Most liked posts in thread: F1 - 2010

So, will they go to 21 races when the US Grand Prix joins the calendar the following year?

Or will someone fail to come up with the ransom money Bernie demands to see his circus and open up a spot?

 

The Bulgarians are allegedly working with the people from Abu Dhabi to try and get a GP at an old Air Force base near Sofia.

 

Man that is a lot of air time for the teams late in the season ! That's got to be horribly expensive.

 

Pretty soon it'll be just like NASCAR, 36 races a year and spec cars....they already have the car part pretty much down.

 

Ahh the NASCAR Death March into obscurity. To many races at to many tracks that mean little to many.

There was a time when the scarcity of an F1 race was part of made it so special. The best and brightest met 10-12 times a year at a few storied locations to compete with the best that could engineer. It was special when they came to town. Soon it will be everything else that was good, over wrought and over done to milk every last penny out of anything that moves.

 

Very true that NASCAR has it's problems but Just a couple weeks back I sat with 160,000 (sold out) other folks around a bullrink in the middle of nowhere Bristol, TN. How many F1 races don't even approach that attendance. Example Bahrain where if my memory serves me correctly they had an announced attendance of around 35,000, which could hardly be seen from the TV shots.... Love F1, but the problem isn't with the racing but with he egghead egos that run it.....leave the racing to those that do it and things will get better. Same could be said of NASCAR.

These folks remind me of an ACC basketball referee we had a few years ago that in an interview defended his disruptions by saying "hey, folks spend good money on tickets to come see me referee". Your a tool fool.

 

Slightly OT, but did you see where Homestead lost it's IRL race? They decided it was too "north Cuba", I guess they meant it wasn't in a fancy enough neighborhood? I don't understand the logic here, whether 160,00 "Cubans" or 160,000 blacks, Asians or whites fill the stands, isn't the important part to fill the stands?

And now they've said they won't be back to Kansas or Chicago either - I don't know about Chicago, but Kansas sells out every year, every race. And again, isn't that the point?

They want to move the season ending race to Vegas.

So, just like F1 (you knew there'd be a tie in, right? ) they're going for the wealthy and forsaking the grassroots supporters. Well, I got news for Bernie and Bruton Smith, there are a hell of a lot more of us than there are wealthy, and wealthy folks have a lot more ways to spend their money - they can turn on or off F1 and the like in a heartbeat when the next 'new thing" is discovered. Then where will you be?

Bernie should look at NASCAR, more than any other series they have tried to remain true to their roots and cater to the average guy - all the while making the participants stinking rich!

 

Biggest problem with road races is simply the venue. You don't have a "stadum" to pack. Fans are only able to see a percentage of the race.

 

To this I say: shorter IRC type tracks with more turns. And put them all in go carts... at your local high school football stadium.

 

Scottinbend very true but the attendance at The last sprint cup race at Watkins Glenn was over 90,000, down a tick from last year but still nearly three times the attendance for the F1 Bahrain race.....

 

If anyone cares......
My company's owner just bought a vintage F1 to race (1984 model).
It's pretty slick. He already has been racing an F2 for the last 2 years with great success.

 

Bristol Ticket Pricing...

Race-Day Tickets
Aluminum Seats $109
Red Terrace $130
Earnhardt Terrace $137

Two-Day Package
Aluminum Seats $156
Backstretch Aluminum $145
Red Terrace $189
Earnhardt Terrace $195

Three-Day Package
Aluminum Seats $170
Red Terrace $210
Earnhardt Terrace $220

 

Tickets for the NASCAR Piston Cup race in Kansas range from $165 to $250, however I've seen them for sale day of the race for as little as $50 - but you get what you get then.... not that any seat in the house is bad, it's just that some are better than others.

Edit: That's a 2-day package deal price.

Interesting too that the cheapest seats are the ones closest to the track!

I'm expecting to pay at least twice that for the F1 tix, but it's probably a once in a lifetime deal for me, so it will have to do.

 

Daytona 500 tickets ain't cheap...

Have to get at least a 3 day package and anything in the Grandstands starts at $600 per.

In comparison Daytona 24 Hour tickets start at $85 ea for a 4 day pass.

 

Ferrari gets wrists slapped to go with $100K fine

The FIA is to review the rules relating to team orders in Formula One racing after its World Motor Sport Council decided on Wednesday to impose no further sanction on Ferrari for their controversial one-two finish in July’s German Grand Prix.

Hockenheim stewards fined Ferrari US$100,000 for imposing team orders and bringing the sport into disrepute after Felipe Massa moved aside to let team mate Fernando Alonso win the race.

Following a special hearing in Paris on Wednesday afternoon the Council decided the fine should stand, for Ferrari’s infringement of Article 39.1 of the sporting regulations, which states that "team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited".

The Council also decided, however, that Article 39.1 should be reviewed and referred the matter to the Formula One Sporting Working Group for further consideration.

In a brief statement issued after the hearing, Ferrari expressed their appreciation of this proposal and said they had “taken note†of the Council’s decision.

The outcome means the Italian team head to their home Grand Prix at Monza this weekend still in contention for both world championships. They lie third in the constructors’ standings, while Alonso and Massa are fifth and sixth respectively in the drivers’ table.