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Agree about FIA tracks.
For what it is worth as a photographer or spectator:
Can you walk all the way around the track, inside or outside?
Can you see the whole car (ie. Helmet top to wheels) from those viewpoints?
Is there chicken wire fencing between you and the track?
Are you so far away from the track surface that you don't feel part of it?
Can you see more than one bend/corner from a good position?
Are you able to spectate from inside and outside ie. see cars going from left to right and also right to left - and can you cross the track whilst racing is going on?
Is the track totally flat or are cars able to demonstrate a bit of 'attitude'?
Is paddock access free?
That is by no means everything, but one or two tracks are very spectator/photographer friendly, but many are not, with spectators sometimes corralled into relatively small spaces. (Monaco for the historic GP was dreadful. Even though the adjacent stand was virtually empty, the jobsworths wouldn't allow you into any stand other than what was on your ticket, even though prices were the same.) Will never go back.
There was a time when you could spectate from the inside of corner 1 at Pukekohe. You can't now. The track footbridge has ruined much of the view too. Even from the pits area, you no longer get a good view of the last corner.
At least at Manfeild, yes, you can see the cars on most of the track, but very few of the tracks that I am familiar with, overall, are very spectator/photographer friendly. Some are just better than others.
If they are not really spectator friendly, it doesn't seem to matter what racing is on, there are far more options for the nation's use of leisure time, than there ever was in the 1960's.
Yup. Silly old farts maybe, but at least we grew up before the FIA effectively made life too difficult and Bernie was only interested in charging mega millions for the TV rights and effectively ignoring the wishes of the paying spectators.
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