Sexton Out as CEO of COTA.

I guess it comes down to living near Indy. We had a good event going and it seemed like Bernie just got tired of it and left. I dont know all the details, but I think he gets bored quickly, looks for a country with big pockets, rapes them and then its off to a new area. I think the US needs F1 and F1 needs the US. So iI really hope it goes on, but like someone said , the business plan is risky.

 

I liked the track at indy, but to me it did not not seem like the city really got behind the race. and that may be because the indy 500 is the cities crown jewel. having attended the last 2 races in austin, I have been very impressed at how the people and businesses really get behind the race, and I think that is something you would not see in a bigger city.

 

I agree and since the WCC was also a blowout COTA was lucky.

 

I have attended the Ferrari Paddock Club at Indy F1, Montreal and Circuit de Catalunya...

The portable VIP boxes are ok, better than Montreal, not as nice as Indy... I have not been in the Gov's suite.

IMHO, the track should be able to afford to pave the main sidewalks and have more permanent restrooms.

The parking, traffic and food was much better than last year, always room for improvement.

 

+100 . I felt the same way. Spot on. Not going again next year if there is one.

 

I didnt get the $200 parking either... the shuttle was $5 and probably the fastest way between the track and down town

 

Bernie needs to get a west coast F1 venue onto the calendar...

And sounds like I missed all the bad/negative stuff last year by getting paddock club passes. Other than the limited viewpoint, everything was topnotch for me.

 

The Mayor is a wise man. Also,a Renault…please.

 

The northeast doesn't care for the south too much, especially Texas.

Hamilton was almost gushing about Austin. If one driver feels that way, it's safe to say others do too.

 

I vintage raced at the track three weeks prior to the F1 race and felt the same....felt a little unfinished. The amount of construction going on was insane....like the entire track was still under construction. The "outer" section of the track is absolutely not done.
I will say that I could not believe how nice the personel at the track were...fantastic during the vintage event.
Now...I would watch a NASCAR race at this track for sure...the amount of contact in turn one and turn 11 would be epic as they would go in 4-5 wide.

Brian

 

And how is that doing financially?

 

I totally agree with this.

 

Thanks, but on second thought I'm not so sure I was right on that:

Yes, a Mexican GP would be bad and direct competition for COTA. That was pretty obvious by seeing all the Mexicans and South Americans attending the race over the weekend.

However:
There were also a LOT of Europeans (Brits mostly) who attended the race. I bet they were combining this with a nice US vacation where the currency works hugely in their favor and the weather in the South is still nice.
These folks might do a similar thing if it came to a NY GP.

On the other hand my friend thought all this competition talk got it backwards: He thinks more races mean more PR for F1 and therefore more attendance. And he has a point: Look at how many NASCAR or Indycar races there are and the fans are still going. Or look at how many European GPs there are and they're geographically closer to each other than Montreal-NY-Austin-Mexico-Brazil.

Yes, F1 is a niche sport in the US, but if only 1% of the population is interested, that's more than enough to fill the seats. Particularly since the US is a rich nation, unlike India where the majority of the folks can't afford a F1 ticket.

 

Nice. This also assumes that attendance is sufficient to pay Bernie. If State funding is affected that could change.

 

True.

However it is reassuring to see how Governor Perry uses the F1 race as a platform to promote Texas and Austin.
Plus the city truly embraces the race, it seems like those folks understand that the race brings significant tourist $ into town. And that town really has the ambiance of a tourist place with all its bars, restaurants, hotels etc. They get it.

So even a change of the bean counters might not stop the subsidies going to this race.

Indy as a town never quite understood F1. You could tell that by many things, e.g. the local news never making it the #1 story as it should have been. Unlike Austin where they talk about it a lot. Not quite like Montreal, but definitely more than even many European places I've been to.

And then that track: It is phenomenal, for the drivers as well as the spectators. Indy had the cachet of the Indy 500 but otherwise a stupid track. Austin has one of the best tracks in the calendar. It's like Hockenheim with hills.

 

While a Mexican race might drain some fans I think that other than Mexican nationals, the vast majority of international fans would choose a trip to the US over one to Mexico.

 

Agreed on that but you don't realize how many Mexicans there were in Austin. 50k is probably right.

BTW: when you bought a Sauber t-shirt they gave you a free Mexican flag with it. Seriously.

 

Wild.

The question might be does Mexico have the fan base to support a GP? While subsidies may keep it going for a while it would be a shame if the competition it provided sunk Austin and then we lost Mexico when the money stopped.

 

Let's worry about that once there is a Mexican GP.

Btw: just read an article about a new, young and educated middle class rising in Mexico, many of which fit the F1 fan demographic

 

Yes, let's not get ahead of ourselves. But, as they say, Mexico is a land on the cusp of a bright future. And always has been.

 

You must have some stroke Andreas!

My friend's daughter is married to his son Griffin, and I can't wrangle a skybox pass yet. Met Gov. Rick at some showers and the wedding, and is a fun guy to be around.

Pic from last year's Ferrari F-12 unveiling.
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No drug cartel money. Where did you hear that?

Losing money? From all the indicators it sure seems like they are.

 

From the moment Dial was hired weeks ago we were already hearing that Sexton was on the way out & would be replaced by Dial. Remember the WEC weekend? We heard at the time that WEC said they wouldn't be back to this track under the same management. Maybe they meant Steve Sexton. Or maybe he was scapegoated & thrown under the bus to keep WEC and as a gesture to keep the investors from going nuts?

 

Info with them has always been extremely tough to get in a timely manner, & when it is finally released it's usually incomplete & is followed by a series of statements correcting what was initially released.

You're right about the attendance at those other races. Every one of them was followed by an attendance announcement that defies all reason. The attendance issue, while understandably not an issue to people outside Texas, is an ongoing series of ridiculous exaggerations of crowd totals.The reason for the inflated attendance numbers? COTA gets tens of millions of our tax money based on these numbers.

From what I can tell, this year's Saturday number looks to be the closest to the truth, while Friday is an absolute farce. When you look at what these GSs hold and look at other races at COTA, you know there's little chance there were even half that many people out there Friday.

What do you call it when you receive funds based on certain conditions and then keep that money even after failing miserably in meeting those conditions? I have a word for it, but I'm curious what you all might think.