Spectator support for NZ racing

[Clivoris]

It wouldn't worry me or probably a lot of others if Taupo was canned ! ?
Would seem an easy cost cutting measure !
Anyway , in the meantime, good luck with the points round. gaz.

Cheers Gaz. It was a close call and will be reviewed at the end of this next series.

[scracha]

It wouldn't worry me or probably a lot of others if Taupo was canned ! ?
Would seem an easy cost cutting measure !
Anyway , in the meantime, good luck with the points round. gaz.

Be careful what you ask for. AFAIK the PMCC are gonna be struggling to run races at Taupo next year. Yeah the current organisation leave a lot to be desired but if less people moaned about it and got their fingers out their arses by doing something then it and all the other meetings would be ran in a better fashion.

[FROSTY:Me]

Be careful what you ask for. AFAIK the PMCC are gonna be struggling to run races at Taupo next year. Yeah the current organisation leave a lot to be desired but if less people moaned about it and got their fingers out their arses by doing something then it and all the other meetings would be ran in a better fashion.

AND THAT IS IT TOTALLY IN A NUTSHELL
Its so friggin easy to stand on the sidelines moaning and whinging how this race meeting or that track day or this national series is wrong.
Yet where are these people when it comes time to front up and fix the problem.???
And yes I must say its kettle and pot time for me because I've been critical of how AMCC meetings are run.
Badly or well run these meetings may be --BUT the people doing it ARE doing it.

[roogazza]

When I look back now we were so lucky 20 and 30 years ago to very strong clubs in the Wgton area. The Vic and Hutt clubs had many racers and a core of keen blokes who gave their time to organise meetings. They weren;t racers (though some did both) and actually just enjoyed doing it.
It would seem that when they died off so did the Meets ?
Gracefield , Porirua, Lyall Bay all pulled great crowds, in fact they were all over NZ at that time.
I can remember as a rider( and this includes all the top guys at the time) sweeping the streets at Gracefeild the night before and placing barriers and haybales etc..
History I know, but thats how it was ! Gaz.

[gav]

Thought the crowd at Ruapuna last Sunday was pretty good compared to previous years. Considering the temperature hit 35 on the Saturday, did well to get the crowd they did!
Went down to Levels today, not sure what crowd numbers they got, but its not that crowd friendly to watch racing. Not even any sort of grandstand or seating. Its a case of bring your own!

[98tls]

Thought the crowd at Ruapuna last Sunday was pretty good compared to previous years. Considering the temperature hit 35 on the Saturday, did well to get the crowd they did!
Went down to Levels today, not sure what crowd numbers they got, but its not that crowd friendly to watch racing. Not even any sort of grandstand or seating. Its a case of bring your own!

With you on that Gav,a few seats in places around the track would be a great idea for sure,spent the day at levels yesterday and by god it was hot,no shade anywere.Besides that a great day out.

[kr250]

57 years old and ride a bloody race replica,can afford and am willing to travel ,but apart from Wanganui and Paeroa how the fuck do I no whats happening,if you have a meeting at Manfield,and put a few posters up how the hell will I no it's on, let alone my son in law who likes bikes but is not currently riding.spend a buck to make several, get some one with balls and a budget that reflects what the competitors are spending,remember the Marlborough series, big promotional budget and big crowds,and no bloody motards at road race meetings

[Clivoris]

57 years old and ride a bloody race replica,can afford and am willing to travel ,but apart from Wanganui and Paeroa how the fuck do I no whats happening,if you have a meeting at Manfield,and put a few posters up how the hell will I no it's on, let alone my son in law who likes bikes but is not currently riding.spend a buck to make several, get some one with balls and a budget that reflects what the competitors are spending,remember the Marlborough series, big promotional budget and big crowds,and no bloody motards at road race meetings

Sweet. When you're ready to be VP Promotions for Vic Club, we're ready to vote you in.

[kr250]

Email me and lets find some common ground

[98tls]

57 years old and ride a bloody race replica,can afford and am willing to travel ,but apart from Wanganui and Paeroa how the fuck do I no whats happening,if you have a meeting at Manfield,and put a few posters up how the hell will I no it's on, let alone my son in law who likes bikes but is not currently riding.spend a buck to make several, get some one with balls and a budget that reflects what the competitors are spending,remember the Marlborough series, big promotional budget and big crowds,and no bloody motards at road race meetings

Agreed,although will add that the meeting at levels this weekend was pretty well publicised i thought,i live down wind of Timaru a bit and our local radio station had weekend passes to give away etc,as for Motards i reckon the more the better but can live without the super motards ie the dirt section.Speaking of the Marlboro series i have a copy of the 30th Anniversary DVD made last year which ive loaned out to a few KBers who have enjoyed it immensely,a fantastic watch and if your into the old stuff quite happy to put it in the post

[Clivoris]

Email me and lets find some common ground

Shit mate. I'm not too used to people offering solutions with their critiques. E-mail is in gestation.

[Les]

Been away for a few days and have just caught up with the posts. Yeah, I guess I was just a bit disappointed with the support shown at Ruapuna and trying to rally the fans a bit.

I seem to always be hearing comments from people about how much they love bikes and bike racing but they never show at the race meetings. I know that people have commitments, etc., but when I hear of these same people going out to the car racing and saying how great the crowd was it pisses me off a tad. I also meet people that will happily head across to the GP but don't even pay the slightest interest in the National Champs.

Sorry to go over it again, but the racing I saw was excellent, AND on bikes a lot closer to what you and I can buy and ride.

[Dodgy]

Actually, one of the best crowds I saw at a bike meet in NZ was a few years ago at Ruapuna. It was a combined V8 taxi and bike meeting. Not sure if Red organised it?

Anyway, comments from the car loving crowd were how exciting it was to watch the bikes - actually dicing rather than following each other round!

Only mark on it was the focus on tv coverage. We saw a rider fairly hurt have to lie on the infield and wait quite a while for the ambulance - they didnt want to halt proceedings and bugger up the tv scheduling

[Toast]

Actually, one of the best crowds I saw at a bike meet in NZ was a few years ago at Ruapuna. It was a combined V8 taxi and bike meeting. Not sure if Red organised it?

Anyway, comments from the car loving crowd were how exciting it was to watch the bikes - actually dicing rather than following each other round!

I am quite keen on the idea of bikes getting in on the V8 meetings.

Some argued before that this devalues the bike racing. Maybe true, but with the position that bike racing is in now as far as spectator support, I can't see it as a bad thing at all.

Exposing car nuts to the racing at the last round of Nationals, with the top four of five Superbike riders sliding, dicing and scrapping within metres of each other, is going to be good for the sport and outweigh any of the negative effects of sharing a meeting with cars...in my opinion anyway.

Exposure is the key. People have to experience it to know what they're missing out on. I didn't even like bike racing when I first got in to fast bikes. I finally dragged myself along to a Pukie Nats meeting for lack of anything else to do with a mate on that day, and liked it so much I now spend all of my money on racing myself.