and in some instances almost staged.

If its going bigger and better some more technology to show actual angle and proximity would give it more credibility. Something like a GPS unit placed in the middle of the top of the windscreen (ie a consistent fixed point) to measure distances between cars in real time to help decide chase points.

 

[Stavros]

Another vid that makes me wonder if the people who slate FD have ever actually watched it or understand what is happening at all.


A drag race, no skill, rolling burnout, easy, etc etc, err, what?

 

[neil a walker]

It's alright, but i just get bored of the format, I wish they did 2 laps of the track instead of a point A to Point B. The waiting times between battles is skull bangingly boring in competition drifting. 4 car trains and a few Togue courses wouldn't hurt either. Prefer Retro Drift Challenge if i'm honest. Old rare stuff going head to head makes for a better watch

 

[status unknown]

It's alright, but i just get bored of the format, I wish they did 2 laps of the track instead of a point A to Point B. The waiting times between battles is skull bangingly boring in competition drifting. 4 car trains and a few Togue courses wouldn't hurt either. Prefer Retro Drift Challenge if i'm honest. Old rare stuff going head to head makes for a better watch

I doubt their tyres would last 2 laps. Although I could be wrong.

 

[neil a walker]

I doubt their tyres would last 2 laps. Although I could be wrong.

See, More exciting already!
Yeah, i doubt they would too, but would be worth watching to find out. Maybe would mean the Smoke show it currently is would shift towards outright grip, and therefore speed. It's fast enough already, but could always get faster.

Think it's just the flow that annoys me. All start stop for 40 seconds, then a 5 minute wait till the next battle.
Rather it was 4 cars and 2 laps. Dangerous - yes, but It's motorsport, that's why you watch it

 

[joelhachiroku]

Formula d is awesome its an obvious evolution of drifting if you don't like the live show watch the highlights instead.
there is noone that is into drifting that hasnt thought about doing what those guys do.
Sure its a long process and it has some pretty questionable calls being made but that is the nature of the beast.
I like all drifting the bigger the smokeyer the faster the better though.
is fd wank? Maybe a little but dont all series have their faults?

 

[Stavros]

Tbh I think people just look at other stuff with rose tinted specs

Think it's just the flow that annoys me. All start stop for 40 seconds, then a 5 minute wait till the next battle.

I'm confused, that's pretty much how all drifting is, it's the nature of comp drifting.

Tbh formula d tends to run smoother and faster than most drift events as they're so well equipped and organised.

 

[halllon]

It's totally forgotten it's roots. I think that's what annoys people. That's what annoys me. It's meant ta be fun not big sponsors and crazy money. The hole idea of drifting was to break away from the conformity in everyday life in japan. And here are the Americans making it more conformed than anyone else. All ya have ta do is watch Taka Aono's video that was real eased lately and realise that even some of the original drivers think it's going too far

That's a valid point although I do believe most of the guys in FD sincerely appreciate the roots of drifting. Also, keep in mind that FD drivers are also doing it for the fun - just like the rest of you. If we did it for the money we would all be stock traders instead.

Here's some food for thought from, I guess, an FD insider:
- My hope is that the top levels of drifting, be it in Europe, Asia or in the US, helps motivate the new generation of drifters. Proving that you can make a career in drifting is part of that motivation.
- There should be plenty of room for both pro drifting as well as grassroots, "recreational" drifting.
- To be a world class drift driver, you have to drive well, but also be a good marketer, people-person, team builder, strategic thinker and constant learner. Any combination of the above seems to work, though This seems to be true for any professional sport.
- Is it really bad to think and act commercial and aim towards growing what you're doing? As long as you're straight up with honest motives I for one encourage anyone to make the best of what they dream of - whatever that is.
- With regards to FD specifically I agree that one of their biggest issues is the time it takes to run the show. I know this is something FD are addressing and that they'd like to speed up the show.

What I love the most about the actual competition, is that it's always changing. The judging criteria is never the same, and you're always chasing what the judges actually want to see - whether that is stated or more sublime.

Plus, there's something extremely attractive with negotiating the fastest way around any given track with 900 hp on tap and the grippiest tires you're allowed to run, while riding the tail of Captain America completely blindfolded by a smoke screen. Can't beat that feeling.

Fredric Aasbo

 

[ckdrift]

I think it is a bit better than last year so far, but I think its all about who;s more famous. Dont get a good few judge calls sometimes...

 

[CRISPY D]

this thread.....lol..... drifting is drifting so long as its not elliptical donuts on a car park.
ive ridden bmx since 1996 and ive seen it progress loads and just like bmx with its park, dirt, street and flatland disciplines, certain people in one type hate on others that ride another even though fundamentally its all the same.

pointless nonsense, agree with all standing up for fd.

 

[neil a walker]

I'm confused, that's pretty much how all drifting is, it's the nature of comp drifting.

Tbh formula d tends to run smoother and faster than most drift events as they're so well equipped and organised.

Yeah, i wouldn't say formula D is run any slower than any other drifting comps, but i meant the way the whole battles are run in Competition Drifting, with their 40 seconds of driving, and 5 minutes of waiting - I find that Annoying. Call it short attention span if you will, but if i've payed £20 to spectate, that shit should pretty much be constant action. As far as spectator motorsport goes, it's shit value for money.
Love drifting, but for me, an open pit lane drift session is more appealing. Good drivers in shit cars is more impressive, but to each their own. As long as people are enjoying drifting, their motivation for why is not important

 

[docwra]

i meant the way the whole battles are run in Competition Drifting, with their 40 seconds of driving, and 5 minutes of waiting - I find that Annoying

I have to agree, I also think its fucking ridiculous how they go sideways everywhere, thats not the quickest way and whats all that tyre smoke about too?

FD is good fun to watch (my opinion) and is what happens when sport get backing and sponsorship. Look at the premiership and the stupid wages for crap players and the huge backing and money invovled with that is it really that much better at times than lower leagues???

Errr, yes, it is. Thats why you dont get Division 3 footballers at the World Cup, and why the Premier League has a worldwide viewing audience of 4.7bn bringing in £1.2bn of fees. Over 1.5m people went to watch Man U last season, while only 15,000 went to see Hyde, who are also in Manchester.

This is also why until very, very recently UK drift events were seeing as many spectators as an average Sunday League football game and for a while it was looking like the whole competition scene would just die on its arse. 5 years ago we were crying out for a series at fast circuits, with top level drivers and cars pushing the boundaries of whats possible in drifting, but apparently now thats just "wank" and we all want to go back to E36's skidding about on mud at Norfolk.

As Stav is gently hinting, its pretty clear the people bitching either a) havent actually seen Formula D or b) dont actually know what drifting is, theres huge amounts of talent, ingenuity and hard work going into it and I personally think that on the whole its pretty awesome to watch.

Moral here? People are never fucking happy so ignore the people and just get on with it.

 

[mint]

However just because you enjoy something, doesn't mean for a split second.. the next person has to.

I would say that the Moral is.. Its all opinion isnt it.. everyone has one. It just so happens that this particular one, is deemed as dull by some, and amazing by others.. Simple as that really. So all the finer details are irrelevant.

 

[docwra]

It just so happens that this particular one, is deemed as dull by some, and amazing by others.. Simple as that really

According to this thread its dull because theres no variation in the cars (not accurate), dull because theres lots of power (WTF?), dull because its really smokey, dull because the drivers can only pedal monster power cars (not true, they all came from somewhere), dull because of the noise, dull because "its not a sport" and dull because its "forgotten its roots".

Dull compared to what, exactly? With the exception of D1 I think you could level the above at every other series in the world, most of which are slower and less challenging in the first place. What are these people watching thats so much better?

Ive said it before, what exactly are people wanting to see? Someone earlier in the thread said BDC was better, why exactly is BDC better than Formula D coz I cant see it? Im all for opinions but you have to be able to support it at least slightly, no?

 

[Bricey]

I think the only negative thing about the cars having massive power in fd is that without loads of sponsors its kinda hard to compete as a privateer.

 

[owengd97b]

For me it's the same as the x-games, F1, any big name racing/action sport series that's got massive involvement from sponsors and authorities etc. it all just loses its cool factor.
I totally appreciate the cars and driving, but I can't sit and watch it.