Why not big crowds at Konica Minolta

[Panzer]

Having been at Eastern Creek last weekend I was amazed that the crowd was so small. Why doesn't the Konica series get better crowds, the racing is as good as the main series. Does the series need more publicity?

[Kerri]

I thought the crowd was pretty good judging by the cars parked up on the hill.
Or maybe they just had lots of officials

[BAZzzzz c]

We have just been shown Round two.!! (on our "EVERY Sunday without fail" Shell helix MotorSport Prog, courtesy of TV1, and i noticed the sparse crowd. A great pity (and a bit of a bugbear of mine) As you say, the racing IS as good as the Supercar Series (but with more Biffo eh??) and there doesnt seem to be any GOOD reason for the low crowd numbers. I do wonder at the Corporate attendances at these races though. Havnt been to a Konica Meeting so dont know but if the Corporate bods dont support it, then a very fair section of the Crowd will be missing. Seems that some Motormen wont get off their chuffs if they have to PAY to get in AND, (perish the thought) have to pay for their own food and grog. Over here there is a supposed 'swankiness' about 'scoring' a Corp. Ticket but the real motormen know that ya have to put in to get out. Sure the Corps have to pay but M'thinks that a lot of revenue to the Organisers is lost to them. Must be very soul destroying to see those empty terraces, Organisers, Sponsors AND Drivers.
Still Panzer, maybe we will all end up just buying the video and watching it on the telly eh? maybe we can have 'virtual' drivers and save even more effort. Unfortunately, we get similar attendances here at very good race meeting although it's getting better. Maybe because we dont have the wealth of Racing Codes, and the opportunities to see them. We do get reasonable attendances at our own V8 Series but the rest ?,..... Hard yakka.
And good on you for 'doing' Eastern Creek. We will get to see it soon and I will keep an eye open for ya.............

[DAVID PATERSON]

There's almost no publicity for the Konica meetings and a lot of once a year race fans will only go to a meeting that features big name drivers. Having said that, Lakeside used to pull good crowds for Konica meetings, much better than other rounds. Come to think of it, you could say exactly the same thing about Lakeside and the ASTC...........Hmmm

[Chucky]

PROCAR gets bigger track attendances than Konica. Why? Not sure, you'd think they would have similar, if different pulling power. I don't think that Konica is marketed very well and the supports are usually of an inferior quality.

[D.R.T.]

Yep Procar has gained larger crowds than Konica for years. The reason Procar has a better package, better package than the other V8's aswell.

I think another problem for Konica rounds is that they charge $25 to get it. What sane person is going to pay that.
I know a guy who went to the creek over the weekend and his highlight of the day were the Formula Vees

[champcarman]

Yes, $25 is too much to charge admission and also the support program is pathetic. I said before the meeting that F Vee was the best support class they have had at either Winton or EC this year. Also the category has yet to produce a superstar driver like FF, F4000 and F3 have so lines like "see the stars of the future" or "feeder category" have little credibility. Get some decent supports, promote it as a separate, alternative, series to V8 Supercar and charge $15 - $20 admission and it might take off. There is nothing wrong with the racing.

[Chronicle]

Because the Konica's are the 2nds, and who goes to the 2nds? You only normally watch the 2nds if they are on before the 1st's and you're at the ground anyway.

Which is a real shame, coz they is normally some bloody good racing in amongst these people.

[GTRMagic]

But the bigger issue is the support class... without the Konicas, it was essentially a club level meeting

AVESCO needs to go talk to Peter Boylan with a chequebook in hand!

[Chronicle]

Honestly GTR and no offence, I don't want AVESCO anywhere near Procar. Whilst the money injection would be good, but at what cost?

[Also a Believer]

GTR I think that your wish my become a reality had a meeting today with a guy we all know looking to import a car for a procar series who has been toa meting behind closed doors with unity on the agenda.

[peckstar]

because 3 rounds at EC in six months is more than EC can handle

they dont get that big a crowd to the big guys (30-35K)

why would they get a big crowd to the 2nds

[Mattracer]

Originally posted by DAVID PATERSON
There's almost no publicity for the Konica meetings and a lot of once a year race fans will only go to a meeting that features big name drivers. Having said that, Lakeside used to pull good crowds for Konica meetings, much better than other rounds. Come to think of it, you could say exactly the same thing about Lakeside and the ASTC...........Hmmm

I think as well all know, that the circuit itself had a large part in that. The Konic rounds in 2000 and 2001 were excellent events, well attended but not overcrowded, thankfully for poor old Lakeside. If you want to see race cars, any race cars working on their suspension and with a bit of attitude then the Kink or under the bridge to Hungry were the place to be. Thinking about it now reminds me how much it is missed. If only that circuit could be relocated somewhere else away from progress...

[Joe5619]

1) EC is a s*&# track to go watch any form of motorsport!!! Give me Oran Park any day!!

2) How many of you go to the Football & get there in time to watch the 1st gade game (NRL, I'm not sure what they call it in AFL)??

[GTRMagic]

Originally posted by Chronicle
Honestly GTR and no offence, I don't want AVESCO anywhere near Procar. Whilst the money injection would be good, but at what cost?

Philosophically, neither do I.

But, as a boring economic rationalist, neither series can survive with the current crowd levels.

If the teams retain control of their category management, and are strong enough to tell AVESCO what for (and P.Boylan is one that could do that) then there is a chance at an amenable peace, without one side being violated!

[racer69]

Originally posted by GTRMagic
But the bigger issue is the support class... without the Konicas, it was essentially a club level meeting

But is there anything wrong with that. Why shouldn't the likes of Formula Vee, Improved Production etc.... get a gig at some of the big meetings?

[GTRMagic]

One or two I wouldnt have an issue with...

[Kerri]

And which one or 2 would that be GTR?
Come on now be honest

[FatBoy]

Rd 3 of the NSW Improved Production Championship is on at Oran park this weekend - I'd say that has a lot to do with the number of IP cars that were at Eastern Creek last weekend...

Cheers,
Paul...

[darrenmason]

Hi all,

I was a little disappointed to see such a small crowd at the EC meeting, mainly due to the fact that I helped organise getting us (Formula Vees) on the support program.
I think that the $25 entry is a major part of the problem. People I spoke to were very keen to come but bawked at $25 per person. I think they could have halved that price ( or even put it down to $15) and seen a lot more than double the people there. Not to mention the extra income from food etc that they would then get.

For those that did go, what did you think of the Formula Vees. We have been trying to get on higher profile meetings to show people that Formula Vee has progressed a lot now with 1600 engines, disk brakes and an improved look. Many of the cars on the grid are new this year or last and several have had major updates. We had several interstate cars and were supposed to have 42 entries, although I don't think they all made it.
So did it work? Did we impress anyone?

Darren

[GTRMagic]

$25 per person is cheap, what are they complaining about?

A night at the movies is about the same, or the theatre, watching ball sports...

I dont mind any of the categories in the show, but when there are no national headline series on the program to accompany the Konicas, it doesnt draw the crowds!

[peckstar]

i think you havent been to the movies for a while GTR

it cost $13.50 for the movies here and $9 on tues plus if you have a flybuts card you can often pay $9.50

thats a lot less than $25 and you get two hours movies for you cash compared to just over an hour of racing

[GTRMagic]

I use the golden thingumybob at the movies... saves buying popcorn.... and you get more comfy seats

[mountainstar]

For what we pay to get into events here in the states, 25 Aus$ is dirt cheap. I wouldn't complain.

At the first V8 supercars race I went too, I paid 55 AUS$ which included pit access. To get the same for a NASCAR event I'd probably pay over 100 US$.

[Chucky]

I think that Konica is a cynical attempt to drag young wannabees into running yesterdays machinery in the vain hope that they might be "noticed".

GTR's sharks can smell blood in the water for miles......

If there were any justice in the world, the Konica series would be relegated to state level (which is what it loks lik enow) and PROCAR will grow to being a series of (almost) equal stature to the V8SCS.