What would bring YOU to watch a race meeting?

[sidecar bob]

The fire went out of the racers bellies when we "agreed" to exchange prize money for TV coverage.
Theres nothing like a bit of money on offer to encourage a risky & spectacular overtaking move.
Few people, like Craig Shirrifs still perform well in the absence of prize money, but many dont, regardless of weather they are aware of it or not.
As a result, its a procession, & the hero parade is clearly a way more fun procession to watch, if spectator numbers are anything to go by.

[The Chow]

Political correctness is in part killing racing as a spectator sport.
I understand that Uber Chum, the German with the Kawasaki streetfighter & massive dreads in Pre '89 was stripped of his Pareoa winning points for doing a one handed wheelie.
That is the type of thing the crowds come to see, but the racing is being cleansed back to dead boring.
Would Uber Chum have done that if he didnt believe he was safe doing it?
Back in the days of the "GSX1100 & CB900 going around at the pace of a Kingswood", nobody had any traction & bugger all brakes, wheelstands & slides were the only way to get one around a track & showmanship (not showing off) was encouraged.
Just another small nail in racings' coffin.

Totally agree with you Bob about the lack of showmanship allowed. I was one trying to keep the show going over the last few year, but have given up on that now(time for new people I guess) , I've joined the silly old bastards ranks and look back at the Good Old days , and be thankful we lived our youth in less political correct days , not just in racing , but in all activities.

I love all sorts of motorcycle racing , but yes I have to admit the enjoyment factor has decreased as has the spectacle (only my opinion). Thank god for the internet , watched the FX-Superbikes from Aussie yesterday and while there was no one in the stands , the coverage was excellent.

[roogazza]

The fire went out of the racers bellies when we "agreed" to exchange prize money for TV coverage.

Yeah , what happened with that ? Nothing like a few bucks on the line, but besides that, the money kept me racing when on a budget with young family.Like $120 for a win, when a tyre was about $50 mates rates.
Do they get prize money nowdays ?? Like at points races ?

[slowpoke]

Political correctness is in part killing racing as a spectator sport.
I understand that Uber Chum, the German with the Kawasaki streetfighter & massive dreads in Pre '89 was stripped of his Pareoa winning points for doing a one handed wheelie.
That is the type of thing the crowds come to see, but the racing is being cleansed back to dead boring.
Would Uber Chum have done that if he didnt believe he was safe doing it?
Back in the days of the "GSX1100 & CB900 going around at the pace of a Kingswood", nobody had any traction & bugger all brakes, wheelstands & slides were the only way to get one around a track & showmanship (not showing off) was encouraged.
Just another small nail in racings' coffin.

Yeah, agreed mate. The lady Wigram event I attended a few years back was a refreshing change: we were actually encouraged to light it up and stick it on one wheel after the race, after all we were there to "put on a show" as much as race. There were more than a few smiles at the riders breifing when that was said. From memory Mark Butcher gave Andrew Stroud a good run for his money in the burnout stakes, lol.

Sorry, I meant no disrespect towards the old GSX1100/CB900 proddy bikes and have HUGE respect for the pilots, I only meant that cars goin' round back in the day don't look much different to what's circulating these days, whereas bikes in comparison are a helluva lot faster, angrier etc.

I dunno, I don't think anyone expects our sport to be transformed overnight, but it would be sad if everyone just gave up and accepted this is our lot. I don't know if car/bike meetings would work but what's the harm in trying? If someone like Choppa wants to run with it I don't see why we'd want to discourage him. If it falls flat what have we lost? In the meantime others can be working on incremental changes that add up over time (look how the Tri-Series has evolved in just a few years) and also make a difference. It doesn't have to be a one or t'other situation does it?

[sidecar bob]

Yeah , what happened with that ?

There will be a few people covering their faces, saying, oh fuck, dont start bob on that one.
I know exactly what happened & why, but its been covered elswhere, & the damage is done to the sport.

[Billy]

Yeah, agreed mate. The lady Wigram event I attended a few years back was a refreshing change: we were actually encouraged to light it up and stick it on one wheel after the race, after all we were there to "put on a show" as much as race. There were more than a few smiles at the riders breifing when that was said. From memory Mark Butcher gave Andrew Stroud a good run for his money in the burnout stakes, lol.

Sorry, I meant no disrespect towards the old GSX1100/CB900 proddy bikes and have HUGE respect for the pilots, I only meant that cars goin' round back in the day don't look much different to what's circulating these days, whereas bikes in comparison are a helluva lot faster, angrier etc.

I dunno, I don't think anyone expects our sport to be transformed overnight, but it would be sad if everyone just gave up and accepted this is our lot. I don't know if car/bike meetings would work but what's the harm in trying? If someone like Choppa wants to run with it I don't see why we'd want to discourage him. If it falls flat what have we lost? In the meantime others can be working on incremental changes that add up over time (look how the Tri-Series has evolved in just a few years) and also make a difference. It doesn't have to be a one or t'other situation does it?

Nobody will be discouraged by me as roadrace commissioner,As long as they understand it won't be for National points,By all means if the 600 and Supers guys want to go play with the cars,Theyre more than welcome,As long as they do it properly

[Billy]

There will be a few people covering their faces, saying, oh fuck, dont start bob on that one.
I know exactly what happened & why, but its been covered elswhere, & the damage is done to the sport.

By all means Bob,Lets talk about it,The prizemoney was used for television advertising and gave the board more leverage when requesting coverage,As time has gone by,The major channels have lost interest and when I took over and saw the costs involved,I decided we were throwing good money down the road,For not much return so decided to invest some of that money in Ctas and Ian Dawsons NZSBK site as I saw the internet and livetiming as the future and leave some with the clubs to organise some better local advertising,

To be honest,For prizemoney to be offered again,Entry fees would have to increase to pay for it,The reason being,In the time since the prizemoney was taken away,Costs such as track hire etc have risen significantly and entry fees have stayed reasonably low.

[ducatilover]

Obviously a bit late to answer this, but might as well.

I go to watch races because... it's racing. I don't care what classes are running, I just love watching people getting out there (seeing as I cannot afford to join). I like chatting to people in the pits, always learn something neat.
It's the same reason I'm a rally crew member, it's just awesome.
I often go alone because most of my mates aren't bike obsessed, so they get bored

[sidecar bob]

By all means Bob,Lets talk about it,The prizemoney was used for television advertising and gave the board more leverage when requesting coverage,As time has gone by,The major channels have lost interest and when I took over and saw the costs involved,I decided we were throwing good money down the road,For not much return so decided to invest some of that money in Ctas and Ian Dawsons NZSBK site as I saw the internet and livetiming as the future and leave some with the clubs to organise some better local advertising,

To be honest,For prizemoney to be offered again,Entry fees would have to increase to pay for it,The reason being,In the time since the prizemoney was taken away,Costs such as track hire etc have risen significantly and entry fees have stayed reasonably low.

So basically it went exactly as predicted. We took it up the arse for the TV company & they lost interest.
It didnt help that a person of power in the decision also held an interest in the TV company.
Its all aincent history now though & we are now left with what remains.
I wasnt a huge fan of keeping prize money for the sake of my wallett, but in fear of what has now happened.
Entry fees would only need to be increased because the gate take from spectators is virtually nil, due too the poor state of the "show" & people have so many other options for their entertainment dollar.
If entry fees go up, that will wipe out a proportion of competitors, & only make matters even worse. I know several that are feeling completely shafted by the costs of the next two national rounds, garages etc, & even if costs stay as they are, these people have already made other plans for their national money for next year, which dosent include bike racing at all. (Bear in mind you can get 5 nights for two on a tropical island for less than one national round)
I feel your decision to run with Ctas, etc has been bloody brilliant & a huge step in the right direction, however, with all respect to Ctas, I wonder how many people stay home now & log on to whats happening instead of actually turning up & paying, or if those "spectators would not actually go to the meeting anyway.

[gripper]

lose the sidechair thingies imo

[Billy]

So basically it went exactly as predicted. We took it up the arse for the TV company & they lost interest.
It didnt help that a person of power in the decision also held an interest in the TV company.
Its all aincent history now though & we are now left with what remains.
I wasnt a huge fan of keeping prize money for the sake of my wallett, but in fear of what has now happened.
Entry fees would only need to be increased because the gate take from spectators is virtually nil, due too the poor state of the "show" & people have so many other options for their entertainment dollar.
If entry fees go up, that will wipe out a proportion of competitors, & only make matters even worse. I know several that are feeling completely shafted by the costs of the next two national rounds, garages etc, & even if costs stay as they are, these people have already made other plans for their national money for next year, which dosent include bike racing at all. (Bear in mind you can get 5 nights for two on a tropical island for less than one national round)
I feel your decision to run with Ctas, etc has been bloody brilliant & a huge step in the right direction, however, with all respect to Ctas, I wonder how many people stay home now & log on to whats happening instead of actually turning up & paying, or if those "spectators would not actually go to the meeting anyway.

Not quite correct but close,The production company haven't turned their backs,Its the networks as they feel they get a better audience with other sports(Probably Golf and Croquet),TV 3 was a last minute thing rhis year and was organised by Paul Stewart.

Re Ctas and the spectators;

Yes I wondered the same thing when I fist came up with the idea,But it can also have the reverse effect in as,If you were watching the ChCh round at home in Timaru,It might enthuse those to go out to Levels the following weekend,Also MCI said it was the best year theyve had yet,I think all sports are suffering when it comes to getting people to their events and it doesn't help that most of ours are a good distance from the built up areas,People are naturally lazy and times have changed,Its much easier to get your jollies at home now on the internet(NO not just the porn sites) and we have to be able to change with the times,A classic example was mentioned in another thread last week re competitors getting their info from their local clubs at club nights,As opposed to visiting a member specific website for information or discussion of the important stuff,Yea....Its not 1970 anymore and people have got better things to do with their time than sit in a hall and have to listen to the minutes of the last meeting etc just to ask a couple of questions.

Another thing that I was warned a wee while ago would damage our sport is trackdays,As it has done overseas,For a couple of reasons,1/ Trackday companies do not have most of the costs involved in running a permitted event and they have a client base that doesn't spend every penny they earn on racing and can therefore afford to be at the track more regularly,This gives the track owners another client that they can use as a lever to raise track hire,2/ People who would have in the old days had a go at racing,Now just go and do trackdays,3/ No training or tutoring the rules or machine prep and maintenance required if they do decide to go racing,This includes the likes of CSS.

[sidecar bob]

lose the sidechair thingies imo

That would be a little more convincing if it came from an individual with a tad more than a year three education.

[Paul in NZ]

People are still interested in some things.

The Southwards open day last weekend was HUGE. People everywhere..... and they paid to get in....

Motorcycle racing might have to recognise that its not the main event anymore and build up a following by hanging onto the coat tails of something else. Look at the classic festival and burt munro - both offer more choices than just racing.

Find another event that needs an extra dimension and join with it.

[quickbuck]

Also, I think someone put a post up to watch the NZGP for Superbikes at 3 pm yesterday. Well sorry but less than 10 bikes, no crowds and no atmosphere does nothing for bike racing.

.

On that... I think there were more than 10 people in the crowd. In 2010 there was over 20000 ar Ruapuna.....
I think the TV Coverage ripped us off though. I mean on-board shots are really cool, but there were far too many! No offence to Choppa, Robbie, and co who carried the cameras...
The races were cut to peices, and to be brutally honest we got better coverage from CTAS and the steamed coverage on the day thanks to Grant Collingwood and his SINGLE camera!
Oh, and Spyda, you and Neil did a better job of the commentry than Phill too....

It is little wonder joe public don't take motorcycle racing seriously if one of our major TV Networks put up coverage like that....
Okay, I get that it is better than nothing... but come on! In this HD age we are better than that.

[Grumph]

Yeah, agreed mate. The lady Wigram event I attended a few years back was a refreshing change: we were actually encouraged to light it up and stick it on one wheel after the race, after all we were there to "put on a show" as much as race. There were more than a few smiles at the riders breifing when that was said. From memory Mark Butcher gave Andrew Stroud a good run for his money in the burnout stakes, lol.

Sorry, I meant no disrespect towards the old GSX1100/CB900 proddy bikes and have HUGE respect for the pilots, I only meant that cars goin' round back in the day don't look much different to what's circulating these days, whereas bikes in comparison are a helluva lot faster, angrier etc.

Only just seen this sorry...The last Lady wigram revival a few months back raised some questions. Yes we were told at briefing it's a demonstration not a serious race....then when the guy I was assisting who had been backing a big pre 82 into the hairpin ( and wheelieing out of there plus the dipper too ) lit it up at the hairpin post last race he got his hand smacked big time....at the car club's insistence !!

Do they or don't they want entertainment ? I've heard from several sources that the car club did a survey of spectators to work out what was popular - and at car bike meetings like this one, the bikes were VERY popular.

Sorry, Billy - this is a bit of a favorite rant of mine - the bloody fun's been taken out of racing....