Assen Results

http://www.mylaps.com/results/newResults.jsp?id=306357

Qualified: 13th on a 2:16s laptime but wrong gearing.
Result: 7th with a 2:11s laptime and a big grin.

**** me Assen is awesome, and not just the track. The
whole setup, facilities and attitude shows just how bad
the attitude we have to motorsport in this country is.

The new hairpin is scary as ****. It ate most of the
riders at some point over the weekend, and it will be
very interesting to see how the MotoGP boys tackle it.

More pics and stuff later.

 

No, the ACU is just the organising body for motorcycle sport,
and this is to do with the track owners.

Assen is, as anyone who has been there knows, a complete
revelation compared to anything in this country. The paddock
is huge and all block paved - no muddy puddles, no patches
of grass or lumpy tarmac. The facilities are amazing - toilets
that are clean, work and have real toilet paper in them. Shower
blocks that are clean and work. Huge grandstand seating that
you can sit in and has a roof so it's shaded in the sun (and
dry if it rains) and you get superb views. The garages have
their own toilets and showers. There's a restaurant that charges
less than a quid for a decent cup of coffee and it sells beer
in cans for €2 a pop, from when it opens at 7am. There's parking
for everyone and again most of this inside the circuit is block
paved. Outside the circuits is gravel parking, all laned nicely
with room for all.

I could go on, but compare that to our "world class" tracks
and we all said we felt ashamed.

 

Every time I go to a UK motorsport event, which is rarely these days
(did BSB at Brands last year), I feel the same way, especially when I
consider what you can get on the Continent for considerably less money.

And Champ's recent revelation that a one-day ticket for the WSB is
going to cost... what was it? £65? only reinforces that feeling.

I still remember having to pay extra for a grandstand seat at
Silverstone, and seeing the legend printed on the ticket: "Possession
of a grandstand ticket does not guarantee a seat". That means,
effectively: "We'll sell as many tickets as we like and **** you,
sunshine."

And as you say, the standard of "catering" at UK events is woeful. We
took a proper picnic to Brands last year. Only way to do it.

When I think of the Bol - and it's years since I've been there, as
well, now it's moved - and one cheapish ticket for an entire weekend's
fun, go anywhere, camp anywhere, whatever - I wonder just wtf British
event organisers do with the money.

And exactly the same could be said of UK motorcycle shows, compared
with Continental events. FERITE.

 

I think it's the greedy bastards problem combined with mismanagement.
The owners obviously want a return on their money and will try to keep
people coming through the gates. They obviously know how much shit
those people will put up with to go, and how much to charge too.

Look at F1 as an example - do you know how much they charge for
an entry ticket for race day? I don't, but I'm sure it's not shy of
£100...
Actually, I've just checked here: https://www.britishgp.co.uk/ and
I can't fucking believe the prices! Do people honestly pay that much
to watch? It's crazy! And you really do have to worry about where
all that money is going...

There are even more works going on at Assen at the moment, to
extend and imprvoe what is already a fantastic site. I expect they're
looking at making a loss over the next n years, but will hopefully
get more people in the door because of it, so are going for the long-
term view.

Places in this country will spend the minimum required to keep the
place open and maximise profits. Get the burger vans to pay a big
wedge for their pitchs, who in turn them charge more to cover it
and make big profits as they have a captive audience. Don't bother
with things like cleaning staff or refuse collection - there were large
oil-can sized bins every 100 yards at Assen, emptied twice a day
using the breakdown truck to keep rubbish from building up and
each toilet/shower block had its own cleaner. You're lucky if you
get running water at some of the tracks here, let alone a working
toilet or a shower!

It sucks, but how can things be changed?

 

Rockingham gets constant use from the car trackdays they run there,
including the BMW school, and also the CSS use the track for motorcycle
training. I expect it's this dual use (as both race circuit and
teaching school)
that helps to pay the bills.

I agree with what Champ said about things being superb when built, but
leaving them to decay so badly surely is just bad management practice
and poor economics?

 

Nor can I. £327 for a grandstand ticket, and they're sold out. And
another £24 to park your car. Holy shit. You can get a half-board week
in the sun for that sort of money.

 

TOG@toil, ,

Walking past a travel agents on Saturday, I saw 9 days all inclusive at
a named hotel in Domincan Republic for less than that!

 

Thing is, it's not just race tracks.

This is , IMO, a problem with a lot of ventures at the moment. It's
about the short term "win" and nothing at all about the long term.

Sadly a lot of them are not businesses, but rather publicly owned - eg
railways.[1]


[1] yes they are getting lots of money, for the moment, but it's all
fire fighting - and it'll get cut sooner or later.

 

Swot happens when you let bean counters run things

 

Hoo.

That new bike's really suiting you, well done.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a
Every post contains Nutri-Ceramide-R and Pre-Biotics
for your reading pleasure.
Folding@Home Team UKRM
http://vspx27.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=47957

 

Here's a couple of pics to show you how massive this event is:

http://www.horrible.demon.co.uk/bikes/assen_paddock.jpg
http://www.horrible.demon.co.uk/bikes/assen_bikes.jpg

 

BHL, as was, funded Nicola Foulston's retirement very nicely.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/richlist/person/0,,33545,00.html

Interpublic paid a lot of money for control of BHL's circuits, and now
Jonathan Palmer did the same. There's money to be made for sure, and
the owners of the circuits know that racers and spectators /will/ put
up with sub-standard facilities, thus saving the circuit owners
considerable sums.

I'd readily agree that vast improvements could and should be made, but
if that is seen as cutting into profit margins it won't happen.
Buildings are only replaced when they are on the verge of falling
down, potholes filled with broken bricks and even the grass on the
infield is only cut to obviate fire.

Even if they did make huge improvements and attracted three times the
number of spectators, all that would do at the end of the race is
increase the time required to get out of the place by a factor of
three. The owners make very tidy profits as it is and really aren't
interested in increasing the gate as long as they can sell out the
major events - which nearly always happens.

What irks me is that a lot of the money is made off the backs of
people who put time and effort in for nothing, for the love of
motorsport. Don't forget that the UK still has probably the best
marshals in the world - but they still don't get paid. Also unpaid
are the race officials at all the club races that are the grass roots
of motorsport - from Clerk of the Course, through Secretary of the
Meeting to the Scrutineers - none of them get more than mileage
expenses for the day of the event. Their club may reimburse
stationery and telephone bills, but a lot don't.

Thousands of people collectively put tens of thousands of pounds into
British motorsport each year for no other reason than love of the
sport. More thousands of people put thousands of hours into it for
the same reason. Competitors, of course, pay through the nose for
their track time. At the very top of the tree, very few people make a
great deal of money out of the effoerts of all the unpaid volunteers,
spectators and competitors.

Finally, don't forget that the gate revenue goes straight to the
circuit. The entry fees to competitors are set at a level to make the
event viable /without spectator revenue/ so all ticket sales are
pretty much pure profit. That's a *lot* of money at a big event.

 

The only events taht I'm aware of that this doesn't apply to are F1
and BTCC. Darling Nicola took all the BTCC money (after they'd
written clauses that imposed requirements on circuits that wanted an
event: fencing spectators in a la Silverstone, for example). Bernie
gets a lot of the F1 dosh, of course.

 

Broadly the same principle as publishing a monthly rag; yer ads pay for
the running costs and the sales are your profit. Difference being of
course, that most mags don't make huge amounts of moolah.

To be fair to some circuit owners, the likes of Knockhill, windswept
dump in the arse end of nowhere though it may be, was always open to
suggestions and were keen to make the circuit accessible to as many as
possible in the early days. The Knockhill management were quite decent
about most things.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a
Every post contains Nutri-Ceramide-R and Pre-Biotics
for your reading pleasure.
Folding@Home Team UKRM
http://vspx27.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=47957

 

I no longer have guilt at getting in to Oulton Park without paying
last week. Ta much!

 

It was the extra cost for parking your car that made me laugh. I doubt
if I'll even watch the race on tv but if people are stupid enough to
pay those prices then Silverstone will keep pushing the price higher
and higher every year.

It would be nice to see Bernie Ecclestone tell Silverstone they'd lost
the GP next year because they'd been ripping off the punters but all
you'd get would be our wonderful president offering him a Knighthood
to change his mind.

 

snip>

I think you'll find that circuits make more money from day to day
events (such as track days) than they do from race days so looking
after spectators isn't a priority.

Bedford Autodrome appears to make money for the owners and they don't
even bother running races there so they needn't worry about parking,
spectator areas, covered stands, burger vans or any of the other stuff
we all complain about.

http://www.bedfordautodrome.com/

 

Good stuff. Well done Ant.