It was called the elbow and was a real interesting part of the circuit with its changing radius corner - to navigate it properly the car drivers used to throw the cars sideways in the tight early part of the corner, then boot it hard to get out the other side without losing speed. The result was spectacular.
The banks above gave a great natural grandstand - they used to put haybails up there to sit on.
The problem was the acute left hander into the section, right after the start. As cars and bikes got faster, it became more and more dangerous. They stopped using that section.
I believe the crowds deserted Puke because the facilities always were crap - and they haven't changed a bit. Disgusting toilets and only a few of them. Pisspoor food/drink facilities and what is there is outrageously expensive. Getting utterly fleeced to buy a carton of chips and a greasy hot dog doesn't go down well.
The changes they made to the circuit for the Aussie V8s wrecked the sight lines for spectators. The bridge across the start/finish straight means you can no longer see the start grid from the hill stand - and from the main grandstand you can't see the hill corner. The advertising hoarding in front of the hill stand obscures the track from the seating area (nice one boys!).
Used to be able to sit at the hill stand and watch the start/finish straight, Champion, the back straight and the whole of the hairpin section. Now there are signs, the bridge and advertising hoardings in the way so you can only see little bits.
I've been going to Puke all my life but the last time I went for a major meeting was the second time the Aussie V8s were there. It was a bloody awful experience and I will only go back now for lower key/classic meetings where I have some freedom to move around.
Interestingly they fell into the same trap in Hamilton, believing that the experience of the V8 race was so compelling that spectators would pay large sums to be there no matter how bad the facilities are and how much hassle they have to go through to get there (hello, selling tickets to a grandstand that has no view of the track?)
Spectator numbers have HALVED in the three years of the Hamilton event. What it says to me is that the people running the event have dollars signs in their eyes and have never been the ones sitting in the stands.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by paturoa
Bookmarks