This is what we want more of today then watch the crowds come back!

[Al Weyman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XkB...layer_embedded

[John Turner]

Yeah, good stuff, Al. Can't imagine anyone wanting to race these days with that amount of suspension movement and the spectators will never get that close again!

Of course, you're not a tad biased are you?

[Alan Raine]

Lets get back to 3 2 3 grids while we're at it. Didn't seem too much of a problem in my day

[terence]

Get the crowds back? One point,entrance cost's for spectators might be a factor.

[Al Weyman]

Only at silly F1 which is set by a certain individual, it was £18 plus kids free for two days of great alround family entertainment at the Brands Speedfest the other week and the punters came in droves. Have you taken a family to LegoLand or Thorpe Park etc lately? Expect to pay a lot more than that. It can be done!

[terence]

Err,no.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Only at silly F1 which is set by a certain individual, it was £18 plus kids free for two days of great alround family entertainment at the Brands Speedfest the other week and the punters came in droves. Have you taken a family to LegoLand or Thorpe Park etc lately? Expect to pay a lot more than that. It can be done!

Al, what do you class as "all round family entertainment"? And what was it that qualified as such at Brands?

FWIW the Youtube clip is pretty much what you get from the front four rows of a Masters pre 66 race so so it's already being provided, by Leo V, Patrick Watts, Roger Wills etc.

[Mike Bell]

IMHO- Speedfest drew big crowds because it was held at Brands, and the circuit has an huge catchment area with London so close. I would suggest if it had been held at Donington, Mallory or Snetterton, the attendance would have not been nearly that good.

Also, the promotion of the event was huge in club Motorsport terms. Billboards on side of M25 for instance...........

Sorry Al, it wasn't just because you were racing there!

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

it was £18 plus kids free for two days of great alround family entertainment at the Brands Speedfest the other week

It was £18 for one day which is one reason I wouldn't go. As someone else said the video was pretty boring as is watching a lot of motor racing club or otherwise. I think one reason they got good crowds is that it was hyped up (marketed) very well.

[Cookie2000]

What has put me and my family off attending meetings as spectators, Is the change, especially at MSV circuits, to classing a child as 12 or under. With 2 teenagers, even a club meeting at Cadwell is £52/day for a family of 4, so with fuel and food, I'm looking at £100 for a day out. We were regular attendees as a family before I got involved in working for a HFF team, Sadly, now I don't get to attend many meetings I'm not working at due to the costs. If the child age was returned to 16 and under, I'm sure this would attract more families, and in turn, get more youngsters interested and perhaps involved in motorsport.

[Stephen H]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Only at silly F1 which is set by a certain individual, it was £18 plus kids free for two days of great alround family entertainment at the Brands Speedfest the other week and the punters came in droves. Have you taken a family to LegoLand or Thorpe Park etc lately? Expect to pay a lot more than that. It can be done!

I was charged £22 for an advanced ticket, plus postage, and if you go to office and buy in advance they usually put £1 on Internet prices.

The problem, I have is I got hooked on Long Circuit Motorsport from 11 years. In those days there was a child price and child season ticket for brands.

Now any teenager has to pay adult prices, when they maybe don't have a income.

I know many parents that stop taking children when they get to that age because of the cost. So in the years before they learn to drive and get an income and the ability go on there own to race events, those younger Motorsport fans get out of the habit of going.

I just think Motorsport is loosing the 13 to 17 year olds, and then has to start a fresh attracting them to the sport when they are 18plus, and do have the money to go again.

Plus for me the big killer is petrol, i didn't used to think twice about long drives to different tracks. But today the entrance isn't he only cost to think about.

[midgetman]

To be fair, the racing on the video wasn't *that* exciting was it? Once you got over the sight and sound of the cars themselves it was all a bit processional. I'll bet you a grid of 30 Minis all lapping within one second would be more crowd-pleasing. It certainly is at Combe.

Combe is £10 on Saturdays, £15 on Sundays and they rarely fail to pull a good crowd. The HSCC Thruxton weekend was £12 but spectating was sparse - although the arctic conditions may have played its part! Silverstone Classic is, what, £50 for a day? It's packed. So I'm not sure entry price is actually relevant.

For comparison, someone told me Thorpe Park is as much as £45 for a one-off ticket although bulk deals are available.

If it's good value, Terry, people will pay. What constitutes good value is a different matter....

[chunder]

The main issue with racing in the UK is certain tracks really suffer from a lack of promotion.

Some race series are fairly entertaining, and you can often go and watch clubbie race events nowadays far cheaper than even stuff like stock cars that I often watch.

It is what annoys me so much about things like the Classic, and Goodwood, that are events that should be trying to be as cheap as possible to attract new people, but they are trying to make their events exclusive by asking stupid entrance fees of punters.

Maybe Goodwood has the pulling power to warrant it, but I was a regular Classic attendee until they tried to make it a sort of festival with music and stuff, and priced the value out of the entry price.

A lot of club motorsport is very cheap to attend, it just isn't publicised at all, and therefore locals know very little about it. I am sure a lot of folk would happily go to a Cadwell, Snetterton or Thruxton on a Sunday for a few hours for say 30 quid for two adults and a kid, be quite happy. It's how I got into motorsport, going to Cadwell a few times a year and then maybe a local autograss meeting.

Problem here is you try and bleed them dry and get them to keep coming back every week, most people really are just looking for something to do, so offer it to them 2 or 3 times a year, its simple really. You dont need to advertise all the time,l just target a few events.

[Al Weyman]

Well there were plenty of off track things for people to do, all the shops were open and doing a roaring trade, there were some fantastic cars on display from Classic car clubs that turned up, there was a proper pit walk around for the public, an Elvis impersonator show which was quite good, a nice funfair etc etc. My daughter, husband and two young kids and a couple of her friends with kids all had a wail of a time. As said in the post I was chatting to one guy who had never been to a race before although lived local and he was lapping it up, yes promotion is the key oh and having something good to promote!.

Oh forgot the Big Monster Truck displays and the Red Devil paras dropping in and the on track NASCAR displays and others and of course the ontrack action which was pretty good as well.

[Al Weyman]

No it wasnt it was £18 for both days. Thats what it said on the tickets and what the drunk guy told me however Saturday wasnt even promoted which was odd as there was plenty of on track action and a good night at the Kentagon.

[Al Weyman]

Well thats the same for all forms of entertainment but you make a good point and had reminded me when I had three young kids in tow as I also couldnt understand how you had to pay for a lad of 13 when it was obvious he wasnt an earner. It really should be up to school leaving age and free with a student card.

[chunder]

That is a very stupid move from MSV to be hoenst, totally goes against trying to make motrosport appeal to families, especially this time of year when there is no football and not a lot to do in the summer, tracks should be falling over themselves to get families in through the gates.

Problem is, they just look to covert costs without now looking at the end game, things have changed, motorsport is now getting into living rooms on tv and in computer games, kids know who Ken Block is and people like Travis Pastrana, and they would want to go and see them.

Putting on events based aorund a family must be tough, but if you do it right, it would surely be a winner

Rather than charing a lot of money for an existing meeting, and throwing a band on which puts up the ticket price by a fiver.

I remember Rockingham used to do it and you would ahve people sitting on the grass for ages outside the venue where the racing was just to be up front to see the band! Pointless really.

Getting things that link in to racing in some way are surely better, as Al says, having stuff kids enjoy like car smashing, trials demos, drift arena.

Go to Santa Pod and see what they have done, it works.

[Al Weyman]

Stupid move, how on earth do you figure that one? Look you and I love our motorsport as do a lot of men but their wifes and especially girl children may not be so keen what MSV put on was pure family fun not just for the dads and and the sons it was a good move IMHO and I was pleased to be part of it and hope to be next year.

[Lancsbreaker]

I suspect the "stupid move" referred to was the charging full price for teenagers, Al.....certainly is in my opinion....

(Mind you I approve of discounts for old f***s like me!)

[Al Weyman]

Ok fair enough appoligises given, that's internet for you a world of misunderstandings lol

[Mike Harte]

In my humble opinion, motorsport in general, is not best served by some of it's premier series which are shown on TV to a very wide audience.

Many people will be perplexed by the FIA's apparent laxness in the tyregate episode that has just been ajudicated in Paris. People will ask how it is possible for a team to, apperently, cheat and gain an unfair advantage over it's fellow competitors yet seemingly not receive any punishment.

Then look at the driving standards in various high profile series, whether they be F1, the BTCC or other junior formulae that are televised. The average punter will be mystified about why, in a no contact sport, a car is allowed to "nudge" another to gain an unfair advantage.

This is why I, a motorsport fan for 50 years, no longer go to races (in the past I have even been as far as Suzuka to see the FI circus), and don't even watch them on the box. I feel that I can no longer rely on the fact that the best legal car/driver combination has actually won any of the races, and I believe that this thought has entered not just my mind. To often, "blatant" cheating has been allowed, and this has soured my opinion of the higher echelons of motorsport.

[chunder]

Go and watch stock cars, you can see the whole track, the cars are amazingly cool and they are allowed to hit each other to make progress

It is the most frowned upon (especially in this section of the forum) motorsport, but actually consistently delivers the best racing pound for pound I have ever seen.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by chunder

It is the most frowned upon (especially in this section of the forum) motorsport, but actually consistently delivers the best racing pound for pound I have ever seen.

Short oval racing is not my favourite form of racing (although I have a certain fondness for BRISCA F1, National Hot Rods and Ministox), but it has to be said that an average stock car meeting will attract a much larger crowd than a club (and some international) race meetings. Also tickets are generally more expensive than a club race meeting (typically £14-16 based on Northampton Stadium).

[midgetman]

Originally Posted by chunder

Go and watch stock cars,
It is the most frowned upon (especially in this section of the forum) motorsport,

that's just so untrue. What is frowned on are stock car tactics on long circuits. If I had to choose a frowned on category here I'd say BTCC!

[Al Weyman]

Agree on the BTCC and F1, I just cancelled my SKY contract saving me a whopping £43 a month and I never even subscribed to the football. Still have a all the channels I want to watch and wasnt over impressed with the SKY coverage and for some reason the only one I would have missed was Motors TV but as SKY kindly let me keep the equipment for some unknown reason thats still available!