Club Arnage

Hello CA,

Long time no. I hope you are all looking forward to the imminent race, and will think of us non-attendees whilst you prop up the shampoo bar. Next year Vik and I will definitely be there to cause more chaos.

There is a small matter of another race occuring pre-LM, at the fine circuit which is Silverstone (stop laughing), and I was wondering if any of you were planning on going, as my usual grand prix pal (not Vik, she wouldn't lower herself to F1 - read: doesn't want to shell out £150 for a lack of night racing) is emigrating to Yapan at the end of May, so I'm going on my lonesome......  :'(

25 views and nothing.  ::)

Does no-one understand Proper Cars?

/me runs away

What ho Bird, long time no speak.  How's life with a sprog and no motor racing  ;)

As for F1, I'd rather go and watch paint dry.
£150  :o - I got to Sebring for the 12 Hours for just over twice that.

A bite at last!

I thought everyone had forgotten me.  :-\

Sprog life is wicked - she's one in a couple of weeks, which is ultimate proof that time flies when you're up to your knees in poo  ;D Motorracinglesslife is bearable, just, but I did drag a 7 week old Lily to the Friday practice sessions at Silverstone last year. She sported some huge builderstyle ear defenders and slept for 90% of the time. I woke her up for one of Daddy Michael's laps though, and she was obviously impressed in that she didn't scream.  :D

Do we have any other takers, or should I start my own forum for saddos that still appreciate the wail of an F1 engine?

i would go if i could afford it, would like to experience a live gp but the prob is silverstone is way too overpriced - its usually gonna be cheaper to travel to another circuit - such is the way britain works :(

I love the scream of the engine, but thats it.

Changing nappies might have more interest.


Or even Fishing ! The last blood sport in the UK

Bird! It really is you! how are you and Baby Bird? Saw Vik a couple of months ago and got dragged along to her local pub where obviously there was no escape from the subsequent alcohol poisoning.

Hope life is good, but you won't catch me at a F1 race for love nor money.

We'll be there....

But then we are going for the social side as much as the GP,  and the thundering historic GT car support race should be a fantastic sight and sound.

Of course we'll be camping from Thursday night, and Saturday night see's us attending a Pig Roast at the BRDC (with drivers attending too hopefully).  I think the BRDC are trying to get Bernie to attend,  but he doesn't fancy the idea of having a long pole shoved you know where and being slowly cooked.....

We have great seats overlooking luffield/woodcote, but then we do get them at a £40/ticket discount, get cheap camping, and don't have to pay for parking if its needed.

But it'll be three days at work afterwards, then off on Wednesday night for the big event....

I'll be working at the GP for half of Thursday, Friday and Saturday and will be camping in Marshals camping.   I'm then bogging off on Saturday night to come back to Bristol, unpack then repack the car to head off to France on the Sunday morning!!

It was a tough choice, stay for the GP on the Sunday or head off to Le Mans on the normal day  ;D   

Tough choise? Have you been drinking already Piglet?  ??? ??? ???

oh how I would like to see that ;D ;D

Whoops sorry missed off the sarcastic - "not a chance that I'm staying I'm off to Le Mans wooo hooo! smilie  ;D

150 Quid!  Holy sh*t! (Fax pissing himself laughing)
The word RAPE springs to mind.
That's about 300 dollars...and mind boggling!
Christ you could fly over here and pick up a ticket for the race at Indy for that kind of highway robbery.  They can't give away tickets for the USGP.  I wouldn't pay three hundred bucks to see a GP if Jim Clark himself rose from the dead and was driving.
Fax

You can hear the screaming F1 engines for a lot less than £150.

Try going to one of the national Hillclimb meetings.,

Graham-White junior has built his own chassis with a little help from Adrian Newey and is running an ex Arrows V10 lump to boot!!!! ..........the sound on the hills is absolutely awesome,and it only costs about £15.00 to get in and spectate.

Wishy

Using the currency converter 150 pounds works out to $279.
The phrase "A sucker born every minute" pops into my head.
In a couple of weeks the Mid-Ohio ALMS round will set me back $60 for a weekend superticket (including grandstand seat and paddock admission) plus $15 for a infield parking pass for the Volksmonster.
Fax

My Moto GP ticket for Leguna Seca this year will csot me £60 to have it delivered to my door  in the UK.

At the time, it worked out at £32. Bonus.

Worryingly the British GP will be sold out as always, even with the cheap tickets at £150

You can do it even cheaper, go to an F1 test day at Silverstone, used to be listed on the Sliverstone circuit web site or you can ring them, you are restricted from Abbey to Copse, but if your passing (it will always be a week day) its worth dropping in. It used to be free, could still be.

There are cheaper tickets (£100) but yes it's bloody expensive compared to other races. We're going to the Istanbul GP in August and general admission is about £36.

Saying that, I've blown more than £100 on a night out many times, so I don't feel too cheated.

Anyway, Status Quo are playing the after race party. I can hear you all reaching for your credit cards.....  ;D

Shame they're not playing during the race  ::) :-X

That's the only think that's mad me sad about missing the Sunday ;D

I've been to the tyre testing many times, went last year and it was still free. It is usually the week before the 'worlds greatest motor race' and a nice little intro to the sound of racing engines after the long winter. With The GP being early this year I will have to miss out.

Pay to see it? No chance. Ditch water dull and full to bursting with white trouser clad prawn sandwich munching corporate types and politicians that don't know the difference between Damon and Damian!!

Besides I’ll have packing to do.

But have a good time.
 ;D

You can watch F1 cars in action for free at Silverstone if you go to one of the test sessions, but the pre-gp one was back in April

Ticket prices are all a supply and demand thing for big events, and Bernie and his pals have gotta be paid somehow!

Indeed. The one and only time I have seen the British GP live at Silverstone (the year Mr Mansell gave Mr Senna a lift back on his sidepod) I was 'fortunate' to be there on complimentary tickets from a friend of mine who was not interested in going.

The people you describe were typical of the all others who were attending as guests of the my friends firm.

Fortunately though their company was not compulsory so I ventured out amongst the masses and found most of the crowd outside the confines of the grandstands and hospitality suites to be genuine racing fans. Apart from the horrendous ticket prices the one abiding memory for me was that it was so difficult to actually SEE the racing (such as it was, even then) as a typical paying punter.

I certainly would not pay even a quarter of the current entry price purely on those grounds.

I agree mostly with Wishy - you can get most of the same single seater technology at national hillclimb meetings, and you can go talk to the drivers, touch their cars etc. My only disagreement with him is that the hillclimb cars are a LOT quieter and the sound of an F1 car at full chat is quite something.

Problem is quite simple, F1 has become fashionable to be seen at.  The racing is absolute garbage (and has been for some time) but you get a huge turnout of punters who simply want to be seen or be able to say they were there.  Helps explain all the celebrity posers prancing about on the grid like their sh**t doesn't stink.
Back in the day you had guys like Sean Connery and George Harrison show up at GP's, but they were genuine racing enthusiast and knew what the hell they were watching.  The other problem is the same one with NASCAR over here in that F1 has become popular with the stick & ball crowd who never gave a f**ck about racing before and don't know a thing about it now, they just want to wave their flag for some pretentious asshole.
Most NASCAR fans over here could barely tell you which end of the car the engine is in but will be covered in Budweiser attire because Little E's their man.  Same sh**t in F1.  You see thousands of people standing around looking like a walking fag packet because The Chin is their boy but what they actually know about the sport is zilch.
Bernie's only too happy to cash in on these cult zealots.
Fax

They may have silencers, but you can stand 10 feet away from them at full chat (probably only in first or second), and the vibration, let alone the noise is awsome.  OK, two hundred yards away, like an F1 car, they must sound a bit tame.

Yes they are spectators at the back

There is NO sound like a 8000 hp top fuel dragster either idling next to you or on a full 300 mph pass.

http://www.shra-etuna.com/sounds/topfuel2.wav


(http://www.andycarter.net/images/newcar4.jpg)

One reason why you will find me at a number of hillclimb meetings throughout the season  :)

Not too sure about the spectators in the background though.........

F1 really went sh*t about 97 - 98, when the W***er midget started getting worried about the loss of Cig advertising revenue. As from 90 we used to go to Club corner and the crowd were great, true motor sport enthusiasts, but we gradually got squeezed out by the corporate grandstands.   

I went to Silverstone for the F1 testing a couple of weeks ago.

It was good, but not brilliant. Certainly not worth paying to go watch an F1 race there, not when the tickets for the FIA GT were only £20 or so.

I was amazed by the number of people who were completely decked out in Ferrari clothes, when Ferrari weren't even there!

So basically, no, unless you're a personal friend of the specclestone  :'(

Looks like I'm propping up the bar by myself then.

hey ho.

Tell ya what Bird, watched my GP of the season Sunday and....YAWN!!  Fricking boring as hell!  Did anyone actually overtake someone on the track?  Stupid rules, stupid technical regulations.  Nothing more evocative than watching a F1 car tear by trailing a mist of sawdust like a giant belt sander. So next week Renault can use new engines but Ferrari can't?  Nice rules there, maybe they can make the previous race winner do the race with a giant Ronald McDonald perched on the back, that makes about as much sense.  Grooved tires, wooden planks? Sounds high tech to me.  And lets not forget single car qualifying, there was a master stroke!  Lets work it out so the paying punter sees even less over a race weekend.  As I said stupid rules, stupid sport and dare I say...Stupid fans for paying 150 quid to see it.
Fax

I thought they got rid of that?  or have i been seeing things  ???

Fran,
Was referring to it in the past tense.  However the new knockout system is just about as dumb.  It's all made for TV crap.  There was nothing wrong with the good old Friday and Saturday timed sessions, except the powers that be thought it didn't make for good enough TV.
Fax

Hi Rob,
          I recommend Indy if they still go there. Cheapest seats and good view of the cars...same crap racing though.
Canada Phil

By all accounts this is it for the USGP at Indy, it was a seven year contract and virtually everyone agrees that it won't be renewed.  The race has been a money loser from the outset and after last years fisaco the feeling is one of this is it, lets get it over with, and don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.  I can't see another USGP happening for decades, if they couldn't get it to work at the most famous racing venue in the Americas, it's just not going to work anywhere.  I lay the blame squarely at the feet of Bernie & Max.  As Matt once said, the US is the most lucrative, receptive motor racing market in the world and they still managed to f**k things up.  Doesn't break my heart to see Tony George lose his ass on this either.
Fax

I fully agree that last weekend's race was snooze worthy to say the least. However, the atmosphere at Silverstone combined with the fact it's just up the road  AND the Quo factor means I wouldn't miss it for the world. 

Have also managed to sneak a Grand Prix in to our honeymoon in August, but for a whisker of the price. I think both tickets cost less than my one for the BGP,    and we could have bought two more and still been in pocket.  It's just us Brits that get ripped off, but I don't think that's limited to F1.

I didn't pay for my ticket btw, Santa did. Good old boy.  ;D