Quote:
Originally Posted by Rodger Davies
I certainly see your point and I'm certainly overplaying it because it's a personal bugbear, but at the same time dismissing it completely is not right either. Like it or not, the series is trying to maintain a perception and part of that perception is a popularity. Formula 1 can justifiably claim people want to go to see it and part of that is because other people want to go see it.
We've effectively been told (and I'm happy they admitted it) that choosing tracks suitable for VIPs is more important than choosing tracks for the general public or for the racing, but do you not think some of those Corporate Hospitality guests must look out at the empty stands and wonder why it's not more popular. Or watching races on TV, there's little saying "this is popular" when all the shots you see are clearly unpopulated by people.
A lot of photographers include the crowd in their shots where possible and it really helps to capture an event's atmosphere and makes it more appealing, more desirable, more marketing-friendly.
Having an event 'seem' successful is just as important as having an event that is successful, when people not present at it are one of, if not the, key audience.
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Unfortunately for WEC to survive in its current state (which is big LMP-H with advance hybrid systems), those VIPs are important. Fortunately for Silverstone, the VIPs will be looking out from the new building at a pretty full grandstand. Even in the ILMC days, that grandstand at the new start line was actually pretty full. Ok there was empty ones down at Stowe, but that isn't relevant if we're talking about VIPs looking out of the hospitality suite.
In this regard, you might as well take WEC to Knockhill. It has a grandstand. Well, it's a shed, but if you take the family it'll look full. And a shorter circuit means less area to fill around it, therefore less people looks like a lot more!
Whilst it is depressing that the series has to cater for VIPs more than others, I also don't see why that's a particularly bad thing for Silverstone. Like you, I miss Bridge and Abbey, but I cannot deny how utterly epic the ELMS and WEC events were this year. And even if you ignore that and want to chose other circuits, I don't really think that anything else in the UK is good enough to host an event. Donington is probably closest, but I'd still take Silverstone over that.