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killa-trav · 1 year

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Meet Lando Norris, the woke, feminist face of Formula One

The 23-year-old McLaren driver is equally happy driving at more than 200mph or talking about his feelings. Sathnam Sanghera meets the new poster boy for petrolheads

Let’s face it, in the Eighties and Nineties, when I was getting into the sport, a certain kind of man was attracted to driving Formula One cars. Habitually egotistical, frequently misogynistic, oblivious to the environmental consequences of driving a high-powered car in circles for the sake of it, this unreconstructed male would also, with some 52 drivers losing their lives over the years, have something of a death wish. No one demonstrates how much things have changed than the McLaren F1 team’s current lead driver, 23-year-old Lando Norris.

Having recently broken up with the model Luisinha Oliveira, the Brit is a red-blooded young man who tells me with a certain amount of excitement that he’s the driver with the highest rating among female F1 fans, but when asked about the absence of women F1 drivers, he doesn’t, as Jenson Button once did, say that mechanics wouldn’t be able to concentrate near the presence of “boobs”. Instead, he launches into an earnest explanation of how things can and should change. Followed by a list of the ways he and McLaren try to make up for the environmentally unfriendly nature of racing cars.

When it comes to the death wish, Norris admits that his Belgian mother “hates” watching him race because of the risks involved, but safety has improved so much that survival is only an occasional anxiety for him. And as for the hard living, there’s a plastic tub on the table between us informing me that the only thing that has passed his lips this morning is porridge.

“Everything looks easy from the outside,” he says, launching into an explanation of the self-discipline and athleticism required to pilot modern F1 cars. “People don’t realise how physical it is, the G-force side of it. You’re not far off what they do in jet fighters. You then have two-hour races, racing in, you know, Singapore, where it’s 35C, extremely humid, you’re in a cockpit where you don’t get a lot of air flow, so it gets up to 50C inside the car and you can easily lose three, four kilos in some races. It’s one of the most physical sports you can do. And then there’s the mental side of it: if you’re racing in Monaco, one mistake and you’re out pretty much straight away.”

Sitting in a private box at the London Stadium, the site of a Major League Baseball game this weekend and a collaboration event between the baseball players and McLaren today, he tells me about the endurance, cardio and heat-chamber training involved; the difficulty of strengthening neck muscles, essential to withstanding extreme G-forces. Frankly, I can’t imagine him undergoing any of it. It’s partly that he’s just so wilfully unmacho — the single gentlest sportsperson I’ve ever met. It’s also that, at 10st 7lb and 5ft 9in, and looking even younger than his 23 years, he resembles a boy-band member rather than an automotive gladiator. Which probably explains the female fan base.

Make no mistake, though, that Norris is ferocious on the track, frequently out-racing people who almost have more years of F1 experience than he has experience of existence. His once mighty team, McLaren, 60-years old this year, has not delivered the best car this season, but recent upgrades allowed him to attain fifth position, and widespread praise, at this month’s Austrian Grand Prix. And he has been recognised for consistently getting the best out of his cars from his earliest days, beginning racing at the age of just 7 and winning several junior titles before being named McLaren’s test and reserve driver at the age of 17.

He was quickly promoted, his performances eventually making his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo look average, with McLaren replacing him with fellow Australian Oscar Piastri at the end of the 2022 season. Meanwhile, two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen has claimed that Norris is “on the same level” as reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen.

As a reflection of the esteem in which he is held, Norris recently agreed a contract extension with McLaren, which, according to one motorsport magazine, makes him the fourth best-paid driver in F1. When I cite the reported annual salary of about £19.4 million, he concedes it’s “in that ballpark”. An extraordinary amount of money — if you were not already the son of one of the richest men in Britain, of course. Norris got into motor racing with the backing of his 51-year-old father, Adam, whose wealth is estimated in excess of £200 million, mainly from his involvement in the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown. As a result, asking how money has changed his life is not a particularly fruitful line of questioning. What does he spend it on? On experiences with his friends, “creating memories”. Has he splashed out? He can’t think of anything, but then his company car is a McLaren supercar and he travels the planet in luxury for work anyway.

Nevertheless, his rise raises a perennial anxiety for the sport. Can you make it in F1 without being born into money? Norris, who attended Millfield School in Somerset but didn’t do his GCSEs due to already intense motorsport commitments, is characteristically unprickly on the theme. “It’s 100 per cent very, very clear for anyone”, he says, to see that his dad financed his entry into F1. But he insists, “You have to have talent to make it. You’ll never get to Formula One now if you’re a bad driver. I was lucky I didn’t have to find too many sponsors and my dad could support me all the way to F1, but I couldn’t deal with being a pay driver in F1. I think it’s the wrong thing to do, completely.”

By “pay driver”, Norris is referring to the rich young men who occasionally buy a seat in the sport, usually in the form of sponsorship, Russia’s Nikita Mazepin being a recent example at Haas. “There’s no other sport in the world where you can pay just to be in it. It shouldn’t happen in Formula One. But it’s also one of the most expensive sports to get into — you can’t just pick up a go-kart like you can pick up a football or a racket or baseball bat.”

I ask how he thinks his generation of drivers differs from the old guard, and he cites a bunch of factors I’ve not considered. Not least that his generation has grown up practising on the high-tech simulators now used by all F1 teams, and playing computer games for fun. Such games were one of the things that brought Norris to prominence in 2020, when his internet broadcasting of game-playing became popular with motorsport fans deprived of racing. He has since founded his own esports firm, Quadrant. But does playing car games on consoles actually help develop real-life skills? “I don’t think it hurts. But they’re not even games; they’re simulators.” They’re that good? “Yes, certain ones. You’re racing actual people around the world who are very talented, racing other F1 drivers. You’re learning all sorts of race craft, the set-up, handling, car control.”

Growing up with social media is another difference that he cites. It brings up the mental-health struggles Norris has talked about suffering since entering F1, where the pressure can be extreme. But it sounds as if it’s something he has, for now, worked out how to navigate. He has removed Twitter from his phone, but more to stop himself wasting time than because of abuse. “Every person, every sport, people love you and people hate you. Of course, I’d prefer if people loved me. But I just laugh at it more than anything [now]. It affected me a lot more back in, like, 2019, 2020, because I took it all more personally.”

Why was that? “I was just starting out and wanted everyone to like me more.”

This more relaxed attitude is also in evidence in his approach to Netflix’s blockbuster show Drive to Survive, which he has criticised in the past for faking tension with his former team-mate Carlos Sainz, but which he now accepts as entertainment. “Some things get twisted a little bit, but at the same time I realise it’s a show.”

Norris stretches in a way that indicates tiredness, and it’s entirely understandable. I’m knackered from my journey from north to east London, but he finds himself in the capital after three days of travel that have taken in Canada, Cannes and McLaren HQ’s in Surrey. F1 is an exhausting line of work. And the circus is often surreal. Through a window behind him, a McLaren car can be seen being wheeled onto the pitch for the photoshoot: a slice of F1 in West Ham’s football stadium, which has been converted to a baseball diamond for the weekend (and hosted the athletics at the 2012 Olympics). I ask if he’s a football fan. “I used to be.” I know the feeling, I say, wanting to disown Wolverhampton Wanderers when they disappoint. His team? “England.”

It takes a moment to realise this is a sardonic reference to another instance of unwanted attention, in the form of the mugging he suffered in July 2021. As widely reported, an unidentified man held Norris in a headlock while another yanked a £144,000 Richard Mille watch off his wrist. The timepiece was one of just five in existence. It happened at Wembley Stadium as he made his way to his sports car following England’s loss to Italy in the final of Euro 2020. In a remark that some might consider strange given Norris sometimes drives at walls at nearly 200mph, he says, “I didn’t realise how quickly things can go completely… scary.”

Did it change the way he feels about going out and about?

“I don’t wear watches any more.”

He means socially: today he is wearing, for sponsorship reasons, another example of the same watch. “It has changed my perspective. There are still times when I get a bit nervous about things, when I’m with my friends.”

The admission of vulnerability is yet another refreshing thing about Norris, but not altogether surprising if you’ve ever heard him talking to his team over the radio during races. He is intensely self-critical. What is he like with failure? Does he let it overwhelm him? “I would say I do, quite often, but it’s really the biggest drive.”

Lots of athletes use failure to motivate themselves, but it can become destructive.

“It’s the main thing I use. I’ve learnt to beat myself up less, but I’m definitely my biggest critic — I mean, I’m the one who knows what I can do and what I can’t do.”

When it comes to the possibilities of achievement, during a season where McLaren has disappointed, currently standing at sixth out of ten teams, below the middle-ranking Alpine, Norris is optimistic. He believes in the team’s aggressive development plan, which has seen it bring car upgrades to recent races. “I probably have the most faith I’ve had in a while.”

Nevertheless, disappointment is a running theme in our conversation. When I ask about the key to surviving success, he responds with, “I’ve not had much success.” I remind him he has had a disproportionate amount of success for his age. “True. But then again, it’s relative to what I’m actually trying to achieve. Success is winning races, winning championships, and I’ve not got anywhere close to doing that.”

When I ask if he feels like he’s following in the footsteps of Lewis Hamilton, given Hamilton also started off at McLaren, he dismisses the comparison as grandiose. “Life’s not fair in Formula One, because things can go up and down completely out of your control as a driver. So it doesn’t matter if you’re the best driver in the world, if you’re in the wrong team, you’re not going to win. You’re not even going to look good.”

Before departing, I ask Norris how he feels about certain descriptions that are frequently applied to him in press coverage.

“Handsome”? “[That comes from] the female audience,” he blushes.

A “fair loser”? “I admit when I’ve done things wrong. I’m the last guy you’ll ever see blame someone else over myself when something happens.”

“Nice”? There are some drivers who would hate the description, being keen to cultivate a fearsome air both on and off the track. “I’m happy with it. As much as I do care about what people think of me, I want to be seen in a good way rather than not. But just because I’m nice in person doesn’t mean it’s the same on the track.”

Finally, “shy”. It’s shyness that has been apparent throughout our meeting, not least when I ask him to give me a demonstration of his Flemish and he can’t bring himself to do it, even though I’d have no idea if it was good or bad. “I’m just an introvert.”

When did he realise he was an introvert?

“When I was, like, six. I’m not great with crowds and all that kind of thing.”

So how does he handle the intense attention from crowds of fans at races?

“You kind of get used to it. I’m not the biggest fan when they grab you, you know?”

How does he cope with the long days of being on camera?

“Alone time — when it’s just me playing games or going for a walk, listening to music.”

Not for the first time, I want to give Norris an avuncular hug. The feeling intensifies after I inquire what advice he would give to his teenage self. When I normally ask people this question they have to think back decades, but Norris only has to recall life before the pandemic. “Be yourself as much as possible: don’t try to pretend to be a Formula One driver.”

Was there a time when he tried to fit himself into those expectations?

“You feel like there’s a persona, of looking like a superstar, and that just doesn’t need to happen. I can have my laughs and my giggles and, you know, sometimes I just drive a car. Simple as that.”

BY SATHNAM SANGHERA FOR THE TIMES

#this is very very very long btw #some things in this im like ????#but yeh it’s got some good bits in there #lando norris

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puckpocketed · 9 months

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2/1/2024 Winter Classic - Seattle Kraken vs Vegas Golden Knights

The Summer I Fell For Hockey - The Perfect Day: On Yanni Gourde and the Narrative

A bank of fog rolls over the new year, over Seattle’s skyline, over the morning of the Winter Classic. T-Mobile park, after weeks of preparation, is transformed; sprouting up from the baseball diamond is a construct of ochre-red wood and glass, freshly frozen paint and ice, and boards that flash with sponsorships. A sea of people all in red, cream, navy and pale blue flood in to fill up the stands, 47,000 strong. There’s the retractable roof for insurance, in case Seattle weather decides to get in character, but for once the air stays dry and sunlight cuts through the fog in time for the match, winking warm and yellow and sweet from behind sparse cloud cover. In the future, today will be remembered as a near-perfect day for outdoor ice hockey. Continents and continents (and a hemisphere) away, the chime of a phone alarm rings out into a damp summer morning. It’s 6:30 am. It’s Kraken game day. I jolt awake.

The Vegas Golden Knights enter the arena dressed collectively as Elvis, shirts split open to the belly button, reflective of their city’s desert-dwelling glitterati. My Kraken come as fishermen, in work boots and hot red overalls, outfits made complete with fluro orange caps and stuffed fish. When it comes time to get onto the rink in their gear, the Kraken are introduced by Sir-Mix-a-Lot in a truly terrible mashup of his hits and ad libbed lines. As they make their way down the faux boardwalk, jets of fire spew forth intermittently, and real fishmongers from Pike Place Market toss fish between the players in an ode to their post-game tradition (the stuffed fish yeet) and the city of Seattle. The anthem is shredded by a 14-year-old local on electric guitar, to the stoic, patriotic acceptance of everyone watching. (Gods but hockey is such an unserious sport, and for this it will have my heart in perpetuity)

The rink is mic'd today, and I’m grateful. I love the sound of hockey; I love the sound of skate blades carving sibilant lines, the way sticks will clack against each other, against the gritty ice; and when the puck hits someone’s tape just right, there’s a now-familiar little zing deep in my reptilian brain that heralds satisfaction. One day, when my city hosts the AIHL (Australian Ice Hockey League), I’ll be right next to the rink and able to hear it all for myself, but for now this will have to suffice.

The Kraken start dominant, winning the first faceoff and instantly initiating a dump-and-chase. Their cheeks are blacked in an effort to stave off ice blindness, but I like to think they’ve donned war paint. In line with this, Tanev starts the festivities by slamming the Golden Knights’ Whitecloud in a brutal check. Today, with the mics hot, every thump and bump gets caught as bodies hit the boards. Neither team is holding back, some mutually agreed upon level of violence dialled up three notches. Unlike the check-heavy games I’ve watched in the past, there is no pall of malicious intent, no thin veneer of civility to cover up simmering anger from the get go. No; today the hits start clean. No penalties are called for first period.

Had it been two weeks ago, I’d have jumped on the opportunity to extol the virtues and skillset of our starting goalie, Joey. Later, the entire arena will shake with cheers of his name. Because I can’t resist, I’ll say this: he’s still unerringly good at trapping the puck to stop play and cause a reset, shuttering any build up of momentum and opportunities for rebounds; still going on his heart-stopping adventures out of the net and catching compliments from the broadcast on his exceptional stick handling; and the puck at times seems magnetised to his glove. Spoilers for the rest of the game: it’s a shutout, and after all those incredible stops I’m sure Jack Eichel will be kicking himself about being read like a book for days. 35 saves (his exact jersey number) and the first shutout in Winter Classic history. The story writes itself. But enough of that — Joey’s low-hanging fruit. And besides, I’ve already put pen to paper on the Dacs propaganda; it all still stands.

The hard checks keep coming. I get the feeling that something’s different today, that there’s something in the air apart from the perfect weather. Despite Vegas’ stellar record against the Kraken to date (8-1-0), the Kraken have a vice grip on the game. I’m so used to watching them chase games to stumbling, clumsy victories that this dominance feels surreal. They kill off the Knights’ attempts at transitioning, relentless in their pursuit and determined to play along the boards, keeping the puck largely out of their offensive zone. When the Knights do manage to drag it in, the Kraken d-men spare no effort viciously batting incoming pucks away from the slot, and should that fail — Joey’s right there to remind them just how good he is. It’s still a simple game, a steady and unembellished grind the way the Kraken like to play — but something about today makes me think that perhaps the elusive, gossamer thing called ‘luck’ is on their side. Perfect days don’t exist, until they do.

My Kraken score their first goal off a stylish deflection. Dunner skips the puck at Tolvy from the blue line, over Amadio’s stick and into traffic. The puck sails past a scrambling Knights defence, where Tolvy finds it midair and smacks it down, right into the back of the Knights’ net. The second goal materialises two minutes into second period, and so does the inciting incident for this essay (blog post/diary entry/unhinged hockey breakdown). After winning the puck off a scuffle along the boards Yanni Gourde legs it, sending it into Vegas’ side of the rink. There’s some back and forth, but ultimately Borgy picks up a goal with a slapshot off the rebound.

Gourdo (or Pumpkin, if the pun appeals) is the quintessential Kraken player. From his career, to his playstyle, to how he’s never come close to stardom — he is, to quote Nick Faris, someone that, “[...]embodies who the Kraken want to be.” He catches my attention today because of his tenacity, and because the liveblog tag goes hard for him as future captain. I’ve come to learn that where esports fans call it the Script, hockey fans use a different phrase. It’s all the same underneath: when everything fits so well, when it all begins to rhyme like poetry, when it’s so compelling that surely someone must’ve made it up — that’s the Narrative.

Gourdo is short for a hockey player, standing at a modest 5ft 9in (175cm). That’s the first thing you’ll hear about him; that he’s at or below league average. The second thing you’ll hear is that he was never drafted. In a league filled with stories of stars — whose fans and media orbit the monsters of the game, a dozen or so point-scoring darlings — here’s Yanni Gourde, the man who was once a season away from giving up the ghost and getting a civil engineering degree, a rookie for the Tampa Bay Lightning at 26. This, too, is Narrative — a different kind I’d say, because when you hear about underdogs you imagine a scrappy, uncut gem finally breaking through to reach the top. Gourdo isn’t some secret prodigy, and the stats he’s put up since he got his chance in the NHL are solid, a career high of 25 goals and 64 points in 82 games during his time with the Lightning, but nothing like your McDavids or MacKinnons. But that’s all just paper. Out on the ice, though? That’s where the real story is happening.

If Sidney Crosby’s story is the Narrative, Gourdo’s story is like if the Narrative was stolen by a side character — which, fittingly, is exactly what some of the best narratives are all about. A quick Youtube search turns up the usual fluff pieces done by team media. A deeper scan reveals an unusual amount of short highlights, largely scrums and fights that he’s been involved with. In one of them he can be seen sporting his big, crooked grin. This is how I find out that Yanni Gourde is a pest. An instigator, a rat. Whatever you call it, Gourde shares hockey lineage with the likes of Brad Marchand.

In ice hockey, games are won and lost off the back of power plays and penalty kills. But with hitting and fighting at an all-time low, how does one draw penalties? Gourdo has it all figured out. He plays his own game, sticking just short of too close and pushing the envelope on interference. He’s gone on record talking about his extracurriculars, how he verbally and physically taunts opposing players after the whistle: “I know most of the time it works them up and they want to punch me in the face a little bit more. If they take a penalty on me, then, I am winning.” Gourdo treads the line of illegality and sportsmanship, and tips people over the edge in his wake, and when they retaliate they’re caught out and sent to the box.

Rats have a bad reputation in the NHL. Honour codes dictate that you back up any insults, physical or otherwise, should another player challenge you to drop gloves — the assumption being that any on-ice beef is genuine — an agitator’s actions are premeditated, calculated to wreak as much havoc as possible. This insincerity leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many. And yet, Yanni Gourde is beloved.

When he was selected by the Kraken in the expansion draft, Lightning fans made tribute videos. When he first returned to Tampa Bay as a visiting player, the arena shook with his fans' welcome. He is universally regarded by teammates, both past and present, as a leader and an overwhelmingly positive force in the locker room; someone who knows how to get silly (krakenblr-core!), who contributes to constructing good attitudes on the ice, someone who has stepped up to fulfil leadership duties when his teammates have been injured.

Beyond his instigation (and his remarkably sparkling reputation in spite of this), most interesting to me is a distinct pattern to the rest of his shot highlights. There’s nothing too complicated about it, even I noticed as a fan who’s still learning: Yanni Gourde has that intangible, ineffable clutch factor. For every clip where he’s in a scuffle, there’s another instance where he’s scored a game winning goal.

My working theory for why? He’s the guy who didn’t give up on his hockey dream even after being snubbed by the NHL and relegated to the AHL, who debuted as a starter 6 years later than most rookies, made himself a nuisance to play against at every turn with his relentless puck chasing and instigating. He’s Gourdo. So of course he’s got the clutch factor; he snatched his entire career from the jaws of retirement in the eleventh hour.

On a day like today, where the weather is perfect and the sticky late game ice has puck bounces going the Kraken’s way, it feels like the right time for something magical. And in a match filled with physicality Gourdo defies expectations, plays his own game and manages a miracle. Early in the third period, the Knights go for an offensive reset on a loose puck in the Kraken slot that goes shooting past the blue line. It looks completely standard. I’ve seen it a hundred times by now.

And then, racing down the ice there’s Gourdo. I expect a check, because that’s the type of game they’ve primed us for. It doesn’t come. Instead, Gourdo slips right up into Cotter’s space, right under his stick. Their skates cross once but there’s no hit, and with the barest brush… the puck is lifted out from under Cotter’s feet.

This blog is named for a silly pun on ‘pickpocketed’, because it was one of the very first hockey concepts that really captured my imagination. I became quietly obsessed with the idea of pickpocketing in ice hockey, fascinated by hulking athletes who know they don’t even need to hit anyone to win. There’s something so delightful about it; the idea that in ice hockey, a game that is notorious for semi-legal fist fights and whose actual rules allow the players to throw their hundreds of pounds at each other in service of victory, you could simply lose the puck to a thief. Whatever you call it — pickpocketing, puck stripping — it’s the result of refs who’ve become increasingly trigger-happy on calls, and a league-wide shift toward protecting its superstars from concussions.

For Gourdo, it’s a matter of necessity. Being smaller than most players, he has few other options. He can’t just rely on checking; he’s part of the new wave of players who’ve bought in on the puck possession game, scrapping and digging to steal the puck away with stick lifts and finesse rather than outright force. (Funnily enough, fellow pest Marchand is named in an article as another player whose game is shifting to focus on puck possession).

In the wider arc of the Narrative, it’s a perfectly Yanni kind of play. He steals the puck away from the Knights right in their slot, and is left almost one on one with their goalie as everyone else on the ice rushes to catch up. It’s not beautiful hockey — there is no well-timed deke, no lethal toe drag release — it’s just Gourdo wrestling control of the puck from the carved up ice, awkward and off-balance. The first shot doesn’t even go in, bouncing off of Thompson’s pad. But Gourdo is right there to catch it off the rebound, never giving up, always holding on, and he scoops it right over and into the net.

I know the game is finished for the Vegas Golden Knights after this. Call me biassed about my Sharks but I’ve seen when a team is still hungry for a win, and the Knights aren’t coming to the table. More than just the number on the scoreboard, in hindsight this goal feels woven into the fabric of the Narrative. It’s gorgeously messy, unexpected. It comes as a surprise to everyone watching, the broadcast barely able to keep up before the puck makes its way to the net. It’s Seattle waking up from a decades-long slumber to remind the world that it’s always been a hockey town, and the Kraken victory a ringing statement. It's another game winning goal for Gourdo, exactly like he’s always done.

It’s not quite perfect hockey, of course, not what people think of as clean or even technically proficient. But if you’ve watched any Kraken broadcasts you know what I’m about to say.

That’s Kraken hockey, baby!

#kraken lb #seattle kraken #winter classic 2024 #hockeyblr #nhl #ice hockey #yanni gourde #krakenblr #my writing #post-game stuff #player stuff #hello kraken lb come get your yanni propaganda #this man is incredible and interesting and we are so so so blessed to have him with us #i hope he's with us for a long time. but he's the kind of player I'd follow to a new team any day #this write up is a lot more polished than I thought it was gonna be (citations and everything!!!) and I'm quite happy with it!!#i'd like to thank the wayback machine for letting me read paywalled articles <3 bless bless bless #I think it's gonna be my fate to become an amateur scholar on these players' histories whenever i do propaganda #does this count as a primer even though it's like... also a post-game thing?#oh well. here it is and please enjoy!!!!

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coimbrabertone · 4 months

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Champ Car: the World Series that Actually Was.

There's the old joke that Europeans always throw around, that we Americans invent our own sports that only we play, and then we call it the World Series. Now, nevermind that the baseball World Series features playing talent from all across the world - Shohei Ohtani, the top player right now, is Japanese, for instance - because there was an American sport that truly was a world series.

Champ Car.

The Champ Car story begins in 1978, when, following a plane crash that led to the deaths of eight top USAC - United States Auto Club - officials, Dan Gurney wrote the White Paper, calling for massive reforms. Dan Gurney was not only a team owner in CART, but his All-American Racers - under the guise of Anglo-American Racers - bad previously competed in Formula One.

In the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix, Dan Gurney won in his own car, the Eagle Mark 1, also known as the T1G. This beauty of a car, with its Weslake V12 engine, marked the only time that an American car with an American driver won a Formula One race.

When that guy says that your series is fucked, it's fucked.

So, Dan's White Paper led to the creation of CART - Championship Auto Racing Teams - which marked the team owners taking control of the series and organizing it on their principles. For more detail on this era of CART, I recommend Elizabeth Blackstock's Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys podcast, which recently did an episode on this.

For our purposes, the important thing to note is that, by the late 80s, CART was doing business as the "CART PPG Indy Car World Series" and began putting on events inside the US, but also outside of it. Toronto came first in 1986, there was a failed attempt to race in Fuji in 1989, a successful race in Surfers Paradise, Australia, from 1991, and a race in Vancouver from 1990.

There was a problem, however.

The reason that the Fuji race in 1989 failed was because the FIA intervened against CART racing outside of North America. CART's attention soon shifted to Surfers Paradise, where the FIA put pressure on the Confederation of Australian Motorsports to prevent Surfers Paradise from going ahead. Nevertheless, by 1991, CART was able to put on the Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix, which would soon become a mainstay on the CART calendar.

Shortly afterwards, CART and the FIA would reach a settlement: Surfers Paradise would be grandfathered in, CART had freedom to race anywhere they wanted in North America, but everywhere else in the world, CART would be restricted to ovals.

The first of these international ovals came at the 1.9-mile trapezoid known as "Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway" at Jacarepaguá, the former Formula One track in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This came in 1996, as CART was experiencing the split, where the Indy Racing League broke away and took the Indy 500 with them.

In 1998, backed by Honda, Indycar would see another international oval in the form of Twin Ring Motegi, finally giving the series its race in Japan.

The loss of the Indy 500 seemed to mark CART doubling down on the international expansion, because in 2001, two additional international ovals followed: Lausitzring in Germany and Rockingham Motor Speedway (no relation to Rockingham Speedway, formerly known as North Carolina Motor Speedway) in the UK. Additionally, the 2001 season opener was on the Fundidora Park street circuit in Monterrey, Mexico.

Between Monterrey, Motegi, Toronto, Vancouver, Germany, Rockingham, and Surfers Paradise, seven of the series' twenty events were held outside of the US. It was supposed to be eight of twenty-one, however, the Rio 200 was cancelled in 2001 and the event never returned.

2001 was generally a season of disasters for CART, as its showpiece European doubleheader of Germany and Rockingham was overshadowed first by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and then by Alex Zanardi's paralyzing crash at the Lausitzring.

2001, between various disasters, teams defecting to the IRL to get into the Indianapolis 500, and the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement placing stricter limitations on tobacco advertising, marked the beginning of the end for CART.

However, two things happened.

First, the European Commission's Competition Directorate began a probe into the FIA in 1999, accusing them as acting as a monopoly on motorsports. They believed that the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone were using Formula One and their other series to block competitors, prevent rival series, and prevent contracted circuits from hosting competing events. By 2001, the FIA and EC would settle, and the FIA would no longer have a monopoly on motorsports.

In the short term, this allowed CART to replace the struggling Rockingham event with a "Champ Car London Trophy" at Brands Hatch for 2003, in the long term...well, I'll get to that in a moment.

Second, after the 2003 CART season, the series went bankrupt and it was eventually bought out by a trio of team owners, Gerry Forsythe (Team Player's), Kevin Kalkhoven (PK Raving), and Paul Gentilozzi (Rocketsports) who rescued the series. Buying a supply of Ford's Cosworth engines, they put together the Champ Car World Series as a successor to CART.

The 2004 CCWS season consisted of fourteen races, of which, Monterrey, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Surfers Paradise, were outside of the United States.

In 2005, Vancouver was replaced by Edmonton.

In 2007, Montreal would be replaced by Mont Tremblant, additionally, a Belgian race at Zolder and a Dutch race at Assen were added. Monterrey was lost, but it was not seven events in the US, seven outside.

The 2008 Champ Car World Series that never was, was due to add Jerez to the calendar, making for six US races to eight outside of the United States.

Instead, however, Champ Car merged with the IRL to create the modern Indycar series.

In 2008, Edmonton was retained, Surfers Paradise was a non-championship finale, and there was also the race at Motegi, which had joined Honda in defecting from CART to the IRL in 2003.

In 2009, Surfers Paradise would go away, but Toronto would return.

Motegi would persist until 2010, but the oval would be damaged in the 2011 Japanese earthquake and the resulting tsunami. A final race in 2011 - appropriately called "Indy Japan: the Final" - would instead be held on the Motegi road course, as seen in MotoGP.

Edmonton would last until 2012.

From 2010-2013, Indycar put together its own overseas race, the Sao Paulo Indy 300 on a street circuit in Anhembi Parque. Thus 2014 was the first time since 1990 that there was not an Indycar race of some form outside of North America.

To make up for this, 2014 had three doubleheader races, at Belle Isle, Houston, and in Toronto.

Since then, there was an attempt to return to Brazil in 2015 at the other Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet, this one in Brasilia, but that one failed to materialize.

Likewise, there was supposed to be an Indycar exhibition race at Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina in either 2024 or 2025, however, the controversial President Javier Milei slashed government spending, which ultimately killed not only the Indycar Argentina event, but also the long running Argentinian Motorcycle Grand Prix in MotoGP.

Champ Car was a flawed series. It was the spectre of CART dragging out the American open wheel racing split for another four years. In those four years, Sebastien Bourdais won the championship each time, him and his Newman/Haas Racing team often seeming like the only competent team in a sea of Brazilian paydrivers and Formula One rejects.

That being said, it marked the high point of Indycar racing overseas and, despite only existing for four years, managed to build a completely new car - the Panoz DP01 - to replace its aging Lola B02/00 chassis.

There is a lot that modern Indycar is doing right - the return of ovals with doubleheaders at Iowa and Milwaukee in addition to the Gateway race, and now the season finale at 1.3-mile Nashville Superspeedway is great - however, one area where it is supremely lacking is international events.

The 2024 NTT Indycar Series has drivers from all over the world - my last blogpost was about a Kiwi doing 234.2 miles per hour around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - but it does not have the schedule to back it up. The fact that one of the most popular stars in the series in Pato O'Ward is literally from Monterrey, Mexico and the series hasn't even seriously considered going back there is downright foolish.

NASCAR is making moves to potentially go to Montreal, Canada and Mexico City, Mexico as early as 2025. If NASCAR, with exactly two foreign drivers - Daniel Suarez and Shane Van Gisbergen - beats Indycar to international expansion, then the Penske Entertainment regime will have truly failed.

And that makes me sad, because like I made clear in the last blogpost, Team Penske is an amazing team with so much history and so many successes.

I just wish their series ownership was as successful as their race teams.

#motorsports #racing #indycar #penske #indy 500 #champ car

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4whomittolz · 10 months

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Damn Tumblr would be so cool if it was into sport unironically. Yeah, yeah, I love my sportsball jokes too, but sports is awesome to watch, and nerding out over stats is so fun.

Cricket might seem like a hard sport to get into but it's actually great because watching highlights is not only valid but the optimal way of watching cricket. Test cricket is a game of ages played over 5 days, only maniacs sit down and watch it front to back. Also it's a non contact sport, if muscley dudes ramming into each other doesn't interest you.

If you are into muscley dudes ramming into each other, then I recommend Australian Football. (Yes I'm Australian, I know I'm making it obvious) It's incredibly fast paced, features widely mixed skills, is extremely statistically rich and the AFL is an incredibly balanced league, so you can expect your chosen team to go deep into the finals every few years. It might be difficult or expensive to watch overseas but it's quite worth it!

F1 (and broadly all motorsport) is great because it's pretty much all maths. Also there's a Netflix show you can watch, drive to survive is pretty artificial but the sport does have a bit of drama in it.

Those are the sports I'm into right now, but all sports are awesome. Football/Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, US Football are all amazing, and really fun to immerse yourself in. I know I'm not going to convince everyone but I hope someone that sees this finds a new passion!

#sport #cricket #sportsball #meta #196 #r/196 #afl #aflw #formula 1 #f1

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dan6085 · 1 year

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1. Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962: Considered by many to be the greatest individual performance in basketball history, Chamberlain scored an incredible 100 points in a single game, a record that still stands today.

2. Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal in the 1986 World Cup: In a quarterfinal match against England, Maradona scored one of the most controversial goals in soccer history by punching the ball into the net with his hand, a play that went unnoticed by the referees.

3. Michael Jordan's "Flu Game" in the 1997 NBA Finals: Despite suffering from a severe case of the flu, Jordan scored 38 points and led the Chicago Bulls to victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

4. Babe Ruth's called shot in the 1932 World Series: In one of the most famous moments in baseball history, Ruth allegedly pointed to the center field fence and then hit a home run in that exact spot.

5. Usain Bolt's world record 100m race at the 2009 World Championships: Bolt shattered his own world record in the 100m by running it in 9.58 seconds, a feat that many consider to be the greatest sprinting performance of all time.

6. Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10 at the 1976 Olympics: In gymnastics, a perfect 10 is the highest possible score, and Comaneci became the first person to achieve this feat in Olympic competition.

7. Bobby Orr's Stanley Cup-winning goal in 1970: In overtime of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, Orr scored the game-winning goal and then flew through the air in celebration, creating one of the most iconic images in hockey history.

8. Roger Federer's 2008 Wimbledon victory over Rafael Nadal: In what many consider to be the greatest tennis match of all time, Federer defeated Nadal in five sets to win his sixth Wimbledon title.

9. Secretariat's 1973 Belmont Stakes victory: In arguably the greatest horse race ever run, Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by an astonishing 31 lengths, setting a world record time that still stands today.

10. Michael Phelps' eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics: Phelps became the first person to win eight gold medals at a single Olympic Games, breaking the previous record of seven set by Mark Spitz.

11. Lionel Messi's four-goal performance against Arsenal in 2010: In a Champions League match, Messi scored four goals and led Barcelona to a 4-1 victory over Arsenal.

12. Tom Brady's Super Bowl LI comeback against the Atlanta Falcons: In Super Bowl LI, Brady led the New England Patriots back from a 28-3 deficit to win the game in overtime, throwing for a Super Bowl record 466 yards.

13. Mookie Wilson's ground ball in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series: In one of the most memorable moments in baseball history, Wilson hit a ground ball that went through the legs of Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner, allowing the New York Mets to win the game and eventually the World Series.

14. Serena Williams' 2017 Australian Open victory while pregnant: Williams won her 23rd Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in 2017, all while being pregnant with her first child.

15. Brett Favre's Monday Night Football performance after his father's death: Just one day after his father passed away, Favre threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns in a Monday Night Football victory over the Oakland Raiders.

16. LeBron James' 2016 NBA Finals performance: In a seven-game series against the Golden State Warriors, James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first-ever NBA championship, averaging 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 8.9 assists per game.

17. Muhammad Ali's "Rumble in the Jungle" victory over George Foreman: In one of the greatest upsets in boxing history, Ali defeated Foreman in a heavyweight championship fight in 1974, using his "rope-a-dope" strategy to tire out his opponent.

18. Wayne Gretzky's 1985-86 season: Gretzky set NHL records for most goals (92), most assists (163), and most points (215) in a single season, a feat that many consider to be the greatest individual performance in hockey history.

19. Michael Johnson's world record 200m race at the 1996 Olympics: Johnson ran the 200m in 19.32 seconds, setting a new world record and winning the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics.

20. Tiger Woods' 2000 U.S. Open victory: Woods won the U.S. Open by a record-setting 15 strokes, finishing the tournament at 12-under par and cementing his status as one of the greatest golfers of all time.

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trevormower · 2 years

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Entry #4 The sporting Event

Today on 1/8, the group went to a baseball game. The team is known as the Auckland Tuatara, in the Australian Baseball league accompanied by seven other teams. This league tends to be very different than the MLB games, almost felt like going to a minor league hockey game, except in nice weather. One thing I noticed that was a big difference between this game and a game in the states was the crowd, the crowd was insanely smaller than a MLB game, taken that the stadium cannot hold as many people, many people do not go in general. I would estimate there was maybe 1000 people there, not totally sure, but if you screamed something, everyone could hear it. There was also a guy who was doing little gestures/promos with a microphone the entire game, which you never see at a baseball game in the states, but like I said earlier, this represents a small market franchise in any sport, just to get the crowds attention. But for the actual game, they only play 7 innings, where we are used to singing the 7th inning stretch, the Tuatara are trying to save the game. this is a small market, considering New Zealand isn't known for baseball, compared to their powerhouses in rugby and cricket, many people don't believe to invest their time and money in baseball. Since it is such a small market, they barely even have dugouts, it is just a big tent over them, with chairs and a couple jugs of water, thats it. Having a small market sporting team like this has its ups and downs, but it is not a sport many people follow in New Zealand. Overall at the game, it was a great experience, sure the game isn't entertaining as a regular MLB game, but there was a lot of action, including three home runs and a lot of foul balls coming our way (I did not get a ball unfortunately). It was a great experience to watch a familiar sport in a different country, hopefully some of these players end up playing at a higher level in the states.

#new zealand #auckland #baseball

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rodspurethoughts · 11 days

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As an Aussie makes baseball history, the sport’s dark past is a clue to why it never took off here

Ray Nickson, University of Newcastle Earlier this month, Travis Bazzana made history as the first Australian selected number one in the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. Bazzana will join the Cleveland Guardians after playing college baseball for Oregon State. Following his selection, Bazzana, originally from Wahroonga, NSW, said he wanted to help “make Australia a powerhouse in…

#Aussie Baseball

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losangelesnewsfeed · 2 years

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"Discover the incredible turning point for Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League that has fans talking! You won't believe the stunning victory over Borussia Dortmund - read on to find out more!"

The article discusses whether Chelsea’s recent win over Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League can be seen as a turning point for the team’s fortunes. The author notes that Chelsea has been inconsistent in its performances this season and that the win over Dortmund was an important one, given the German team’s strong form. The article also highlights some of the key players for Chelsea,…

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brookstonalmanac · 1 month

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Events 8.16 (after 1920)

1920 – Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians is hit on the head by a fastball thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees. Next day, Chapman will become the second player to die from injuries sustained in a Major League Baseball game. 1920 – The congress of the Communist Party of Bukhara opens. The congress would call for armed revolution. 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: The Battle of Radzymin concludes; the Soviet Red Army is forced to turn away from Warsaw. 1923 – The United Kingdom gives the name "Ross Dependency" to part of its claimed Antarctic territory and makes the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand its administrator. 1927 – The Dole Air Race begins from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, during which six out of the eight participating planes crash or disappear. 1929 – The 1929 Palestine riots break out in Mandatory Palestine between Palestinian Arabs and Jews and continue until the end of the month. In total, 133 Jews and 116 Arabs are killed. 1930 – The first color sound cartoon, Fiddlesticks, is released by Ub Iwerks. 1930 – The first British Empire Games are opened in Hamilton, Ontario, by the Governor General of Canada, the Viscount Willingdon. 1933 – Christie Pits riot takes place in Toronto, Ontario. 1942 – World War II: US Navy L-class blimp L-8 drifts in from the Pacific and eventually crashes in Daly City, California. The two-man crew cannot be found. 1944 – First flight of a jet with forward-swept wings, the Junkers Ju 287. 1945 – The National Representatives' Congress, the precursor of the current National Assembly of Vietnam, convenes in Sơn Dương. 1946 – Mass riots in Kolkata begin; more than 4,000 people would be killed in 72 hours. 1946 – The All Hyderabad Trade Union Congress is founded in Secunderabad. 1954 – The first issue of Sports Illustrated is published. 1960 – Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom. 1960 – Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico, United States, at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that held until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft. 1964 – Vietnam War: A coup d'état replaces Dương Văn Minh with General Nguyễn Khánh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the U.S. Embassy. 1966 – Vietnam War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigations of Americans who have aided the Viet Cong. The committee intends to introduce legislation making these activities illegal. Anti-war demonstrators disrupt the meeting and 50 people are arrested. 1972 – In an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat. 1975 – Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically hands over land to the Gurindji people after the eight-year Wave Hill walk-off, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia, commemorated in a 1991 song by Paul Kelly and an annual celebration. 1987 – Northwest Airlines Flight 255, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes after takeoff in Detroit, Michigan, killing 154 of the 155 on board, plus two people on the ground. 1989 – A solar particle event affects computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trading. 1991 – Indian Airlines Flight 257, a Boeing 737-200, crashes during approach to Imphal Airport, killing all 69 people on board. 2005 – West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, crashes in Machiques, Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board. 2008 – The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is topped off at 1,389 feet (423 m), at the time becoming the world's highest residence above ground-level. 2013 – The ferry St. Thomas Aquinas collides with a cargo ship and sinks at Cebu, Philippines, killing 61 people with 59 others missing. 2020 – The August Complex fire in California burns more than one million acres of land.

#Events

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recentlyheardcom · 2 months

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Australian second baseman Travis Bazzana taken by Cleveland Guardians with top MLB draft pick

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Travis Bazzana seems like he represents a whole nation, not only a faculty. Cleveland chosen the Australian second baseman on Sunday evening with the No. 1 choose in Main League Baseball’s novice draft, and three gamers from Wake Forest had been picked within the prime 10. A former cricket, rugby and soccer participant who got here to the US to play baseball for Oregon…

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didyouknow-wp · 3 months

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#wikipedia #random facts #did you know

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motobola · 4 months

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The Global Guide to Exploring Overseas Baseball Broadcast

Fans around the world are eager to watch their favourite teams and leagues even when they're far away. The overseas baseball broadcast is a vital element to fans who wish to remain connected with the action. This guide explores the different aspects of soccer broadcasting overseas, giving fans tips and insights on how they can catch the most exciting moments.

Key Broadcasters and Streaming Services

The landscape for overseas soccer broadcasting is dominated by a few major broadcasters. ESPN, Sky Sports and beIN Sports provide extensive coverage for top leagues, such as English Premier League (EPL), La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga. Streaming platforms such as DAZN and Amazon Prime Video have also secured the broadcast rights for various competitions. This makes it easy for fans to view matches on demand or live. Knowing what these streaming services offer can help you choose the right service for your viewing preference.

Navigating Different Time Zones

The time zone differences can be a challenge for soccer fans from around the world. A Premier League match played in Britain might be broadcast in Asia late at night or early the next morning. Fans can manage their schedules using tools like Live Soccer TV and FlashScore which show match times in the local time zone. Set reminders or alarms to ensure that you don't forget any important moments.

Viewing options that are legal and secure

It's crucial that soccer fans choose safe and legal options for watching matches online. Subscription packages are available from many streaming networks that allow access to exclusive content, live matches and replays. NBC Sports Gold, for example, covers the Premier League across the US while Optus Sport provides extensive coverage of the Australian league. Subscribers to these services are not only supporting the sport, but they also guarantee a reliable and high-quality viewing experience free of the dangers associated with illegal streams.

How to bypass geo-restrictions using VPNs

Due to broadcasting rights in certain regions, geo-restrictions may prevent soccer fans from watching some broadcasts. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are a common way to circumvent these restrictions. VPNs mask the IP addresses of users, making it appear that they're accessing the Internet from another location. It is especially useful for football fans who want to use UK services such as BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub in order to stream matches. To ensure smooth and secure streaming, it's important to select a VPN that is reputable 해외야구중계.

Enhancing your overseas baseball broadcast viewing experience

Watching matches on Overseas Baseball broadcasts can be enhanced to make them more exciting. Many streaming and broadcasting services provide features such as multiple camera angles and different language commentary. They also offer in-depth analysis of matches. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are social media platforms that provide live updates, interactive discussion, and allow fans to interact with soccer communities around the world. Virtual Reality (VR), for example, is a technology that offers immersive viewing, which brings fans even closer to the game than before.

The Future of Overseas Baseball Broadcast

With the constant advancements of technology, the future looks bright for overseas soccer broadcasting. Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence are set to provide personalized, interactive experiences. The rollout of the 5G will improve streaming quality, reduce latency and enable smoother mobile broadcasts. Soccer fans can expect to see more and better streaming and broadcasting services as the industry continues to develop.

Conclusion

The overseas baseball broadcast allows fans to follow their teams and leagues regardless of geographic barriers. Fans can have a high-quality viewing experience by understanding broadcasters, streaming services, time zones and legal options. The future of soccer broadcasting will bring fans even more immersive and innovative ways to enjoy the excitement of the game. The global reach of broadcasts for soccer ensures the game is accessible to everyone, whether you are watching in your living room or while on the move.

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