Re: Are race car drivers atheltes?
There used to be a TV programme in the UK 30 years ago where sportsmen and sportswomen from different disciplines competed in various tests of speed, strength, agility and stamina - can't remember what it was called. Whenever there was a racing driver taking part, it was a good bet that he would be the winner. Now things have changed a lot since the seventies in all sports, but I am confident that in terms of strength, stamina, endurance etc. racing drivers are going to be better than most sports people and as good as the best.
Re: Are race car drivers atheltes?
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For one thing, they barely move, except for strenuous arm activity.
Your obviously cluless as to what it takes to drive a real racin car. You whole body moves throughout the race as your fighting the G forces. Trying to support 5 times your body weight with all that going on is very physically straining. You use every muscle in your body when you race. The fact thatthese movements are small and hidden doesnt make them any less strenuous.
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But if that was a condition of athleticism, every fourteen year old boy would be an Olympian. Jet pilots, astronauts, there are lots of people who's job requires great endurance and skill, but that does not qualify them as athletes.
None of these people participate in a sport however.
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I still say professional race car driver is a pretty good title. Why do you seem so offended by it?
Because you are denying some of the greatest athletes on the planet their due. There are only 20 people in the world who race F-1 cars. Surely the most elite group of athletes in any sport. You better be damn good.
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by definition, they are not athletes. An athlete is one who participates in athletics, such as; runnning, jumping, and throwing.
Thats a pretty limited defintion of an athlete. Did you make that up by yourself? Its seems as I posted the dictionary says different.
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the greek athletes means champion or competitor in matches, races, or competitions. By that definition an F-1 driver fits the criteria.
Were not greek and this is AD. By your definiton race drivers were athletes until they stopped the running start at Le mans. ~D Man that was cool but dangerous.
Re: Are race car drivers atheltes?
When I mean immediacy, I mean one's actions directly exert force on the environment. A runner can claim complete and absolute credit for winning a race. Technology may enhance or make more efficient his efforts, but it is his effort alone that wins a race. Not so much in race car driving. In race car driving, the "athlete" is not being challenged to go around the ring faster than his opponent...he is being challenged to more efficiently operate a piece of machinery so that it will do that for him. Any athletic skill he picks up pertains merely to the functioning of machinery. He does not directly fuel the effort with his own muscles, his own sweat and blood, like an athlete. Gasoline does that for him. What he does do is direct this energy with his own sweat and blood.
Back to the running example: No one gives a running shoe all the credit for winning a race, despite the fact that a shoe more efficiently distributes energy and assists the mechanics of movement. Why is that? It is because runners vary in skill.
Race car drivers are the shoes for the race cars. The only reason why they get credit, and the shoe doesn't, is that automobile potential can be exactly measured.
Re: Are race car drivers atheltes?
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Race car drivers are the shoes for the race cars. The only reason why they get credit, and the shoe doesn't, is that automobile potential can be exactly measured.
Yopu almost made sense until this. I would say race cars are the shoes of the drivers not the other way around. The reason they get credit is that it is their skill and athletic prowess that makes their car win not that it is better than all the other cars. If that were so anyone could win but Shuemacher has been winning at an alarming rate for over a decade now. Dont tell me the car has more to do with winning than the driver.
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He does not directly fuel the effort with his own muscles, his own sweat and blood, like an athlete.
Again Id like to see the car make it around the track without him. What do you think he controls it with his mind?
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No one gives a running shoe all the credit for winning a race, despite the fact that a shoe more efficiently distributes energy and assists the mechanics of movement. Why is that? It is because runners vary in skill.
So then why do you insist on giving the car, which in many circumstances are the same , credit for winning a race. Sure sometimes theres a car thats miles ahead of the others but this is not the norm. Are you denying that race drivers vary in skill ?
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. The only reason why they get credit, and the shoe doesn't, is that automobile potential can be exactly measured.
Yes its easier to rate the pontenial of one of the most complicated and technical machines on the planet than a sneaker. Give me a break.
Re: Are race car drivers atheltes?
Fine, they're athletes. I'm still not going to watch NASCAR though.
Re: Are race car drivers atheltes?
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Originally Posted by Gawain of Orkeny
Well you havent answered but the experts say they are more fit than any of these. This is the closet thing their is to being a fighter pilot or a Knight in the old days. Question. Is Bull fighting a sport?
Have you seen an Aussie rules match, The All Blacks Playing against South Africa or Australia, or an Iron Man competition?
I would like to see the data they are using to define fitness. Race drivers have a very specifc type of endurance, and as noted some of them are rather stout.
Re: Are race car drivers atheltes?
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Have you seen an Aussie rules match, The All Blacks Playing against South Africa or Australia, or an Iron Man competition?
Yes I love both of those.
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I would like to see the data they are using to define fitness. Race drivers have a very specifc type of endurance, and as noted some of them are rather stout.
Not in F-1 there isnt. You will even have a hard time finding any in NASCAR these days. All athletes have a very specifc type of endurance. By every criteria that makes one an athlete f-1 drivers fit the bill. Look I was a great wrestler in HS and an amature race driver for many years. I can tell you that even driving a good go kart compares well with wrestling as far as stamina and skill go. Please dont try to tell me that wrestling is not a sport. By the way for nine minutes nothing is as exhausting as wrestling. Races last for hours however and by the end your just as beat if not more so than wrestling. I cant count how many times I almost passed out after a long race in the heat. And believe me I was more than fit being a Marine at the time. Of course now Moto cross is even more physically demanding. Yes I raced mottos also.Next you will be telling me those guys arent athletes either.
