Racing quote I found that I like

[geo3@earthlink.net]

Carson Hanrahan, <grailer@yifan.net> wrote:

>I don't wish to start some silly flame war over relevant 'racing quotes,'
>but IMHO if you're out of control, you're not some high-end driver, you're
>dangerous.

While I and many others (I'm sure including Carson) understand Mario's quote,
taken out of context it can be quite dangerous indeed.  It's very easy to
exceed the limits of the car in almost any situation.  The danger lies in the
person who sets out to exceed the limits of their car.

Michael Schumacher's limits in a car are much higher than most of the drivers
on the F1 grid, let alone monkeys like us.  Mario's limits are much higher
than for monkeys like us.

I have a video tape with some excepts of an interview with Mario and he goes
on to discuss the fact that simply exceeding the limit of the car is not the
point (and he certainly gives the impression that it's stupid, which it is).
He goes on to explain that one must creep up to that limit and try to find the
edge.  He further states that loosing control does not mean you've found the
limit.

So, I would say in the *right* context it's meaningful.  Otherwise it's very
dangerous.  I don't know of anybody on this list (myself included) who should
feel "out of control" on a race track.  That's actually a fallacy anyway.
Even truly talented racers are under control while sliding their car around a
race track....

I'm old enough to not only remember Gilles Villenuvue, but even have photos of
him from the last USGP at Watkins Glen.  :-/

George Roffe