Got back from my first visit to Croft - and found an email from the circuit apologising for the issues with access due to weather.
A good response from them, and definitely seems that they care about the experience of spectators.
So how did my first visit go?
Sat Nav suggested an arrival time of 1100hrs - which was straying consistent until 7 minutes away from the circuit. Then traffic came to a standstill, and it took a further 1hr15 to get parked. So missed the start of the first race.
Staff were friendly, helpful and in good spirits, so praise should go to them.
I appreciate the weather was out of their control, but they still made every effort to get everyone in as best as they could. I was concerned when cars were sliding in the mud trying to get into the car park, and in the back of my mind I was fearing the chaos that might occur when leaving.
Once parked up, and into the circuit, the day was enjoyable. It was definitely not a £2 burger place though - £8.50 for a Cheeseburger seemed to be the standard rate!
As with most circuits, if you are not their at the crack of dawn, you tend to find all of the decent viewing spots are taken up by tents and shelters - seemingly abandoned for the day in a lot of cases, with the owners reappearing every few hours, taking up the space of small office for just 2/3 people. I know it's not a Croft specific issue, but I really feel there should be certain areas of viewing where any form of shelter/tent/gazebo is not permitted.
Mid way through the afternoon, when the sun came out, I saw plenty of people disposing of their ponchos - a definite mistake they regretted later!
The circuit pa system leaves quite a bit to be desired. The coverage is very limited, and means that at various parts of the track you have no supporting information other than what is on track in front of you. I was expecting a large screen - the circuit map provided for the event shows 2. Not sure why they weren't in place?
The most enjoyable racing for the day came in the support packages - even the Porsches were not processional - but the BTCC races were a little bit disappointing.
I'm not expecting smashes and continual action - but there seemed to be no hint of challenges for the lead across all 3 races. Perhaps the ballast should be put back up again a bit?
Time to leave came - the car parks, as expected, where very muddy by this point. The staff were faultless though in their support to getting out, pushing and dragging cars as needed and ensuring all (I hope) got away safely and smoothly, alebit very muddy.
Exiting did not take anywhere near as long as I have experienced at other circuits (I'm looking at you Silverstone/Brands). And it probably took less than 15mins from starting the car to being on open road.
Gratitude is due to all the staff for their work during the day - organisers, marshals, stewards, and even team crews from being friendly yet efficient in everything they did. But special thanks to the car park staff - without them it could have been a very different day, and I'm sure some of them are still trying to get the mud out of ears and noses!
If I could offer one bit of feedback into their post-event review - more straw in the car parks may have helped to prevent the mud being as bad.
