Driver vs. Machine: Re: Curious to hear your thoughts...

» Tom - Re: Curious to hear your thoughts...

In response to message posted by midnightvamp:

Very interesting. I’ve never thought of it quite that way, referring to driver vs. driver, etc. The IROC Series, International Race of Champions, uses Pontiac Grand Prix cars that are completely identical, right down to the engine tuning. The series pits driver against driver racing identical cars. I think it’s a breath of fresh air, but a lot of folks don’t take very much stock in it.

I see racing as driver vs. driver as well as driver vs. machine. The only way you could pit machine vs. machine is to use robotic mechanisms as drivers. As long as there is a human driver in the car, it becomes driver-machine vs. driver-machine. The human factor doesn’t always rely on logic to make decisions as a machine would, and the human factor also includes emotion, which in my view is the heart of racing.

I see the point you are trying to make with some of the auto manufacturers pitting more importance on the machine than the driver. Alluding that the driver can only accomplish what the machine is able to produce, so too must you allude that the machine can only produce if the driver has the skills to make it do so. That is where the driver becomes more important than the machine. A race driver’s skills are what separate him from his peers. Some of those skills include intuition, tenacity, strength, maturity, and a natural ability to feel the movements of the machine beneath. Hope this makes sense, it’s easy to feel having raced, but it’s hard to put into words.

-- posted by Tom