WEC Race WEC 2015 Round 5: COTA - Page 11

Coach Ep · 24 Sep 2015, 02:26 (Ref:3576528)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

...seats, which provide good views and respite from the heat.

The series and the venue should be doing everything to engage them. While there's about 50 grandstand seats to each fan, a ticket should give you access to sit wherever you want....

Apart from the grandstand right across from the pits there are no covered grandstands at CotA I believe. If you're a sun lover, it's paradise!

Most temporary grandstands aren't even open to the general public, they'll put up and don't open them until GP week. Didn't those bleachers come out of Baltimore (when their GP collapsed)?

Neither track nor series cares about ordinary spectators which are so limited in number it's hard to spot them in the first place so why try to accommodate them? As long as the vips et all are served properly, all will be good (apparently the track managed to screw up that as well with corral folks parked all the way out at dirt lot T (which is somewhere literally miles away from the main entrance).

Nick6 · 24 Sep 2015, 15:59 (Ref:3576675)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simmi

Wow so you couldn't sit in a grandstand unless you had a specific ticket for it? That's crazy! No wonder it looked empty.

Someone needs to remind CoTA this isn't F1. There seems to be a general sense of negativity when people talk about the place. Makes Silverstone seem full of soul in comparison.

I agree. The "cheap" general admission tickets were $70. Grandstand seating was about $90 for Saturday + $20 for parking and you have already spent $110 before even entering the gate. I think attendance would be better if they just had 1 set ticket price with open seating anywhere. Even from the ground level the grand stands looked bare in certain spots. I think a majority of people purchased "general admission" tickets.

Honestly if I did not live as close as I do to COTA and if I wasn't as hell bent on seeing P1 cars this year I probably wouldn't have bothered going to the track.

Richard C · 24 Sep 2015, 16:22 (Ref:3576682)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick6

I agree. The "cheap" general admission tickets were $70. Grandstand seating was about $90 for Saturday + $20 for parking and you have already spent $110 before even entering the gate. I think attendance would be better if they just had 1 set ticket price with open seating anywhere. Even from the ground level the grand stands looked bare in certain spots. I think a majority of people purchased "general admission" tickets.

I think a cause for some of this is that the series and the circuit want to elevate their profile. So they have different ticket levels. I haven't looked at the US GP tickets for COTA, but I assume it is the same. And if you looked at how the Mexican GP tickets are sold, you will see they also have a number of different tiers (and I believe they sold like hotcakes).

So basically the tickets were sold as if it was an F1 race. And demand was not large enough to support that model. So, in short, while I think the the "multi-turn" ticket was a good value, I agree a single all access ticket would have been better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick6

Honestly if I did not live as close as I do to COTA and if I wasn't as hell bent on seeing P1 cars this year I probably wouldn't have bothered going to the track.

I get what you are saying. My personal viewpoint is that I can't predict how long this new "golden age" of factory prototype racing will continue. And being a Porsche fan, I wanted to see the 919 live and in action. So I made the trip from NC. I do not see me making the trip next year, however ticket prices is not the reason, but overall value I guess might be. I do appreciate that I had the chance to see a WEC race in the US.

I am more likely to be saving up for a LeMan's trip in the next few years.

Richard

Ephaeton · 24 Sep 2015, 18:27 (Ref:3576718)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick6

I agree. The "cheap" general admission tickets were $70. Grandstand seating was about $90 for Saturday + $20 for parking and you have already spent $110 before even entering the gate.

Wow. Compare to the ring, which tried making the event a success, and asked for 30 euros for a general admission ticket for the whole weekend that let you seat anywhere, with the first few thousand tickets allowing for track & pit walk (and lateron they basically let everybody in there and into the paddock as well).

MoMedic9019 · 24 Sep 2015, 18:45 (Ref:3576727)

Quote:

Originally Posted by porman

MoMedic,

Please don't take this as a personal attack but I think the majority of us are just thankful to have what is by and large, good racing. I had been waiting since 1999 for the pleasure of watching such a diverse field with top- flight prototypes to boot. We here you in that you have no desire to attend COTA, nor for it to stay on the calendar. I like some here have been there and had a great time. Yes, the place has room for improvement but that could be said for so many venues. Perhaps we could refrain from the negativity and enjoy what we have?

Just being a realist.

I know some have had great expereinces. Others have had horrible ones.

It's been built for F1... and nothing else. The attitude of the venue reflects it.

Coach Ep · 24 Sep 2015, 19:34 (Ref:3576745)

But the venue could be 'updated' and improved (mainly the huge tarmac run off areas). Management however is beyond that point and needs to go if there are any ambitions left to turn any of the non F1 events into a success!

Richard C · 24 Sep 2015, 19:40 (Ref:3576747)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

But the venue could be 'updated' and improved

At what cost? Are they not struggling financially as is? And the type of track changes we are talking about would be contrary to the initial design which some (not I) would also defend.

I think tweaks to how events are run might be more fruitful (such as comments around ticket pricing, crazy rules at the gate, etc.)

Richard

Coach Ep · 24 Sep 2015, 19:50 (Ref:3576751)

I was more thinking about grinding off the top layer of the tarmac run off or putting some sort of more abrasive coating on top of it. No lay out changes and such.

But agreed, event management & promotion are the other top priorities.

MoMedic9019 · 24 Sep 2015, 20:46 (Ref:3576767)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

At what cost? Are they not struggling financially as is?

They couldn't afford IndyCar at a significant discount(I absolutely will not disclose the amount) for 2016....they are hurting quite badly. With the local money now in question to pay for F1, I doubt we see COTA remain open as a motorsports venue.

Coach Ep · 24 Sep 2015, 20:52 (Ref:3576770)

Read and shiver!

http://www.lonestarspeedzone.com/top...ts-fund-audit/

GT-Eins · 27 Sep 2015, 20:39 (Ref:3577584)

We put our usual set of statistics overviews into our race report of Austin:
http://www.gt-eins.de/Berichte2015/wec/aus/aus.html

kingers · 29 Sep 2015, 01:41 (Ref:3577882)

Great image... Earl seems to be leading the way!

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