Atomic City Talk

The new and only American Formula 1 team is based out of Charlotte, with a second base in Spain. They look to showcase American technology to the world. Too bad there isn't a U. S. Grand Prix.

"When we first talked about an American F1 team there were of course many variables to consider. One of them, though, from the start was non-negotiable - at US F1, our car would be built in the USA, taking advantage of much of the hidden US technology already in the F1 pit lane and introducing a whole new raft of great companies, talented people and cutting edge technology. We’re not setting out to change the world of F1, we’re setting out to join the world of F1 with the best that America can produce. It’s a huge challenge – and that’s what makes it worthwhile.

America’s F1 heritage is vast. Phil Hill and Mario Andretti won World Championships, and Dan Gurney won the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix with his Eagle. These men are our heroes - it is because of them, and those like them, that we first grew to love F1. If we’re fortunate, we work hard and we remain positive, we may recapture a small part of what these great Americans achieved before us."

http://www.usgpe.com/index.html

Eric

We lived in Germany in the late 1960s-early 1970s. I went to my first race at Nurburgring in June 1969. It was a 1000km race won by Jo Siffert and Brian Redman in a Porsche 908. In August 1969 I was back at Nurburgring for my first F1 race won by Jackie Ickx in a Brabham Ford. In those days Nurburgring was 22.8 kilometers long. Prior to the race you could take your personal car around the course for 25 DM ($6.25 at the time). I also went to a couple of smaller races at Norisring in Nurenberg.

I use to go to Road Atlanta regularly during the Can-Am Series days. I was a big McLaren fan.

I'm jealous. What an incredible time and place to experience F1 and sports car racing.

Personal drives around the Nurburgring is still the norm. Sabine Schmitz is the current record holder and makes a living taking brave souls for a fast taxi ride. She is also a test driver for BMW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNemK-xKf...re=related

Most Americans do not know how big this sport is. They are under the misconception that NASCAR is tops.

I raced at Road Atlanta, along with John Westcott (Ed's son). "Gravity Cavity" on the back-stretch at +150 mph on a motorcycle still stands in my memory as one of the hairiest experiences of my life. They redesigned the track in the '90s to remove that portion.

Gravity Cavity, I remember it well. That’s the place when you get to the bottom of the hill your suspension bottoms out and you bang your chest and chin against the gas tank, then by the time you get to the bridge at the top of the next hill every thing goes in reverse along with a slight loss of traction. Man those were the days. The picture is the taken at the top of the hill. My first race 17X.

(12-28-2009 11:44 AM)Eric Wilson Wrote: [ -> ]I'm jealous. What an incredible time and place to experience F1 and sports car racing.

Personal drives around the Nurburgring is still the norm. Sabine Schmitz is the current record holder and makes a living taking brave souls for a fast taxi ride. She is also a test driver for BMW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNemK-xKf...re=related

Most Americans do not know how big this sport is. They are under the misconception that NASCAR is tops.

I raced at Road Atlanta, along with John Westcott (Ed's son). "Gravity Cavity" on the back-stretch at +150 mph on a motorcycle still stands in my memory as one of the hairiest experiences of my life. They redesigned the track in the '90s to remove that portion.

I don't think F1 is nearly as big as NASCAR and certainly isn't in the US from attendance records I have seen. The problem I have with F1 is it is boring to watch since you have more lead changes in one NASCAR race that F1 does in a whole bunch of races. It is much more impressive that NASCAR rides get the speeds and horsepower they get with the size/weight issues. I am unaware of many technological innovations that daily drivers get from F1?

If you could get a NASCAR track built locally, you could get much more revenue since lots more people attend those.

NASCAR is not scheduling any more events in the South. They are after markets elsewhere. Over ten times as many people in the world watch F1 on television when compared to NASCAR. It is second only to World Cup soccer and the Olympics. Any car maker can participate, not just a select few. NASCAR is still using 1920's automotive technology (push rod engine and carburetors) and just went to unleaded fuel three years ago. It has no relevance to technologies on the showroom and Detroit has been hounding NASCAR about that very issue for years. NASCAR drivers acknowledge that F1 requires far more skills and daring. They follow F1 too.

The F1 chassis is built almost entirely out of carbon fiber. They have been crash testing this material for over 10 years and as a result we know much more about how it behaves during a crash. The Oak Ridge National Lab was just awarded $36 million to construct a Carbon Fiber Technology Center. This material will likely be what cars are made of in 10 years. An F1 car has carbon brake rotors - a technology that ORNL is developing for fighter jets. Last year F1 was using Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems similar to that in a hybrid. ORNL assisted in that as well. The first seat belts in a car were used in F1, thanks to Jackie Stewart. The first disc brakes were used on a Grand Prix car. Next season F1 will not allow refueling during pit stops. This will force engine manufacturers to develop more efficient engines. Because F1 used turbochargers in the '70s we know a lot more about how to utilize this technology as well.

The one thing you did get right is that attendance at an F1 race does not compare to several NASCAR events in the USA. But those that do attend F1 tend to be more affluent and educated. The U.S. Grand Prix at Indy had the highest attendance of all F1 events around the world. People from around the world came to Indy to spectate.

Watching NASCAR is like watching Skittles being flushed down a toilet.

A XK120C was a F1 car? Really? The first disk brakes were used in 1903.

F1 engines are found in showrooms? Really?

NASCAR attendance dwarfs F1. There were four times as many NASCAR fans as F1 fans at the Brickyard.

I will admit that NASCAR rules to even the playing field have dampened the huge technological gains which were being made in the late 60's - early 70's, but there have been a number of innovations that made their way to cars on the street and the cars still at least bear a resemblance to cars you can buy.

To each his own on tastes, I don't watch NASCAR much either, but it is way more entertaining and you actually can watch the lead change and way more cars are capable of winning.


Carbon fiber is good stuff and if they can ever get the price down some more, it will be a useful material for many applications. One of the primary reasons that we need to fund the labs and the weapons programs is the spin-offs that we get in techonology.

Here is the story of Grand Prix auto racing. http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/story.htm "An other interesting entrant in this race was the Peugeot of André Michelin which used pneumatic tires."

It is a sport like any other. The more you learn about it, the more you can relate. Imagine watching football, but not understanding the history or the rules. I think F1 is a great sport with real personalities, real technology and above all - it is "The World Driving Championship".

NASCAR is fun and I highly recommend it to anyone that has never been. Got a spare ticket? But, the Indy 500 is the world's largest spectator event. It has been that way for a long time. An American gem.

Go Danica!

I'll take a road course race over an oval any day.