I went Sat. With hubby who had tickets in the corporate suite, which meant free food, drinks, AC, and at the finish line and over the pits. It was a blast! Most of the people in the suite were from Australia, and we took one couple to the UT Club for dinner. I made hubby let the person he had asked to go on Sunday know that I was going back! He had his own tickets, so I didn't feel too bad!
I haven't finished sorting my Saturday photos, but I did add a bunch more shots to my Friday album: The Link ...and Vance has just posted his Sunday album. Some nice shots there: The Link
Seemed to be a good day n Sunday. 68k (if it is to be believed) over the weekend would be a little better than I expected. The most interesting comments were the ones from the drivers concerning running the full course - all would prefer that if for no reason other than the backstretch would allow for some less intense time on each lap.
Fabulous! There are several that are wallpaper worthy. Trouble is deciding which one to use first, with your permission, of course.
It is not to be believed. It's not even close. Telling us there were 68K for the weekend and 30K+ on Sunday is a direct insult to our intelligence. What's interesting though is that, even by their count, this is the 4th race in a row they've come in well under their attendance projection. This is the projection they submit to get METF funding, which is paid based on the projection rather than actual results. So, when do they send the state a refund? Re: the track, only 10 seconds of straight line driving per lap. Unreal. I think they're already rethinking the short lap strategy. I'm glad. I'd love to see 1 200K race each day rather than 2 100K races each day, but whatever, it's still great.
I've been really looking fwd to the ALMS/WEC round in September, but after this weekend, that's looking kinda rough, esp the 6 hour WEC race on Sunday. Temps were around 95 all three days this weekend, and there was little to no shade to be found. The V8SC series is already saying they'd like an earlier date and are looking at ways to reduce heat stress on the drivers here. The avg temps for Sep 20-22 are 2 or 3 degrees higher than the avg for mid-May. Ugh...
I finally finished sorting through my pics & posted a Flickr set of my best V8SC shots: The Link ...and a facebook album of all my favorite shots across all racing categories: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.647430118604870.1073741864.157330087614878&type=1 Here are a few from the V8s:
Not COTA, but uh...y'all see this ****? 4-wide at the finish of the Indy Lights Firestone Freedom 100:
Though you really won't need to hurry given that this race won't sell out (no COTA race has sold out yet) and given the way COTA has been lowering prices and making other offers as they near event dates, WEC/ALMS tickets are up for sale now. Looks like one price fits all (General Admission or Grandstand). Three-day pass is ~$103 after taxes, fees, & Standard Delivery charge. FWIW. http://www.ticketmaster.com/2013-alms-and-...p;minorcatid=25 ETA: LMAO at $549 + Fees for VIP tickets.
Yeah...hasn't happened yet, but when it does, it's gonna be bad out there. They haven't really done much to prepare for rain, & they've been incredibly lucky. It's just a matter of time though. I don't do much sitting when I'm out there, so it won't make much difference to me.
UBS says avg NJ GP ticket price to be $563. Sounds like COTA. Trying to get their money back on the front end. The Link
KEYE: Want to drive on an F1 track? Preparest thy anus: The Link KUT: Is Driving on Austin's F1 Track Worth $55,000? The Link
Remember the breakfast subpoena served to Carmelo Ezpeleta last time he was in Austin? He has now been deposed in the Kevin Schwantz case: The Link
Crazy **** going on out at COTA lately. Apparent staff re-org underway. - Ward Merrill (all-around git it done guy) fired. - Jason Wade (Director of Track Ops) fired today. - Marty Hunt (Facilities Operations Director) left for the New Jersey race - Kevin Tao (sp?, Security Director) quit a few weeks back. - Others quitting. Hearing lots of bad stuff. Ex-Indy guy Harder on cost-cutting mission and bringing in his own guys...& much more. New post on our FB page:
Less than gruntling news. I was just talking today about how excited I was about concerts going out there and how I hoped ACL or even Lolla made it out there. Ugh.
I just got this WEC/ALMS weekend tentative schedule from budaman on another forum. Why COTA doesn't post this info, I'll never know. People have been asking for it for months. He got it in the mail with his tickets. Friday 8-9 ALMS practice (all Classes) 9:15-10:45 WEC practice 11:10-11:40 Race 1 ALMS Prototype Lites 12:40-1:40 ALMS practice 1:50-2:05 ALMS Qual GTC 2:10-2:25 ALMS Qual GT 2:35-2:50 ALMS Qual PC 2:55-3:10 ALMS Qual P1/P2 3:25-4:55 WEC practice 2 5:15-6:00 Race 1 GT3 Cup Saturday 8:00-8:25 ALMS warmup 8:40-9:40 WEC practice 10:05-10:50 Race 2 ALMS Prototype Lite 11:15-12:00 Race 2 GT3 Cup 12:00-1:00 ALMS Autographs in Paddock 1:00-1:30 PLite & GT3 Autographs(support Paddock) 1:00-1:25 WEC Qual LMGTE 1:35-2:00 WEC Qual LMP1&2 3:45-6:30 ALMS Race Sunday 8:30-9:40 WEC Pit Walk 9:00-9:30 WEC Autograph(Pit Lane) 11:00-5:00 WEC Race 5:05-5:35 Fan Invasion on Front straight
We were talking yesterday on one of the boards wondering why COTA won't offer single-day tickets for the USGP. They have for other events when sales were lagging. Almost as if on cue, they gave us what we asked for, sort of: The Link
