As a motorsport participant and fan, I can't help but conclude that the noise and smell of combustion engine racecars are closer to extinction than ever before. So long gone are days of the ear-piercing sounds of the V12 engines in Formula 1 cars, and Volkswagen is quitting all forms of motorsport to focus on making electric cars.
For many years, the mantra of car manufacturers was that the technology developed in racecars would find its way into road cars. This is quite true when you think about disc brakes, semi-automatic gearboxes, and carbon fibre bodies. For saloon car racing, the slogan was "race on Sunday and sell on Monday" when manufacturers wanted to market their road cars. To attract spectators to the race track, they used big noisy combustion engines.
With car manufacturers now focussing on electric road cars, a shift away from the internal combustion engine is inevitable. Electric vehicles are becoming more popular, and in some cases, they can accelerate faster than a combustion engine car. They may become the future race cars, but there is one big problem: there is no noise.
Motorsport will make some changes to accommodate the new world. We already see this in Formula 1, with the V6 hybrid engines. This is a rich boys sport trying to stay relevant to the historical roots of motorsport without capitulating to the changing landscape of road cars. Eventually, they will become less relevant and die out, leaving Formula E to dominate the premium single-seater racing categories.
For many years, the mantra of car manufacturers was that the technology developed in racecars would find its way into road cars. This is quite true when you think about disc brakes, semi-automatic gearboxes, and carbon fibre bodies. For saloon car racing, the slogan was "race on Sunday and sell on Monday" when manufacturers wanted to market their road cars. To attract spectators to the race track, they used big noisy combustion engines.
With car manufacturers now focussing on electric road cars, a shift away from the internal combustion engine is inevitable. Electric vehicles are becoming more popular, and in some cases, they can accelerate faster than a combustion engine car. They may become the future race cars, but there is one big problem: there is no noise.
Motorsport will make some changes to accommodate the new world. We already see this in Formula 1, with the V6 hybrid engines. This is a rich boys sport trying to stay relevant to the historical roots of motorsport without capitulating to the changing landscape of road cars. Eventually, they will become less relevant and die out, leaving Formula E to dominate the premium single-seater racing categories.