Not sure if this is a repost but I came across this and I wanted to share this with everyone:

'What Racing is all About'

It's about money, of course; for most it's about finding it, finding enough of it, and then finding more. It's about guzzling money like water, about living with the guilt of burning up so much hard earned cash. But it's much more.

It's about supremacy, being top dog, king of the hill, head honcho, the big kahuna; standing out above the crowd, being number one, the best.

It's about speed. It's about riding the fastest, scariest, hold-onto-your-hats-geez-I'm-gonna-wet-my-pants-best-damn-roller-coaster ever invented.

And it's about power. It's about leading the charge of a thousand screaming banshees, having your body wrenched and twisted and tossed about by the hands of great unseen forces; and it's about taming a blind raging Herculean monster, and bending it to your will.

It's about brilliant colors, flashes of light, ear-splitting shrieks, and bone-rattling rumbles. It's about the unforgettable smell of burning rubber, smoldering brake pads, and gear oil. It's about reaching through the steering wheel all the way down to the tires and feeling the road slipping past your fingertips. It's about sensing the weight of the car shifting from tire to tire, like water in a pan. It's about the tug of the shoulder harness across the collar bones, and the cramp in the leg from
pressing the gas pedal through the floor.

Racing is about all of these things, and much more.

It's about passion; burning desire, insatiable hunger. It's a perverse yet overwhelming love affair with steel, glass, and rubber. It's about a relentless courtship with speed.

It's about conceiving and nurturing a child--the benefactor of your skill and wisdom, and a victim of your ignorance. It's about saving a rusting pile of disregarded scrap from the crusher and making it stronger, faster, more real and alive than it ever was, or ever deserved to be. It's about
caring for your creation, loving it; pushing it to its limits, exalting in its greatness, and forgiving its weaknesses, because they are your weaknesses.

It's about dreams and hopes and fears. Dreams of glory; dreams of carving out a small niche in history, like Mario, and Sterling, and "King Richard". Hopes. Hopes that the many long winter hours of lonely toil in the cold, dusty garage will bring smiles come May, and a nod of approval from the brutally indifferent stopwatch. Hopes that the brakes will be there on call, as you hurtle without recourse into the unforgiving concrete canyon. Hopes that, in the end, you'll be able to look back on the whole experience and find it worth the price, while living with the fear that it won't be.

It's about determination, perseverance, and the strength of resolve. It's about patience and discipline. It's about putting in the time, double checking, attending to the critical details. It's about concentration, and focus. It's about controlling the overpowering urges, sticking to the game
plan, and keeping your head when the unthinkable happens. It's about testing, and measuring, and worrying, and sweating the small stuff

It's about faith; faith in yourself, in your crew, in your fellow competitors, in the workers, and in the men and women who designed this car, these tires, and this track. It's about believing in your roll cage, and your safety harness, your Nomex suit, and the fire system that has never been put to the test. It's about knowing that no matter what happens, you chose.

It's about deep and lasting respect, caring, and friendships; about sharing joys and disappointments, pitching in, and easing the load.

It's about living life in the cutting edge of a razor, hanging it all out there, going for broke. It's about knowing, without doubt, by-damn, that you're alive. It's about putting your heart and soul into something and letting the whole world see what you can do. It's about knowing that in the
midst of the confusion and emotion and heart-stopping action, you were the one that mattered.

- Anonymous

very philosophical!


but I'm stumped as to why teams like Minardi in F1 and Skoda in WRC continue racing.  

Very accurate and comprehensive description of racing.  Good post Evo_Z!

It's not surprising why you have teams like Minardi and Skoda.   Did you know Fernando Alonso started with the Minardi team?  And he didn't produce any miracles while in it.  You're not expected to.   It's a test if you have the character and discipline to go up one more level.   Like every other sport or life for that matter, there are levels and steps one has to pass in order to compete at the next level.

Skoda on the other hand is a marketing strategy of the company and I think its a very good stategy to lift the company's image and eventually sell more cars.  

Even though you don't win, it's enough that you're competing.  "Competition improves the breed".   Also, racing serves as a vital testbed, training and R&D to improve future products.

If your car company is not into racing, it's either so well established in the market already or it's not yet a major player.

Quote from: Accord GTR on August 22, 2005, 07:56:10 AM

Skoda on the other hand is a marketing strategy of the company and I think its a very good stategy to lift the company's image and eventually sell more cars.  

I think Ford used that reason to enter F1 as Jaguar Racing. (we all know what happened to that project. )

Quote from: DTNS on August 22, 2005, 11:48:18 AM
I think Ford used that reason to enter F1 as Jaguar Racing. (we all know what happened to that project. )

So do have a point to make, DTNS?  Are you implying that Jaguar Racing and joining F1 was bad for Ford?  Ford is still one of the biggest car companies in the World and it has a very positive image as a brand.  I would think that Jaguar Racing and its efforts in F1 were just one of those marketing strategies that contributed to this successful brand-building.  Like I said, you don't have to win to be a winner but winning would be nice.

The WRC is the (marketing) vehicle that Skoda hopes to bolster its brand.   Think again, why WRC?   What is Skoda's market?  Where did Skoda originate?  Skoda is a Czech car company that has lasted over 100 years!   Only 3 other car companies in the world can claim that.  And Ford is one one of them, DTNS.   Can you guess the other 2?  Are they into racing?   Now do you get my point?   Now, is it clear to you why Skoda is into the WRC?

Quote from: Accord GTR on August 22, 2005, 02:17:15 PM
So do have a point to make, DTNS?  Are you implying that Jaguar Racing and joining F1 was bad for Ford?  Ford is still one of the biggest car companies in the World and it has a very positive image as a brand.  I would think that Jaguar Racing and its efforts in F1 were just one of those marketing strategies that contributed to this successful brand-building.  Like I said, you don't have to win to be a winner but winning would be nice.

I'm not trying to make a point. I was not implying that Jaguar Racing and joining F1 was bad for Ford. I just think it would have been better if they were competitive since Ford has vast resources being one of the biggest car companies in the world.

Quote from: Accord GTR on August 22, 2005, 02:17:15 PM
The WRC is the (marketing) vehicle that Skoda hopes to bolster its brand.   Think again, why WRC?   What is Skoda's market?  Where did Skoda originate?  Skoda is a Czech car company that has lasted over 100 years!   Only 3 other car companies in the world can claim that.  And Ford is one one of them, DTNS.   Can you guess the other 2?  Are they into racing?   Now do you get my point?   Now, is it clear to you why Skoda is into the WRC?

yes, I know what Skoda's market is and that Skoda is a Czech car company. as for those 3 car companies, I'm sure Mercedes is one of them. I'm not sure of the 3rd though. my guess is that it's either Porsche or Peugeot. yes I do get your point.


anyway, sorry I offended you.

Ok no problem, DTNS.