I think the thing that is so interesting about this film, that makes it so accessible, is that it really represented the pinnacle of the Mechanical Age. At least in automotive terms. Not long after this, we started to see the first computers in cars - I believe in fuel injection systems - and this started the inevitable decline to active suspension systems, active ground force effects, and computer-controlled traction systems (not to mention engine and fuel management and datalogging).
In the context of this film, this was still auto-racing as it had been for the last 60 years. The cars were faster, the rubber better, but it was still a man, a machine, a pit crew... Not even a communication (radio) system with the pits - I saw cars flashing their headlights to acknowledge their pit boards. So an absolute ton of judgement/choice remained with the drivers.
A book about one of the drivers of this era, Stefan Bellof, just came out. Sadly, it's only in German and my German is so rusty as to be useless.
I have a poster of one of Bellof's triumphs on my living room wall. Back in the day when Porsche won everything in WSC. Some say that he was better than Senna.
Posted by artandscience at August 20, 2007 07:52 AM