- 26,911
- Houston, Texas, USA
- JMarine25
Hello again, GT Planet. I hope you're having a great day.
I figured I'd tackle GT/Sportscar racing and the exclusivity thereof. GTPlanet, for those of you who played any Gran Turismo, you may have likely been exposed to the cars in them. They range from daily drivers, to exotics, and to pure racing machines. You can go from a Mazda Demio all the way up to the Castrol Supra in GT1, the Subaru 360 to the Toyota GT-One in GT2, and from the Suzuki Alto Works to the Formula One cars in GT3. You know that when you play the game, the exclusivity is eliminated. You can virtually race ANY car in the game like a pro even if your daily driver does 0-60 in 8 seconds with a 14-second 1/4 mile time. So when you look at racing on TV, you take a look at mostly NASCAR here in America. I mean, everyone can spot a NASCAR or other oval racing machine a mile away. But get into the world of Formula One, and a lot of people can get into that sort of racing. GT and Sportscar racing, however, has been told to be to an "exclusive" audience. So how "exclusive" is GT/sportscar racing? Is it exclusive? What do you think about this?
I'll start.
To say Sportscar racing is exclusive is like saying "only major record label artists can sing for real." That's not always true. Imagine that a girl down the street has vocals that can make Whitney Houston feel outdated, has a lovely body that can make Kylie Minogue chump change, dance moves that can take Christina Aguilera back to dancing school, and wear clothing that can beat any female celebrity look subpar. At first, you'd think that this prodigy had a lucky life and was born with talent. That's not always true. Anyone who works to achieve glory in their field of choice is capable of much respect. As far as GT and Sportscar racing goes, I don't think it is exclusive at all. I think it is like an arcade game. Most arcade and arcade-style games are easy to come across and the learning curve for knowing how racing goes is a very small learning curve. And GT/Sportscar will come across as something confusing from NASCAR or any other traditional American racing series. I remember when I got into this kind of racing, I was unsure as to how the series worked. I thought that there were only a few manufacturers for the race. I even wrote down the car names on paper to keep track of what different cars are in the series. And over time, I quickly learned all the racing I could as it relates to sportscars. Before I got Speedvision (at the time), I learned sportscar racing with FOX Sports Net. I loved watching F1 and Sportscar racing on that channel before I got Speedvision, and now Speed Channel.
If you wanted to learn about sportscar racing, Leigh Diffey of Australia, David Hobbs of England, and even Bob Varsha of Georgia, USA, can tell you about racing. And to me, all three of the commentators I mentioned are three of the best. I think Bob Varsha is the most talented and educated commentator for the Speed Channel. The thing about sportscar racing is that I don't think it is exclusive. I know that not everyone can afford a Porsche or a Corvette. Not everyone can have one of these as a weekend driver or even a weekend racer. Thing is, if you don't have these as daily drivers or weekend drivers, THAT IS OK! The LMP and GTP race cars DEFINITELY aren't daily drivers, either. But I don't think you need to be in a Porsche owners club to get into sportscar racing. I mean, get the Speed Channel, watch some sportscar racing, and learn about it one race at a time. I mean, maybe the most expensive car my parents own is maybe a GMC Safari, so as a lone fan of sportscar racing (or racing period), I don't care about not owning a pure sports car- I just love GT and sportscar racing. I even like watching the Valvoline runoffs with the more affordable sportscars, even if they cannot outrun an Audi R8. And to me, these races are anything but exclusive. I mean, what about all the talk I make that more racing fans should at least give sportscar racing a try. Remember when Dale Earnhardt Sr. raced the Daytona endurance before his tragic death at the 2001 Daytona 500? Kyle Petty races Grand-Am with a Porsche. A lot of race fans know about NASCAR, but a lot of REAL racing fans know about GT and sportscars, and they can probably tell you that they just love the racing, even if they cannot afford the race cars that compete in them.
I said my part. What about you?
I figured I'd tackle GT/Sportscar racing and the exclusivity thereof. GTPlanet, for those of you who played any Gran Turismo, you may have likely been exposed to the cars in them. They range from daily drivers, to exotics, and to pure racing machines. You can go from a Mazda Demio all the way up to the Castrol Supra in GT1, the Subaru 360 to the Toyota GT-One in GT2, and from the Suzuki Alto Works to the Formula One cars in GT3. You know that when you play the game, the exclusivity is eliminated. You can virtually race ANY car in the game like a pro even if your daily driver does 0-60 in 8 seconds with a 14-second 1/4 mile time. So when you look at racing on TV, you take a look at mostly NASCAR here in America. I mean, everyone can spot a NASCAR or other oval racing machine a mile away. But get into the world of Formula One, and a lot of people can get into that sort of racing. GT and Sportscar racing, however, has been told to be to an "exclusive" audience. So how "exclusive" is GT/sportscar racing? Is it exclusive? What do you think about this?
I'll start.
To say Sportscar racing is exclusive is like saying "only major record label artists can sing for real." That's not always true. Imagine that a girl down the street has vocals that can make Whitney Houston feel outdated, has a lovely body that can make Kylie Minogue chump change, dance moves that can take Christina Aguilera back to dancing school, and wear clothing that can beat any female celebrity look subpar. At first, you'd think that this prodigy had a lucky life and was born with talent. That's not always true. Anyone who works to achieve glory in their field of choice is capable of much respect. As far as GT and Sportscar racing goes, I don't think it is exclusive at all. I think it is like an arcade game. Most arcade and arcade-style games are easy to come across and the learning curve for knowing how racing goes is a very small learning curve. And GT/Sportscar will come across as something confusing from NASCAR or any other traditional American racing series. I remember when I got into this kind of racing, I was unsure as to how the series worked. I thought that there were only a few manufacturers for the race. I even wrote down the car names on paper to keep track of what different cars are in the series. And over time, I quickly learned all the racing I could as it relates to sportscars. Before I got Speedvision (at the time), I learned sportscar racing with FOX Sports Net. I loved watching F1 and Sportscar racing on that channel before I got Speedvision, and now Speed Channel.
If you wanted to learn about sportscar racing, Leigh Diffey of Australia, David Hobbs of England, and even Bob Varsha of Georgia, USA, can tell you about racing. And to me, all three of the commentators I mentioned are three of the best. I think Bob Varsha is the most talented and educated commentator for the Speed Channel. The thing about sportscar racing is that I don't think it is exclusive. I know that not everyone can afford a Porsche or a Corvette. Not everyone can have one of these as a weekend driver or even a weekend racer. Thing is, if you don't have these as daily drivers or weekend drivers, THAT IS OK! The LMP and GTP race cars DEFINITELY aren't daily drivers, either. But I don't think you need to be in a Porsche owners club to get into sportscar racing. I mean, get the Speed Channel, watch some sportscar racing, and learn about it one race at a time. I mean, maybe the most expensive car my parents own is maybe a GMC Safari, so as a lone fan of sportscar racing (or racing period), I don't care about not owning a pure sports car- I just love GT and sportscar racing. I even like watching the Valvoline runoffs with the more affordable sportscars, even if they cannot outrun an Audi R8. And to me, these races are anything but exclusive. I mean, what about all the talk I make that more racing fans should at least give sportscar racing a try. Remember when Dale Earnhardt Sr. raced the Daytona endurance before his tragic death at the 2001 Daytona 500? Kyle Petty races Grand-Am with a Porsche. A lot of race fans know about NASCAR, but a lot of REAL racing fans know about GT and sportscars, and they can probably tell you that they just love the racing, even if they cannot afford the race cars that compete in them.
I said my part. What about you?
