So Bernie Ecclestoneis is not happy with Indy and the U. S. of A.!

I really enjoy the F1 at Indy for many reasons. It dawned on me flying back home last night that the actual race is just a small part of the experience. The city is nice. It is easy to get around and I love the extended daylight in the evenings (you can drive around with your lights off at quarter to 10 still). It is fun to see people you know from FCA etc. and attend things like the Gathering downtown on Friday and eat out on Sat and catch a glimpse of a big name in F1 somewhere (in 05 I sent a bottle of wine to Todt's table and he sent me back a nice hand written thank you note with his signature). I stay just south of the track at a pretty decent Holiday Inn Express for about $125 a night. Split it with a friend and it is very affordable. The city does an EXCELLENT job of getting the fan traffic out of the track after the race quickly, considering how many people are there (and I have lots of experience with this type of problem being a season ticket holder for U of Alabama. The stadium is 92,000+). It is fun to wander around and sit where you want to watch practice and qualifying. It seems so laid back. Finally just to see and hear a F1 car up close like that is something a car person should experience at least once. The sound is unbelievable. By the time the actual race arrives on Sunday, I have had at least 2 full days of F1 stuff to enjoy. I am ready to catch the race and hit the road back to the airport.

I realize there is a lot to complain about too if you want to but I hate to see it leave that place. Maybe it's just me.

 

Bernie is only in it for the money. +1

And at 70 somethng he is very short sighted. Trying to make as much now. to heck with the long term of what's best for the sport.

Enjoy it. It probably won't get any better than this as long as Bernie is the F1 czar. And it may get better or may get worse. That's just a crap shoot.

It is sad when the most interesting races in F1 are when it rains. Maybe night racing will work. Night racing is better than no racing IMVHO.

 

Great points.

 

++++++1 This is the best experience in F1 period! You can actually see and experience the cars and drivers up close. The city does a great job and its alot nicer than you think. In Europe there is no experience like Indy. I love coming over to Indy and I hope they keep it there.
This post sums up Indy in exactly the same way as I experienced it. US Indy haters need to go and see for yourself. I was at Canada and Indy in 2005 and the experience in Canada was good but unbelievably frustrating. You cannot sit where you want except your assigned seat the whole weekend. In Indy that ONLY applies to race day. The crowd control in Montreal sucks, there is simply no room. The track might be a bit better at Canada the facility is terrible compared to Indy. Indy for me is for race fans. They do it right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Europe can learn from this.
I have been in the paddock at Indy, in a radio booth with Radio Monaco and in the stands in 03 and 04. Indy is fun and the city does a nice job and you can meet the drivers and players from the team. ON a streetcorner I even met Dan Wheldon the year he won the 500 and just had a nice chat with him with my friends from Renault when we were out.
I honestly hope Indy is kept. This is a great post about what its like there.

 

Ok, ask yourselves this:

If you were to go to a race in Europe - any F1 race - what will attract you to THAT particular race ?

I'd love to go to Monaco, Magny Cours, Spa, Nurburgring, Monza, Silverstone - because of the history, and the tradition.

Now flip it - you are a race fan in Europe, what's going to make you want to come to the USA to attend the F1 race ?
That's where the problem is - we don't have a 'MUST SEE' location here since Watkins Glen stopped. Long Beach was OK, but we just don't have a place here that F1 would consider that has tradition AND would bring in 200,000 fans.

Do you want a race at great facilities, or do you want a race with a helluva lot more people attending ?

I'm not saying folks would flock here from Europe, I'm saying folks like to follow tradition, here or there.

It seems you can't have it both ways in the USA, and so far, that's just the way it is, unless something dramatically changes somewhere.

 

The Indy 500 used to *be* an F1 race.

The Brickyard has been operating longer than most euro tracks, and far longer than the new tracks Bernie has been going to ... while cutting out races at the traditional tracks.

Tradition isn't part of the metric.

Notice that Bernie is moving F1 to tracks that exist solely for F1. He wants the world to revolve around him.

He's not going to get that anywhere in the US.

 

If the drivers would just get down on their knees and kiss the yard of bricks, the fans would love them, but they aren't humble enough for that. They are too proud to even jump up and down (except MS). And, they pour Champagne, not milk...breaking the oldest tradition in motor sports.

 

Ha, even that crap post-race tradition doesn't get me tuned into the Brickyard 400 or Indy 500. It's about the race. I couldn't care less about post-race celebration. 1.5 hours of parade laps in F1 with an occasional battle > 500 miles of left hand turns for nearly 3 hours.

 

Americans like NASCAR simply because it is crammed down their throats, and they are told to like it. Like it or hate it, they do a brilliant job promoting it. If F1 wants a USGP to be more popular in the US, they need to find better ways of promoting it.

I was at the USGP this year, I thought it was a good race, I think the track it self is fine, its just in the wrong city. Put the exact track in a top 5 media market city and the draw will be 10 times as big.

Add to that a decent advertising stratagy, and you could have the largest F1 race of the year in terms of fans, sponsors, media, advertising, and money.

 

...and trash the f*&^*& ugly Grid Girl outfits....

 

..and actually hold the race on race day, IMO that's a big one.......LOL!

Although I was there, when the 500 took three days.........drank all the locals right under the table.......

 

Nonsense.

 

I watched Le Mans and the USGP on tv and by far the more interesting and engaging race was Le Mans. I used to love watching Indy and F1 on tv when I was young (late '60s, early '70s) and just recently started watching it again after a 30 year or so absence. I can confirm what an earlier post mentioned, IMHO F1 and Indy today are a shadow of their former selves. I watched the Indy 500 for the first time in over three decades, and aside from my delight at one of my favorite ALMS drivers getting the rain win (Franchitti) I was thoroughly bored. The USGP was not much better. I would rather see the USGP at a more interesting track, such as Watkins Glen, rather than at the Brickyard with all the nightlife in the world. Folks, I'm there for the race, the cars and the people who are involved with both. If I want night life I'll go to Mardi Gras.

Bernie is a businessman and wants to run F1 like a business, and there are valid arguments for that position. But I think he has become so obsessed with that viewpoint that he is quickly sucking the life out of what little remains in this sport, and I think we can still call it a sport solely based on the physical demands placed on the drivers. There is no balance with this mans view of F1, which I believe is reason enough for him to be ejected from the scene. Bernie, you've out stayed your welcome and usefulness. For the good of F1 it's time to resign.

Now that my interest in motorsports has reawakened, I find more thrills and adventure in sportscar racing than anywhere else these days. For a fraction of the kings ransom it takes to attend an F1 race or the Indy 500, I can attend a sportscar race and see something that is a rare sight in all the other major series, apart from the ALMS. I can see drivers actually having FUN on the track, and having fun interacting with the crowds as well. I'll tell ya, it's a breath of fresh air.

As for oval racing, well, horse racing's got it right. They only need one lap or so to have a race on an oval. 'Nuff said!

Gary

 

The only way things are going to get better in F1 is to get rid of the both Ecclestone and Mosley. Ecclestone only cares about money ,come on now just how much money is enough? Apparantly this guy want's every penny in the world. Now Mosley he's just Ecclestone's puppet and an idiot, he's done more to screw things up over the years than anyone. Try emailing your thoughts, not a survey now, but your thoughts on what you think about F1 on their web site! You can't because they don't care really what we think. Bring back wider cars, slicks, low noses, 22 + car grids like the good old days.

Jim

 

Very well put. This is from someone who has real perspective. Over all it will be a real shame if it leaves.

 

I don't want the US to lose the USGP, but, I say MOVE IT OR LOSE IT!

Like, move it to Laguna Seca or Sears Point (or Watkins Glen). (I know, arguably the facilities and infrastructure just aren't there, but Indy's just got a track, and pretty much NOTHING else).

Indy is an empty hole. Miles and miles of shopping malls missing anchor tenants, CVS Harmacies or KFCs on virtually every other corner. Local TV sports anchors talking about how odd it is seeing "racecars going 'round the wrong way" (at least at the first F-1 race) and all of the "furriners" in town. Indy is a place that seems extremely out of touch with racing around the world - given that it is the self-proclaimed racing capital of the world. Ohh, and the track is a BORE too.

By comparison, Montreal is a much better venue - the city is great, better and more varied restaurants, more cosmopolitan feel, nicer and more varied accommodations, and the track location itself is spectacular. Compared to Indy, Laguna Seca or Sears Point are much more interesting places to visit and to watch road races. [I guess I should have emphasized that I go for the RACE, but as long as you making the effort to go, it might is well be to an interesting place!]

Now, with respect to Bernie moving more races to places like Russia and additional Islam dominated countries -- OH WHAT FUN!!! I can hardly wait to order my tickets (and my anti-terrorist/anti-kidnapping insurance).

 

I look for a right turn.

 

I have to admit, I was surpprised by how fast traffic got out of there, they did a good job with that.

still think they sould move it to a top media market city.

 

The more you bash NASCAR, the bigger it becomes! It has a 'Rebel without a Cause' sort of vibe going for it, which will always be a more popular show in the USA than the 'mock culture' of F1. That is probably why Montoya had such a fan base in F1, and maybe MS too.


Really, I think people like NASCAR because the personalities are colorful and they can relate to the cars on the track (even if just visually or by brand name) and the sponsors. The drivers hail from every little dirt track and paved oval in the country...mainly 'country' boys. The only sponsors in F1 most people recognize are Shell and Redbull.

I am a road racer myself, but when it comes to competition, there is plenty in other venues. I don't drag race, but I respect the guys that do it. Same with oval racing.

I guess the thing about Indy that I see, which visitors don't see, is the fact that motor racing goes to the core of what this City is about. Race shops abound, and weekend racing is going on all over the place. Walk into any welding or mechanic shop and look in the back room and there is a racecar (or 800 HP diesel truck) under repair. I would love to see the USGP at Watkins Glen or Laguna Seca, but then I would have to get a motorhome! Not my style!

 

I wasn't bashing it, per se. He made the point that it had all the qualities he looks for. My comment is saying I have other qualities I also look for.

My friends loooovvvveeeee Nascar, but no matter what, I have NEVER been able to like it. And while I like F!, my friends don't like it.

To each their own.

 

Ditto--Attend an ALMS race and you can actually personally chat with drivers like Mika Salo, etc.

 

BUT is there a city in the USA that would ATTRACT you to it ?

I don't mean just the race - I mean the city ALSO.

Chicago might attract me, but when you throw Indy out there, it's pretty much the same as any other city in the USA - lotsa malls, lotsa chain restaurants, lotsa motels, except for the climates, Indy is the same as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Denver, Charlotte, Memphis, St. Louis, Portland, Seattle, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Cleveland.... and the list could go on and on and on....

The only cities that are 'really' different are downtown NYC, San Francisco, Vegas, and maybe Miami or LA (because of it's size), all other cities (capable of a fan base for an F1 event) are pretty much the same.