34 replies to this topic

[Giraffe]

Both the Grand Prix & World Sportscar Masters are on the bill with the Superleague Formula at Silverstone this weekend. The GP cars qualify and race on Friday and then race again on Saturday, whilst the Sportscars are qualifying on Saturday and racing on Sunday. I'm taking a trip there on Saturday on an £8 advance ticket where I'll get to see the Sportscars qualify and the GP cars race.
The Masters site doesn't show an entry list so I really don't have a clue who's running this season, and I could only book tickets via the BRSCC site?!?! Apart from football fans, is anyone racing or going?

Edited by Giraffe, 30 March 2010 - 16:54.

[Giraffe]

The garage plan for the Masters cars this weekend.....

http://www.themaster...Garage_Plan.pdf

[Giraffe]

Any TNFers at Silverstone today? I'll be around Colin Bennett's garage (12C) at lunchtime (12.45-1pm).

[Giraffe]

By giraffe138, shot with EX-M2 at 2010-04-03

Silverstone was busy today with Grand Prix and World Sportscar Masters in addition to the headlining Superleague Formula, but there were several significant absentees probably as the result of the unsettled and unpredictable weather. It was noticable that there were hardly any paying spectators at all, and when you've got drivers as accomplished and successful as Sebastien Bourdais, Franck Montagny, Narain Karthikeyan & Robert Doornbos racing, it doesn't say much for the future of the package. Still, good to see the Masters out for the first time this year, and one familiar face out in his recently acquired Lola T212.....


By giraffe138, shot with EX-M2 at 2010-04-03

[Giraffe]

Not the best way to return to the pits in your Chevron B16.....


By giraffe138, shot with DSC-W215 at 2010-04-04

Robert Shaw's DART Chevron B16.....


By giraffe138, shot with EX-M2 at 2010-04-03

Yesterday's winner, Anthony Reid's Williams FW07B........


By giraffe138, shot with EX-M2 at 2010-04-03

Andrew Middleton's Taydec Mk3...........


By giraffe138, shot with EX-M2 at 2010-04-03

Edited by Giraffe, 04 April 2010 - 12:23.

[Giraffe]

Results & Calendar:

http://www.themaster...nformation.html

[Giraffe]

By giraffe138, shot with DSC-W215 at 2010-04-06

There were some nice cars at Silverstone but lots of no-shows which was surprising as the weather was reasonable for the most part and entries don't come cheap. Was there a particular reason for that?


By giraffe138, shot with EX-M2 at 2010-04-06

By giraffe138, shot with EX-M2 at 2010-04-06

Edited by Giraffe, 06 April 2010 - 18:28.

[alansart]

Silverstone was busy today with Grand Prix and World Sportscar Masters in addition to the headlining Superleague Formula, but there were several significant absentees probably as the result of the unsettled and unpredictable weather. It was noticable that there were hardly any paying spectators at all, and when you've got drivers as accomplished and successful as Sebastien Bourdais, Franck Montagny, Narain Karthikeyan & Robert Doornbos racing, it doesn't say much for the future of the package. Still, good to see the Masters out for the first time this year, and one familiar face out in his recently acquired Lola T212.....

I still have no idea what Superleague is all about. It seems a nonsense Formula

[Thundersports]

I agree Alan it is a nonsense formula however I think the cars themselves are fantastic and they have a handful of useful drivers.

[Giraffe]

I agree Alan it is a nonsense formula however I think the cars themselves are fantastic and they have a handful of useful drivers.

By giraffe138, shot with EX-M2 at 2010-04-07

By giraffe138, shot with EX-M2 at 2010-04-07

V12, 750bhp and the perfect livery (in this case only!). This was Adrian Valles' victorious car from last year pictured at Autosport International. Sebastian Bourdais was at Silverstone last weekend and it took him an age to put his helmet on. I've never seen a driver looking so miserable, and obviously wondering what on earth he was doing there.

[Barry Boor]

Well, no-one is forcing him to race! Trouble is, being a multiple IRL champion, I guess your ego would be fairly big - F.1 sure put paid to that.

[dank]

Well, no-one is forcing him to race! Trouble is, being a multiple IRL champion, I guess your ego would be fairly big - F.1 sure put paid to that.

Disagree with that actually. I expected Bourdais to live up to his reputation as being prone to a good moan, but he was anything but from what I saw of him in the Olympique Lyonnais garage at the weekend. Strangely seemed incredibly shy in fact.

As for Superleague? Well I reckon it is now in a position to gain some ground now that A1GP has collapsed under a mountain of debt. The 750bhp V12 cars are impressive indeed, and mixture of experience and youth on the grid certainly made for an entertaining couple of races. I do believe it's unique selling point may be the one thing that stops it from being truly successful though. Non-football fans are turned off, and supporters of rival football teams aren't likely to want to follow any of them in the motor racing arena.

[Richard Jenkins]

As for Superleague? Well I reckon it is now in a position to gain some ground now that A1GP has collapsed under a mountain of debt. The 750bhp V12 cars are impressive indeed, and mixture of experience and youth on the grid certainly made for an entertaining couple of races. I do believe it's unique selling point may be the one thing that stops it from being truly successful though. Non-football fans are turned off, and supporters of rival football teams aren't likely to want to follow any of them in the motor racing arena.

I also feel that because it aims to be global, understandably, it impacts on the rivalry a little bit. I think it would get slightly more coverage as a whole if it were similiar to the Porsche Carrera Cup - i.e. have a national series in a number of countries and then progress to a "Champions League Formula Superleague", akin to the Brands Hatch Festival.

For example, in England, if there were an English championship comprising of a Manchester Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and, of course, Reading FC car, then there would be a bit more interest from the fans to give it a boost from that aspect. Then the top 2 from France, Britain, Italy, Germany etc etc could meet to make a grid of 16 and the Champion of Champions be decided.

I must admit when I watched on TV, I saw Tottenham Hotspur and Craig Dolby win and I asked myself "Well, does that really mean anything to anybody bar Dolby and his race team?" Spurs fans were hardly running out in the street and down Trafalgar Square despite their (unusually for them) crushing win.

[Alan Cox]

I still have no idea what Superleague is all about. It seems a nonsense Formula

Agreed, wholeheartedly.

[Phil Rainford]

Yesterday's winner, Anthony Reid's Williams FW07B........


By giraffe138, shot with EX-M2 at 2010-04-03

Bet that was combination worth watching

PAR

[Giraffe]

It was noticable that there were hardly any paying spectators at all, and when you've got drivers as accomplished and successful as Sebastien Bourdais, Franck Montagny, Narain Karthikeyan & Robert Doornbos racing, it doesn't say much for the future of the package.

Marcus Pye reported in his column in this week's Autosport that Silverstone sold 51 tickets for Friday and 130 for the Saturday for this major Easter weekend meeting. I told you it was quiet! Outside of the GP, there are very few meetings these days that attract the crowds of old.

Edited by Giraffe, 09 April 2010 - 14:05.

[Red Socks]

Marcus Pye reported in his column in this week's Autosport that Silverstone sold 51 tickets for Friday and 130 for the Saturday of this major Easter weekend meeting. I told you it was quiet! Outside of the GP, there are very few meetings these days that attract the crowds of old.

And that is why I suspect we shall never see Donington revived.There ain't no spectators any more.

[Giraffe]

And that is why I suspect we shall never see Donington revived.There ain't no spectators any more.

The Easter weekend at Oulton Park in 1969 for the birth of F5000 in the UK, the crowd was into the many tens of thousands, and that was for a brand new formula that had never run before! It was like being in a GP crowd and they sold out of programmes. food, cans of coke, the lot! The caterers at Silverstone on Saturday said it had cost them money to come! How times have changed.

[Pink Snail]

And that is why I suspect we shall never see Donington revived.There ain't no spectators any more.

Sorry to bring it up Red Socks, but the Save Donington group is now just short of 14000 members. When we had the Parade on 7th of March (which hadn`t been over-advertised!!!!) approximately 8000 people turned up - to a Circuit that WASN`T in action!!!! We raised £8500 in `bucket` donations and many people paid either £15 or £100 (£85 refundable if no track day is available in 2010) to recieve a certificate and have their name on one of many plaques to be erected around the re-opened circuit.
Whilst the Masters Series and various other racing organisations like it are operated and raced in by very enthusiastic driver/owners I feel that they are not advertised anywhere near as much as they should be. One thing we need to do with the venues is to push the kiddie-factor to encourage families back to the circuits. A couple of years ago at Brands Hatch, Autoglym sponsored the Historic Superprix meeting (same weekend as The FOS at Goodwood mind you!) with many attractions for the kids (bouncy city, face painting, etc) and on the Sunday although the place wasn`t heaving the attendance figure was something like 8000 -9000! The racing IS worth going to see, so to get the crowds back, a little bit of something off the track would be a good idea. I am going to stick my neck out here and predict a bumper crowd at Donington Park for the BTCC in September ;)

Edited by Pink Snail, 09 April 2010 - 19:08.

[Giraffe]

It is interesting to observe that when there's a free 'event' of any sort, people are eager to turn out, a classic example over and above the terrific Donington Parade were the World Series by Renault events that have been previously discussed on this forum which drew massive crowds ( queuing back down the M1 when it was at Donington!) Motor sport still has broad appeal but with the exception of the GP people can't or won't pay to watch it.

[Pink Snail]

That`s true Giraffe, although I am sure that the venues recover some of the dosh through catering and fun rides for kids and such like things. After all, the mark up on crisps and pop/juice in pubs is what makes them money, same can be said for the arenas/sporting venues. I still think that these events would be better attended if there was a secondary attraction. The Save Donington parade was after all merely a show of support for Donington, Kevin Wheatcroft and staff. Although it was free people still dug deep that weekend. What makes me feel even better about getting involved is that people power will show through. Back to the Masters Series, if there was a weekend package on offer that included camping or parking a caravan and access to the paddock etc, then I may just be interested instead of going to Scarborough for Easter Weekend! BTW, whilst in Scarborough I enjoyed a couple of trouble free laps of Olivers Mount at reasonable speeds staying safe at the same time (always worth a visit if in Scarborough!!).

[timnevinson]

Marcus Pye reported in his column in this week's Autosport that Silverstone sold 51 tickets for Friday and 130 for the Saturday for this major Easter weekend meeting. I told you it was quiet! Outside of the GP, there are very few meetings these days that attract the crowds of old.

It would have been 52 or 131 at Silverstone but the races of interest to me were on three separate days, and only one race of any real interest on each day, so I didn't go at all.
I saw superleague at Donnington last year ('cus they were on with something else that interested me), they are impressively noisy and fast, but not especially entertaining. Strikes me as a group of people with more money than sense. There wasn't much of a crowd that day either.

[Pink Snail]

You are right about the crowd at DP mate - the HFO supported them last year although it was a late arrangement because they had a date cancelled. I am convinced that with more organisation, advertising and fine tuning of facilities with something to do for `bored mums & kids` Motor Racing venues and meetings could attract a few people back again....here`s hoping

[Thundersports]

Disagree every Donington meeting i've been to over the past 25 years has been largely poorly supported compared to the same type of meetings at my local track Brands Hatch. The majority of the 8000 peaple claimed to have turned out are bull shitters the same type of peaple who moaned when my local pub closed 10 years ago yet i'd never seen them in there ie the same peaple who attend Donington maybe once a year. I go to Brands about 7 or 8 times a year nowadays and the "good" meetings still get a crowd that Donington would never of had, get real peaple it's going to be a struggle to get it put right let alone turning the place in to a viable business which it needs to be to survive.

Edited by Thundersport, 09 April 2010 - 23:34.

[Giraffe]

As I said earlier, Donington needs some 'thinking outside of the box' to make it work. I can't imagine anyone would want to take the lease and just run with it as just another circuit. In the current economic climate, and with people's evolving requirements, it just won't work.

However, Donington has the circuit, the collection, history and a 'track' record, oodles of space to develop, good accessability that could easily be improved upon, an adjacent international airport and a strong fan base. I can't be the only one to recognise that and I'm sure that years down the line several potential investors will see it as a huge missed opportunity, mark my words. Let's hope one of them doesn't!

[Pink Snail]

Disagree every Donington meeting i've been to over the past 25 years has been largely poorly supported compared to the same type of meetings at my local track Brands Hatch. The majority of the 8000 peaple claimed to have turned out are bull shitters the same type of peaple who moaned when my local pub closed 10 years ago yet i'd never seen them in there ie the same peaple who attend Donington maybe once a year. I go to Brands about 7 or 8 times a year nowadays and the "good" meetings still get a crowd that Donington would never of had, get real peaple it's going to be a struggle to get it put right let alone turning the place in to a viable business which it needs to be to survive.

You are entitled to your opinion Thundersport , however, I am sure that the majority of people at DP on the 7th of March were there because they care about the future. I talked at length with many that day and was very impressed by most of the comments I heard. Yes, there are a few people out there who do come under the `b*llsh*ter` category but I don`t think any of them attended the Save Donington Parade. It was well attended by enthusiastic folk from a variety of motoring categories who do not want to see DP go to the wall. I agree it will be a struggle to put it right, will take a little longer than originaliy planned, and be one day as good as Brands (I can`t get to BH so much, as it`s furher away) - but if 8000 turn up to show support with NO track action and little advertising how many would turn up if racing had happened that day and had been advertised. Each venue has it`s own loyal fans and regulars, but each track also has a element of people who constantly knock them for whatever reason. Nothing will ever be 100% for any track but at times like this I think as racing enthusiasts we should all be on the same side to see things get better. DPs mess was not down to the lack of attendance - it was down to other matters as discussed elswhere out of control of the fans/enthusiasts. It was not the fault of the venue either - it was the fault of certain individuals who didn`t have the fan`s/enthusiasts interests formost in their thoughts.....

[Thundersports]

Don't get me wrong heaven forbid we lost Donington as a venue what i'm trying to get across is that peaple need to use or lose these places, I see Donington as a hard place to make a profitable venue to start with let alone when it needs over a million spent on it to put the mess right to start with.

[Pink Snail]

Don't get me wrong heaven forbid we lost Donington as a venue what i'm trying to get across is that peaple need to use or lose these places, I see Donington as a hard place to make a profitable venue to start with let alone when it needs over a million spent on it to put the mess right to start with.

Right on mate, I would love to know just how much has been spent at BH since JP took over with MSV to get it to what it is today from the last GP held there. Bet there wouldn`t be much difference to what DP needs spending on it now, BH is a showpiece for spectators and competitors alike as I look at it...KM

[David McKinney]

... if 8000 turn up to show support with NO track action and little advertising how many would turn up if racing had happened that day and had been advertised?

Perhaps the usual 1500?
I'm afraid I'm on the Thundersport side here
When I was regularly attending VSCC race meetings, there'd by 8000-9000 at Silverstone, and maybe 1000 at Donington
Same cars, same organising club, but no people
And, no, I don't know why. It always puzzled me

[Giraffe]

Silverstone is 50 miles nearer to London and the Home Counties, and Donington is a bit of a haul from the North West. It's very central location is really only ideal for Midlanders but just a tad far for many others???

[David McKinney]

True, but it's also handy to several large centres of population - Leicester, Nottingham, Coventry, Birmingham and places west

[Pink Snail]

From speaking to people in the right places, I believe that over the last ten years or so, the man/men at the top concerning DP were arrogannt enough not to take notice of what was happening around them. The venue is a little far out for some, but not all that hard to get to. My main gripe about what has happened (still on thread!!!!!) is that when the Masters Series and the VSCC See Red meeting amongst others, have been taking place they have not been as well advertised in the press as the other venues. This thread is about the Masters Series after all, and in the past I have seen a lot more publicity (and subsequent coverage) in the press when it has been at other venues such as Oulton, Brands and Silverstone. When DP gets back up to strength hopefully there will be the right person in the job to shake up the publicity side of things. The Masters is a fantastic weekend and SHOULD be much better attended wherever it goes. There are quite a lot of people in the Midlands and within 120 miles of all the circuits who would travel given the right vibes....

[Giraffe]

I like the Masters Series largely because I can see machinery from a similar era to HSCC meetings but different, and slightly younger. The HSCC is a clubby, wheras the Masters Series ranks as national/international from my perspective, both equally worthy though!

[Thundersports]

For me in Kent Donington and back with a meeting in the middle is a bit too much time/distance but to quote David the circuit has a huge amount of chimney pots locally.

[Giraffe]

For me in Kent Donington and back with a meeting in the middle is a bit too much time/distance but to quote David the circuit has a huge amount of chimney pots locally.

Actually, I'm not sure that Racliffe-upon-Soar Power Station is visable from the circuit. However, they should never have cut the trees down.

Edited by Giraffe, 14 April 2010 - 06:44.