[LM24] Liberty Media and the ACO

[GT6]

Non sure about the comment re personal transportation, the numbers of people riding motor cycles has been falling for decades, but the popularity of motorbike racing has not fallen, if you go to a big bike race now days the majority of spectators are not taking bikes.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Bearing in mind that ever since Balestre tried to emasculate Le Mans, there has been almost no crossover at all between F1 and the world of sportscar racing, I'd say any movement towards mutual appreciation has to be a good thing....

I was going to go into that, but I felt it was outside the scope of this thread. Reading/listening to the FISA/FOCA stories and other goings on in F1 in the early 80s is grossly fascinating, genuine car crash* reading.

As I said before, any closer link between F1 & Le Mans is good, for both parties. To echo Sebastian Vettel when Porsche won in 2015, "Thanks, [Nico Hulkenburg] for making us look good."

Originally Posted by GT6

Non sure about the comment re personal transportation, the numbers of people riding motor cycles has been falling for decades, but the popularity of motorbike racing has not fallen, if you go to a big bike race now days the majority of spectators are not taking bikes.

Outside of anecdotes, I'll have to put an "agree to disagree disclaimer here. But it's not just the top level ("big" bike/car races, which will always attract interest), interest down the pyramid has to be kept up as well. Hence the moves towards what marketing departments/series organisers think will attract those new fans every sport needs.

*Pun intended. I'll get my coat...

There's always going to be a core group who will preserve their sport - take horses and horse racing for example. Motorsport as we know it is never going to disappear. But how popular it will be and how relevant it will be are intrinsically linked.