XXXX Angels or VB Challenge - which would you rather see?

[peckstar]

i enjoy the burnouts.

[PVDA]

Originally Posted by peckstar

i enjoy the burnouts.

The trouble with burnouts is the rubber they put down effects the grip levels for cars when they take off from the starting grid and they also leave a lot of rubber behind which requires a lot of clean up before racing can continue.

[peckstar]

not at sandown.

i didnt see anyone cleaning up rubber at sandown after ther burnouts or for that matter ar any track

[PVDA]

Front straight was cleaned up a little bit but the back straight was pretty bad and needed a good once over.

Hey Peck, how could you not see those two bloody big blue tractors with the blowers on the back running around the place as well as marshals with brooms & blowers..

[emjaya]

Originally Posted by PVDA

Front straight was cleaned up a little bit but the back straight was pretty bad and needed a good once over.

Hey Peck, how could you not see those two bloody big blue tractors with the blowers on the back running around the place as well as marshals with brooms & blowers..

V8-coloured glasses.

[DAVID PATERSON]

The XXXX Angels are not a good way to attract female fans or generate a "family" atmosphere.

The VB challenge makes motorsport look like hooning.

If i go to a race meeting, i want to see racing, all day! That's why i go to State & Historic meetings.

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by PVDA

Front straight was cleaned up a little bit but the back straight was pretty bad and needed a good once over.

Hey Peck, how could you not see those two bloody big blue tractors with the blowers on the back running around the place as well as marshals with brooms & blowers..

i guess i was probably looking at the XXXX girls

i was only there on the sunday, and was sitting on the front straight

[PVDA]

Originally Posted by peckstar

i was only there on the sunday, and was sitting on the front straight

So you voted with your wallet against the Monday racing like 11,000 other Melbournians

[peckstar]

i dont live in melbourne, cost of petrol makes it a bit prohibitive to travel down two days ($38 for me and two kids to go on sunday)

[PVDA]

Originally Posted by peckstar

i dont live in melbourne, cost of petrol makes it a bit prohibitive to travel down two days ($38 for me and two kids to go on sunday)

that all, try 5 days at 110km per day for me to get there and back which included peak hour on Friday night which took 45 minutes longer than the other nights

This is what I said about my fuel costs but at least I didn't have to pay to get in

[peckstar]

why 5 days?

i actually thought $38 was quite reasonable (the advantage of not going on race day, you still get a race and two fujitsu races and others) In the past i have been multiple days, but just moved into a new house and the extra mortgage and higher petrol is starting to hurt

[MPA]

Originally Posted by PVDA

Try 5 days at 110km per day for me to get there

Stop doing so many laps around the track in the morning and you might knock that 110 kay per day down a bit

[Vee8]

Originally Posted by DAVID PATERSON

The XXXX Angels are not a good way to attract female fans or generate a "family" atmosphere.

I've got a real bi-polar thing going on with grid girls. I worked with the V8 circus for many years and saw - and appreciated - every grid girl at every race. I'm a bloke, I love chicks, and the fewer clothes the better. End of.

Er, not quite.

At the same time, I have a real unease about the exploitative nature of it all. If the money disappeared from the sport, every driver and every crew member would probably still be turning up to compete, purely for the love of the sport. Can the same be said of the grid girls? Would they be shoehorning themselves into tiny swatches of lycra and subjecting themselves to the lewd suggestions and groping of a testosterone and beer-fuelled mob if shedloads of cash were not on offer? Probably not, I'd venture.

The other dilemma for me is that I have a young daughter who is almost of an age where I would like to introduce her to the joys of motorsport. As V8s are my poison of choice (yeah, I know ...) that means the time is fast approaching where I have a decision to make. I know she is going to be bombarded with negative and exploitative stereotypes via the media and advertising, but I don't want to be the one who exposes her (pun unintended) to the one that grid girls represent, that says women are a plaything whose job in life is to please men. And if I should have another child who happens to be a son, I'm certain I'll feel similarly uneasy.

So to get back on topic, as much as I love the idea of a troupe of dancing virgins (well, a man can wish, anyway), I don't believe the sport is doing itself any favours in its attempt to present itself as family entertainment.

Having said that, I have also seen the VB Challenge about a zillion times and find it boring as bat guano.

So my vote is for none of the above.

Unfortunately you'll probably find that V8SA will never put on additional racing because it like to keep a windy program with lots of holes in it. That way it can easily rip out the filler items (dancing girls, VB Challenge, drag cars etc) if serious delays happen in a support category and still hit its target start (and more importantly) finish times for the feature events and keep the broadcaster happy.

I'm sure plenty of people are going to shoot holes in my arguments, but these are my beliefs, not hard facts, so I'm going to have mine and you can have yours. OK?

[DAVID PATERSON]

Vee8, that was a very intelligent, articulate, well thought out post and i'm sure i'm not the only one who agrees with every word.

[PVDA]

Originally Posted by MPA

Stop doing so many laps around the track in the morning and you might knock that 110 kay per day down a bit

The 110 doesn't count laps around the track.

Besides, I don't do laps in my own car or use my own fuel

[bludvl_x19]

Ease up MPA, hes just having a whinge cos he lives near Calder, and thats out in the sticks

Mick

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by Vee8

Unfortunately you'll probably find that V8SA will never put on additional racing because it like to keep a windy program with lots of holes in it. That way it can easily rip out the filler items (dancing girls, VB Challenge, drag cars etc) if serious delays happen in a support category and still hit its target start (and more importantly) finish times for the feature events and keep the broadcaster happy.

I'm sure plenty of people are going to shoot holes in my arguments, but these are my beliefs, not hard facts, so I'm going to have mine and you can have yours. OK?

Good point about the scheduling.

I'm kinda bi-polar about it as well. It's like the comedian Ron White said, "once you've seen one pair of boobs, you want to see them all" and certainly I enjoy the female form. I think grid girls add some spark and decoration to an event and CAN be good PR ambassadors.

However I think sometimes it becomes counter productive when you take it too far with raunchy or trashy uniforms or under age girls. I find often less is more. I'd point to the recent Champcar grid girl uniforms, revealing without being in your face embarrassing.

I can see where the XXXX angels could cause some issues down the road. Personally I don't care that much and I'm sure others don't as well. But having seen the little dance routine it appears like something out of a strip club and if it starts offending a large number of families or others, then it's a problem. Because after all what everyone is there for is motor racing, not a strip show. I don't see the point in turning away a lot of fans or families.