Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Bell
Although it was good to see some of the paddock covered with new tarmac, you'll not get over the fact that it's an odd shape and not particularly large! If they tarmac the gravel area and bring that into the main equation it will be a great asset. This year it didn't help having trade stalls where there really ought to have been race cars.
I agree with a comment that Brands made, that the paddock 'discipline' was poor. At an event aspiring to be one of the top Histo meetings, I think the organisers need to make more attempt to 'control' the paddock layout. When I arrived Thursday around 1430 it was already chaotic, and the hard-pressed paddock marshals had virtually waved a white flag.
Although it used to grate a bit, the Silly Classic idea that preparers are able to pre register and go to an allocated part of the paddock would help. (Even better would be power hook up for their transporters, so they don't run leads across from garages.  )
The rest of the space needs to be laid out so that the cars are on display from the spectator walkways / access roads, and any closed trailers needed for storage parked behind. Others should be parked in a trailer park, and all support vehicles not required to be with the race car, also. Competitors personal transport should be in another specific parking area and not abandoned anywhere in the paddock. When it came time to pack up yesterday we couldn't load because of road cars parked immediately behind my trailer, so had to move into the access road to do so, causing congestion for others....... |
I actually reckon that the pits and garages are in the wrong place! When the circuit was reopened it may not have been such an issue as the Melborne Loop didn't exist then and so things may not have been as squeezed in but now everything is constrained within a triangle of land which just isn't big enough, and is an odd shape.
In an ideal world the pits and Paddock should, perhaps, be where the Exhibition centre (and outdoor auction site) is, on the main straight. There is then plenty of land available to lay the Paddock out properly.
Trouble is that the first corner would then be the chicane, and maybe not ideal, and of course the Exhibition Centre is a nice little earner for the circuit, although I am not sure how much use it gets these days.
If MSVR take over, I wonder if they would consider such developments. Very expensive to do, but if there are aspirations to have the Bike GP back there, or World Superbikes etc etc, as they used to, then I would have thought that they were necessary developments.
They could even keep the existing pits, paddocks, media and race control, and medical centre where they are to cut down cost and thus provide extra facilities.
Can't see it happening, but you can but hope.