P108
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
I
f a tree falls in a forest and
there is nobody around to hear
it, does it make a sound?
The question forms a famous
so-called "thought experiment,"
which—when first aired in an
American philosophical maga-
zine in 1883 (thank you, Wikipe-
dia)—elicited a negative answer.
No-one to hear it equals no
sound.
Which is a little bit difficult to
agree with. Particularly if you
have an imaginary friend, who
might have been standing under
the tree at the time.
So, if a motorcycle race, for
example the 24 Hours at Le
Mans, takes place without any
spectators, has it really hap-
pened?
American fans have already
found out; MotoGP followers
soon, likewise, starting July 19
per the newly announced calen-
dar. And at Le Mans, we'll find
out at the end of August, when
the classic endurance race is
due to take place in private at
the Bugatti circuit. But I guess
that since all the bikes have
more than one rider, each of
whom will presumably be aware
of his teammates, then the race
will be real enough. To them,
anyway.
So, it's real for the riders. For
the rest of us, it might be helpful
to turn the question around. A
reverse-thought experiment.
If a race is canceled without
any spectators, has it really
failed to take place?
This time it is even harder to
agree with the "No" answer.
Sadly.
The list of cancellations on the
grand prix circuit grown longer
almost by the week during lock-
down, and the latest calendar
confirms their demise—Japan,
Great Britain, Australia and Italy
the latest casualties, joining
the already canned Germany,
Netherlands and Finland. The
postponed flyaways in the
USA, Argentina, Thailand and
THE
GREAT
GRAND PRIX
THOUGHT
EXPERIMENT