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Welcome to the forum, Derwent!
IMO one reason the event suffered reduced numbers this year because of the later date. When it started in 2009 (from memory) it was mid October, and stayed more or less there, until moving to the following weekend. This year the ELMS 4hr took precedence and the Classic was thrust into November. To make matters worse it was 2 weeks after a meeting at Estoril, making it difficult for some competitors to consider ‘back to back’ meetings in Portugal. If it had been the following weekend I’m sure there would have been more FJs, for instance.
Some grids such as U2TC have been poor this year regardless of location, so that has to be taken into consideration, and I don’t think any car meeting attracts big spectator numbers. Not sure how many attended the recent WSBK and ELMS weekends, but would be interesting to find out.
Since the circuit went bust and was taken over by the Portuguese government, it’s never been the most welcoming place, which is a shame because it’s a fabulous race track. They seem to be more interested nowadays in manufacturer events and exclusive track days. Maybe there’s more money to be made......
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