"Pit Walk" or "Pit Crock"?

[Tim Northcutt]

I attended the USGP "Pit Walk" this morning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway....

The McLaren Team had their cars right by the barricades set up in front of the garages on the pit lane and had a couple of the crew out there answering questions and such....very impressive, indeed....


everyone else had their cars back in the garages (at least 30 yards away) with "body parts" like the noses&wings out about 15-20 yards away....

Bernie could learn a lot from the IRL and NASCAR about "How to do a Pit WalK the Right Way"

I've been closer to Indy cars just by standing along the fence on pit road during practice than I was to all but the McLaren cars...

"Pit Walk???""

Try "Pit Crock"....

With the exception of McLaren, a total waste of a n otherwise beautiful morning...

Did anyone else who may be in Indy go????

I'd like to know your thoughts...

[cos]

McLaren being the least secretive of all the F1 teams??? That's a bit unusual for them surely...

[racefanatic]

I was in school, so my dad and my uncle went... they said basically the same thing, that only McLaren were friendly. Sorry it wasn't much fun! The race will be better!

[Tim Northcutt]

Didn't realize you were "really" from the "one and only 'Racing Capital of the World", racefanatic...

I read your posts on other forums all the time....

McLaren's people were great....the rest was just window dressing....

[racefanatic]

Yeah, I'm really from Indy.
It says on my profile under interests that I like going to the IMS... that's true too. I go out of my way to drive past it. (because I'm a dork and I have too much free time )

[Tim Northcutt]

I check it out every may and September....went to see NASCAR Quals and practice the 1st year...was bored to tears!!!! Never went back in August, and don't plan to, either....

next year it'll be May and June, though....glad they moved the USGP for 2004...a better time of the year here than late September....people have more free time to go out there

[racefanatic]

Yeah, and if they have another pit walk, I won't be in school!

[Tim Northcutt]

It wasn't worth the wait in traffic on 16th Street...with the exception of the McLaren cars....

[kdr]

you should come to london tim...theres a proper mclaren
sits constantly on view in a window display on park lane.

[Tim Northcutt]

They put both of their cars so close to the barricade that if one was inclined, you could literally reach out and touch it with very little strain or effort....

Of course, the many fans there knew better...and had no desire to lose the arm if one of the team members answering questions would have seen them....

[Jordi]

Mate, this is F1, remember... It's actually strange that McLaren showed so much.

[Adam43]

I'm not so surprised that McLaren made the effort (and good on them for doing so). Firstly, they are not the cold detached team that is portrayed. Secondly, they know good marketing when they see it. It seems McLaren can be better at both being friendly to the fans and presenting themselves and their sponsors better.

[pshoe001]

Strange, the only garage not open when I went through, was McLaren's. It must have opened later in the morning. I enjoyed myself. It was about what I expected.

Here's a photo I took.

[Wrex]

Originally posted by cos
McLaren being the least secretive of all the F1 teams??? That's a bit unusual for them surely...

Are pictures of a 20 month old car that rare?

[avsfan733]

based on the picture from pshoe, that seems pretty close to me. Granted I wasn't there, but at least it wasn't from accross the track behind a fence at 200 MPH.

[Gt_R]

I was thinking, will it hurt if teams, in addition to keeping their actual race cars in garage, could actually just park one display car of the same year, probably the presentation car they used at the start of the year, at the pit lane so that people who stroll down the pitlane could actually take photo with the "car" and team members?

It doesn't have to be a fully equipped car, just the empty shell with slightly older aero would do just fine (But NO year-old cars thank you)!

Bernie ought to just make it a rule, that every one places a car at their front porch. Maybe he could be in charge of bringing the 11 cars around the world.

[Shadow_Catcher]

Originally posted by kdr
you should come to london tim...theres a proper mclaren
sits constantly on view in a window display on park lane.

or a beautiful Ferrari in the Shell building lobby by the Eye.

[Muzza]

Hello, Folks,

My thoughts about the pit walkabout:

1.) A great idea, hopefully to be repeated at other venues;

2.) There was a lot of people there. I climbed on a wall checking the crowd and there were some fifteen thousand people there (at least). I thought nobody would show up and that it would be easy to meet other Ten Tenthers and get autographs (from the drivers, not the forum members...) but I could not meet anyone, as the crowd was considerable.

3.) Tim: as usual, you put it very well. The barricades were too far from the garages (very unnecessary - was that another "homeland security" measure?), and McLaren was definitely the most (or only!) team that made any effort to reach the fans.

4.) Sorry, Jordi, but being this Formula 1 do not authorize anyone to be as arrogant as someone like Jenson Button, for example. There were many Brits patiently waiting for him for hours (maybe three hours, or more), and when he finally walked out of the garage, he walked slowly in front of us and did not ackonwledged anyone. Not even a nod.

5.) And if you were suprised with Mclaren's approachability, Ross Brawn (of all people!) was the first person to come up to the fence and reply to questions, and maybe the one that spent most time there.

6.) I was there very early, and it was interesting to see the expression of surprise in the face of the mechanics when they realized how many people actually showed up. Maybe - and I know how optimistic I am being... - this will make the organizers to improve the "pit crock" for next year.

7.) I spent two-and-a-half hours in front of the Williams pit and was very lucky to get a Montoya autograph. I guess he was buoyed by the many Colombian fans, as he actually took the time to answer a few questions from several people.

8.) McNish - who once actually stopped his road car to talk to me in Laguna Seca - was the most approachable driver. He is understandbly very unhappy about losing his testing seat at Toyota...

9.) Ok, we know that the cars were too far away but, besides that... where the hell were the drivers?. Very few guys showed up. Besides the above mentioned Montoya, McNish and Button, I just saw Verstappen (in the back of the garage - I mean behind the building!)... What about making mandatory to have he drivers attending the walkabout? That could be a great opportunity for sponsors.

10.) And finally, the most symptomatic aspect of the whole thing: at the entrance of the pit there was a sign warning that "it was absolutely prohibited to take any pictures or video shots in the pits"!!!

Cheers,

Muzza (based in Terre Haute for the race)

[Attila]

I have been to many many Pit Walks with paddock club passes and they are quite boring if you ask me. I have never met any driver only other team member. If one really wants to meet drviers one has to get F1 paddock passes (they are practicly impossible to get). I only managed to get into the F1 paddock like twice and that was quite good.

Anyway, it is much easier to get into F3000 paddock and all the drivers are very friendly, so if anybody has the chance that is a good thing to do. Of course, that only works in Europe :-((.

About Indy, the memory that sticks out is that in 2000 I paid the largest parking fee in my entire life when attending the GP :-)). I think it was somting like $150 for the day. Anyway it was money well spent, I enjoyed the race.

Cheers,

[ljakse]

I allways knew I'm supporting the right team

[Tim Northcutt]

A Few Added Notes:

1. pshoe001's picture makes the Renault garage and cars look MUCH closer than we were to the cars...but what you see in his shot was how all but McLaren handled thei "Pit Crock"...nose assemblies on stands 15-20 yards away with the cars tucked back in the garages...

2. I left at 11 a.m., and the McLaren Team was pushing one of their cars back into the garage at that time....but it was literally next to the barricade for a long time....

3. The "Cameras & Video" sign was put up for the "rest of the weekend's" activities....In all published infomation about the "Pit Crock," it made sure to say that cameras and video gear was welcome...

4. The Barricades have never been part of an Indy 500 "Fan Day" or the NASCAR "access" days in my memory....even after 9/11....

5. I was not surprised at all by the crowd....there were many out-of-state and Canadian license plates on the way into the track, but an equal amount of Indiana License plates there, too...

Indy is a big-time Racing Town....people here know and love the sport, and are always interested in learning more...especially when you get an opportunity like yesterday, to see F-1 cars up (fairly) close....

Finally...I agree with much of what Muzza said....I hope they learn from it, and next June, I hope that they open up a little more...

[Jordi]

Actually Muzza, I wish F1 wasn't that snobbish. Here at Montmeló, 20,000 people were on hand and Alonso and Montoya did sign a few autographs. Only that it was at the afternoon and I went there at the morning. I remember that one hour before opening, we were already 500 waiting at the gates.

[Tim Northcutt]

BTW...news in the Indianapolis Star today said that the French Grand Prix may be out (they owe Bernie $11 million in fees from previous races) and Canada may be back in....June 6th 2004....

We'll see....

[pshoe001]

"1. pshoe001's picture makes the Renault garage and cars look MUCH closer than we were to the cars.."

This is true. I used a 3x zoom, so objects are farther than what they appear.