Brilliant Racing Videos

Forgive my ignorance, but why does that look so slow?
It looks like he's having a casual drive around the track.
 
Last edited:
Forgive my ignorance, but why does that look so slow?
It looks like he's having a casual drive around the track.
It's taken from footage during the race, so I guess Senna was merely pacing himself and just doing enough to bring it home.
 
Forgive my ignorance, but why does that look so slow?
It looks like he's having a casual drive around the track.
That's the thing about the best drivers, they can make going fast look so undramatic.

That said, there's a few things at play there.

The lap is midway through a race, rather than a qualifying lap. As such, it's less on edge and more about trying to finish the race. This lap was probably around a 1:18, which is only 2s off Senna's fastest lap of the race, which he won by 9 seconds.
Part of the reason you are perceiving it as slow is actually audio. It sounds like he is short shifting quite a lot in the early part of the lap, very different from the screaming you'd expect from the engine. He could be fuel saving a bit here too.

Add to this that it is upscaled video footage. This never really does well, as the 60fps is mostly machine learning rather than actual found footage. Tom Scott actually has a really good video on this subject.

When it's all a bit smoothed out compared to the 25fps it probably was to begin with, your brain will be used to the images being slightly choppier, and thus movement is sharper and more pronounced in the footage you are used to seeing from the time, so th ebrain thinks its a bit slower. This is one of the issues some people have with modern F1 cameras, is that they are too stable and have a poorly optimised FOV to give a real sense of speed. That said, in return we have really high quality onboards that don't break up and are fantastic for replays and analysis, so it's a compromise.
 
Last edited:
Last nights NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway ended in the closest finish in cup series history.


IMG_0071.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Recently uploaded High-Vision LaserDisc footage of the 1991 and 1992 Japanese GP weekends (no commentary):


Hi-Def footage from those times is neat; there have been a few 50fps uploads of Japanese Grands Prix in the past. It's a shame that only Fuji TV filmed with such definition as far as I am aware.
 
Here's something rather old, from the 1929 Belfast TT, and probably some other races mixed in, I need to research the background a bit more. Accompanied by some not so old music by one of my all time fave rockers, Ricky Warwick.

 

Scott McLaughlin sets the record for the fastest pole speed ever in qualifying for next weeks Indianapolis 500. 4 lap average of 234.220mph.
 
Last edited:

Scott McLaughlin sets the record for the fastest pole speed ever in qualifying for next weeks Indianapolis 500. 4 lap average of 234.220mph.

My dad met this guy at a ride day at Calder Park in 2012 after he won the Super2 series at just 18 years old. (yes, dad did ride with him). I met him at Sandown in 2013 when he was racing in the main game for GRM and I knew the kid had some serious talent. He won at Queensland Raceway and Pukekohe in his debut V8 Supercar season - an incredible feat for a rookie. No one has come close - not even Shane Van Gisbergen. Gary Rogers has a habit of snuffing out young talent and McLaughlin has proven that emphatically. When I met him, he was just another driver. People weren't crowding around his pit box but after putting on a spectacular display at Adelaide in 2014, he gained a legion of fans. Ever since then his rise has been incredible, and being the fastest man to ever lap Indy shows the WORLD that he is one of the best racing drivers to come out of New Zealand, next to Scott Dixon, Shane Van Gisbergen, Jim Richards and Denny Hulme. Even if he doesn't go on to win the Indy 500, his name has been written into history. If he does, he's a certified legend of motorsport. How fitting that he does it in a car that pays tribute to Rick Mears. What a story.
Fujitsu ride 9.12 010.jpg

Fujitsu ride 9.12 017.jpg

280.JPG

288.JPG
 
Last edited:
That's race two of the event; Frank Biela won the first one and won the event overall.
 
Back