The purpose of motor sport (or any sport for that matter) is not to keep people alive.
I dont believe I said or implied that...
The main purpose of any sanctioning body, other than a fair competion, is keep people as safe as the sport allows. Nascar really started limiting the technology in the 80s for safety concerns after they couldnt keep the cars shiny side up. Formula 1, Cart/IRL, and many forms of drag racing have done this almost since the first few races. In the 80s we hade Formula 1 cars approaching 1000 HP per liter! Indy cars were hitting 230+ mph average lap times on. IRL drivers walked off a race because the G forces were giving them vision problems and disorientation. We have reached a limit in the top forms to what a body can take.Your not going to see the speed increase very much any more. Limiting technology is the only way to keep the speeds down and the drivers safe. Top Fuel Dragsters are going 330 mph regularly on technology that is some 50-100 years old. Thats 8000 HP on a fuel, injection system, clutches, and basic engine components on tehnology thats outdated! Sure they have improved materials, design, and performance but the parts are still there. Imagine what would happen if they used electronic fuel injection, 4 Valve heads, and better boosting mechanisms. The speeds would be outrageous and the deaths suffered recently would be a drop in the bucket compared.
And FYI I know what it takes to go 250 mph. I have drove and built cars that regularly see speeds of nearly 200 mph in the 1/4 mile.
Indy let me rephrase my comment there....
Limiting the
performance technologies in motorsports is whats keeping people alive.
Strip