COTA

[mandingo]

This has been their m.o. starting with Grand Am. Make tickets cheaper as the race nears and GSs aren't selling, like 3,4,5,11 aren't now. I wonder how the folks feel who only needed a one-day ticket and bought a 3-day because it was the only option. Other circuits offer incentives to buy early and then go to normal (higher) pricing as the event nears.

Lesson here is to never buy COTA tickets early.

BTW, wouldn't 152% savings mean they're paying us to attend?

 

[mandingo]

I see what they did. The total of single-day GA tickets is $257. A 3-day ticket costs $169. $257 is 152% of $169. That does not = 152% savings LOL.

It's 34%.

Oy.

 

[mandingo]

lmao. Posted on our page a little while ago:

In reply to:

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[mandingo]

2014 provisional calendar leaked: Mexico si, New Jersey no.

The Link

DRAFT 2014 CALENDAR

March 16 - Australia (Melbourne)
March 23 - Malaysia (Sepang)
April 6 - China (Shanghai)
April 13 – Korea* (Korea International Circuit)
April 27 – Bahrain (Sakhir)
May 11 – Spain (Barcelona)
May 25 – Monaco (Monaco)
June 8 – Canada (Montreal)
June 22 – Austria (Red Bull Ring)
July 6 – Britain (Silverstone)
July 20 – Germany (Hockenheim)
July 27 – Hungary (Budapest)
August 24 – Belgium (Spa)
September 7 – Italy (Monza)
September 21 – Singapore (Marina Bay)
October 5 - Japan (Suzuka)
October 19 – Russia* (Sochi)
October 26 – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)
November 9 – Mexico* (Mexico City)
November 16 – USA (Circuit of the Americas)
November 30 – Brazil (Interlagos)

Re: the asterisks by Korea, Russia, and Mexico...these slots are pending track or contract confirmation. That seems normal and expected for a new race. Looks like Korea might not happen.

 

[mandingo]

Looks like Charlie Whiting walked Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez yesterday with 2014 Mexican GP organizers:

Reforma Article:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bz05ok2kj384bU5yRHV0azIyNVU/edit

El Siglo:
The Link

 

[ViperHorn]

I am surprised the teams are not suggesting Austin, Mexico City Brazil. Why fly over Austin to get to Mexico City only to fly back to Austin?

 

[l00p]

^^^^^^^^yeah, what he said

 

[mandingo]

I think it has more to do with what openings there are/were in the calendar already when trying to fit these races in. The established races asked for or were assigned their slots a long time ago & have been preparing accordingly. I doubt Austin would like being pushed earlier in the season for the MXC race.

 

[ViperHorn]

You may be right Mandingo but FOM had to slot it in where there was no obvious spot. The spot to avoid was the last race as everything is usually settled by the last race. The better spot for MXC would have been after Canada in order to protect the USGP attendance. Heat problems in MXC in June would be worse than Austin, but then I would not enjoy three 8 hour days outside in Austin in June.

 

[mandingo]

But they can't do June in 2014. Not enough time. They can get enough done with an extra five months though.

The last week is actually very desirable because of all the events that come with the last race of the season, and because there's a much greater chance of the championships being decided in that race than at any other single race. I don't see Brazil giving it up easily...or Austin giving its slot up easily either.

If they slot it in after Austin then that makes 3 consecutive weekends on a flyaway with no break.

I can see someday there possibly being a continuous swing through the Americas starting in Montreal & New Jersey (IF) and moving south...or staying with the current approach of breaking it up. Montreal & NJ, then the southern races to end the season.

 

[mandingo]

I went out to the track yesterday and caught a bit of the first ALMS/WEC practice. Caught the new DeltaWing Coupe in action. I posted some photos on the FB page: The Link

Here are a few of them:

I little too quick onto the throttle out of 11:

Mowing the astroturf:

Hot brakes into 11:

 

[l00p]

Wow!!! I love every photo but I really heart the Delta. Man, I sure hope people buy you beer a lot because you earn it. Thanks again for your photos and sharing them so often. I know I appreciate it and surely others do too.

 

[ViperHorn]

Great photo's. That Delta Wing Coupe is a strange looking car.

 

[mandingo]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, I'm not really feeling the Deltawing. It's all marketing, imo. Not really any kind of engineering marvel. It can only compete (sort of) because they allow it to use underbody aerodynamic features that the others aren't allowed to use.

 

[l00p]

In reply to:

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[mandingo]

Hey y'all. I just posted about 100 photos from a very wet Friday ALMS/WEC day at COTA. Still have lots more to sort, but it's not gonna happen tonight.

The Link

Here are a few:

 

[mandingo]

Wow. It's official. No V8 Supercars next year. No Separate Grand Am & ALMS/WEC weekends next year either because of the merger. So what's left is F1, Moto GP, & USCR/WEC. Am I forgetting anyone outside the Vintage Racing event?

 

[ViperHorn]

No surprised at the V8 Super Cars. That series is a complete mess starting with serious off the track issues involving the overseers of the series. The fact that they did not use the fully COTA course should have been a tip-off.

For 2015 there will be the American DTM, and eventually NASCAR and/or Indy Car will show up. The (non) quality of the venue management will show in 2014 however.

How would Friday in the rain have been if F-1 was in town?

 

[l00p]

FUBAR, Viper, FUBAR. Being in the transportation industry and somebody involved in the planning of the F1 event and others...it would have been a nightmare. Logistically at both ends not to mention along the route AND for the people at the track with mud and run off.

WHEW!

 

[mandingo]

F1? It would have been horrible. They've been incredibly lucky with the weather so far. There still isn't enough grass to keep you out of the mud, even in the greenest areas you can see on tv. In other words, when you walk in the grass, you still get mud-caked shoes. When you sit in the grass, you actually sit in mud. Even had it just rained some thru the night last night, today would have been a mess even with the smaller than typical ALMS or WEC crowd. With an F1 or MotoGP crowd, it would be very bad.

For the most part, nothing has changed out there since F1.

 

[ViperHorn]

Thanks loop and Mandingo. That was the answer I was expecting but not hoping for.

 

[mandingo]

Great racing all weekend. Track was lightly staffed & seemed pretty disorganized all weekend. COTA told Stadium People earlier in the week to staff for 8-10K people & we heard there were about 11k tickets sold. Announced 3-day attendance was only ~33K. After rain all day on Friday, the weather was stunning on Saturday & Sunday. I'm working on more photos to post. I'll let you all know when they're up.

I see that the USCR 2014 calendar has been released, with Austin in the same slot as this year. I really hope the WEC comes back too. The USCR will lose a lot with no P1s and the P2s neutered so the DPs can compete with them. I wanna see P1s in full effect. They were nothing short of amazing. If you didn't go see these cars in the esses cutting through traffic like it was butter, you really missed it this weekend.

Hey l00p, how goes the transportation planning with COTA? We've been hearing rumors that COTA thinks the USGP went so well that they're talking about cutting back on buses this year. Have you heard anything like that? Weird that on one hand they say their plan worked to perfection last year (it didn't) & they can scale it back now, but on the other hand they have their hand out to the county for new/expanded roads. All the while the city just stays quiet & reaps the profits.

 

[ViperHorn]

In reply to:

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[mandingo]

Sure I think there are issues there (or at least were issues. are you saying these issues have arisen post-Cochrane?)), but why did COTA put the X Games on that date in the first place? That was before there was any apparent problem. Ever since that weekend they've acted as if they don't want the race, but I agree that V8SC probably doesn't want to be back at COTA. We heard they had big problems with COTA's performance or lack thereof, and we heard that COTA lost big $$ on the race. I won't be surprised at all to see V8SC back in the U.S. at some other circuit(s).

 

[ViperHorn]

ESPN calls the shots on the X-Games dates so by bidding on the X-Games COTA gave up the dates. IMHO the series is still trying to move on, but the bruised ego's remain.

In 2014 they are focusing on reviving some old venues and spending more time in New Zealand. The "long range plan" includes several races in the US (including back at COTA on the long course.

 

[mandingo]

Latest F1 Calendar out; MxC, Russia, on it. NJ back on, but...The Link16 March Grand Prix of Australia
30 March Grand Prix of Malaysia
06 April Grand Prix of Bahrain
20 April Grand Prix of China
27 April Grand Prix of Korea (provisional)
11 May Grand Prix of Spain
25 May Grand Prix of Monaco
01 June Grand Prix of America, New Jersey (provisional*)
08 June Grand Prix of Canada
22 June Grand Prix of Austria
06 July Grand Prix of Great Britain
20 July Grand Prix of Germany (Hockenheim)
27 July Grand Prix of Hungary
24 August Grand Prix of Belgium
07 September Grand Prix of Italy
21 September Grand Prix of Singapore
05 October Grand Prix of Russia (Sochi)
12 October Grand Prix of Japan
26 October Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi
09 November Grand Prix of USA (Austin)
16 November Grand Prix of Mexico (provisional*)
30 November Grand Prix of Brazil

New Concorde Agreement too:
The Link

 

[mandingo]

No way NJ happens in that spot. 3 consecutive weeks with a flyaway from Monaco to NY?

I think Leo fulfilled just enough of his contractual obligations for Bernie to keep his race on the list. So Bernie is keeping the door open for him to finally pay up. If he pays up, then I'm sure the race will get a different date to avoid the 3-week run.

 

[l00p]

Thus far the transit plan has not come my way. But it will. Sadly the bulk of the problem and the bulk of the buses causing the problems cannot be avoided by law. They are the charter buses that come from all over the country, the independent contractors. There is no central radio nor way to make them follow the plan.

They do what they want, when they want and how for the most part. They also get paid by the trip so they run roughshod. Buses were to stay in the right hand lane heading out MLK towards the toll road. Those idiots were in the left, passing other buses, creating dangerous situations. I came across several accidents or fender benders and each one was one of those charters.

It put the safe buses in harms way and made us look like we were going slow on purpose.

The Metro and UT buses were all central radio controlled which helped a lot. They have to put the bid out to all non tax paid sources first. Then what they cannot fulfill that way can be performed by drivers who know these roadways like the backs of their hands, the local guys.

That is why the UT Shuttles stopped doing the game day buses for Football games. Has to be bid to private sector first. So I don't know if they reduce the number of buses.

If they do, that's gonna suck for the fans because that means even less of the buses that know what they are doing with central radio AND accountability if they don't conform.

I'll know soon.

 

[ViperHorn]

In reality they didn't have to many buses; the issue was they could not load at the track fast enough. In their perverse way of thinking they are going to limit the number of buses to what they can load which will mean even longer wait times as there will not be a enough buses. Also they need an additional unloading/loading point on the other side of the track. (I am lazy and the walk from the gate over to Turn 3 is a killer - either climbing the hill or walking with 5 million of your new closest friends across the bridges.)

 

[mandingo]

Great insights guys. Thanks. Sorry I haven't posted lately, but you can always keep up with the latest over at our page facebook.com/FOF1ATX.

I said before the race that the loading & unloading capability was going to be a problem for them. I hadn't heard that it actually was one until now.

There's been a lot going on recently. I guess I'll make a mega-post!


R&T's Marshall Pruett: How to get more butts in seats at Circuit of the Americas

The Link


.Statesman is finally picking up the scent on the METF scam:

Maher: "Are circuit’s and state’s expectations on track with race crowds?"

The Link


New LivingSocial F1 USGP Ticket deal just hit the web. Seems like prices are dropping a bit more:

Choose from the following offers:
• $39 for one Friday ticket
• $59 for one Saturday ticket
• $79 for one Sunday ticket
• $249 for one Turn-Four Weekend Pass
• $999 for four Turn-Four Weekend Passes with parking

The Link


Confirming what we heard over the weekend of the ALMS/WEC weekend, Autoweek just released an article on the state of sportscar racing in the U.S:

The Link



Pirelli forced to abandon F1 Austin McLaren tyre test plan
The Link



I've added a couple of ALMS/WEC galleries. Still more to come from Saturday!

Sunday during the WEC 6-hour:
The Link


More Friday rain pics:
The Link


Preview: