What National Championship ????

Brock · 28 Aug 2001, 10:07 (Ref:136953)

Tony Cochrane on the weekend got on his High Horse and urged every one to lobby the WA government for assitance to get the V8's in Perth
Just a couple of points I though have been left out. No one is stopping AVESCO going back to Waneroo they just believe it is not up to there standard. The other point is that no one seems to be the slightest bit interested that Tasmainia still does not have a Round of the Championship. Cochrane has taken great pride in the past saying it was a Trully National Championship. Maybe be there is not enough financial gain going to Tasmainia and Western Australia. What are your thoughts????

Crash Test · 28 Aug 2001, 11:40 (Ref:136997)

The thing is that WA and TAS are the two most expensive meetings to go to, but sadly they are also the two rounds which draw the least crowds (even though the Symmons round was regularly the biggest single day sporting event in Tasmania....).

marcus · 28 Aug 2001, 15:46 (Ref:137103)

but still Wanneroo is an excellent track and should not miss out because tony wants more money.

Crash Test · 28 Aug 2001, 22:43 (Ref:137317)

I totally agree...I just hope like hell places like Winton don't get the arse, especially after they have spent millions, keeping it up to Tony's standards..

Ray Bell · 28 Aug 2001, 23:42 (Ref:137356)

Quote:

Originally posted by Brock
Tony Cochrane on the weekend got on his High horse .....has taken great pride in the past saying it was a Trully National Championship.

Cochrane speaks with forked tongue, he doesn't care about it being National, but Shell does!

What a cheek this man has! Asking the Australian public to ring in the end of yet another circuit that has bent over backwards to accommodate his demands!

I sure hope nobody heeded his call...

**gomick** · 28 Aug 2001, 23:47 (Ref:137359)

not being smart, but i would have thought that the cost of going to tasmania was as much as going to darwin

or niw ziland

.....

winton getting the arse

- could never happen....

national championship it is not - the same thing is happening in aus superbikes.....it seems that national is only east coast :confused:

Ray Bell · 28 Aug 2001, 23:55 (Ref:137363)

Oh, I forgot... Darwin... yeah..

But there's Government money to help them get there!

The rot set in when Cochrane found he could get Government support, since then it's all he's been chasing.

Crash Test · 29 Aug 2001, 00:03 (Ref:137368)

Also, if i were a state government, would i support him? Sure, money comes into the comunity, but remember Canberra made a massive loss this year, Adelaide ALMS was $8mil in the red last year, it took Surfers 8 year to become profitable....

And the hide of him to have a shot at the WRC....what a dork! Remember when he was going to a race on the same day as the Gold Coast Indy? What happened there Tony? You took their money and are coming back for another 5 years...

Ray Bell · 29 Aug 2001, 00:25 (Ref:137377)

What money comes into the community?

When you have International visitors coming and interstate visitors in droves like the Surfers race and the AGP have, then you can say these things... but there was some prattle about the 'community gaining' or 'Queensland getting a boost' from QR, wasn't there?

Do you see it? I don't... but maybe it does work for Darwin in the expectation that people will make a sightseeing trip to the NT and fit that into their schedule...

The costs of street circuits are so high, nobody could see an ATCC race bringing benefits.

racer69 · 29 Aug 2001, 02:25 (Ref:137426)

The thing i don't get is that in the past when we had group A and there wasn't as much money around, we wstill wnet to Symmons and Wanneroo and so on, but no one complained. Now there is more money going around, but states are losing rounds.

Crash Test · 29 Aug 2001, 02:46 (Ref:137438)

Certainly for last weekend, just about all of the hotels were booked out for a fair distance. Then the people in the hotels have to buy food, petrol, general bits and pieces in the local area. It all adds up. Then you get the publicity it brings the local area- groups like the Ipswich City Council have seen the light and have gotten behind QR, the drag track next door, and the precinct as a whole.

Even on state championship weekends, we have a fair few competitors (those form Northern NSW or up the coast) who stay Saturday nights in town...and usually spend some decent cash at the pubs

Ok, the income might not be huge, but the benefits of having a race track in an area would be positive and worthy of some form of support.

Ray Bell · 29 Aug 2001, 05:20 (Ref:137450)

Benefits to a specific area I can see... but let's look at Queensland in this instance... apart from the competitors, how many came to Queensland and spent handsome sums to see the race?

Yes, in a local area it can make a huge difference, and it's obviously one of the reasons Lakeside's position as a racing circuit will be backed by the Pine Shire and the local Chambers of Commerce... At that level a couple travelling from Ballina or somewhere and getting a motel for two nights, buying a tankful of petrol and getting takeaway might make a difference.

racer69... your answer lies in the greed of the Cochranes of the world. They have taken the opportunity to deprive CAMS of its biggest income stream, hauled cash out of State coffers and ensured that the paying spectator has to dig real deep to see the cars they run... and now they want to make it easier for them to continue doing it.

RaceTime · 29 Aug 2001, 05:50 (Ref:137466)

Quote:

Originally posted by Ray Bell
Oh, I forgot... Darwin... yeah..

But there's Government money to help them get there!

The rot set in when Cochrane found he could get Government support, since then it's all he's been chasing.

Tose with any sense will now watch what happens in darwin very closely - a change of government - the first to change during one of AVESCO's 'contract' periods.

RaceTime · 29 Aug 2001, 05:51 (Ref:137467)

Quote:

Originally posted by gomick
winton getting the arse - could never happen....

Don't bet any money on it - the same was said of Mallala and Lakeside...and we all know what happened to those circuits....

RaceTime · 29 Aug 2001, 05:53 (Ref:137469)

Quote:

Originally posted by Crash Test
Also, if i were a state government, would i support him? Sure, money comes into the comunity, but remember Canberra made a massive loss this year, Adelaide ALMS was $8mil in the red last year, it took Surfers 8 year to become profitable....

Canberra - turning people away seems to be their attitude - and unless big improvements are made then I suspect next year with be final year minus one for it as a street track.

Surfers - that was always going to continue regardless of the loss it made - while CART were prepared to come over, Surfers were prepared to take a financial loss. Why? Simple - it is broadcast internationally and providing essentially free advertising around the world. Something the V8's do NOT do.

RaceTime · 29 Aug 2001, 05:55 (Ref:137471)

Quote:

Originally posted by racer69
The thing i don't get is that in the past when we had group A and there wasn't as much money around, we wstill wnet to Symmons and Wanneroo and so on, but no one complained. Now there is more money going around, but states are losing rounds.

because CAMS, AVESCO and teams all now want bigger slices of the smaller pie that is there.

RaceTime · 29 Aug 2001, 05:57 (Ref:137472)

Quote:

Originally posted by Crash Test
Even on state championship weekends, we have a fair few competitors (those form Northern NSW or up the coast) who stay Saturday nights in town...and usually spend some decent cash at the pubs

Ok, the income might not be huge, but the benefits of having a race track in an area would be positive and worthy of some form of support.

Except this has always been the case with circuits running two day meetings (even some one day meetings have benefitted). You will always get the competitor who has to travel and stay - not everyone who races lives within 50 km of a track.

Consider Winton - 80% + of all competitors and officials would have to have some accomodation provided for all meetings at that track - purely because of its location.

Ray Bell · 29 Aug 2001, 06:06 (Ref:137476)

Quote:

Originally posted by RaceTime
Those with any sense will now watch what happens in Darwin very closely - a change of government - the first to change during one of AVESCO's 'contract' periods.

A very good point... well worth watching, but I think we can count on the tourist aspect here ensuring it will continue... look at what they did to Lindy Chamberlain in the interest of tourism dollars...

Quote:

Also originally posted by RaceTime
Surfers - that was always going to continue regardless of the loss it made - while CART were prepared to come over, Surfers were prepared to take a financial loss. Why? Simple - it is broadcast internationally and providing essentially free advertising around the world. Something the V8's do NOT do.

That's an interesting point... just how much of Surfers, Australia or Queensland is seen on the International broadcasts?

We see heaps, sure, but we see breaks between races, minor events, the flypasts by the RAAF... but that stuff isn't in the package that gets aired on ESPN etc... and sometimes I wonder what value there really is in it from a tourism point of view... generally.

From the point of view of tourism connected with the race, not a problem. There would be many who determine that the overseas holiday they hadn't worked out yet might as well include Surfers because it's something they can enjoy while they're on their jaunt... good prospects from that point of view... but not the telecast, I don't think.

RaceTime · 29 Aug 2001, 06:09 (Ref:137480)

Ray,

Surfers will get the free 'skyline' shots before and during the race but also, like any other telecast, advertising will be placed to accentuate the venue. I could try ad find out what is actually shown from a couple of US journos I know if you are interested.

philneast · 29 Aug 2001, 06:15 (Ref:137482)

Quote:

Originally posted by Crash Test
The thing is that WA and TAS are the two most expensive meetings to go to, but sadly they are also the two rounds which draw the least crowds (even though the Symmons round was regularly the biggest single day sporting event in Tasmania....).

Going by AVESCO's own figures the Tassie rounds at Symmons Plains were very well attended. Often the attendance was greater than circuits such as Philip Island,Lakeside and Eastern Creek.

For example 1995

Symmons 22,000

Sandown 18,00
Lakeside 17,000
Philip Island 15,000
Barbagallo 15,500
Eastern Creek 20,000

Clearly this was intolerable, so AVESCO moved the race dates to the middle of winter in an attempt to kill off the races.

People still cam. not as many but still comparable to major mainland centres , for example Eastern Creek only drew 1,300 more poeple than Symmons in the last race meeting in 1999. The weather was cold and wet, as expected in winter in Tassie, but my son and I still turned up to watch. So did a lot of others. What was Eastern Creeks excuse?

Whatever the reason for dropping Symmons it had nothing to do with crowd numbers.

The traditional March date was absolutely the best time for the event. By moving the date AVESCO itself created the doubt over the furture viability of the event.

Ray Bell · 29 Aug 2001, 06:25 (Ref:137488)

Yes, RaceTime, that would be interesting...

Philneast... that weekend was always good. Well, except for 1968... and maybe a couple of others, but the long weekend that it was must have helped too.

Their incredible lack of insight and concern for the spectators is also seen in placing the Canberra race in the middle of winter...

RaceTime · 29 Aug 2001, 06:36 (Ref:137494)

Quote:

Originally posted by Ray Bell
Their incredible lack of insight and concern for the spectators is also seen in placing the Canberra race in the middle of winter...

And Winton which has had more meetings cancelled in August/September due to rain/floods than any other time of the year!

(Of course we won't mention also Calder and Oran Park being placed right in the middle of winter months!)

Ray Bell · 29 Aug 2001, 09:37 (Ref:137552)

Winter has always been a good time for race meetings in Sydney, the days aren't too bad, and certainly not so hot as you get in summer... Amaroo open meetings were rarely before March and never after September.

But Melbourne is a different story, and Phillip Id is unpredictable at the best of times... On the other hand, Canberra is completely predictable.

Brock · 1 Sep 2001, 03:08 (Ref:139429)

Avesco's Crowd figures can at the best of times be discribed as Not Very Acurate I think in some instances the count people twice and count all the free Corparte Passes they hand out some of which are certainlly not used.

My next question to you all is were is motorsport ingeneral going to be in 3 to 5 years time with tracks closing and others in need of upgrade and Avescos fixation with useing Street Curcuits or tracks that pay a lot of money to him we as a sport are going to be in trouble.

On his other coment about Rally Australia I must say that If I were the WA Gov I would be trying everything to keep Rally OZ as it is a Fantastic Event that is very well respected the World over

Ok Ladies and Gentlemen Place your bets for the next track to face the Cochrane AXE because it no longer supplies them enough money...
Sorry stupid me I should have said doesn't meet the needs of the paying public that he is so concerned about....................

Crash Test · 1 Sep 2001, 05:35 (Ref:139457)

From what people are saying, I'd guess Calder...but don't they have a contract?

As for paying punters, the QR figure of about 25,000 would be on the money. But how many people went to Waneroo? That's one that always been of interest...there really doesn't seem to be enough room at the place to fit that number of people in...

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