Croft Management

[coppice]

My spy tells me that the circuit manager at Croft has left and the post is vacant . Don't know background , but as it is my local track I hope somebody can step in Ideally he should be called Jonathan , as the contrast between appearance, facilities , customer care and just about everything else at MSV and non MSV venues is growing .

[flagwaver]

Part of the problem with Croft is the restrictions placed on it by council (via a rather unpleasant court case) Difficult to invest in a venue when your income is restricted.

If you were there yesterday you will have seen how few spectators at the event. Now I would suggest a fair bit was due to the weather,but none the less, that is less money for the circuit.

[coppice]

Croft didn't have a big crowd yesterday and I wouldn't have expected one on such a vile day - although I was there myself. But so far as the Council is concerned Croft isn't unusual in that it operates under the same legal constraints as any other venue - ie it has to obtain and comply with planning consents and not make more noise than is allowed . Irritating for fans but we live in a small country and far too many people in motor sport fall for the old canard of people moving to area and then complaining - it's a lazy story which writes itself.

But Croft's planning controls don't stop it holding a hell of a lot of trackdays and a reasonable number of race meetings . Where it falls down is virtually zero local marketing , thin gridded race meetings - anybody who saw Britcar there would have died of boredom - a handful of cars droning round for hours - and a generally shoddy customer experience . This ranges from dire catering to randomly effective PA , and ,from my own experience , very shoddy treatment of season ticket holders.

Ironically BARC do a cracking job at Harewood but Croft , having reached a peak wit F3, BTCC and GTs in late 90s now feels like it's cruising. Shame - it's 20 minutes away for me and the Northern Saloons and Sports Car series is a shining example of a diverse and well supported series .

[chunder]

I don't know the answer for a venue like Croft

You hanker for Palmer yet he took away BSB so he could run it in of all places Holland, so no the North East has no representative track on the prmier bike racing series in the UK.

Yet the Midlands have several, Cadwell, Donington and Silverstone.

MSV are great, but they are a business primarily and will stop at nothing to increase their revenue, especially when the own the championship aswell!!

[The Fat Clerk]

Mallory Park mark 2?

i wouldn't have thought MSVR would be allowed to have another circuit though.

[coppice]

They can buy what they want surely- why wouldn't they be allowed? Intrigued ...

[kipper]

Originally Posted by coppice

They can buy what they want surely- why wouldn't they be allowed? Intrigued ...

Given the number of circuits that MSV own, another purchase may attract the interest of the Competition Comission. In the UK, a monopoly is generally taken as being 25% of the market share. Quite what constitutes the market may keep the lawyers busy.

[chunder]

Exactly, for me if there is someone who an run tracks more efficiently and at a profit the more the merrier.

You perhaps wonder what the long term aim is, at the mo it seems to be to put up money for his sons, but surely most of that cant be moved around to that extent.

[coppice]

Just noticed an MSV deal for £199- car race season pass to Brands , Oulton , Cadwell and Snetterton.

Compare and contrast Croft 4 wheel season pass- £145 - for 1 BTCC and Nostalgia meeting and some normal club racing . Even worse is usual nonsense that the parking you get as a season ticket holder isn't available (for reasons which are unfathomable ) at the two biggest meetings. Cynical.

[chunder]

AS an alternative

MSV have realised their tracks are doing nothing in the winter, so have put their backing into a rally championship at their tracks.

Meanwhile Dukeries MC lost their usual forest venue and asked Donington and they have run it twice there now.

Club make nothing out of the speccy entries, a tenner to get in.

Same as MSV series, 15 quid to get in.

Same bloke would go to both, now wont go to Cadwell, greed is as dumb as it gets.

[andy97]

Originally Posted by chunder

AS an alternative

MSV have realised their tracks are doing nothing in the winter, so have put their backing into a rally championship at their tracks.

Meanwhile Dukeries MC lost their usual forest venue and asked Donington and they have run it twice there now.

Club make nothing out of the speccy entries, a tenner to get in.

Same as MSV series, 15 quid to get in.

Same bloke would go to both, now wont go to Cadwell, greed is as dumb as it gets.

Really not sure I understand this post at all.

The MSVR Circuit Rally championship has proven to be very popular for both competitors and spectators. Ditto the Dukeries at Donington. And there are far far more of the latter at most rounds than at most club race meetings.

Oh, and the MSVR circuit rally series isn't limited to MSVR tracks as it also runs at Rockingham, Donington, Anglesey and Croft.

[geordiecriag101]

Regarding the Rallying, Croft has hosted two very successful rally's for the 16/17 years in the Swift Signs and the Jack Frost.

I've been going to the Swift signs one for the last 5 years as a spectator and enjoy every minute as it is the best way to break up the xmas period.

As for the circuit its self, yes compared to the MSV tracks and Silverstone the circuit features can best be described as "Basic", but its a place i love to be watching the racing as especially in the summer months it has a lovely old school feel.

As there is almost none of the modern high catch fencing to get in the way, the viewing is great as from the banks around turns 1-2-3 you can see most of the first half of the lap and same for the back section, the view the banks from Sunny out all the way around the Complex give great views, much better than sum of the more modern circuits.

One thing i would agree on is there could be a lot more done to promote the circuit both locally and nationally. For example the last 2 years there as been a motor show held in Newcastle city centre but there was little to no sign of anything promoting Croft or its calendar of events.

[chunder]

The reason for my post is simply one of how much it costs to watch as a punter.

15 quid at MSV tracks and a tenner at Donington. It's mot a huge amount, just something I realised a few weeks ago and thought "WTF". It's the same thing!!!

The series is great, but I just think MSV are a little over eager with their pricing of it.

[coppice]

Croft is up the road for me and I enjoy it as a circuit but with two caveats-

-more overtaking happens at Tower than anywhere else ; originally one could spectate from the infield and it was brilliant. Then RACSMA stopped it on safety grounds- sort of understandable but , like Hawthorn ,it could have been managed with some judiciously placed catch fencing. Then viewing at outfield allowed for regulars - informally . That got stopped too.

- hairpin sees a lot of overtaking but despite its very low speed the original design didn't allow for spectating . Missed opportunity .

Both Tower and Hairpin can be seen from central infield viewing area , but from a distance. Compare and contrast to Cadwell, where viewing is close for 75% of track or even Oulton . Frustrating - I really don't think circuit managers/designers ever grasp how important proximity to overtaking points is to the public.

[Lancsbreaker]

As CSCC have announced that Croft is included on their calendar this year, looking forward to experiencing it from the other side of the fencing