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14.08.2007, 14:37   #391
skom
 
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Ага! Тут кроется ещё один вопрос некорректности традиционной трактовки истории. Ведь чемпионат мира объявлялся не для класса "Формула-1". Точно вам говорю!

Он объявлялся не для определённого класса автомобилей, а для гонок определённого статуса. Поэтому неважно было, для каких автомобилях проводилась "Инди-500" - хоть на самокатах.
А у тебя есть копия (фото, или т.п.) этого решения объявления как юридического документа? Было бы интересно посмотреть, тогда бы вопросы по Ф1 были бы сняты.
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14.08.2007, 14:43   #392
madlopt
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Можно я и тут встряну?

Есть общение ради общения, и тогда другой форум - конкурент. А ещё форумы могут быть важным источником познания и мощнейшим орудием для исследований, потому что только в интернет-форумах люди с разных концов света могут мгновенно делиться мнениями и искать решения проблем. С этой точки зрения форум только выигрывает, если на нём размещают какие-либо ссылки, по двум основным причинам:

1. Люди чувствуют свободу и понимание своей необходимости сделать именно это;

2. Люди воспринимают такой форум как источник, сгусток полезной информации, чтобы самостоятельно не искать иголку в стоге сена (нужную информацию в мировом интернете).

Но это так, мысль в слух. Поскольку у вас свои цели и задачи, навязывать мнение не имею права.

Я всё понимаю, на нашем форуме минимум правил, но уж будьте любезны их соблюдать, никто никого не ущемляет, человек не знал - рассказали, ошибся - поправили. Повторяться дальше не стану, я уже разжевал по данной ситуации всё.
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14.08.2007, 14:46   #393
Владимир Коваленко
 
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А у тебя есть копия (фото, или т.п.) этого решения объявления как юридического документа? Было бы интересно посмотреть, тогда бы вопросы по Ф1 были бы сняты.

Нет, но посмотри, как всё складывается: становятся понятными и роль "Инди-500", в которой и не пахло классом Ф1, и использование Ф2 в 1952-53 годах!

Не знаю, есть ли такие документы в архивах ФИА, но так как эта организация была объединением национальных клубов разных стран, им все протоколы и правила рассылались по умолчанию. Где-нибудь когда-нибудь да всплывут.

На "Ностальгии" однажды поместили полный текст регламента проведения шведского гран-при 1974 (если не ошибаюсь) года, входившего в зачёт чемпионата мира. Вот это сокровище!

И опять-таки, видно, что и в данном случае правила устанавливала не ФИА, а сами организаторы гонки. И, между прочим, там было написано, что если автомобилей Ф1 будет недостаточно, к участию допускаются автомобили Ф2, Ф5000, формулы "Инди" (как это так описано) и формулы "А" ("Атлантик"?). Не было жёсткой привязки к Ф1!

Вот эта тема: http://forums.autosport.com/showthre...threadid=63554
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14.08.2007, 14:52   #394
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Я знаю, но вот почему-то в чемпионате мира по ралли, "Чамп-каре" или НАСКАРЕ нет таких обязательств, и их гонщики участвуют в "Ле-Мане" или даже "Дакаре", а в "Формуле-1" настолько сильно боятся потерять деньги, что садят гонщиков в золотые клетки. Не удивлюсь, если окажется, что именно Экклстоун потихоньку посоветовал командам заключать именно такие контракты.
Отличный пример - Робби Гордон - неоднократный участник дубля ИНДИ-Шарлотта в один день (ИндиКар - НАСКАР), ралли Париж-Дакар, ещё другие, менее известные гонки. Тони Стюарт - аналогичный дубль, гонки на грунтовых треках. Никакой НАСКАР как санкционирующая организация не запретит им это делать.
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14.08.2007, 14:58   #395
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Можно конечно. Думаю, для этого тебе надо дать 6 определений (чётких, как в энциклопедии и естественных науках (типа v=ds/dt), без двузначных трактовок) терминов:
Санкционирующая организация - историческое поинимание и современное
Автогоночная Серия - историческое поинимание и современное
Автоспортивный Чемпионат (Европы, национальный, мира) - историческое понимание и современное.

Я так понимаю, что в современном автоспорте практически не осталось санкционирующих организаций - только серии, так что это термин из прошлого.

А с серией и чемпионатом надо определить так, как описал это выше, потому что до появления серий не было ни слова этого, ни самих серий; а после отмирания чемпионатов слово осталось, а чёткого значения оно не имеет. Получается, что как термин чемпионат - тоже полностью из прошлого, а серия - только из наших дней. Так что уже не шесть, а только три термина.

В первую очередь лучше обращать внимание на суть явлений, а потом - на слова.

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На данном этапе я под ЧампКар начала 20 века могу подогнать и чемпионат, и серию. Поэтому в статье в 1 части я написал "ЧампКар – это общее, собирательное название, своеобразный «знак качества», старейший чемпионат на планете, который в разное время проводился под разными эгидами и разными организациями." Для меня это как понятие "Русь" - разная территория, разные формы правления, разные страны, входящие туда на разных этапах истории. Но смысл один, и все его понимают.

Я подписан на американскую рассылку "Гоночная история" (Racing History), посвящённую гонкам на овалах до начала семидесятых годов, так они там периодически пытаются докопаться до сути некоторых названий. Поскольку автогонки были в Америке широко распространены на самых разных уровнях, те или иные термины носили нередко региональный оттенок. В частности, можно выделить три класса по степени уменьшения их характеристик: "чамп-кары", "спринт-кары" и "миджеты". Так историки заявляют, что в одинх штатах "чамп-карами" называли такие автомобили, которые в других штатах были известны как "спринт-кары". Общих требований к ним не было. В одних штатах была одна колёсная база, в других при том же двигателе - другая. В общем, там ситуация ещё запутаннее, чем с "Формулой-1" и гонками гран-при. И у меня сложилось ощущение, что в Америке нет сильных историков, как в мировом автоспорте. Они не оперируют точной статистикой и корректно идентифицированными фотографиями. Они обычно "что-то припоминают", но "могут ошибаться". Думаю, это потому, что гонок на маленьких треках на всяких самоделках проходило так много, что никто уже не в состоянии всё это собрать в одну кучу и разлодить по полочкам. На многих треках заезды проводились каждую неделю, а то и не раз.
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14.08.2007, 15:02   #396
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Отличный пример - Робби Гордон - неоднократный участник дубля ИНДИ-Шарлотта в один день (ИндиКар - НАСКАР), ралли Париж-Дакар, ещё другие, менее известные гонки. Тони Стюарт - аналогичный дубль, гонки на грунтовых треках. Никакой НАСКАР как санкционирующая организация не запретит им это делать.

Кстати, спасибо 7ТВ за "Индикар" и НАСКАР, если уж об этом речь зашла. К сожалению, в Томске ночь, когда их показывают, но прошлогоднюю "Инди-500" я посмотрел полностью и был немало впечатлён. Я думаю, что, возможно, это самые настоящие гонки в современных реалиях.
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14.08.2007, 15:08   #397
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Нет, но посмотри, как всё складывается: становятся понятными и роль "Инди-500", в которой и не пахло классом Ф1, и использование Ф2 в 1952-53 годах!

Не знаю, есть ли такие документы в архивах ФИА, но так как эта организация была объединением национальных клубов разных стран, им все протоколы и правила рассылались по умолчанию. Где-нибудь когда-нибудь да всплывут.


Вполне может быть. Сейчас полазил по сайтам, нет нигде таких документов от ФИА.
Ясно одно - произошёл переход от Гран При и Sweepstakes к отдельным сериям.

PS: Плюс ещё от Кубковых (Cup) гонок, типа Кубка Гордона Беннета, Вандербильта и т.п.
(from site www.rumbledrome.com)

Последний раз редактировалось skom, 14.08.2007 в 15:41. Причина: PS
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14.08.2007, 15:10   #398
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Тогда всё было по-другому. И я сначала в своём архиве для 1950 года сделал папочку "f1-1950", в которую поместил по папочке для каждой из зачётных гонок, сделав подобное для других категорий и классов, а недавно всё это разобрал и сделал общий список, в котором около 100 гонок (и это ещё не все возможные). ТОГДА люди не воспринимали эти 7 (я проверил) гонок как объединённые общей целью. У них был определённый статус, но они не были объединены. Для того, чтобы это понять, достаточно взглянуть на календари автоспортивных событий тех лет.

Вот вариант немецкого "Ауто, мото унд шпорт":



Позже я отсканирую календарь из ежегодника журнала "Мотор", в котором "гран-эпрёв" (то есть самые престижные длинные гонки в своих странах, которые в итоге и были выбраны для определения чемпиона мира) хоть выделены курсивом, а у немцев и это не сделано. Вы можете насчитать 17 (1) гонок с пометкой "F1". Это как минимум вызывает мысль о том, что тогда "F1" означало что-то другое, потому что если бы это были те самые 7 гонок, тогда только они и были бы помечены.

А вот что это означало? Надо разбираться.
Да вобщем ситуация достаточно понятная.
Существуют определенные требования к спортивным автомобилям, часть из них известна нам под именами "Формула-1", "Формула-2", "Формула-3".
Помимо этого существуют определенные требования к классификации трасс и гонок разрешенных к проведению на них.
Впринципе на пустом месте гонку не проведешь, поэтому на ее проведение необходимо получать разрешение. Чтобы получить разрешение необходимо указать трассу и класс машин. Соответственно санкционирующая организация проверяет соответсвие нормам и выдает разрешение.
Что мы имеем к 1950 году? А имеем мы то, что национальные федерации проводят "большие призы", выбирая для этого трассу и класс машин самостоятельно. ФИА (для ясности так ее будем называть) решает провести чемпионат в классе машин Ф-1 в гонках категории Гран При. И имено задумка чемпионата была в этом.
Так почему этапов было 7 а гонок ГП на Ф-1 куда больше?
Если принять за основу тот факт что ФИА просто считала очки, то ответа на данный вопрос мы не получим. Следовательно существуют критерии по которым ГП на Ф-1 может считаться этапом ЧМ.
Для подтверждения данной версии нужно проанализировать все проведенные ГП на Ф-1 в тот год.
Вторым вариантом можно предположить что ФИА не только предьявляла определенные требования, но санкционировала проведение данного ГП, т.е. проверяла соответствие происходящего на ГП техническим и спортивным регламентам ЧМ. Следовательно могли оказаться страны в которых не приняли вмешательство ФИА или спортивного регламента ЧМ.

Ну и со временем ФИА просто подняла престиж ЧМ до такого уровня, что участие в незачетных ГП не давало тех дивидентов, что участие в этапах ЧМ.
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14.08.2007, 15:18   #399
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Я так понимаю, что в современном автоспорте практически не осталось санкционирующих организаций - только серии, так что это термин из прошлого.

А с серией и чемпионатом надо определить так, как описал это выше, потому что до появления серий не было ни слова этого, ни самих серий; а после отмирания чемпионатов слово осталось, а чёткого значения оно не имеет. Получается, что как термин чемпионат - тоже полностью из прошлого, а серия - только из наших дней. Так что уже не шесть, а только три термина.

В первую очередь лучше обращать внимание на суть явлений, а потом - на слова.
Не согласен. Считаю, что именно санкционирующие организации (как крупные транснациональные корпорации в бизнесе) сейчас управляют автоспортом. Санционирующая организация - это первично, серия и чемпионат в рамках данной серии - вторичен. Именно ФИА, НАСКАР и т.д. устанавливают серии, называют их, и в их рамках проводят чемпионат.

Думаю, что чемпионат просто превратился в приставку к серии (чемпион такой-то серии такой-то гонщик), и самостоятельного значения не имеет. Серия стоит выше, даже в юридическом плане.

Это так, но от того, как корректно и понятно ты опишешь словами суть явлений, многое значит, тогда все поймут суть классификации.
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14.08.2007, 15:25   #400
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Я подписан на американскую рассылку "Гоночная история" (Racing History), посвящённую гонкам на овалах до начала семидесятых годов, так они там периодически пытаются докопаться до сути некоторых названий. Поскольку автогонки были в Америке широко распространены на самых разных уровнях, те или иные термины носили нередко региональный оттенок. В частности, можно выделить три класса по степени уменьшения их характеристик: "чамп-кары", "спринт-кары" и "миджеты". Так историки заявляют, что в одинх штатах "чамп-карами" называли такие автомобили, которые в других штатах были известны как "спринт-кары". Общих требований к ним не было. В одних штатах была одна колёсная база, в других при том же двигателе - другая. В общем, там ситуация ещё запутаннее, чем с "Формулой-1" и гонками гран-при. И у меня сложилось ощущение, что в Америке нет сильных историков, как в мировом автоспорте. Они не оперируют точной статистикой и корректно идентифицированными фотографиями. Они обычно "что-то припоминают", но "могут ошибаться". Думаю, это потому, что гонок на маленьких треках на всяких самоделках проходило так много, что никто уже не в состоянии всё это собрать в одну кучу и разлодить по полочкам. На многих треках заезды проводились каждую неделю, а то и не раз.
Они сильные историки, но в своей области. Они не могут всё охватить по причинам, как ты верно заметил, - слишком много гонок, проводящихся на самых разнообразных треках и трассах, слишком много классов, плюс ещё конкуренция между штатами США типа "а мы лучше". Одно знаю точно - история НАСКАР как организации, её серий и дивизионов, и чемпионатов в рамках этих серий очень чёткая. И это действительно сейчас Гонки, напоминающие гонки старых лет.
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14.08.2007, 16:02   #401
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Сообщение от madlopt Посмотреть сообщение
Каждый по себе судит. Более того, говоря про страхи, человек всегда рассказывает про себя, буквально каждый день вижу это своими глазами.

Если ты внимательно смотрела, то я сам разместил здесь ссылку на "Смак".

Повторяю, есть форумная этика, ты зайдя в салон БМВ не будешь ведь спрашивать, какой Мерседес лучше и в Макдональдсе тебе не продадут Пепси, другое дело, что можно подружиться, но для этого нужно уважать "чужой монастырь", а мы привыкли по-советски зайти не вытирая сапоги, отвыкайте.

не знаю, может и по себе, но я никогда не была ни админом, ни владельцем интернет ресурса...так что я чиста с позиции пользователя говорю, какое это на меня производит впечатление...впрочем тебе виднее, разубеждать не буду

я говорила не про тебя вообще в предыдущем посте, о чем и написала...и ссылку видела

я в курсе, что есть форумная этика - я про нее и говорю - что не все ее составляющие мне понятны и нравяццо

ладно, заканчиваю с оффтопом... все равно ниче хорошого из диалога у нас с тобой не выйдет
__________________
Я иногда вот заглядываю на гонки Ф1, так это мне не даёт права высказать своё мнение, если даже оно тебе покажется "дерьмом"? (c)madlopt
.........
настоящий автоспорт - это к а р т и н г, все остальное - пиар (с) karting-tv.ru
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14.08.2007, 16:10   #402
Moged
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Сообщение от Владимир Коваленко Посмотреть сообщение
С 1950 по 1980 годы чемпионат мира назывался по-английски World Drivers Championship, что в переводе означает "чемпионат мира среди гонщиков" или, учитывая традиции русскоязычной спортивной терминологии, "личный чемпионат мира" (в отличие от командного); и у него не было никаких коммерческих прав. Получать было нечего. Им никто финансово не управлял, потому что это не было заложено изначально, так как чемпионат был всего лишь процедурой начисления очков.

В результате борьбы ФОКА с ФИСА последняя, чтобы держать ситуацию под контролем, объявила, что прежний чемпионат ликвидируется, и создаётся новый, за которым уже закрепляются коммерческие права, которыми обладает ФИА. Именно тогда они появились, и вот их-то и выиграл Экклстоун, чуть позже придумав первый Договор Согласия, заложив основу для существования нынешнего междусобойчика по делёжке автогоночных денег.
Всеж таки я бы какую нибуть приставку (или послеставку ) добавил.
Т.к. существовали еще и чемпионаты мира по ралли и т.д.
Коммерческих прав не было потому, что небыло продукта который можно продать, следовательно финасового управления не было. Оно не было необходимо. Был сакционирующий орган - ФИА и были организаторы, проводящие гонки и платящие деньги участникам.
Когда пришло осознание того что гонки можно продавать как шоу, тогда ФОКА надавив на ФИСА взяла коммерческие права отдав их ФОМ.
Но ФОМ не управляет Формулой-1, она лишь служит организацией отслеживающей и направляющей финансовые потоки Формулы-1 вцелом
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14.08.2007, 16:14   #403
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Сообщение от sasa Посмотреть сообщение
не знаю, может и по себе, но я никогда не была ни админом, ни владельцем интернет ресурса...так что я чиста с позиции пользователя говорю, какое это на меня производит впечатление...впрочем тебе виднее, разубеждать не буду

Все эти позиции - выдумка, мы все на одной позиции на самом деле.

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Сообщение от sasa Посмотреть сообщение
ладно, заканчиваю с оффтопом... все равно ниче хорошого из диалога у нас с тобой не выйдет

__________________
"Я душевнобольной, но с тяжелыми приступами душевного здоровья", - Эдгар По
http://history.worldracing.info/ - история автоспорта
http://f1managers.worldracing.info/ - гоночные менеджеры
https://t.me/worldracinginfo - Telegram канал WRI
https://t.me/worldracinginfochat - Telegram чат WRI
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14.08.2007, 16:47   #404
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Вот моё видение современной структуры автоспорта:

Санкционирующая организация – орган управления автоспортом. Организована, зарегистрирована и руководствуется в своей деятельности по законам страны (НАСКАР) или в рамках международного права (ФИА). Обладает атрибутами власти в сфере своей деятельности – издаёт приказы, разрабатывает нормативную базу и положения, выдаёт санкции и разрешения.

Автоспортивная серия – один из сводов нормативных актов (регламент) санкционирующей организации организационного и технического характера, определяющий правила организации и проведения автомобильных гонок в рамках данного регламента.

Чемпионат – совокупность автомобильных гонок в рамках регламента автоспортивной серии под юридической эгидой санкционирующей организации. Цель чемпионата – выявление сильнейшего гонщика в рамках правил данной серии.
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14.08.2007, 16:57   #405
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Исторические определения:
Санкционирующая организация – орган объединения и систематизации автоспортивных соревнований (на заре автоспорта ещё и популяризации автоиндустрии). Организована, зарегистрирована и руководствуется в своей деятельности по законам страны или в рамках международного права. Обладает атрибутами власти в сфере своей деятельности – издаёт рекомендации, разрабатывает нормативную базу и положения, выдаёт санкции и разрешения, не обязательные, но желательные к исполнению организаторам автомобильных гонок.

Автоспортивная серия – совокупность автомобильных гонок на автомобилях определённого класса.

Чемпионат – совокупность автомобильных гонок на автомобилях разных классов, но с гонщиками высшего уровня. Организаторы и санкционирующие организации разные. Цель чемпионата – выявление сильнейшего гонщика на данный период времени по его общим результатам, в соответствии с мнением масс-медиа и болельщиков.

Последний раз редактировалось skom, 14.08.2007 в 17:12.
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14.08.2007, 17:21   #406
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Сообщение от Владимир Коваленко Посмотреть сообщение
Ещё чуть-чуть, и так будет в "Формуле-1". Сейчас ни команды, ни гонщики не участвуют ни в каких других соревнованиях, но вроде бы как по личной инициативе, не желая тратить силы на посторонние цели и задачи.
а почему Вы считаете что это чьи то происки? Скажем в мотогонках точно никто ничего никому не запрещает, но если в давние времена народ запросто ездил в нескольких классах в один день и даже несколько чемпионатов в один год выигрывал, то теперь ни у кого сил на это нет. Даже у Валентино Росси (хотя он собирался попробовать).

Работодатели просто не хотят рисковать здоровьем и формой пилотов. Не следует также забывать и о бизнес мероприятиях команд на которых гонщики должны присутствовать, как правило. Но в межсезонье то они катаются где угодно и сколько хотят. Хошь в гонке чемпионов, хошь в Бразилии на картингах.

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Сообщение от Владимир Коваленко Посмотреть сообщение
в "Формуле-1" всё выплачивает Экклстоун, и эти суммы не разглашаются.
да никакой не секрет эти суммы.

Призовые за места в Кубке Конструкторов (по данным F1Racing)
Место 2007 2006
1 $80млн 14.90% $35млн 15.09%
2 $74млн 13.78% $33млн 14.22%
3 $67млн 12.48% $30млн 12.93%
4 $60млн 11.17% $26млн 11.21%
5 $48млн 8.94% $22млн 9.48%
6 $46млн 8.57% $20млн 8.62%
7 $44млн 8.19% $18млн 7.76%
8 $42млн 7.82% $17млн 7.33%
9 $39млн 7.26% $16млн 6.90%
10 $37млн 6.89% $15млн 6.47%
Всего $537млн $232 млн


Цитата:
Сообщение от Владимир Коваленко Посмотреть сообщение
С 1950 по 1980 годы чемпионат мира назывался по-английски World Drivers Championship, ...... и у него не было никаких коммерческих прав. Получать было нечего. Им никто финансово не управлял...
Что значит финансово не управлял? Вы выражаетесь в каких то терминах, которые я не понимаю... Еще в 72м году была небольшая война между F1CA и GPI, призом в которой были как раз таки деньги Формулы 1. И война между FOCA и CSI\FISA велась именно из коммерческих прав на Формулу 1, которые до 81го года принадлежали вторым, а после него - первым.
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14.08.2007, 17:55   #407
madlopt
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Призовые командам за КК чётко определены "договором согласия", но вот призовые гонщикам в гонках нигде не светились. То, что команда каждому лично по его контракту выплачивает - это ясно, но сколько призовых и кому выкладывает после гонок FIA и выкладывает ли вообще - этого я нигде не встречал, только слухи про гигансткие суммы. Но в том же НАСКАРе действительно гигантские призовые и никто не стесняется их сообщать, более того, эти суммы обычно включены в итоговые таблицы вместе с очками.
__________________
"Я душевнобольной, но с тяжелыми приступами душевного здоровья", - Эдгар По
http://history.worldracing.info/ - история автоспорта
http://f1managers.worldracing.info/ - гоночные менеджеры
https://t.me/worldracinginfo - Telegram канал WRI
https://t.me/worldracinginfochat - Telegram чат WRI
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14.08.2007, 18:04   #408
Растишвили
 
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Сообщение от madlopt Посмотреть сообщение
Фамилия у этого Владимира меня смущает.
Лёх,Владимир Коваленко - историк автоспорта.У него есть свой сайт.А тот,про кого ты подумал - ванькаковаленкин.Просто чмо,иногда пишет на каазляцком форуме.Это разные люди.
Растишвили вне форума Ответить с цитированием
14.08.2007, 18:04   #409
Владимир Коваленко
 
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Сообщение от Moged Посмотреть сообщение
Что мы имеем к 1950 году? А имеем мы то, что национальные федерации проводят "большие призы", выбирая для этого трассу и

класс машин самостоятельно. ФИА (для ясности так ее будем называть) решает провести чемпионат в классе машин Ф-1 в гонках категории Гран

При. И имено задумка чемпионата была в этом.
Так почему этапов было 7 а гонок ГП на Ф-1 куда больше?
Если принять за основу тот факт что ФИА просто считала очки, то ответа на данный вопрос мы не получим. Следовательно существуют критерии по

которым ГП на Ф-1 может считаться этапом ЧМ.
Для подтверждения данной версии нужно проанализировать все проведенные ГП на Ф-1 в тот год.

Посмотри выше - я об этом писал. Чемпионат мира не был для определённого класса автомобилей, а для определённого класса гонок, организаторы

которых сами выбирали класс, что и произошло в 1952 году.

Принцип выбора гонок - по пренадлежности к "гран-эпрёв", то есть "большим испытаниям" в переводе с французского, как с начала двадцатых

годов называли самые престижные гонки в каждой стране. На 1950 год таких набралось семь, и все они были выбраны в качестве определяющих

мирового первенства.

Вот обещанные страницы из ежегодника "Мотора":









Извините, пожалуйста, за небрежное сканирование - обычно я сканирую аккуратнее, но тут маленько некогда.

Посмотрите, в "шапке" объяснены обозначения: большими букваны выделены "гран-эпрёв", а курсивом - похожие гонки, то есть самые

значительныен соревнования в своих странах, но менее престижные на международном уровне, чем "гран-эпрёв".

И ни слова о чемпионате мира. Выделены ровно те самые гонки, которые хорошо нам известны по современной статистике, но причина для их

выделения указана другая.

Вот такие фактики с самого начала и стали вызывать моё подозрение. Ну вот почему они не написали, что это ЭТАПЫ "ФОРМУЛЫ-1"? Вместо этого

они пишут про какие-то "гран-эпрёв". Было бы глупым предположить, что это ОНИ ТОГДА ЧЕГО-ТО НЕ ПОНИМАЛИ про своё время. Логичнее, что это

мы сейчас чего-то не понимаем. Значит, тогда у них были другие термины и другая шкала ценностей, которую надо изучить.
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14.08.2007, 18:45   #410
Moged
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Посмотри выше - я об этом писал. Чемпионат мира не был для определённого класса автомобилей, а для определённого класса гонок, организаторы

которых сами выбирали класс, что и произошло в 1952 году.

Принцип выбора гонок - по пренадлежности к "гран-эпрёв", то есть "большим испытаниям" в переводе с французского, как с начала двадцатых

годов называли самые престижные гонки в каждой стране. На 1950 год таких набралось семь, и все они были выбраны в качестве определяющих

мирового первенства.
Ну впринципе с этим можно согласится, так как выглядит вполне логично.
Т.е. получается что начавшись как чемпионат "гран-эпрёв" он постепенно перерос в чемпионат на машина класса Формула-1.
Конечно хотелось бы взглянуть на фиашный документ о создании чемпионата мира
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14.08.2007, 18:49   #411
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Вот такие фактики с самого начала и стали вызывать моё подозрение. Ну вот почему они не написали, что это ЭТАПЫ "ФОРМУЛЫ-1"? Вместо этого
Ну потому что тогда Формула-1 (Формула-А) именовлся класс автомобилей. По аналогии сейчас нельза сказать этап формулы-3, потомучто формула-3 это клас автомобилей а вот чемпионаты/серии на данных машинах разные: Европейский, Британский и т.д.
Т.е. можно сказать, что "чемпионат Формулы-1" изначатьно именовался как "чемпионат гран-эпрёв"
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14.08.2007, 18:51   #412
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Кстати чета я на сайте ФИА никак не могу найти международный календарь соревнований. Хотелось бы освежить в памяти, как сейчас составляются подобные календари.
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14.08.2007, 18:54   #413
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Сообщение от madlopt Посмотреть сообщение
Призовые командам за КК чётко определены "договором согласия", но вот призовые гонщикам в гонках нигде не светились. То, что команда каждому лично по его контракту выплачивает - это ясно, но сколько призовых и кому выкладывает после гонок FIA и выкладывает ли вообще - этого я нигде не встречал, только слухи про гигансткие суммы. Но в том же НАСКАРе действительно гигантские призовые и никто не стесняется их сообщать, более того, эти суммы обычно включены в итоговые таблицы вместе с очками.
а есть ли вообще эти призовые гонщикам???
Насколько я понимаю организатор башляет ФОМ определенную сумму призовых денег (30-50 лямов за этап) и эти деньги делятся на части. Одна часть делится по итогам сезона (и помоему середины). Другая по итогам гонки (промежуточным и окончательным).
Про выплаты пилотам я не слышал. Вроде как эти выплаты в виде бонусов платит команда из полученных призовых денег.
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14.08.2007, 18:58   #414
madlopt
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Вроде как эти выплаты в виде бонусов платит команда из полученных призовых денег.

Попов когда-то рассказывал, что есть некие призовые, что они громадные, правда кто кому и сколько платит, он не знал. Я тоже думаю, что какраз таки призовых гонщикам скорее нет вообще, командный спорт, епть.
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14.08.2007, 19:40   #415
Oldman
 
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Призовые командам за КК чётко определены "договором согласия", но вот призовые гонщикам в гонках нигде не светились. То, что команда каждому лично по его контракту выплачивает - это ясно, но сколько призовых и кому выкладывает после гонок FIA и выкладывает ли вообще - этого я нигде не встречал, только слухи про гигансткие суммы. Но в том же НАСКАРе действительно гигантские призовые и никто не стесняется их сообщать, более того, эти суммы обычно включены в итоговые таблицы вместе с очками.
Так ведь участники чемпионата - команды. Никак не гонщики. Поэтому логично если команды все и получают. А гонщики на контракте у команд, которые платят им зарплату. Плюс (как недавно выяснилось, допустим, про Хамильтона) гонщик может получать бонусы за принесенные очки.
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14.08.2007, 19:45   #416
madlopt
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Так ведь участники чемпионата - команды. Никак не гонщики. Поэтому логично если команды все и получают. А гонщики на контракте у команд, которые платят им зарплату. Плюс (как недавно выяснилось, допустим, про Хамильтона) гонщик может получать бонусы за принесенные очки.

А где участники не команды? В НАСКАР - команды, в ЧампКаре - команды, в ИРЛ - команды...тем не менее, там существуют призовые гонщикам, как это было в автоспорте из покон веков. Да и в Европе в младших формулах тоже есть призовые.
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14.08.2007, 19:55   #417
Владимир Коваленко
 
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Что значит финансово не управлял? Вы выражаетесь в каких то терминах, которые я не понимаю... Еще в 72м году была небольшая война между F1CA и GPI, призом в которой были как раз таки деньги Формулы 1. И война между FOCA и CSI\FISA велась именно из коммерческих прав на Формулу 1, которые до 81го года принадлежали вторым, а после него - первым.

Да не было ни "Формулы-1", ни её денег. Коммерческие вопросы лежали полностью в ведении организаторов гонок. Они и объединились в ГПИ. А участники объединились в ФОКА. Их разногласия действительно лежали в финансовой плоскости, но при этом система сохранилась той же: организаторы конкретных гонок выплачивали каждому участнику стартовые и призовые. Единого котла не было.

Лучшее исследование на эту тему сделано Доном Кэппсом и опубликовано в "Атласе Ф1", но так как "Автоспорт-ком" - платный сайт, давать ссылки бессмысленно. Я подготовлю текст и выложу.
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14.08.2007, 20:44   #418
Владимир Коваленко
 
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Back to the Future: The FIASCO War

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By Don Capps, U.S.A.
Atlas F1 Columnist

With recent events suggesting Formula One might see another power struggle between the governing body and the sport's participants, it is perhaps worthy having a look at what happened the last time around, and how miniscule today's battles are compared to that Great Big War. In the upcoming weeks, Atlas F1's Don Capps will recount the war that became known since as The FIASCO WAR, and how it completely changed the face of Formula One. This week: the events leading up to the battle

Do you know who won the 1980 Spanish Grand Prix? Can you name the winner of the 1981 South African Grand Prix? By all means, if you're new to the sport or simply can't remember, consult one of those books or web sites containing statistics on the World Drivers' Championship or Formula One. What? These events are not listed? Any idea as to why?

The answer, in a nutshell, is what became known since as The FISA/FOCA War, or in short: The FIASCO War.

The FIASCO War was not the first struggle to mar the racing scene, but it has certainly been one of those pivotal events, much like the American War of the Rebellion or the Second World War. The FIASCO War saw the Federation Internationale de Sport Automobile, FISA, and the Formula One Constructors Association, FOCA, collide head-on into each other in 1980. It was an ugly, nasty period for racing, made more dismal with the on-going battles between the United States Auto Club (USAC) and the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) in the United States.

The conflict escalated into open warfare in the Summer of 1980. Naturally, the true origin is perhaps forever lost to the mists of history, but one event which played a role occurred in May 1972. It concerned an issue which usually rests at the bottom of all such conflicts - money; and its usual associate - power. From its formation in November 1964, FOCA began to exercise more and more influence on how things were run in the world of Grand Prix racing. Although some steps had been taken prior to the formation of FOCA to standardize such issues of importance as starting monies, the constructors rarely worked in unison. This generally helped the organizing clubs.

Once the FOCA began to flex its muscle, the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI) - the previous incarnation of FISA - was generally not inclined to exert either much discipline or direction to counter-balance the FOCA. The drivers often worked in parallel with the FOCA through the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), but there were some natural frictions between the GPDA and the FOCA which were generally minimized - at least in public.

For the 1972 season, the FOCA had engineered a standard agreement with the organizing clubs which set the size of the field for a Grand Prix championship event at 25 cars. That is, with one exception - Monaco. For Monaco, the field was set at 20. The FOCA stated that this was unsatisfactory, and to make its dissatisfaction clear, the FOCA teams refused to take the track for the practice session until the number of cars in the field was increased to 25. This caught the new president of the Automobile Club of Monaco, Michel Boeri, by surprise. Boeri pointed out that there was a CSI regulation which set the size of the field in the principality at 20 - paragraph B of Article 4, to be exact.

Boeri said that only the CSI could change a CSI regulation, but unfortunately for him, the AC de Monaco had verbally agreed with the FOCA to allow 25 starters two weeks previously. The teams had arrived expecting to field 25 cars only to find that the grid would be only 20 cars, hence the refusal to allow their cars to practice. The FOCA had arrived and expected the AC de Monaco to abide by the standard agreement - the starting monies as determined by the Geneva Scale, the passes, and other stipulations. Indeed, the FOCA management had a telegram from the CSI okaying the new number of starters.

It has to be appreciated just how confusing and complicated and convoluted all this was. The FOCA thought it had a done deal with the AC de Monaco and the CSI. To show up and suddenly find that that deal seemed to have been forgotten got more than a few FOCA members into a low hover with their target acquisition radars set at max. The CSI president, Prince Metternich, was not on the scene so the director of the French national auto sporting authority (the FFSA - Federation Francaise du Sport Automobile) and the French CSI representative, Jacques Blanchet, stepped into the breach to attempt to resolve the issue. Meanwhile Prince Metternich, in Paris, held a press conference and guided the discussion in the direction of other issues which were perhaps the "real" reason behind the decision by the FOCA to be difficult - the safety changes already enacted and those coming for the 1973 season.

After much maneuvering and not a little hardnosed negotiating by the FOCA, Blanchet and Boeri agreed to the FOCA demand for 25-car grid. The FOCA had flexed its muscle and the CSI and the AC de Monaco came off looking like losers. This did not go over well in some quarters, especially in light of the fact that Blanchet stated that the CSI lacked the power to enforce the "only 20 cars for Monaco" provision. Needless to say, Blanchet was a casualty of this incident. An interested observer to all this was a successor to Blanchet as the director of the FFSA - Jean-Marie Balestre.

After the 1972 Monaco race and in preparation for the 1973 season, the organizing clubs formed their own association, Grand Prix International (GPI), to redress what they considered to be an imbalance in the power between the participants in the Grand Prix business. The basic purpose of GPI was to take the FOCA down a few notches. GPI was intended to serve as the representative of the hosting clubs when it came to negotiating the contract with the FOCA for what a weekend would "cost." During 1972, there had been minor skirmishes during the season between FOCA and the hosting clubs over money.

In late 1972, the FOCA and GPI were in the throes of hammering out the terms for the 1973 season. GPI said not a penny over Ј53,000 per weekend, while in contrast the FOCA was asking for not a penny less than Ј103,000 a weekend. GPI gave the FOCA a "take-it-or-leave-it" demand, with a deadline of mid-December. Storm clouds were brewing and lightning crackled at a right dangerous pace as GPI and FOCA glared at each other. To assure unity within its ranks, each member of GPI posted a hefty bond to be forfeited if someone bolted. The FOCA was standing pat because it felt that its trump card was the fact that it "owned" the drivers.

Meanwhile, the CSI looked on with a benign smile after earlier stating that the formation of GPI would result in a more stable situation in the Grand Prix world. Prince Metternich was still basking in the glow of his achievement as a negotiator when the bargaining chips were set at 400,000SF and 438,000SF and he brokered a compromise of 420,000SF. Prince Metternich and the CSI completely missed the fact that the whole game was different this time. The CSI was clearly opting to support the GPI and the FOCA were taking careful note of this fact and how to use it when the fight broke out.

Although GPI voiced the opinion that their offer of 475,000SF was more than fair and represented over a 12% increase from the previous year and that the prize monies offered were more than adequate to offset the demands of the FOCA, the FOCA shot back with a withering message that while the costs of the cars and engines had jumped in the neighborhood of 300% and 600% respectively, the prize monies were the same as they had been in the 1959-1960 period.

As the FOCA dug in its heels, GPI petitioned the CSI for permission to run the events counting towards the World Championship for cars conforming to F1, Formula 5000, the USAC Championship Car formula, and F2. The CSI granted the GPI clubs permission to do so. Both the FOCA and the GPDA questioned the safety of such an action, particularly with the first World Championship event - the Argentinean Grand Prix - little more than a month away.

Then the GPI coalition began to unravel. Those overseas clubs which shouldered the financial costs of transporting the teams to their races had to deal with the FOCA teams concerning those costs. The Argentine club had not joined GPI, so was not really an issue, particularly since it was basically aligned with the GPI principles. However, the travel agreements for the South African race were still being negotiated. This meant that the FOCA had at least two events more or less lined up with it.

The FOCA then dropped one of its trump cards on the table. When the CSI had stepped in at Monaco, it had announced a new set of safety regulations to take effect with the first European event on the calendar, the Spanish Grand Prix. The FOCA asked the question if the announced safety regulations were still set to go into effect with the Spanish race. It also wondered aloud that after making such an issue of safety why was it that the CSI was now willing to allow the fielding of cars which would not meet these new regulations? Was the safety issue merely a canard?

The FOCA announced that it was breaking off negotiations with GPI and would now negotiate directly with the individual organizers, as it had with South Africa. The spokesman for the FOCA on this issue was Max Mosley, one of the founders of March, along with the new owner of Brabham, Bernie Ecclestone. This ploy was one which relied on the long established relationships which existed between the constructors and the clubs. By quietly doing an end run on GPI, the powerbase of the organization simply quietly eroded despite the efforts of the spokesman for GPI, Henri Treu.

Treu, however, did have an inspired idea and approached Enzo Ferrari asking for his help. By this time, the FOCA was already ahead of Treu. Ferrari was not exactly fond of the FOCA, but he also knew a losing hand when he saw one. Treu suddenly had to face the reality that he and GPI had been defeated, and badly, by the FOCA. GPI simply withered away and disappeared. It was clear that the FOCA was the big kahuna on the block. And, by casting its lot with GPI, the CSI was damaged even more in the credibility department.

In 1976, Prince Metternich declined to run once more for the presidency of the CSI. He was replaced by Pierre Ugeux, a Belgian. Like Metternich, Ugeux had his fun-meter pegged after dealing with the FOCA for only two years. In the breach stepped the director of the FFSA, Jean-Marie Balestre. Balestre assumed the presidency of the CSI in late 1978. One of his first acts was to rename the CSI - it was now the FISA. In this manner Balestre began a series of steps with which he began to shift the FISA from a FOCA patsy into an organization ready, willing, and able to do battle with the FOCA, if necessary.

There is a fundamental law in physics which clearly states that two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time, the result of trying to do so rendering forth a great noise and much debris. This also applies to politics. In 1979 the FISA, with Balestre at the helm, was moving to exert its power against the FOCA, which held the reins thereof, and had no intention to turn them over anybody, the FISA in particular. It was not a question of whether or not there would be a confrontation, simply a matter of when and over what.

The debut of "ground effects" in the form of the Lotus 78 and 79 proved to be the spark which was to cause the showdown between the FISA and the FOCA to come to blows. There were a few warning shots early in the 1979 season that things were going to be different with Balestre at the helm of the FISA. Bernie Ecclestone had moved into the leadership position and lead spokesman of the FOCA at this time. They would not have much of a honeymoon period to get the measure of one another: Balestre determined that John Watson was the culprit responsible for a big shunt at the start of the Argentinean Grand Prix which left five of the original starters on the sideline and unable to participate in the second start. Watson was fined 10,000SF by the FISA, an act which seemed calculated to get the FOCA into a low hover.

As the 1979 season rolled on, Balestre became more and more vocal about the state of Grand Prix racing. In turn, the FOCA was facing the unpleasant fact that turbocharging was apparently here to stay, although they were not deterred by that thought when it came to voicing its opinion about the state of Grand Prix racing. It was apparent that two objects were getting ready to occupy the same space and at the same time. Even the Untrained Eye could see trouble brewing. Soon many were to learn that FISA + FOCA = FIASCO.

During the 1979 season, the relationship between the Federation Internationale de Sport Automobile (FISA) and the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) was quiet, subject to moments of strain, and kept out of view of the public as much as possible. Sorta. FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre did slap a hefty fine on John Watson for being responsible for a first lap pile-on. Balestre did utter remarks about the current state of affairs in Grand Prix racing which were not received well in some quarters, particularly those occupied by Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, the major voices of the FOCA. The season managed to be conducted without any serious meltdowns or unseemly public spats. Despite an occasional escalation of the words between the two finding their way into print, few doubted that 1980 would be much different.

When Balestre became president of the FISA, his campaign platform was simple - he was the anti-FOCA candidate. He espoused the idea that the "sporting power" within Grand Prix racing did not rest with the constructors, but with the agent plenipotentiary of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) - the FISA. Balestre vowed to restore the balance of power with the sport, the tilt of power towards the FOCA being accomplished during the period in which the predecessor to the FISA, the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI), was weak and taken advantage of by the questionable tactics of the FOCA. Balestre was determined to redress that balance and with a vengeance.

While the FISA and the FOCA did quibble and squawk about the impact of ground effects on Grand Prix racing, the exchanges were never confrontational and often approached in an indirect fashion. While Balestre was laying the groundwork for a campaign against the FOCA, the FOCA were generally dismissive of both Balestre and the FISA. After all, had they not stared down the previous CSI presidents? Had they not broken the organizers' cartel? Did they not have the backing of the fans?

The FOCA seriously misjudged both Balestre and a revitalized FISA. The issue which was to launch the first skirmishes of the FIASCO War was, naturally, ground effects. Today, ground effects is taken for granted and while somewhat restricted, the diffusers achieve the desired effect rather more elegantly than the sliding skirts that began to appear on each Grand Prix machine after the Lotus 79 dominated the 1978 season. The FOCA teams wanted to retain the current setup using sliding skirts and "stepped" bottoms to create the ground effects which literally sucked the cars towards the track surface. The FISA wanted to eliminate this system and lower the cornering speeds. Two objects moved closer to occupying the same spot at the same time.

After several months of lobbing little cowpats at each other in the early months of 1980, the FISA and the FOCA got down to some serious cowpat tossing in April. The FISA Plenary Conference held in mid-April produced a number of reasons for everyone to return unhappy about something. The FISA Executive Committee met prior to the Plenary Conference and voted upon a number of changes to be implemented starting with 1 January 1981 and continuing to be implemented through the 1983 season. Balestre used as examples the injuries which occurred in the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami - Alain Prost (McLaren) and Marc Surer (ATS), and the Long Beach Grand Prix - Clay Regazzoni (Ensign). Naturally, this got Teddy Mayer wound up and he fired off a strongly worded response to Balestre.

That FISA salvo and its counter-fire from the FOCA, however, were just the signal for the parties to take their posts. During the Plenary Conference the FISA dropped no end of cards on the table. First, citing its authority under the regulations to make changes dictated by safety concerns, the FISA banned the sliding skirts system as of 1 January 1981. Also on that date, other changes were to take effect regarding the frontal structure of the cars and which were to include a deformable structure to protect the legs of the drivers. Also included in this package of safety-related changes were additional protection in the cockpit side walls, changes to the rear wings, an increase in the weight of the cars to 605 kilograms, and the banning of two-stroke or Diesel or Wankel or turbine engines until further notice.

Second, in 1982 tyre widths would be restricted or a tread introduced to lower cornering speeds. Third, for 1983, it introduced the fuel-flow formula proposed by Keith Duckworth of Cosworth. In addition, four-wheel drive was to be banned and the maximum number of wheels on a car to be limited to four, plus regulations would be generated on the use of titanium. Fourth, Balestre made it clear that many of the changes being proposed were courtesy of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA). On the circuit safety front, all circuits would have to be inspected and certified before hosting a Grand Prix. The responsibility for starting a race would now be delegated to a single person, FISA delegate Derek Ongaro, this taking effect with the next event, the Belgian Grand Prix.

Also, there would be a mandatory meeting of all drivers 45 minutes after the end of free practice on the morning of each Grand Prix, with the team managers also in attendance. An absent driver would receive a $2,000 fine for the first absence and a $5,000 fine for the second such absence. Henceforth, except in the case of force majeure, any driver changes had to be submitted four weeks in advance. In addition, all documents relating to a team had to bear the name of the constructor and not just that of the commercial sponsor of the team.

The FISA Executive Committee also submitted to the Plenary Conference something that slipped past most, but was a red star cluster to the FOCA. In a statement buried within all these changes, the FISA put it very bluntly what it intended to do:

"…the FISA exerts full control over the World Championships belong to it and which, at the present moment, are the subject of a takeover by certain private associations foreign to the FIA.
"No constructor or association of constructors may organize or be associated with a national sporting authority (or club affiliated to that ASN) for the organization of a Grand Prix.

"No competitor or constructor entered for a World Championship event may be organizer of this same event."

And just to round out the day's activities, Balestre suspended the running of the 1981 South African Grand Prix. The rationale for his decision was that he and other FISA officials were denied access to the podium at Kyalami by the security guards assigned to that duty by the race sponsor. Balestre claimed that "physical violence" was used to deny him access to the podium, but that could simply be something lost in the translation.

As many went to great pains to point out, these were "suggestions" from the FISA Executive Committee and were not adopted as of yet by the FISA Plenary Conference. The Executive Committee saw it otherwise, issuing statements that what it presented was "official" and that the Plenary Conference had no power to veto the proposals. If there was much scratching of heads amongst the "Insiders," most racing fans were initially unconcerned or even unaware of all the fuss. Few had much of an opinion about what was happening.

Needless to say, among those directly involved, opinions varied somewhat. Gerard Larrousse of Renault welcomed and supported the proposals. As did the President of the GPDA, Jody Scheckter. Brian Hart thought the idea of a fuel flow system a load of rubbish. Meanwhile, Keith Duckworth, while delighted at the idea of a fuel flow formula, wondered just what the "orientation" of that formula would wind up being since the flow rate was not announced. As for Nashua, the sponsors whose security guards used "physical violence" on the unsuspecting Balestre and other members of his party as they attempted to reach the South African podium, they explained that it was the race marshals who denied permission to Balestre and company to leave the pit apron to reach the podium steps. In addition, Balestre did not identify himself to the security personnel and attempted to push past them, which resulted in the guards blocking his way. This they say, unleashed a stream of angry French as Balestre lost his temper and cursed the security personnel.

There was a conspicuous silence on the part of the FOCA to all this at first. "No comment," was all that Max Mosley had to say. Others noted that many of the measures presented to the FISA Executive Committee on Tuesday were modified or defeated on Wednesday, there being an obvious split within the FISA Plenary Conference. Indeed, the subject of the Spanish Grand Prix, an event organized by the FOCA, was seen as a direct attack by the FISA and Balestre on the FOCA. Or, the FISA were putting rocks in the cowpies they tossed at the FOCA members.

Oh, by the way, the FISA banned the use of qualifying tyres beginning with the Belgian Grand Prix. This added fuel to the chaos that was always present whenever the racers showed up for the Belgian race at Zolder. It created no end of heartburn for all involved, the pole position of Alan Jones being a question mark long after the final practice was over. Although Jones eventually kept his starting spot on the pole after the nightmare of sorting out his tyres was resolved, he finished second to Didier Pironi in a Ligier Ford Cosworth.

At Zolder, the requirement for mandatory driver meetings took effect. Whatever the GPDA may have said about the meetings, the attendance was, well, sparse. Although rumors abounded that some teams asked their drivers to stay away, others that the FOCA would pay any fines that resulted, and others that they simply "forgot." Keep all this in mind for later on.

There is something about Monaco and the tight confines of Monte Carlo that often brings out the worse in usually well-mannered and reasonable people. Even in 1980, the circuit was woefully inadequate for the machines now racing around its many twists and turns. The cramped, claustrophobic pits put the Great Australian Adjective on the lips of many who labored there. The GPDA was celebrating the start of its 20th season, having been formed in Monte Carlo during the 1961 Grand Prix weekend. More than a few of the members of that organization were unhappy with some of the decisions being made, particularly with the dispensing of the pre-qualification session which had the effect of dumping everybody into the official practice sessions.

This had the odd effect of placing the FISA and the FOCA on the same side of the table but for different reasons. The FISA sided with the organizers and more than a few of the FOCA members reminded the drivers that they weren't the only blokes who could drive racing cars. After a contentious meeting, the FISA and the FOCA both got their way and all 27 drivers would appear in the two official practice sessions to determine who the lucky 20 starters would be. Any mention of the 1972 race and its demands for 25 starters was conspicuously absent.

While practice was the Usual Shambles, the race was marred by a first lap multi-car coming-together at Ste. Devote which eliminated four cars, to include both of the Tyrrell entries. Although Carlos Reutemann won with his Williams FW07 Cosworth Ford, over half the field was not around at the finish. Neither were a few drivers at the mandatory meetings.

After the Monaco Grand Prix, the FISA sent around a notice that those drivers who skipped the meetings had better pay up by the first day of practice for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama. Failure to pay the fines could or would result in the driver(s) not being awarded championship points, as well as jeopardizing the running of the Spanish Grand Prix. Those who did not attend the meetings at Zolder or Monte Carlo included: Elio de Angelis (Lotus), Mario Andretti (Lotus), Alan Jones (Williams), Emerson Fittipaldi (Fittipaldi), Jacques Laffite (Ligier), Jean-Pierre "Jumper" Jarier (Tyrrell), Didier Pironi (Ligier), and Alain Prost (McLaren). Absent at Zolder, but present at Monte Carlo were: Jan Lammers (ATS), Tiff Needell (Ensign), Nelson Piquet (Brabham), Carlos Reutemann (Williams), Keke Rosberg (Fittipaldi), John Watson (Williams), and Ricardo Zunino (Brabham). Present at Zolder but absent from the Monte Carlo meeting: Derek Daly (Tyrrell), Jochen Mass (Arrows), and Riccardo Patrese (Arrows).

Of these 18 drivers, several were offered as having been resolved. Andretti had his fine settled by Essex so he could shuffle back and forth between Europe and Indianapolis. Prost was said to have paid his Zolder fine. Maybe. Initially there was more than a little confusion and consternation over this state of affairs. This was followed by the realization by many that a state of war now existed between the FISA and the FOCA.

Meanwhile, the FOCA had submitted its counterproposal to the FISA safety proposals. It proposed an implementation of its plan in two stages. The first stage would be ready by the first European event of 1981 and the second stage a year following that. Its proposal was quite technical and precise. In addition, it addressed the areas pointed out by the FISA, the area surrounding the driver's feet and side impact protection. The FISA chose not to respond to the FOCA submission.

On the eve of the Spanish Grand Prix, the Spanish organizers suddenly found themselves in the midst of a war zone.

In the area southeast of Madrid, some of the most bitter and bloodiest fighting of the Spanish Civil War took place. Therefore, it seemed appropriate that the area was once again the battlefield of what was rapidly escalating into a bitter - and at times quite uncivil - war between the Federation Internationale de Sport Automobile (FISA) and the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA). This was scarcely what the organizers, spectators, sponsors, and most of the potential participants in the Spanish Grand Prix at the Jarama circuit had in mind for their visit to the Iberian plain.

In retrospect, it seems a bit amazing that this bitter episode in Grand Prix history began with a modest flap over fines for not attending driver meetings. That, however, is merely in retrospect. At the time, many had been anticipating a meltdown over something. It was clear that the driver fines were merely the first thing that came along that Jean-Marie Balestre could put hands on. If not that, then it would have just something else.

The first battle of the FIASCO War was waged in late-May 1980 at Jarama, the early skirmishes having led FISA President Balestre to come to the conclusion that FOCA simply was not getting the message. It was time to marshal the troops and let the FOCA know that the FISA meant business. The hapless organizers caught in the midst of this battle were from the Real Automovil Club España (RACE). Their circuit, their race, their hopes for a modest profit - all wound up being held ransom and at the mercy of others.

The fines owed were distributed thusly:


$7,000 ($2,000 + $5,000) for not attending the meetings at Zolder or Monte Carlo - Elio de Angelis (Lotus), Mario Andretti (Lotus), Alan Jones (Williams), Emerson Fittipaldi (Fittipaldi), Jacques Laffite (Ligier), Jean-Pierre "Jumper" Jarier (Tyrrell), Didier Pironi (Ligier), and Alain Prost (McLaren);

Absent at Zolder, but present at Monte Carlo - Jan Lammers (ATS), Tiff Needell (Ensign), Nelson Piquet (Brabham), Carlos Reutemann (Williams), Keke Rosberg (Fittipaldi), John Watson (Williams), and Ricardo Zunino (Brabham); present at Zolder but absent from the Monte Carlo meeting - Derek Daly (Tyrrell), Jochen Mass (Arrows), and Riccardo Patrese (Arrows); those drivers missing only one meeting were fined $2,000.
The fines were due prior to the start of the first practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix. The FOCA said that the fines were unconstitutional since the motion had not been approved during the FISA meeting in Rio. The FISA responded with the expected retort that the FOCA were quite mistaken and the fines were indeed due and due now. Once it became obvious that the fines were not going to be paid, the FISA requested that the respective Autorite Sportive Nationale (ASN) for each driver not paying the fine rescind the driver's competition license. The French ASN, the FFSA, was only too happy to oblige the request - particularly since Balestre was also the president of this organization.

In the days leading up to the first day of practice on Friday, May 30th, the now openly warring organizations were not in a mood to utter the "C" word - compromise. The FISA was in a combative mood, as some fines had been paid but the vast majority were still outstanding. Likewise, the FOCA was utterly convinced that the fines were not legal and asked the drivers not to pay them. The FISA placed the blame on the FOCA for asking its teams to urge their drivers to not attend the meetings, something Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) president Jody Scheckter accused FOCA spokesman Bernie Ecclestone of doing so as to provoke a confrontation. Some of the cynics among the crowd noted aloud that Scheckter drove for a team which did not belong to the FOCA, Ferrari.

The FISA insisted that the individual drivers were responsible for paying their own fines and that no one else would undertake that duty - certainly not their team, sponsors, or even race organizers. The latter is significant since the RACE had offered to place a deposit with the FISA in the amount equal to the sum of the fines owed by the drivers. The answer was a firm "NO!" from the FISA to the RACE, who were now having visions of disaster dance before their eyes, since the possibility that the event would not be run was becoming a more distinct possibility each passing day.

On Thursday evening, Balestre unleashed a broadside at the FOCA at a press conference. Balestre made it clear that no one with an outstanding fine would be allowed to practice come the next day. This was exactly what the officials from RACE dreaded to hear. It is at this point that they attempted to place a deposit with the FISA so they could have a race and let the headaches pass on to the next organizers of the next event. Once again, Balestre said that only full payment by the individual drivers would suffice.

It was pointed out by a FOCA member at the press conference that this was rather a case of changing the rules in mid-game since Essex had already paid the fine for Mario Andretti so as to allow him to compete at the Indianapolis 500, an event on the FIA International calendar. Plus, Nelson Piquet had not been turned away from competing at the Nurburgring the previous weekend. Balestre fumbled for a moment, but then said that these had been "mistakes" and that both still owed their fines.

The president of RACE, the Marquis de Cubas, then asked the question as why was it that the drivers who did not attend the drivers' meeting at Zolder were allowed to participate at Monaco? If they had not paid their fine, why were they not therefore suspended for Monte Carlo? Balestre lamely explained this away by saying there had not been sufficient time to do so. At this point de Cubas closed in for the kill: If that was the case, that there was not sufficient time between Belgium and Monaco, how there suddenly become sufficient time between Monaco and Spain? Balestre refused to answer the question.

At this point, the wrangling continued on for a short while, but it was plainly clear that Balestre was not going to allow the race to be run under the sanction of the FISA if the fines were not paid and the FOCA teams attempted to run the event with the drivers. That the FOCA was the promoter of the Spanish race was not lost on any one present. It was clear that Balestre was hoping to withdraw the FISA sanction of the race causing the FOCA to take a bath on the losses that would incur.

When Friday morning finally rolled around, the results of some of the late night verbal fistcuffs were becoming known. After arguing with Balestre and getting nowhere, the president of RACE, de Cubas, told Balestre that he was not welcome at the circuit and that should he attempt to visit the track he would not be admitted. That the RACE actually owned the Jarama circuit was a twist which had, up to this point, somehow escaped the FISA. If there had been only the skirmishers exchanging a few rounds, this was the point where the two forces had their movement to contact become a hasty attack or defend proposition.

The RACE announced that it had assumed the sporting powers delegated to the Federacion Española de Automovilismo (FEA) by the FIA and the FISA. Needless to say, this little development left more than a few scratching their heads, many on both sides not expecting this development. The RACE pointed out that in the FIA Yellow Book it stated that to assume this authority the RACE merely had to inform the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) in writing, which it was doing. In other words, the RACE were going to run the Spanish Grand Prix without the FISA. The RACE were taking back the sporting powers handed over to the FEA in October 1979 on the grounds that the FEA had not used this properly. The RACE was throwing its lot with the FOCA and aligning itself according.

The small problem that soon surfaced was that the FEA had no desire to run the Spanish Grand Prix outside the jurisdiction of the FISA. Meanwhile, the FOCA and the RACE stated that the Spanish Grand Prix would be held and that since the RACE was sanctioning the event, there was no need to have the officials from the FISA present at Jarama. And, by the way, since the event was being run without FISA, this also meant that it was not necessary for the participants to have a FISA license.

So, over four hours after it had been scheduled to begin, the first practice for the 1980 Gran Premio de Espaсa finally got underway. Well, the first "official" practice that is. Earlier, at the originally scheduled time, the Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and Renault teams had sent their cars out to circulate the track and hope that local driver Emilio de Villota in a Williams FW07 Cosworth Ford stayed out of their way. After maybe a half hour, the session was red-flagged by the organizers from RACE which informed the FEA and the FISA officials that their presence was no longer welcome. And neither were their fellow travelers. Balestre was not among those asked to leave, having remained in Madrid after stating that he had said all that he needed to the previous evening.

Not all the teams participating in Grand Prix (or Formula One) racing were members of the FOCA. The Ferrari team had an arrangement with the FOCA to handle its travel arrangements and other similar details during the season. While not a member of FOCA, Scuderia Ferrari were perfectly happy to use the organization to represent it when it benefited the team. It was a relationship developed from a position of mutual benefit and not one which was based on shared ideals. The return of Alfa Romeo to the Grand Prix ranks in late-1979 meant that the team would not be eligible for FOCA membership until later in the 1980 season. Membership in the FOCA required that a team complete a minimum of a season in the championship series before being asked to join. Prior to the events at Jarama, the FOCA had extended the offer of membership only for Alfa Romeo to decline the offer. In addition to Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, Renault was another team choosing not to join the FOCA and making a set of arrangements similar to that of Ferrari.

When the "official" practice finally began, four teams did not participate: Ferrari, Renault, Alfa Romeo, and Osella. Renault explained that it was neither for nor against the FISA - Balestre - but simply did not wish to find itself participating in an event which was being conducted on what seemed to be very shaky legal grounds. As a major manufacturer, Jean Sage explained, Renault could not allow this sort of thing to happen. However, the teams stated that while they would not run in practice, they would remain on site should a deal be negotiated which would allow the event to run as originally proposed: a FISA-approved round in the World Drivers' Championship.

Oh, yes, there were actually teams in Jarama to participate in the Spanish Grand Prix. The first practice session saw the Ligier team in the top two spots, Jacques Laffite edging Didier Pironi. Behind were the Williams drivers, Carlos Reutemann and Alan Jones, in that order. Behind these came Nelson Piquet in a Brabham.

On Saturday, the best time in practice was set by Alan Jones, but it was not quite quick enough to push Laffite off the pole. Overnight Balestre and Ecclestone had held talks which basically got nowhere. Balestre was determined not to compromise on the original issue, the fines, and even should that be resolved there was the matter of the FEA, RACE, and the FOCA to untangle. And the only way to untangle it was in a way which left the FISA holding the high ground at the end of the day. Naturally, Ecclestone and the other members of FOCA didn't quite see it that way.

Blunt as ever, Frank Williams put it this way: "I refuse to be administered by an incompetent - it's my livelihood, or him. All Balestre has is an armband - he doesn't run any cars, he doesn't pay my bills, he doesn't have one penny invested in my business or any of the teams here." In late-1978, similar words had been voiced in America and now the organization known as Championship Auto Racing Teams, or CART, was now running the National Championship Trail that once belonged to the United States Auto Club (USAC). More than a few observers took a moment to pause when they read what Frank Williams had said. This was further evidence that the battle was shaping up and soon the blood would really begin to flow.

One of the four teams which had sat out the first practice session did show up for the Saturday session: Osella. Enzo Osella changed his entry to that of his sponsors and found this a sufficient device to allow him to participate in the race while still not getting too far away from the FISA camp. In the meantime, Marco Piccinini was in the Brabham motorhome with Bernie Ecclestone and others who were doing their flat best to get him to place the cars in the race. There were strong "signals" from both Renault and Alfa Romeo that if Ferrari raced, so would they. Naturally, with an eye on Balestre and his possible reaction, Jean Sage said that Ferrari exerted absolutely no influence on whether or not they would race. Alfa Romeo echoed Renault.

At the end of five hours, Piccinini emerged from the Parmalat motorhome. Despite the final practice being delayed pending the decision as to whether or not Ferrari, Renault, and Alfa Romeo would participate, it was now clear that Ferrari had not changed its mind and would sit out the race. Renault and Alfa Romeo quickly fell into step with Ferrari. As Piccinini patiently explained, Enzo Ferrari had given his guidance and that guidance meant that Scuderia Ferrari would not participate in a non-FISA event. Ciao.

The "FISA teams" then packed up and left. Not unnoticed was that the only drivers to attend the Zolder and Monte Carlo driver meetings were Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Rene Arnoux, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Patrick Depailler, and Bruno Giacomelli - the drivers for Ferrari, Renault, and Alfa Romeo respectively.

As if this were not enough for the FOCA and RACE, the Spanish Minister of Sport announced that the RACE had no authority, no "right," to take the sporting powers from the FEA. However, the RACE officials were determined that there would be a 1980 Spanish Grand Prix and on Sunday there would be a Grand Prix regardless of whether some folks liked it or not.

On Sunday, Balestre departed Madrid for the FIA Plenary Conference meeting in Athens. That afternoon, 22 cars took their places on the grid at Jarama and ran the 80 lap race as scheduled. It was an event with a higher than usual rate of retirements, only six making to the finish:

1st Alan Jones, Williams FW07B Cosworth Ford
2nd Jochen Mass, Arrows A3 Cosworth Ford
3rd Elio de Angelis, Lotus 81 Cosworth Ford
4th Jean-Pierre Jarier, Tyrrell 010 Cosworth Ford
5th Emerson Fittipaldi, Fittipaldi F7 Cosworth Ford
6th Patrick Gaillard, Ensign N180 Cosworth Ford

Now the question was: did the event constitute a round in the World Championship? With Balestre being given the support of the FIA Plenary Conference, it was apparent to even the Untrained Eye that the FOCA were going to pay for their efforts in Spain. The reaction of Balestre was swift - the FOCA position on the FISA Executive Committee was removed, as well as the similar position for the FOCA representative on the F1 Commission. The Plenary Conference supported Balestre on these moves. Since Ferrari informed the Plenary Conference that FOCA did speak for the team, FOCA could therefore be said to not speak for all the teams and therefore was not necessary as a member of these committees.

Balestre also said that all the drivers who took part in the "illegal" Spanish Grand Prix would be dealt with in a manner more lenient than would be the case for the FOCA teams. He said that he understood the very difficult, if not impossible, position in which the team owners placed them and realized that they were merely pawns in the game. However, be that as it may, until further notice they were banned from participating in any FISA-sanctioned events.

Needless to say, the state of Grand Prix racing in the early days of June 1980 was one which suddenly seemed a replay of the CART vs. USAC battle of the previous season. Normally calm and reasonable people were now up in arms in support of one side or the other and ready to duke it out with other normally calm and reasonable people. More often than not, many were asking the question, "What the hell is going on here?"

In the wake of the Athens meeting, there were additional discussions planned between the FISA and the FOCA. The site was to be Lausanne. And, Balestre made clear his intention not to attend, turning over matters to Secretary General of the FISA, Yvon Leon. The discussions were held in the European Headquarters offices of Philip Morris, whose displeasure as a sponsor (Marlboro) at how matters were going where not being hid from all involved.

Amazingly, under the watchful eye of the Philip Morris officials, an agreement was hammered out between the battling parties. It was a compromise designed to restore peace, harmony, and stability to Grand Prix racing. In the agreement both parties made concessions and there seemed to be a sense that any further crisis had been averted, or at least now made manageable. The agreement was sent out to all the sporting journals and it seemed that peace was at hand.

It was until Jean-Marie Balestre read the agreement. He was furious at what he read and this anger was not helped by the fact the agreement had already been distributed to parties far and wide. Balestre snarled that he had been under the impression that the agreement would not be released until at least a week had passed so that the parties involved would have time to read the agreement over and have further discussions should they be necessary. That Balestre was informed only when a telex of the agreement was laid in the in-box on his desk in Paris and the contents as much a surprise to him as they were to many journalists did not bode well for the future.

Damage control began immediately and the FISA Executive Committee were sent copies of the agreement and polled for their approval of the agreement - the majority rejecting the agreement outright. This set of events caught several of the players by surprise. Max Mosley admitted to being "confused" as to exactly what was going on since he thought that they had a deal. That Balestre now refused to accept the agreement prompted the FOCA to request another meeting with the FISA in Lausanne to discuss the latest problem. Several on both sides of the table said out loud that things seemed to go very well when certain personalities were absent from the negotiating process. One group very upset by the sudden reversal of fortune was the sponsors. John Hogan of Philip Morris and the representative for the other sponsors during the negotiating sessions expressed his dismay and anger at the antics of Balestre in drop kicking the "Lausanne Agreement" right into the wastebasket.

After a brief interval when peace threatened, the FIASCO War was right back where it had been before Lausanne - fiery words and vows of no quarter. The FFSA announced, incidentally, that whether or not the FOCA teams were there or not, the French Grand Prix was definitely on.

After a huddle and no little barbed discussion, the FISA treasury was suddenly enriched by all the fines levied against drivers as a result of missing one or both of the drivers' meetings at Zolder and Monte Carlo being paid - by the individual drivers. This sudden move caught many by surprise, not the least of them being the FISA.

The FISA had been busy lining up allies, calling a meeting of the race organizers and asking that they bring along their contracts with the FOCA. A few told the FISA that their individual contracts were no one's business but their own. The FISA responded lining up all the ASN's of the nations hosting rounds in the World Championship. The only ASN's not signing a communiquй pledging allegiance to the FISA were the Royal Automobile Club Motor Association and the Confederacao Brasileira de Automobilismo. Needless to say, this was not an act calculated to endear them to Balestre.

Floating around more and more frequently was the notion that the FOCA would follow the lead of CART in America and form its own Grand Prix series. While pretending that such a thought was utter nonsense and concerned them not at all, the FISA agreed to another round of discussions with the FOCA, this time at the Post House at Heathrow. Or was it to be at Paul Ricard? Or Paris?

In the meanwhile, Guy Ligier had taken the attractive financial offer from Talbot to invest in the Ligier team. Ligier was under great pressure from Balestre to renounce his FOCA allegiance. Despite the link to a manufacturer, Talbot, Guy Ligier went to great pains at the press conference announcing the deal for the 1981 season to reiterate his support for the FOCA.

Goodyear, one among many sponsors, once more made it perfectly clear that it was giving its involvement in Grand Prix racing much thought and the idea of withdrawing was not an idle threat. In the weeks between the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama and the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard, there was a general malaise which seemed to have infected many of those involved in the sport and many more that followed their activities. As the French Grand Prix approached many wondered, "What the hell is going on here?" More often than not, the answer was, "Damned if I know, but it sure seems to be an ugly mess!"

The year-long struggle between the Federation Internationale de Sport Automobile (FISA) and the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) reached a demarcation point on 8 October 1980. On that day, the FISA Plenary Conference met in Paris. A war which had become a quiet exchange of barbs to the unwary on either side now found itself sliding into the very thing that most had been working to avoid: a war with unconditional surrender.

Here, briefly, is what came out of the FISA Plenary Conference on that fateful October day in Paris. First, the Plenary Conference approved the actions taken by the FISA Executive Committee in January. The banning of the sliding skirts used by the ground effects cars had been the point over which the FOCA and the FISA had crossed swords in the first place. Now, the ban was upheld, effective from the start of the 1981 season.

Second, as of the 1981 season, there would be a new "FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) Formula 1 World Championship," which would be the exclusive property of the FIA. There would be championships for drivers and constructors, just as in the past. However, the participants had to be licensed by the FIA (for drivers, the FISA established a new "Super License" for this purpose), and the events had to have contractual agreements requiring all parities involved - the FISA, the respective ASN (Autoritй Sportive Nationale), the competitors, the organizers, and the circuit - to abide by the regulations governing the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

In addition, the usual supplementary regulations issued by the respective organizers would now be replaced by a standard set of regulations which would be used by all those hosting a championship event. They would be in both French and English. The championship would consist of no more than 16 rounds nor less than eight rounds. The minimum number of starters would be 24, or should the number of entries exceed 30, then 26 would be the number of starters. If necessary, the organizers could admit cars conforming to the Formula 2 regulations to participate.

The maximum distance of 320 kilometers or two hours carried over from the previous championship. The scoring system was based on splitting the season into two equal parts, with drivers being able to count their results from "half plus one" of the races from each part of the season. The scoring system - 9,6,4,3,2,1 - remained the same.

Teams and organizers wishing to participate in the 1981 championship had to indicate their intention to do so during the period between 1 and 15 November. The FISA would announce those participating a week later, on 22 November. Teams participating had to sign contracts binding them to adhere to all the relevant FISA contracts and regulations. This included the new FISA Standard Financial Regulations. Failure of a team to participate in all of the qualifying rounds of the championship would result in a fine of $20,000 per car per event. Entrants not scoring points in the 1980 constructors' championship had to provide the FISA with information about their organizations and post a $30,000 bond with the FISA which could be refunded at the end of the season if their participations was satisfactory. Should a team not anticipate participating in a complete season, it must provide the FISA with three months' notice and the posting of the $30,000 bond. Should a team wish to run an additional car in certain events, a month's notice was necessary, and no points could be scored by the "extra" car.

The Plenary Conference approved these new FISA Standard Financial Regulations. On top of the information already discussed, these regulations stated very clearly that the only way to run in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship was to sign a contract with the FISA, which delineated the financial arrangements governing that participation. The FISA would retain a small percentage of the monies exchanging hands each race for its operating expenses. There would be a built-in index during the five years over which the new contracts would be in place to prevent steep jumps which FISA accused the FOCA of imposing from one year to the next. The figures in the new contracts would be made public knowledge, ending the secrecy that the FISA accused the FOCA of maintaining in its contracts.

And, should there be any thoughts of a "pirate" Formula One series, the FISA made it clear that any such endeavor would be met with harsh penalties. The Plenary Conference supported the FISA in its reiteration of the penalties that were already "on the books," as well as ensuring that a clear message was sent to the FOCA teams that the FISA most certainly meant business. The withdrawal of licenses of not only the teams, organizers, and drivers involved, but even those of the ASN who allowed such events to occur within their jurisdictions.

Needless to say, the FOCA proposal offered to the FISA Plenary Conference was rejected. The retention of sliding skirts was never given any serious consideration by the Plenary Conference. The FISA had offered the constructors, and not just the FOCA, the opportunity to present a set of proposals formulated by a committee composed of Colin Chapman (Lotus), Gordon Murray (Brabham), Patrick Head (Williams), and Teddy Mayer (McLaren). These proposals were obviously "Cosworth-centric." The group wanted an immediate adoption of a "fuel flow" formula, a maximum fuel capacity of 210 litres, and the phasing out of the sliding skirts. The proposals had to be unanimously approved by the constructors. With Ferrari and Renault dissenting with the proposals, so much for the FOCA.

It was also revealed that Enzo Ferrari had offered his services to Bernie Ecclestone of the FOCA as a mediator for the problems which seemed to exist between the FISA and the FOCA. Ferrari wrote that he would work to ensure that Ferrari, Renault and Alfa Romeo would support the continuity of the existing FOCA contracts. However, the on-going lawsuits brought by the FOCA would have to be dropped as a pre-condition. This meant the acceptance of the FISA as the sole source of sporting and technical power in Formula One, to include accepting the existing and future regulations applicable to Formula One.

Ferrari proposed to broker a "protocol" for those participating in the forthcoming FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Ferrari offered a period of three years during which the FOCA would continue to manage the financial arrangements of F1 events. During this period, the FOCA would develop a standard contract for use by all the organizers. There would be an indexing system based upon geographical region to account for any rises in costs due to inflation. Ferrari also suggested that all funds be disbursed immediately at the conclusion of each event.

In the days immediately following the release of the Plenary Conference actions, the silence from the FOCA was deafening. However, on 15 October, a week following the Plenary Conference, the FOCA participated in a meeting of the F1 sponsors in Milano. The sponsors were concerned about the events of the past months since, after all, it was their money being bantered around. What got the attention was that in addition to the new schedule for the 1981 FIA F1 World Championship, also revealed were the dates for a 15-round FOCA championship! There was some overlap, both calendars listing events at Kyalami, Rio de Janeiro, Jarama (on different dates!), Dijon, Silverstone, Hockenheim, Zeltweg, and Zandvoort. The 1981 FISA and FOCA calendars looked like this:


Date FISA FOCA
25 January Buenos Aires
7 February Kyalami Kyalami
15 March Long Beach Long Beach
29 March Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro
3 May Montreal
9 May New York
17 May Zolder
31 May Monte Carlo
7 June Jarama
21 June Jarama Spa-Francorchamps
5 July Dijon Dijon
18 July Silverstone Silverstone (or Brands Hatch)
2 August Hockenheim Hockenheim
16 August Zeltweg Zeltweg
30 August Zandvoort Zandvoort
13 September Monza Imola
27 September Montreal Mexico City
4 October Watkins Glen
?? October Las Vegas

The sponsors looked at this with more than a little dread. While those present went on record as stating that the best solution was a single championship series, there were factions within this group. Gitanes, Elf, and Essex expressed their preference for FISA, while Leyland, Candy, and Parmalat sided with the FOCA side. John Hogan of Marlboro said that Philip Morris was officially neutral. He also said that he wanted the two sides to find a reasonable compromise. Some of the sponsors not present voiced their displeasure with the way things were going, offering the opinion that some would consider their options for the coming year very closely.

The presence of this FOCA calendar was viewed by many as a mere canard and designed simply to serve as a bargaining chip for the almost certain upcoming negotiations. Thus far, the FOCA had not announced a "pirate" or "breakaway" series to compete head to head with the FISA F1 World Championship. That had many wondering exactly what was really going on. The FISA immediately made it known that the appropriate ASNs of South Africa, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Spain, and France had issued denials of any such a FOCA series being on their calendars. All were quick to make their allegiance to the FISA (and Jean-Marie Balestre) very clear.

However, the FOCA finally broke its silence. It pointed out that none of the ASNs mentioned by the FISA actually owned a circuit. It also said that it would soon reveal that there were contracts in place for the events listed on the calendar it had revealed at the Milano conference with the sponsors. It said the events would be held with or without the blessing of the FISA.

There were rumors that Enzo Ferrari and Bernie Ecclestone had met in Modena to discuss the current situation. Ecclestone was said to have asked Ferrari to participate in the FOCA series, but Ferrari vowed that he had pledged his allegiance to the FISA and thank you very much, but no thank you. It was also said that a revised FOCA calendar would be released in the next week or so.

Then it happened. On 31 October, the FOCA ratcheted up the war more than a few notches: The World Federation of Motor Sport (WFMS) would sanction the World Professional Drivers Championship (WPDC) beginning with the 1981 season.

The calendar for the WFMS series differed in detail from that shown two weeks earlier:


Date WFMS FOCA
25 January Buenos Aires
7 February Kyalami Kyalami
15 March Long Beach Long Beach
29 March Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro
2 May New York
17 May Imola Zolder
31 May Monte Carlo Monte Carlo
7 June Jarama
21 June Spa-Francorchamps Jarama
5 July Dijon or Anderstorp Dijon
12 July Anderstorp
18 July Silverstone Silverstone
2 August Hockenheim Hockenheim
16 August Zeltweg Zeltweg
23 August Zandvoort
30 August Zandvoort
13 September Montreal Monza
27 September Watkins Glen Montreal
4 October Watkins Glen
11 October Mexico City
18 October Las Vegas

Just a cursory glance at the calendars showed that there was going to be a serious problem in 1981 if the FISA and the WFMS both went ahead with their plans. And there was now what more than a few had been trying to avoid - an open breach between the FOCA and the FISA. Plus, both sides expected its allies to align themselves accordingly.

The WFMS was the previous FOCA proposals codified. The WFMS technical regulations for its "Formula 1" retained the sliding skirts needed for ground effects, but reduced the plane area to four square meters, a reduction of about a third from that of the 1980 cars. There would be a "fuel-flow" formula of 50 cubic centimeters per second. Tires would be restricted to rim sizes between 13 and 15 inches with a volume of 400 litres and a threaded design would be introduced. There would be a ban on refueling during a race. The minimum weight would be 575 kilograms. By the beginning of the 1982 season, a driver survival cell requirement would be implemented. There would be a three year stability period for any regulations. The WFMS would retain the same points systems as the FISA championship, but all scores would count, none being dropped. Race would be between 304 and 320 kilometers or two hours.

Ironically, at the same time the WFMS was making headlines and the troops turning skirmishes into battles, the replacement of the "FOCA Package" with the "FISA Package" as the deals being offered to the organizers were termed, Enzo Ferrari had gotten Balestre and the FISA to rethink their position, despite how the Plenary Conference had voted in October. Ferrari suggested that "FOCA Package" continue to be offered but with a small twist, that being that the teams would be given their shares individually by the organizers after each event rather than through the FOCA.

Balestre considered what Ferrari said, and after mulling things over, thought that the Ferrari proposal made sense. That the two "packages" were almost identical in most aspects meant that, to a large extent, the organizers would not really notice much difference. The breakdown of how the money was to be "earned" was almost the same in each package, with FISA's breakdown being starting money 35%, practice performance 20%, and race results 45%. And besides, this proposal would remove the FISA Standard Financial Agreement from the table as an issue. That is, if there wasn't a World Professional Drivers Championship being sanctioned by the WFMS.

In its declaration of war on the FISA, the FOCA said it created the WFMS because of two issues: the changing of technical specifications without sufficient notice of two years; and the interference of the FISA in the commercial affairs of Formula One. The purpose of the FISA, stated the FOCA, was to be the rules maker (only after consulting with the participants in the opinion of the FOCA) and the referee - in other words, the body responsible for the sporting aspects of racing. The FOCA also said that currently the officials of the FISA contributed nothing to the actual running of a Grand Prix event. They tended to be "armbands" and show their faces only at events such as Monte Carlo where they appeared in droves, compared to virtually none at other less glamorous venues.

The FOCA squarely placed the blame for the split on the FISA and Balestre. They accused Balestre of only meeting with the FOCA representatives at his convenience and that despite much effort and negotiations conducted in good faith on their part, that Balestre failed to do so on his part. Since neither Balestre nor other FISA officials had the level of investment in the sport as the members of the FOCA did, there was a failure on the part of Balestre and the FISA to fully comprehend the problems created by arbitrary, short-notice changes to the technical regulations.

The FOCA also made it clear that they had run the financial and commercial side of Grand Prix racing in a manner which was demonstrably fair and beneficial to not only its membership but the sport. It had negotiated travel arrangements which benefited its members. It had made it possible for several events to exist due to the FOCA handling the running of those events. This latter was something that the FISA completely failed to not only comprehend, but was incapable of doing. The rhetorical question was: Who does the most for Grand Prix racing? The FOCA or the FISA?

Not being satisfied with merely thumbing its nose at the FISA and Balestre, the FOCA said that the FISA lacked the authority to deny the WFMS from running its WPDC. The FISA was merely a collection of private clubs which had given itself the authority to run motor sport, there being nothing to prevent other organizations from doing the same thing. Indeed, by blacklisting those holding WFMS events, the FISA simply reduced the number of venues available to its own championship series.

The FOCA also warned that the FISA and its clear preference for the manufacturers' F1 teams over the professional F1 teams would lead to a decline in the state of the sport. The manufacturers' teams had no true stake in Grand Prix racing and could - and would - depart at any point that they wished. Should the professional Grand Prix teams be allowed to be pushed out of the sport, what would happen, the FOCA asked, when the manufacturers dumped the sport once they had milked it for whatever publicity value they could?

When the window opened for entries for the 1981 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, there were three constructors which quickly filed their intentions to contest the championship: Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Renault. All entered three car teams. Another team considering entering the FISA-run championship was the Osella team. Some reports stated that the Talbot Ligier-Matra team would opt for the FISA series as well. The FISA was also quick to point out that the FOCA calendar contained events which the host ASNs stated would not accept entries from the FOCA teams running in the "pirate" series.

The FOCA - the WFMS - responded by stating that it had contracts in place with the very same organizers that "shared" events on both the WFMS and FISA calendars. The WFMS intended to see these contracts honored and should there be attempts to not honor the contracts already in place, then the WFMS would take the appropriate measures. This meant, the FOCA were quick to point out, that the FISA calendar would have perhaps only six events for only eight to 10 cars per race.

Into this slugfest was introduced a statement from the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA) which said that it had requested early in the 1980 season that steps needed to be taken to reduce the cornering speeds of the current Grand Prix cars. The steps taken by the FISA - banning the sliding skirts in particular - were in line with what the GPDA deemed the correct direction to be taken.

Mario Andretti said it was "an ego thing. Balestre can't handle the job any more." This was one of the more polite things being said. And Andretti was going to drive for a FISA team in 1981, which did not prevent him from calling it like he saw it. Comments from Alan Jones on the matter were so riddled with the Great Australian Adjective that they were often rendered into something along the lines of "Jones was critical of Balestre during the interview."

The FISA launched a counter-attack on the WFMS/FOCA in mid-November. Contrary to what had been said earlier, it now claimed that it had at least 15 cars from six teams and 13 circuits for its championship. And the FOCA were clearly mistaken about many of the venues on its calendar since Spa-Francorchamps denied any intention to host a FOCA event, nor was there to be an event in the New York City area as the FOCA claimed. Many of those the FOCA listed as being aligned with their series were vigorously denying any involvement with the WFMS or the FOCA, according to the FISA. The FOCA stated that it intended to run an event at Imola, but Imola would be hosting a second Italian event in 1981, the FISA pointed out.

The FOCA suddenly found itself in a bit of a pickle when the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) Motor Sports Association (MSA), the organizers of the British Grand Prix, announced that the event would be part of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. That the WFMS had thought this event to be solidly in its camp - with the contracts to prove it - and then to suddenly have the RAC seemingly switching sides made a messy situation even more nasty. The FOCA turned on the RAC MSA with a vengeance. The RAC MSA stated that it had to consider the thousands of international competition licenses which would become null and void if it aligned itself with the WFMA and its WPDC. The FOCA loudly threatened legal action. The RAC countered that the FISA needed to reform itself from within and that although the WFMS had many good ideas, the fact remained that it had to do what it had to do.

Sensing that its support was clearly slipping if its best ally in the first battles of the war, the RAC MSA, was now aligning itself with the FISA elements, the FOCA decided to tender a new compromise proposal to the FISA. The FOCA proposed a new Formula 1 Commission composed of voting and non-voting members, that decisions be made by requiring a 70% vote to approve changes to the committee; that technical changes - the ban on sliding skirts - be delayed until the first European event, the smaller tire proposed by the FOCA be adopted immediately, that there be new set of standards for chassis construction, there be a two-year stability rule for technical changes, and that all the legal cases, name calling, and other such "unsporting" behavior cease immediately.

The FISA rejected the FOCA compromise outright. Many were even unaware that there had been a compromise proffered until many days later when they read about it in the motor sports weeklies. To some it seemed that Balestre was not interested in compromise and to others that he was taking a firm line to keep things in order. Whatever one believed, it was clear that Grand Prix racing was dying a shameful death, being almost overlooked in the bickering and exchange of insults which were now commonplace and marred the once happy world of a sport.

Here and there a few brave voices tried to get the warring factions to begin speaking with each other and not "to" the other and, most importantly, to take the time to listen to the other. Unless the warring parties soon found a common ground to begin negotiations from, there would be no Grand Prix racing to save, it having been crushed by the two mighty armies wrestling in the mud and the muck. Sponsors were already informing both parties that unless there were a cessation to the hostilities they would walk out and find other sports into which they would pump their monies.

The FISA "Formula 1 Round Table" in Paris was a strange affair. The FISA held its event while just literally meters away the FOCA, nee WFMS, held a press conference to discuss the same issue. When informed that their compromise had been summarily dismissed, the opinion among the FOCA members present - Max Mosley, Bernie Ecclestone, Colin Chapman, Jackie Oliver, Frank Williams, Teddy Mayer, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ken Tyrrell, Mo Nunn, Peter Warr, John Woodington, and Gunther Schmid among them - was mixed, ranging from fierce anger to grim acceptance of a bad situation now made seemingly worse.

The concept of unconditional surrender was one that Balestre now seemed to embrace all the more firmly now that he sensed that the FOCA teams were beginning to be worn down by the constant pounding from the FISA and its allies. Talbot Ligier had now defected to the FISA camp. More of the organizers were lining up behind their ASNs and the FISA. Goodyear was now sending a clear signal that it was considering a withdrawal from Grand Prix racing. Many were now beginning to see that the FIASCO War might be ended when there were no sponsors or teams left to run either series.

After barely a month's existence, the FOCA pulled the plug on its WFMS. One reason was that it was suggested that the contracts that FOCA had in place did not mention the WFMS or its WPDC. So, for that and other reasons, the FOCA switched tactics and returned to a straight-on fight with the FISA using its tactic of enforcing the contracts in place to allow its members to participate within the new FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The FOCA made it clear that it no longer represented the interests of the Alfa Romeo, Renault, Ferrari, Osella, and Talbot Ligier teams with Toleman as a new team never having been associated with the FOCA. The FOCA continued to maintain the position that the ban on sliding skirts was illegal and that it intended to continue using them in races.

The FISA announced that the 1981 Argentine Grand Prix might be postponed given the current climate within the sport. The same might be done with the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami. Both organizers said that was news to them.

Meanwhile, the FISA was making efforts to sow dissent among the FOCA as the start of the season drew closer and closer. It suggested that it would be willing to extend the date for filing an entry in the new FISA championship for any FOCA team willing to avail itself of the opportunity to compete in the championship next season. A spokesman for the FOCA said that if Balestre wanted to talk, he could talk to the FOCA leadership….

As the end of 1980 approached, despite the rosy prospects for eventual victory being offered from both warring camps, many of those whose presence in the grandstands or in front of television screens or whose purchase of the products of those sponsoring Grand Prix cars made it all possible began to express their discontent in many and varied ways. The purchase of tickets for many of the 1981 season's events were lagging far behind the usual pace.

Then Goodyear proved that the rumors weren't rumors after all. On 4 December it announced that it was pulling out of Grand Prix - as well as all of the other European racing series it supported - racing effective immediately. Goodyear stated that the current conditions in Grand Prix racing were one of the factors in its decision to quit. This got the attention of many within the Grand Prix community like few of the other earlier events never had.

Then the FISA announced that it was postponing the Argentine and South African races. This placed the Argentine race in doubt and the organizers of the South African Grand Prix expressed open reluctance to do so. The FOCA pounced on the FISA announcement with an "I told you so" style rebuttal. The Buenos Aires track was also being denied a permit until safety work had been carried out. In any case, the Argentine Grand Prix was not to be held on its assigned January date.

As 1980 ended, Balestre expressed confidence that the FISA would prevail and made it clear that he was in no mood to back down on anything. He said that he had given the FOCA teams plenty of time to build cars which conformed to the new "skirtless" regulations. He also announced that there would be a new system for counting scores in 1981, one half of the number of the season's races plus two.

The FOCA teams geared up for a legal campaign against the FISA. The FOCA lawyers were requesting a series of injunctions be issued in order to prevent a number of the race organizers from honoring their contractual obligations with the FISA.

However, it seemed somehow that the spark was fading in both the FISA and the FOCA camps. There was no doubt that the war had inflicted heavy damage on both of the warring powers. In the dull Winter days of early 1981, as more and more involved openly expressed the idea that the war must end, and end soon, what little hope that there had been for a peaceful solution just weeks earlier seemed as remote as ever. A December meeting between Balestre and Ecclestone was deemed by Ecclestone as a "waste of time."

Then as the start of the season approached in South Africa, it was announced that the event would be a FOCA-only affair. It was also confirmed that the Long Beach Grand Prix was discussing the possibility of switching to CART in the near future. There was now a series of discussions being conducted by intermediaries to find an end to the FIASCO War. Despite the promise the new talks offered, no one was taking anything for granted. In the center of the talks was Enzo Ferrari.

As the talks continued, the South African Grand Prix was run on its scheduled 7 February date. The race was supported by the FOCA teams - and Goodyear! - running their cars with sliding skirts. Carlos Reutemann won for Williams with Nelson Piquet (Brabham) second, followed by Elio de Angelis (Lotus), Keke Rosberg (Fittipaldi), John Watson (McLaren), and Riccardo Patrese (Arrows). This race was later to be declared "outside the championship" and the results and points were null and void.

The running of the South African Grand Prix and the approach of the Long Beach Grand Prix stirred the wheels of compromise to spin faster. Balestre was now faced with the prospect of several of his teams - notably Renault - being forced to break ranks since they needed to race in the important American market.

Finally reason prevailed. Balestre now found good reason to compromise, and the FOCA teams realized that they could live with a deal brokered to protect its commercial interests, even if it meant ditching the sliding skirts. In the end, the FISA got rid of the sliding skirts and the FOCA keep control of the commercial interests in an arrangement known as the Concorde Agreement. Despite all the former talk about open covenants openly arrived at, Balestre agreed to the stipulation that details of the Concorde Agreement be kept secret and known only to those directly involved. The agreement was culminated in early March and while there should have been much celebrating, there was actually not at all the level and intensity one would expect. There had been too many harsh words and too many rock and nail-studded cow pies tossed to get all concerned to forgive and forget.

The Long Beach Grand Prix was run with an almost spooky calm. Riccardo Patrese put his Arrows on the pole and Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann finished one-two for Williams. The first "FISA" team to finish was Alfa Romeo with Mario Andretti taking the fourth spot in the results. The only fly in the ointment was the stewards rejecting the Lotus 88, the clever "twin-chassis" design of Colin Chapman.

The Brazilian Grand Prix saw the just as clever Gordon Murray find a loophole to beat the new six centimeter clearance rule by using hydro-pneumatic suspension. However, that, as they say, is another story….

So, when it is all laid out and looked at, just what did the FIASCO War really accomplish? For starters, it was literally the end of "Grand Prix" racing since the new championship was explicitly a "Formula 1 World Championship." It also saw that although there was a compromise in which it was at first thought that Balestre walked away with the better end of the lollipop, in the long run, the FOCA retention of the commercial rights would see who really got the best end of the deal. Indeed, a decade later would see Max Mosley becoming president of the FIA, something thought beyond reckoning in the days following the FIASCO War.

Perhaps, though, its greatest legacy was to show how the need to compromise was necessary if the sport - now morphing into a true business - was to keep the all important bottom line in the black. The harm done by the FIASCO War on the commercial end of the sport, sponsor support, took time to undo and not much more time to push to levels previously unimagined. The F1 events now operated to a standard set of rules as far as practice times, race starts, support facilities, and used a uniform scoring and timing system.

Although many seem to not realize where the roots of the slick, well-polished show of today sprang from, it has not come without a price. In place of the local flavor and unique environment of each race during the Grand Prix era, there was soon a uniformity which blurred the differences of each F1 event from the others only in small details. While today there are differences, they are not truly "different" in those differences. Gone are the virtually open paddocks and access to the operations of the teams being visible to all.

Many of the harsh and extremely nasty aspects of the FIASCO War I decided to avoid for a simple reason: it was present on both sides of the dispute in abundance, and did neither side any credit. It also tended to obscure the issues at hand and substituted blind emotion and visceral comments for commentary. That Grand Prix racing was in need of change cannot be disputed. The sliding skirts were a technical box canyon and an inelegant solution to a problem. That safety needed to be vastly improved is also without question a factor when looking at this era. That these important issues often were lost in the fury of the battles is a good reason to read my words and hope that we never experience such days ever again.

The FIASCO War was indeed the Gцtterdдmmerung, the Twilight of the Grand Prix Gods...
Владимир Коваленко вне форума Ответить с цитированием
15.08.2007, 02:59   #419
Frank
 
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Регистрация: 10.10.2006
Адрес: Москва
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Цитата:
Сообщение от Владимир Коваленко
Ни разу не слышали истории о том, как тот или иной гонщик (нередко даже очень известный), принявший участия в гонке, санкционированной, скажем, АРКА, не допускался ААА к своим гонкам?
Тут надо бы подоказательнее, на слово не готов поверить.

Цитата:
Ведь чемпионат мира объявлялся не для класса "Формула-1". Точно вам говорю!
Конечно неприятно осознавать, что у меня лет 10 лапша на ушах висит, ну да ладно, если ты так уверен, пусть будет. Только сомневаюсь я, откровенно говоря, что у такой точки зрения будет много единомышленников.

Цитата:
Я так понимаю, что в современном автоспорте практически не осталось санкционирующих организаций - только серии, так что это термин из прошлого.
sanctioning body не встречал в современных источниках?

Цитата:
В первую очередь лучше обращать внимание на суть явлений, а потом - на слова.
Такое впечатление, что ты занимаешься в точности обратным! Говоря что чем считалось и какое у этого было на самом деле название...

Цитата:
у меня сложилось ощущение, что в Америке нет сильных историков, как в мировом автоспорте. Они не оперируют точной статистикой и корректно идентифицированными фотографиями. Они обычно "что-то припоминают", но "могут ошибаться".
Посмотри что ли Indianapolis 500 tribute на 5 дисках... Могу даже подарить, хотя сильно удивлюсь, если ты этого не видел.

Цитата:
Сообщение от madlopt Посмотреть сообщение
Фёдор, размести пожалуйста на своём сайте ссылку на нас, чтобы не давать повода Норми.
Более чем странный повод, но раз ты просишь - размещаю.

Ссылки не было по той причине, что я вообще до поры до времени не хотел давать никаких ссылок "наружу", за исключением ЖЖ.

Цитата:
Все эти позиции - выдумка, мы все на одной позиции на самом деле.
Жду админских паролей в личку!

Последний раз редактировалось Frank, 15.08.2007 в 03:03.
Frank вне форума Ответить с цитированием
15.08.2007, 07:28   #420
Владимир Коваленко
 
Регистрация: 14.08.2007
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Сообщение от Frank Посмотреть сообщение
Тут надо бы подоказательнее, на слово не готов поверить.

Есть информация о том, что Барни Олдфилд несколько раз был отстранён о гонок ААА после того, как позволил себе выступить в "чужих" соревнованиях: http://www.google.ru/search?hl=ru&ne...eld+banned&lr=

В первой абзаце по следующей ссылке:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...n12417354/pg_2, -

прямо говорится, что ААА любыми способами старалась отстранить подобных гонщиков.

Я нашёл ещё вот ещё что на странице http://users.icnet.net/~robertb/okcrace.htm:

Цитата:
1957: Bud Carson forms Mar-Car (after wife Mary Carson) to promote and coordinate auto racing operations at the new Fairgrounds Speedway. In a dispute primarily over gate share 57 members of the Oklahoma City Auto Racing Association, led by President Ray Copeland and with assistance and support from Fairgrounds director Bud Carson-along with 64 Tulsa drivers and car-owners- Oklahoma City drivers severe their ties with Lavely Racing Promotions and choose Mar-Car as the primary Oklahoma City racing venue. President Ray Copeland stated that any driver, who signs the agreement to associate only with Mar-Car and breaks that agreement, would be banned at the Fairgrounds.

Отстранения гонщиков бывали и по несколько иным причинам. Скажем, в интернете есть истории о том, как гонщики Кёртис Тёрнер и Тим Флок попытались организовать профсоюз гонщиков, и Билл Фрэнс их отстранил за инакомыслие.

Я так и не нашёл ещё одну историю, но я хорошо помню, что была такая про гонщика, который между делом стартовал в какой-то ярмарочной гонке, которую вообще никто не санкционировал, и схлопотал "отлучение".

Задам вопрос в рассылке.
Владимир Коваленко вне форума Ответить с цитированием
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