We Can't All Have 1000 Horses
Regulations seem to be in the news more these days than any other time I can remember. At least it seems that way.
Maybe I am getting old but it seems like in the last ten years we have talked more about the package a set of regulations created than at any other point in motorsports. It is not held to one series but seemingly all of them: IndyCar, NASCAR, Formula One, FIA World Endurance Championship, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, IMSA, the list could go on.
I guess we always talked about regulations. We talked about changes because they happened. From Group C to LMP, the turbo era of Formula One to the naturally aspirated era in the late-80s, Group A to Class 1 Touring Cars, there were plenty of change and all were notable but it seems like the regulations come up at every race. Every race is viewed through the prism of the regulations and if the race is not to the liking of the masses the voices come out and state where changes need to be made. It is funny we do not here the regulations given their do when the racing is celebrated but that is another story.
If there are two series where the regulations are a storyline each time there is on track action it is NASCAR and Formula One. Neither set of regulations is particularly beloved. NASCAR tweaks its regulations at the rate of changing underwear it seems and it has adopted a high downforce, high drag, low horsepower set up for many tracks this season. It has put a tampered spacer on the car, reducing the horsepower to 550 or 750 depending on the track.
Formula One had high downforce last season though that has been relaxed a bit this season but the big regulation change isn't until 2021. NASCAR's next generation car is also scheduled for introduction in 2021.
Regardless of what the series is it seems one common answer: More horsepower, less downforce.
It has become a pretty common sentiment in NASCAR this season with the package moving the opposition direction. NASCAR Grand National Series race winner Justin Marks had this comment after the Las Vegas race:
I know everyone has an opinion but here's mine anyways. If it was up to me I'd get these noses off the track, reduce all aerodynamic reliance (100% mechanical handling), 1,000+ HP, harder tires. Go to some smaller tracks, and let these guys RACE.— Justin Marks (@JustinMarksDG) March 4, 2019
There are some things I agree with: Getting the nose off the ground, reducing aerodynamics and more short track is a different story but when it comes to horsepower, we need to talk.
Regardless of series, I keep hearing it needs 1,000 horsepower. IndyCar fans have been saying that for over a decade. Formula One fans want that. Sports car fans have that (Thank you Toyota). Now NASCAR fans want that. There is only one problem: We can't all have 1,000 horsepower.
While everyone keeps saying low downforce and 1,000 horsepower, there is a limit. We can't all have 1,000 horsepower. What is going to make these series different? Why would someone watch one over the other? Are we going to have a 1,000 horsepower series with fenders and one without and another 1,000 horsepower, open-wheel series but this one with a common chassis manufacture? It would eventually lose its appeal despite being so desired.
NASCAR has never been a 1,000 horsepower series. It has climbed over the years but the era that people seek from the 1970s and 1980s was not a 1,000 horsepower series and though NASCAR doesn't really care about car performance matching the model on the track (Toyota runs the Camry), it would be hard to justify a 1,000 horsepower Mustang, Camaro and definitely Camry.
NASCAR needs to be something but 1,000 horsepower might not be the answer. It has to get its nose off the ground and have ride heights closer to the road models. The cars need to move around and be a handful and it can do that with less than 1,000 horsepower.
There is something about this current era of motorsports that has me thinking and it is a sense that the regulations have to give us the race we want. Regardless of the series, everything is regulated to the point that we have do not have much separation between the top and the bottom. When it comes to NASCAR, there is no great difference between the three manufactures. In IndyCar, Honda and Chevrolet and pretty much equal. Formula One and the FIA WEC are two series where one manufacture can have a superior advantage over the rest of the field.
The regulations have to maximize what is possible. On top of that the cars are reliable to a fault and we do not see cars pushing the limit to the point of failure. It is not like how it was for majority of the 20th century when most races had at least half the field retired and we were lucky to have two or three cars on the lead lap. The races were different and we didn't need the regulations to provide a certain race. The race evolved in front of us. The fastest car could breakdown five laps in. The fastest car could breakdown with five laps to go with a one lap lead. The fastest car would have to go at 85% otherwise it wouldn't make it.
Our standards of a good race have changed because the races have changed. Many people question how a race where one car finished on the lead lap and only the top five would be within four laps of each other could be a good race but attrition was part of the game and who would make it was part of it. Today, we expect at least 90% of a grid to make it to the finish and at least two-thirds of the final to be on the lead lap. When there are lapped cars in the top ten people get uncomfortable today.
We are not going back to the days of breakdowns anytime soon. No series is really embracing innovation and that is part of the reason why we had the results we did during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. If that was the case our standards would change but for now we are going to keep having majority of people make it to the end and if that is the case every series is going to try and make the most of that.
Whether making the most of it is 1,000 horsepower and low downforce or some of package we are at an odd time for motorsports. Expectations are different then decades ago and in some cases they are too high. Every series is evolving and are looking for the answer of what it has to be but they cannot all have the same one.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Lewis Hamilton but did you know...
Marc Márquez won the Argentine Grand Prix. Lorenzo Baldassarri won the Moto2 race, his second consecutive victory in as many races. Jaume Masià won the Moto3 race, his first career victory.
The #27 HubAuto Corsa Ferrari of Nick Foster, Tim Slade and Miguel Molina won the California 8 Hours.
Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR Cup race from Texas. Kyle Busch won the Grand National Series and Truck races.
Nicholas Latifi and Luca Ghiotto split the Formula Two races from Bahrain.
Cooper Webb won the Triple Crown round from Houston. Webb won the second of the three races while Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin won the first and third respectively.
Thierry Neuville won Tour de Corse and took the World Rally Championship lead.
Coming Up Next Weekend
IndyCar will be at Barber Motorsports Park.
NASCAR is in Bristol.
The Supercars series goes to Tasmania and Symmons Plains.
World Superbike has its first European round at Arágon.
Supercross makes its first visit to Nashville.
