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14 Sep 2002, 12:35 (Ref:380119) | #1 | ||
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 104
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Oh man...the stands in Rockingham are empty!
The race is about to start and it looks like the stands are much less than half full! I hope a LOT of people are running late!
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14 Sep 2002, 14:53 (Ref:380197) | #2 | ||
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Sadly no... And they missed a pretty good race.
Well, I always said that the Brits by and large wouldn't take to oval racing. I think this pretty much proves me right. Mr. Pook, about that proposed Brands Hatch race.... |
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14 Sep 2002, 15:12 (Ref:380206) | #3 | ||
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That was a very dissapointing crowd. Although we should wait and hear what the paid attendance was...
Still, to the guys that were there, how was it? |
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"I used to hate writing, but now I enjoy it. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!" - Calvin and Hobbes |
14 Sep 2002, 15:20 (Ref:380209) | #4 | ||
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Y'all sound disappointed... For a what seemed a cold and cloudy day, I think there was some crowd. At least half-full. For sure there were more people at Rockingham than for the IRL race at Fontana!
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"Many people depend on motor racing for their livelihood, to them it is a business. To me, it is a sport." -Jim Clark |
14 Sep 2002, 15:22 (Ref:380210) | #5 | ||
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Join Date: Aug 2002
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And once again...short oval = very little on track passing! PLEASE Mr. Pook, bring the road course wings to short ovals!!!
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14 Sep 2002, 19:04 (Ref:380273) | #6 | ||
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if i was at the race, i would have bought 3 tickets so i could strech out
but what a race, DARIO IS THE MAN!!!!!!!! decent drive by Manning too, im sorry i doubted him |
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I can't drive 55. |
14 Sep 2002, 19:07 (Ref:380274) | #7 | ||
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Quote:
since last year's race , they have put 2 other grandstands up in turn 3 and turn 2....i think the crowd was pretty much simular to last year , it just looks weaker because they are spread out more. Oval racing will grow in the UK , it just needs the time and the right weather . but ,as for the Brands idea...im all for having a circuit race as Brands hatch as well...maybe a double header in the UK .....i wish ! |
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MOTOR RACING ...The general idea is that the driver behind uses all his Skills, Tricks and Courage to try and overtake the guy ( or Girl ) in front ! |
14 Sep 2002, 19:27 (Ref:380280) | #8 | |||
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Quote:
Ignoring your ridiculous generalisation, and ignoring the fact that the Brits started oval racing by building the world's first at Brooklands in 1908.... You are seriously out of order here ("way off line" if you are wondering). I think there were at least 35k there today. That is a huge success for an event charging £100-150 for the majority of tickets, that's over $200 in some cases. I don't think a single American would turn up to a CART race back home for that price. Additionally, as someone else pointed out the crowd was bigger than that you see on TV for most IRL races. Also, Rockingham just don't have the money to promote the event widely enough nationally. CART haven't done a great job to be honest so it is their fault, not that of the British public. It is generally people "in the know" who are hardcore racing fans that go along. It was a spectacular race today even if the majority of overtaking was performed in the pits. I thought it was fantastic, and a better organised event all round than last year. But DON'T do it at a road circuit in Europe. It will be much slower than F1, and the public at large will go "so what?". CART needs to play to its strengths by running on ovals in Europe. It wowed the crowd today including me, as it did last year. Sorry to launch off on one here Lee but I HATE generalisations like that in your quote. The attentoin span is a little longer here than in the US and if you think you can wipe out something like F1 and immediately get huge crowds then you are mistaken. People like Ferrari and Mercedes and Williams and McLaren and Ecclestone and all the rest have been around racing and building up F1 for DECADES. It won't happen overnight. |
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14 Sep 2002, 19:52 (Ref:380289) | #9 | ||
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No grandstands have been put up since last year. I thought the crowds looked ok, considering the cold weather.
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14 Sep 2002, 20:16 (Ref:380297) | #10 | |||
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Quote:
I don't think it's that the Brits can't enjoy an oval race (especially at these speeds), but I don't think a race at a road course would be such a bad idea either. The idea that Cart being slightly slower than F1 (you wouldn't notice it sitting by the track, believe me) makes it unmarketable is rubbish. It would provide a much better show for TV and especially for the people who decide to come to the race. btw, Chris Pook is in fact English. Cart is not trying to compete head-to-head with F1, which is why this race was on Saturday and not Sunday. What is trying to do, is provide a different product that has different cars(turbos, fewer drivers aids), caters to a different crowd (nicer people, more accessible, less snotty) and gives the fan a different product (hopefully more exciting racing). |
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"I used to hate writing, but now I enjoy it. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!" - Calvin and Hobbes |
14 Sep 2002, 20:19 (Ref:380300) | #11 | ||
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There was a crowd by anything other than BGP standards (and those of a Bike Meet) however it was cold and the problems of last year have put people off..
There was an atmosphere of sorts and all the expensive hospitality boxes were full! But even the media centre's were reasonably empty as was the press conference room. |
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14 Sep 2002, 20:25 (Ref:380302) | #12 | ||
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AP says the official attendance was just over 30,000. The place seats 52,000.
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14 Sep 2002, 20:53 (Ref:380314) | #13 | ||
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Join Date: Mar 2002
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Well as one who attended both last year's and this years' meetings as part of the CART team, a few comments:
1. The comment of everybody I spoke to was that it was a poor crowd, possibly worse than last year. 2. The weather on Friday was very good (I got sun burnt); given that people tend to travel from a wide distance for a meeting of this type and therefore start at an early hour and the weather forecast for the area had been good for Saturday I doubt the the dull, windy and cold weather that actually occurred had very much to do with the low turn out of supporters. 3. "I don't think a single American would turn up to a CART race back home for that price." Well, a number came from the States for the event; I had dinner with some of them on Friday evening. The price of the tickets was never mentioned. However, a member of the CART team did complain about the cost of candy at the circuit. 4. Unlike last year when it took me over 3 hours just to get out of the circuit, we drove straight out shortly after the end of the race. Even giving Rockingham credit for improving the traffic flow from the car parks, the speed of exit makes me think the crowd was very small. 5. The most common remark during the build up to the race was "if those stands are not full by the time the race starts, Rockingham and the future of the race will be in trouble". Last edited by Peter Scillitoe; 14 Sep 2002 at 20:57. |
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14 Sep 2002, 20:55 (Ref:380316) | #14 | ||
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Sorry about the double post.
Last edited by Peter Scillitoe; 14 Sep 2002 at 21:01. |
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Diamond Geezer 'At my age an early night is never early enough' |
14 Sep 2002, 21:30 (Ref:380330) | #15 | ||
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Re: Oh man...the stands in Rockingham are empty!
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14 Sep 2002, 21:51 (Ref:380339) | #16 | ||
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The prices appear to be lower than last year's prices, but maybe some people didn't get the word. Anyway, the British have a great many choices as to racing on each weekend, and it's a small country so easy to get from one place to another for the races.
I didn't see it on TV (mine's not hooked up yet) but I did "see" it on Cart.com and I have to say it was one of the more bizarre races I have eavesdropped upon. I'm glad there were few accidents and nobody was hurt. |
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"If we won all the time, we'd be as unpopular as Ferrari, and we want to avoid that. We enjoy being a team that everybody likes." Flavio Briatore |
14 Sep 2002, 22:54 (Ref:380367) | #17 | ||
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I see pessimism. I liked the crowds. I think it was OK. And the race was fun.
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"Many people depend on motor racing for their livelihood, to them it is a business. To me, it is a sport." -Jim Clark |
14 Sep 2002, 23:59 (Ref:380385) | #18 | ||
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In fairness I didn’t see too much of the race on TV. Frankly I found too boring! I’m pleased however I saw what I did - it made me appreciate just how superior F1 is. I really dont think this type of racing will ever catch on in the UK.
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15 Sep 2002, 00:24 (Ref:380391) | #19 | ||
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Well alchemy, if you represent the majority of Brits (although I really don't think you do), we'll be sure to lobby Cart to forget about spending millions to fly these machines across the Atlantic ocean for an event that can barely produce 30,000 people.
Cart is still in the process of ensuring a strong future for the series, and that involves keeping costs down. They are willing to spend the money to go to Australia because there is a guaranteed enthusiastic crowd. Rockingham is on the 2003 schedule, but that is very changable if it does not apear to be worth the trip or Rockingham goes under. Personally, I don't think Cart should have to go to any venues in North Ameria or around the world where it is not supported enthusiastically. |
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"I used to hate writing, but now I enjoy it. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!" - Calvin and Hobbes |
15 Sep 2002, 00:33 (Ref:380396) | #20 | ||
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Whad'ya mean, "how superior F1 is"? How superior the technology is? Or how superior the racing is? The CART championship wasn't decided four races into the schedule.
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Don't make a fuss, just get on the bus! |
15 Sep 2002, 02:09 (Ref:380420) | #21 | ||
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F1 - Superior technology and (hate to admit it) drivers...TERRIBLE racing!!
CART - little less technological (yes, the driver's actually DRIVE the car...not some computer!)....OUTSTANDING racing!! I have never witnessed more boring racing than this years F1 season. I used to be a die-hard F1 fan, and CART was secondary for me...now, things couldn't be more opposite. |
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15 Sep 2002, 03:23 (Ref:380426) | #22 | |||||
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Quote:
Quote:
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The fact is a true racing fan is a fan of both series. There are people on this forum who have been to both so the statement clearly doesn't work. |
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15 Sep 2002, 03:49 (Ref:380428) | #23 | |||
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Again, all of the other Cart events do their own promotion without Cart's help and most of them are doing fine. Just look at the last races in Denver, Montreal and Elkhart Lake. All of those races do their own promotion and can draw fans without Cart doing its dirty work, I don't see why Rockingham should be any different.
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As for the people who attend the races, I'd expect a lot of the same people who go to the Grand Prix to go to the Cart races. I go to both F1 and Cart events. They're both racing, just different products. |
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"I used to hate writing, but now I enjoy it. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!" - Calvin and Hobbes |
15 Sep 2002, 04:52 (Ref:380437) | #24 | ||
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I had to laugh at this:
I ATE YOKO ONO: "I hate generalizations"...next sentence: "The attention span is a little longer here than in the US"... Isn't the pot calling the kettle black here? |
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A good friend will come bail you out of jail. A true freind will be sitting next to you saying "Damn...that was fun!" |
15 Sep 2002, 09:33 (Ref:380488) | #25 | |||
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To give you an example, i live no further than 150 miles from Silverstone, but when i goto the British Grand Prix (every year) i treat it as a "holiday" as i don't usually go that far! I should imagine that 150 miles you seem like "commuting" in a country as large as USA or Canada! |
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That's so frickin uncool man! |
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