Motorcycle racing at car meetings?

[jellywrestler]

i went to round at Pukekohe when Kevin Curtin, Damien Cudlin (17 yrs at the time) etc were riding.
truck racing too.
one of the trucks did doughnuts on the start finish line with shit flying everywhere right before teh superbikes went out.
It was raining and the shit on the track, both tyre rubber chunks and fule oil that is chucked out by cars made it a death trap.
added to this that some tracks need extra airfences etc put up for bikes and taken down for cars makes it difficult.
Great idea but one that's a can of worms really.
Sidecars fora wee while were going to car meetings. At the first meeting the crowd were up at the fences loving it, the car guys resented the popularity and pretty soon made it uncomfortable for the bike people to enjoy themselves.

[wharfy]

i went to round at Pukekohe when Kevin Curtin, Damien Cudlin (17 yrs at the time) etc were riding.
truck racing too.
one of the trucks did doughnuts on the start finish line with shit flying everywhere right before teh superbikes went out.
It was raining and the shit on the track, both tyre rubber chunks and fule oil that is chucked out by cars made it a death trap.
added to this that some tracks need extra airfences etc put up for bikes and taken down for cars makes it difficult.
Great idea but one that's a can of worms really.
Sidecars fora wee while were going to car meetings. At the first meeting the crowd were up at the fences loving it, the car guys resented the popularity and pretty soon made it uncomfortable for the bike people to enjoy themselves.

Yeah I was thinking more of a publicity thing at a couple of high profile meetings, just so the petrol heads can see how close and exciting bike racing can be. Of course there can be no guarantee that Stroudy wouldn't just fuck off into the distance as he can sometimes

[scrivy]

Yeah I was thinking more of a publicity thing at a couple of high profile meetings, just so the petrol heads can see how close and exciting bike racing can be. Of course there can be no guarantee that Stroudy wouldn't just fuck off into the distance as he can sometimes

At the invitational truck meeting in Timaru back in 2008, the organisers paid for sidecars to be there. All we did were handicap races, but put on a great show, and as you say Wharfy, the crowd saw how exciting it can be. All 10,000 of them!
We have been invited back to several other events recently too.

Scrivy

[CHOPPA]

Hmmm.....I wonder if Choppa's M1 MotorSport guys have any influence in the V8 scene there might be an opening there?

They are endurance racing but thats a good idea, car endurance and bike endurance same day I think there only 3 hr. Event promotion is something id really like to do

[scott411]

Event promotion is something id really like to do

cool to hear, its good to hear a young guy wanting to get into running races, when you get it right is it very rewarding personally, $$ wise not so much in my experience,

[codgyoleracer]

i went to round at Pukekohe when Kevin Curtin, Damien Cudlin (17 yrs at the time) etc were riding.
truck racing too.
one of the trucks did doughnuts on the start finish line with shit flying everywhere right before teh superbikes went out.
It was raining and the shit on the track, both tyre rubber chunks and fule oil that is chucked out by cars made it a death trap.
added to this that some tracks need extra airfences etc put up for bikes and taken down for cars makes it difficult.
Great idea but one that's a can of worms really.
Sidecars fora wee while were going to car meetings. At the first meeting the crowd were up at the fences loving it, the car guys resented the popularity and pretty soon made it uncomfortable for the bike people to enjoy themselves.

I did that meet, and it was great to be part of a true motorsport event that had lots to see and do for the visitors.
Upsides were: Big crowds, plenty of pizzaz/entertainment, lots on non-bike new supporters/observers, heaps of exposure for well presented teams + even race length TV coverage!
Down sides: limited track time, usual car/bike confrontations, track conditions, limited classes allowed to race.

Overall for the sport though upsides outweigh the down sides, IMO

[CHOPPA]

cool to hear, its good to hear a young guy wanting to get into running races, when you get it right is it very rewarding personally, $$ wise not so much in my experience,

I wanna start with a supermoto! Just a small thing to get my feet wet. Its on the to do list for the next 12months and M1 are behind me

[scott411]

I wanna start with a supermoto! Just a small thing to get my feet wet. Its on the to do list for the next 12months and M1 are behind me

always here to help dude, even when i will be half a world away send me an email or a facebook message,

i did run a motard race a few years ago at Meremere Dragstrip, was a pretty cool day,

sometimes the worst thing about running an awesome meeting, is not being able to ride yourself,

[slowpoke]

Second/poor cousin to the car guys? So what? I was at Manfeild a couple of days before the NZGP weekend and I could not believe the infrastructure/promotion/investment in 4 wheel racing as opposed to the pissant show that is our premier NZSBK event at the same venue. Thousands of spectators show up as opposed to a couple of hundred, "Grid Kid" child minding/amusement, decent sponsor/corporate facilities, proper catering, co-ordinated vehicle transport etc etc etc etc etc. If you get the chance just go along and check out how things can be done with decent promotion and investment.

You'd get more promotional opportunities at one big car event than a whole season of NZSBK events.

As it stands we can barely organise a farting competition at a baked bean factory and could learn and gain a thing or two from associating ourselves with the 4 wheel guys who are obviously doing something a lot more right than we are.

I did the Lady Wigram event a couple years ago and it was a an absolute hoot.

[scott411]

Second/poor cousin to the car guys? So what? I was at Manfeild a couple of days before the NZGP weekend and I could not believe the infrastructure/promotion/investment in 4 wheel racing as opposed to the pissant show that is our premier NZSBK event at the same venue. Thousands of spectators show up as opposed to a couple of hundred, "Grid Kid" child minding/amusement, decent sponsor/corporate facilities, proper catering, co-ordinated vehicle transport etc etc etc etc etc. If you get the chance just go along and check out how things can be done with decent promotion and investment.

You'd get more promotional opportunities at one big car event than a whole season of NZSBK events.

As it stands we can barely organise a farting competition at a baked bean factory and could learn and gain a thing or two from associating ourselves with the 4 wheel guys who are obviously doing something a lot more right than we are.

I did the Lady Wigram event a couple years ago and it was a an absolute hoot.

you are not wrong, the car guys do put on a better show, but they also pay a huge amount in entry and promotion fees to make it happen, then they go out and get sponsors that can enjoy the enviroment, they also invest some of the sponsorship money they get to go into the corperate packages so there sponsors feel they are getting value for money,

[SPman]

It was bikes at the NZ Grand Prix at Pukekohe, that got me into bikes - namely Jim Redman doing demo laps on a 250/4 Honda - I think it was an RC162 - sounded great after all those sodding boring single pot Manx Nortons and things!. The following year they had Hugh Anderson on a works 125 Suzuki....

[schrodingers cat]

I ask because car meetings tend to get a large crowd, therefore I wonder whether it is a good way to get the sport in front of people who have not seen it before.
Also this could possibly seen as an advantage to sponsers. Especially as car meetings are often covered by major television networks.

As a long term car guy involved at a high level, personally I love it when there are shared meetings.
The crowd gets bigger because the bike people seem more supportive viewers that car people.

Unfortunatly at the top end it is all money. The TV is there because they are paid to be. In actual fact, nobody really gives a shit about the crowds in the TV age.

We ran a TraNZam at Ruapuna years ago at a shared meeting. The diff pressurised and blew the nose seal out on the entrance to the final corner. As soon as we discovered where all the oil was coming from and ran down to alert the officials the bikes had been released and about 4 of them went down. That felt shitty.

The Ruapuna club days always have a leisurely lunch break. I've always though that some bike racing on 'A' track spread thoughout the days would give the flaggies time for a bite/leak what ever (if they rotated round the flag posts)

PS 'Sponsorship' at the top end is pretty sparse. Really its all private hobby money no matter how shiny it looks

[slowpoke]

It just so farkin' frustrating when I see such hard working crews as the Manawatu-Orion Club doing such an amazing job at the last round of our Nats with virtually nothing. It really is a "love job" 'cos they get absolutely nothing tangible out of it. And you know sooner or later someone is gonna understandably crumble under the load or the weather is gonna step in and they'll be left in a worse position than when they started.

The sad thing is that by and large the cars aren't that exciting to watch and most of 'em sound shit. Stand at the pit wall or exit to Dunlop at Manfeild when Mitch Evans goes past in a Toyota open wheeler and it's quite underwhelming in comparison to to any of the top guys on a Superbike or 600.

It's the ol' 3 P's rule though eh? Promotion Promotion Promotion. Something our sport just has not mastered. TV is a nice dream but even just simple local things could get a few more folks through the gate and actually make a few shekels to reinvest and grow awareness of the sport and associated events.

Ok, ok, Reverend Rantalot has left the building.....

[Kickaha]

We ran a TraNZam at Ruapuna years ago at a shared meeting. The diff pressurised and blew the nose seal out on the entrance to the final corner. As soon as we discovered where all the oil was coming from and ran down to alert the officials the bikes had been released and about 4 of them went down. That felt shitty.

The "Drink Drive 500" ?

TraNZam was about 1/100 of a second faster than the quickest bike on day 1

[BMWST?]

Second/poor cousin to the car guys? So what? I was at Manfeild a couple of days before the NZGP weekend and I could not believe the infrastructure/promotion/investment in 4 wheel racing as opposed to the pissant show that is our premier NZSBK event at the same venue. Thousands of spectators show up as opposed to a couple of hundred, "Grid Kid" child minding/amusement, decent sponsor/corporate facilities, proper catering, co-ordinated vehicle transport etc etc etc etc etc. If you get the chance just go along and check out how things can be done with decent promotion and investment.

You'd get more promotional opportunities at one big car event than a whole season of NZSBK events.

As it stands we can barely organise a farting competition at a baked bean factory and could learn and gain a thing or two from associating ourselves with the 4 wheel guys who are obviously doing something a lot more right than we are.

I did the Lady Wigram event a couple years ago and it was a an absolute hoot.

its a plain numbers game,probably directly proportional to the relationship between bikes and cars on the road.....You will find the average petrol head will enjoy the bike racing.But probably not enough to shell out his money for a bike only meet.