Olympic Auto Racing

Corjomc

Let's say starting in 1900 in Paris the Olympics decides to include auto racing as an event.

What format do you think they would choose for the race?

Which countries do well, how does this effect the automotive industry?

barring butterflies, who were the teams in 2016 in Rio?

Who wins gold?
 

Arkenfolm

I'd assume we get something like Formula 1 racing for the event.

I'd think that the pre-WWII Olympics would be huge in promoting motorsports. Since the Olympics still has equestrian sports as events, I think motorsports as an event isn't too out of the picture.
 

Arkenfolm

SlyDessertFox said:
Given its global reach, I think something similar to F1 would probably be used, since Nascar and Indycar don't really have an appeal outside of America.
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Agreed, although there could be NASCAR or INDYCAR be demonstrated at some Olympic Games (1984 Los Angeles?) as a demonstration sport.
 

Corjomc

Would F1 being adopted by the Olympics make it significantly more popular in the U.S. than it is today?

What about a Grand Prix in the host city, since the Marathon is traditionally at the end maybe the race could kick of the games with the lighting of the torch being the signal for the drivers to go.

I could also see motocross making its way into the games.
 

GunsCarsGuitars

Banned
SlyDessertFox said:
Given its global reach, I think something similar to F1 would probably be used, since Nascar and Indycar don't really have an appeal outside of America.
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NASCAR/DTM/British (and Australian) Touring cars are widely popular in the US and Europe. No reason it couldn't go in that direction
 

Just Leo

Well, in 1900, there were 14 classes of Olympic auto racing, and an American won the Fire Truck class. There's no FIA until 1904, so there's no Formula 1.
 

Corjomc

Next question, who are the drivers on the Olympic teams racing for their country in 2016?

Also, if for some reason it wasn't doable as an Olympic event cold NASCAR or F1 do their own version of the World Baseball Classic?

I am imagining the moment when a driver is getting his medal and he calls his pit crew onto the dais to get their medal with him as a team.
 

GunsCarsGuitars

Banned
Corjomc said:
Next question, who are the drivers on the Olympic teams racing for their country in 2016?

Also, if for some reason it wasn't doable as an Olympic event cold NASCAR or F1 do their own version of the World Baseball Classic?

I am imagining the moment when a driver is getting his medal and he calls his pit crew onto the dais to get their medal with him as a team.
Click to expand...


There is a 'World Championship" of sorts, contested by teams representing the various nations, but it isn't widely popular or noted in the US. Maybe it's a bigger deal in Europe.
 

Roches

By midcentury there would be more disciplines, like rally racing and drag racing, in addition to the basic "Auto Racing" events, which I imagine would probably be Formula One style. Motorcycle racing, too. Well, it would have started with some form of race car in 1900 and it would have evolved over time. It would probably end up emphasizing the fastest possible cars, like F1, but perhaps Olympic Formula cars wouldn't look like modern F1 cars do, because the development history would be different.

I suspect the host country would provide all vehicles. (Who supplies luges and bobsleds for the Winter Olympics? I think it's the host.) For that reason, Olympic performance would be just a shade below standard F1 performance. World records would be better than Olympic records.

I like the idea of kicking off the events with a Grand Prix race, although in practice a few events occur before the opening ceremonies, but I think the main event would be held towards the end of the Olympics, perhaps on the same day as the marathon.

Not sure what you meant by what teams participated in Rio, but here's a medals table for auto racing 1900-2016 (thirty olympiads).

Country: Gold/Silver/Bronze
USA: 61/55/47
UK: 42/53/46
Italy: 6/12/31
France: 12/21/31
BRD/Germany excluding DDR: 39/24/31
USSR/United/Russia: 6/8/24
DDR: 1/4/19
Japan: 2/9/17
Canada: 2/12/21

Rio results:
24 hour endurance: USA/France/UK
500 km hard track: USA/Germany/Italy
250 km urban track: France/USA/Russia
500 meter drag racing: USA/Japan/UK
Motocross, acrobatic [scored like gymnastics]:Canada/USA/Ireland
Motocross, racing: USA/Slovakia/Germany

[The numbers don't add up or make sense, they just give an overview of how I think things would have happened... remember there are multiple events per year. The Rio results are meant to show the events. There are six, about the same number as equestrian events.]
 

GunsCarsGuitars

Banned
Actually, each team/country are responsible for their own equipment. NASCAR racer Geoff Bodine designed the Bo-Dyne bobsled for the US team a number of years ago.
 
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