Bathurst 1000 action from the race at Mount Panorama on Sunday the 10/10/2010. Image: Simon Hodgson / SMP Images
When the Triple Eight V8 Supercar team was nominated for The Roar’s 2010 Australian team of the year, some readers took exception: a motorsport team had no right competing against proper sporting teams, it was insinuated. “Why is there a hobby on the list?” one commenter said.
Motorsport is used to such derisions.
It doesn’t fit comfortably into our definition of a sport. There’s no ball, running or physical contact (between bodies, at least). Competitors rely on engines and wheels to move, their success or failure is dependant on the quality of their machinery, and they even sit down when competing… for goodness sakes. We all drive cars, so what’s the difference between what they do and what we do?
This flawed logic has fostered the ‘not a sport’ argument, as people associate motorsport with an activity they do in their day-to-day lives – an activity we all take for granted.
But let’s strip this down and clear some of the misconceptions. A sport is defined as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.”
No question motorsport ticks the “individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment” component. It is, after all, a competitive exercise to discover the fastest and most consistent individual and team over the course of the season.
It’s certainly for “our entertainment” as motorsport is the fourth most attended sport in Australia. No question it is popular enough.
So it comes down to the “physical exertion and skill” definition.
Here’s motorsport’s problem: we can’t jump into a V8 Supercar or Formula One car and take them for a spin, so the sensation of speed and the difference between race and road cars can’t be assessed; we can’t appreciate the difference in physical exertion required to drive a race car compared to a road car.
We can, however, relate to footy players chasing after a ball because we can relate to the psychical effort required as we’ve all had a kick around in the park.
The physical effort required to compete in motorsport is hidden behind cockpits, tin-tops, overalls and helmets. We can’t see the psychical exertion that the drivers and riders are going through. We can’t see the flexing muscles or gritted faces as we can in other sports. It’s invisible.
And how can it be a sport when portly fellows such as Nigel Mansell proved you didn’t have to pass skin fold tests to win? Age is no barrier either, with the likes of Mario Andretti, Peter Brock and Dick Johnson racing in competitive categories well into their fifties.
Michael Schumacher proved he could still cut it in Formula One at the age of 41. Even chain-smoking didn’t stop James Hunt and Keke Rosberg from winning Formula One world championships.
But don’t be fooled into believing the perceptions: motorsport requires an immense physical effort to cope with the g-forces of cars/bikes unimaginably more powerful and harder to drive than your Toyota Camry.
Heavy g-forces put huge severe pressure on a driver’s neck; psychical strength is required to drive the cars as steering force is multiplied at such high speeds; an immense amount of concentration is needed to focus in such a strenuous and highly pressured environment at high speed; and stamina is required to ensure a driver is as focused on the first lap as well as the last, ninety minutes or so after intense racing with no break.
But again, this is all invisible to the causal viewer.
We only see cars going around and around, seemingly without effort. This invisibility hurts motorsport’s ability to translate the psychical strain required to compete.
Former V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup showed drivers could cut it with their fellow sportsmen, finishing in second place in the Rexona Australia’s Greatest Athlete television show, beating out the likes of Steve Hooker, Lote Tuqiri, Ky Hurst, Brett Deledio and Joel Griffiths.
It doesn’t necessarily mean he is a fitter, better athlete than those competitors (the show was far from an exact science), but it did show motorsport competitors have a level of psychical fitness, strength and endurance the measure of their ball sport compatriots.
Also, just because there is an engine powering the drivers/riders, it doesn’t mean the drivers are mere passengers. The engine doesn’t drive around race tracks of their own accord; it’s still up to the drivers to apply the accelerator, brake and skillfully guide their cars around those tracks quicker than their opponents.
When you consider that fact, motorsport has every right to sit alongside horse racing or sailing as a sport. Just because there is a mechanical element driving the competitors, doesn’t diminish the effort required to compete in that sport.
There is still a psychical effort and skill requirement, it’s just different from our traditional view of a sport; usually involving a ball, posts and goals.
The perceptions won’t change, however; drivers will still sit and be propelled by engines, so the critics will still label it a sporting fraud.
The debate will go on and on.
w
Guest
psychical ? x6 ?! :laughing: Sport is a smeary blob describing a region on the map defined by the orthogonal axes of 'games' (skill, tactics) and 'exercise' (reactions, physicality) and rather than trying to declare 'not a sport' in a binary fashion it would be better to just accept some things are better sports than others. Perhaps additionally giving a third dimension of 'spectatorship' some weight. ex. I would say most motorsport isn't much of a sport compared to cycling. Moto-cross is a better sport than bmx. Motorsport is a better sport than snooker. Chess is a game and not much of a sport at all, because it has no 'exercise' aspect. Consider also that the aspects can be discretely separated in time. Chess-boxing becomes a sport. Shooting is a game. Biathlon is a sport. roast me
shaun
Guest
Old enough.
Bondy
Guest
shaun How old are you ?..
shaun
Guest
Nobody plays? You mean races. As playing sounds like a childs game at lunch..
Bondy
Guest
shaun What you deem tough as a sport nobody plays ,makes sense doesn't it.
shaun
Guest
Well you are wrong there sorry. Motorsport covers bikes and cars. We have a 24 hr trial where I live where all you need is a bike and gear. And I bet riding a bike in average conditions for 24hrs is harder than playing soccer. Dirt circuit another cheap way to get into motorsport or even track day races. Hell they even have a class for hyundai excels here. So Motorsport is not just for the super rich. I consider Motorsport one of the only real sports as the limit of danger and death when was the last time someone died or got seriously hurt in a game of pansy soccer??? But as Ernest Hemingway said There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
Andy
Guest
I believe motor racing is the sport. Many say that the car always defines the winner. But who develops the car? Who maintains it? Who drives it? The fail to realize that in the end, motor racing is in fact a team effort and a team sport. This is why they have constructor's champions separate from driver's champions. Failing to realize that the mechanics and engineers are as important as the driver is like failing to realize the coach of the team and the sponsors of a team is what made them so successful. Trying to say motor racing requires no physical fitness and skill is like saying a basketball player didn't have years and years of training to hone their skill at dribbling, passing and shooting. Because in reality, you look at all the top level drivers throughout history and many of them started from a very young age such as Ayrton Senna, Henri Toivonen, Mario Andretti, Tom Kristensen etc. All these drivers started since they were kids and dedicated their lives to honing their skills, to be consistent yet fast and to judge situations maturely etc. With the exception of a few natural talents such as Jim Clark.
Philippe
Guest
The driver must obviously be skilled and physically fit, I'm not questionning that. I think the difference is more subtle. In soccer or football or any other sport (by my definition anyways), if the player puts more physical effort, he gets better results. He can run faster, throw or kick harder, etc. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it's true for a car drivers. To illustrate what I'm saying, consider this. Take two drivers. They both have exactly the same car and skill level. But, even though they're both well enough physically fit to withstand the g-force, one of them is in better shape (better cardio, stronger, etc.). I think both would have the same chance of winning because beyond some threshold, physical fitness stop having an impact. That's how I see it. Feel free to object!
jason
Guest
sport is the art of competing to force yourself to be better i defy anyone to jump in a race car and do 20 laps in close racing and not say they arnt tired afterwoods and want to do better next time. As for money in sport thats the way it is now for tv sports so they should be called businesses. But ground roots car racing is still competative and i defy anyone to try it and think its easy and not competative
Steve V
Guest
"There are but three true sports--bullfighting, mountain climbing, and motor-racing. The rest are merely games." -Ernest Hemingway
Shane Moore
Roar Rookie
“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.” I'm surprised that no one else has used this quote from Ernest Hemmingway. Back in Hemingway's day, grand prix drivers turned up to every race knowing there was a decent chance they would be killed. But these legends were so fiercely competitive that they would risk everything to beat the next man. Another quote, this one from double world champion Alberto Ascari, went like this: "I never want my children to become too fond of me because one day I might not come back and they will suffer less if I don't come back." Days after saying that, Ascari was dead. In how many other sports are the competitors so fiercely competitive that they will put their lives on the line week in week out? Grand prix racing is a lot safer these days, but drivers are still killed and seriously injured in various forms of racing around the world every year. To say that racing is not a sport is to disrespect the fallen legends of our glorious sport's past. But getting away from the romantic side of things, professional racing drivers are no different to any other sportspeople. Take someone like Mark Webber for example. He trains all week to keep his fitness at a point where his body can handle massive amounts of stress and g-force whilst keeping his mind sharp enough to make crucial decisions at 300kph. He spends hours in the simulator practicing his technique, and every second weekend or so he turns up and puts 100% effort into doing the best job for his team and his fans. How is that any different to an NRL or AFL player? Motor racing is just as much a sport as rugby league, cricket or AFL, and to say anything different shows pure ignorance and a lack of understanding and appreciation for sporting competition. I really do feel sorry for some of you...
apaway
Guest
One other point about horseracing, Vinay, and a reason it should never be labelled a sport: it relies ENTIRELY on gambling. If the TAB was closed down tomorrow, horseracing would cease to exist.
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
Physical fitness is not a static concept. "Fit" means "prepared". You can be superbly fit for a 100 metre sprint, but totally unfit for a heavyweight boxing match -- and vice versa -- unlss you're Antony Mundine, of course, in which case you just win everything all the time. Fitness is almost irrelevant to defining a sport. The fitness of drivers is not in question nowadays, but I think the objection to driving or motorised riding as a sport is the dependence on mechanical effort. This is also the case in something like cycling, perhaps less so in javelin or swimming (where equipment has made a difference to the results). We know that good drivers drive good machines better than bad drivers do, but it's the presence of the machines that detract from driving or sailing as sports. For me, darts is a sport. There is a definite skill involved, that is rule-based, and that has a strong element of competition. Whether you can be hurt or not is neither here nor there. I've seen darts in someone's head during a drunken contest. Figure skating, synchronised swimming, ballroom dancing, diving, and surfing are all based on subjective judgements. We know that judges decide who will be in the finals of diving events based on previous performances, and that the best dive in the world will not win the event if the judges have decided you're not going to win. Australians missed out on finals for probably a decade when the judges hadn't caught up with our improvements. A crowd favourite from a favoured country in gymnastics, is going to get a killer score, even if she fluffs the routine, falls off a balance bar, or lands with a crash -- while someone from a lesser country does a brilliant routine without error gets an average score. I would put these "sports" on a par with the Eurovision song contest.
amazonfan
Roar Guru
I agree and it's certainly unusual in that aspect. :D
Marsh
Guest
What I like about motorsport is that females can compete against males in the same classes - no division.
Dan
Guest
Sorry Luke, but you have no idea son!
Dan
Guest
No... but neither are the 8 yr old kids who play cricket in the nets at the local school. Fail!
Dan
Guest
I challenge anyone to compete in a 1000km, team, V8 Supercar race at Bathurst, Mt Panorama and tell me it is not a sport!!
Megaman
Guest
Motorbike racing is form physical because of how the riders transfer their body weight over the bike and pick it up from one side to the other at such high speeds. The driving equivalent is the steering force but it's not as visible.
Guido
Guest
Motocross is a true physical and motorised sport. Two 35 minute motos (races) on a 450cc MX bike in 35 degree heat at full pace is not for the unfit or feint hearted. You would be amazed how fit the top guys are and the amount ot training they put in.