From: thos@suite.sw.oz.au (Thomas Cohen)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport
Subject: Re: Faster drivers
Date: 9 Apr 92 21:46:40 GMT
Organization: Softway Pty Ltd

In <34975@nntpd.lkg.dec.com> mcculley@racy.zko.dec.com (Bruce McCulley) writes:


>In article <thos.702513493@suite.sw.oz.au>,
> thos@suite.sw.oz.au (Thomas Cohen) writes:
> 
>|> In <ktihecINNhgp@ashley.cs.widener.edu>
> dxandy@cs.widener.edu (Andrew Greenshields) writes:
>|> >  I am disappointed that Mansell hasn't
>|> >learn from his experiences on the track.  I can't understand why he
>|> >still sets fast laps in the closing stages of the race when he has a
>|> >30 odd second lead.
>|> 
>|> Because the man is a racer. Can't you understand that? To be as fast
>|> as your car will let you be, not as fast as your car will let you
>|> and have a > 75% chance of finishing. Most of the famous names from
>|> the past were like this, probably most recently Villeneuve.

>No.

>Self-indulgent egoist, perhaps.  Great (driven?) driver, perhaps.

>But not a *RACER*.

>The difference between being a *racer* and being a *driver* is that
>racing is about finishing in front of everyone else.  Being a driver
>is about driving as well as possible.

Well, certain countries in the world have brought an unhealthy
obsession about winning into things. Many times Nuvolari killed
his car, and no one ever called him a driver instead of a racer.
I believe a racer wants to go faster than anyone else. 

>"To finish first, first finish."
This attitude is OK, if you like winning above all things. To me,
there's a little more to it than that. Attitudes like Peter Collins
giving his car to Fangio so that Fangio could win his 5th (4th?)
title, or Aston Martin not protesting Mercedes so that they could
win, because it wasn't really sportsmanlike.

>When a driver overcooks the car trying to set lap records during a 
>meaningless tour with a comfortable margin of victory already in hand,
>the team loses.  That's why it is self-indulgent egoism on the part of the
>driver to push the car beyond necessity.

Sorry, but to the public, the driver is it, and the team are just
the supporters (note that I don't agree with this view of things,
that's just the way it is.) No one goes to a race to see the McLaren
mechanics in their beautiful red and white clothing, they go to see
Senna and Berger.

>How often does Mansell experience car problems, versus, say, Patrese?
>Or Senna, or Berger?  How about some others, consider Andretti (Mario has
>long had a reputation as a car-breaker) or Prost or Lauda or Villeneuve.  
>Or going much farther back, how about Stewart or Clark?
Not surprising that he has more troubles than Patrese, as he drives
his car a bit faster. Clark had many troubles, but I'm inclined to
believe that he was a victim of Chapman engineering.

>Is Mansell a better driver than Senna?
>Was Picasso a better artist than Van Gogh?

>Who cares, appreciate them both for their qualities (including their human
>flaws, none are without those!)

No disagreement here!
-- 
thos cohen  				       |Softway Pty Ltd
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