Silverstone Classic 2009 - if you could change one thing

[LYNX]

If I could change one thing next year - it would be the Welcome Centre. Have staff who can put names in alphabetical order. Toilets that are unlocked. Staff to point you in the right direction.

[Mark Griffiths]

If we must have Goodwood style paddocks (no problem with that) then we need infield parking for motorhomes and access to trailers.

[compte deGraves]

"If I could change one thing next year" - Give the organisation to the Oldtimer Grand Prix organisers from Nurburgring (to include the hospitality tent for drivers and mechanics!).

[Steve Wilkinson]

Ensure ALL the grandstands are open on all three days.

[terence]

Have a week long event,Oh,and run by Masters.

[johngee]

Originally Posted by terence bower

Have a week long event,Oh,and run by Masters.

What, so you can drive the safety car?

[terence]

Originally Posted by johngee

What, so you can drive the safety car?

Ah, Had'nt thought of that.

[LYNX]

Originally Posted by terence bower

Have a week long event,Oh,and run by Masters.

Couldn't afford their entrance fees!

[johngee]

Originally Posted by LYNX

Couldn't afford their entrance fees!

....but you get your own Clerk of the Course as a free gift!

[john ruston]

The only way it can be put together is get all the Major organisers together and they organise their normal races.Funniest idea so far is Masters to run all the races.Certain races would be better split into 2x 35 mins.Less of the Post 66 F1 races although keep them in.A way must be found to keep cars in paddock on Sunday .Keep the back of Pit area as it was this time.You could run a 5 hr race as Spa on Saturday night.Cant see where the 90's Touring cars are comming from.All GC cars to be housed on the road back from Copse on there own.I'll think about it!

[terence]

Originally Posted by john ruston

The only way it can be put together is get all the Major organisers together and they organise their normal races.Funniest idea so far is Masters to run all the races.Certain races would be better split into 2x 35 mins.Less of the Post 66 F1 races although keep them in.A way must be found to keep cars in paddock on Sunday .Keep the back of Pit area as it was this time.You could run a 5 hr race as Spa on Saturday night.Cant see where the 90's Touring cars are comming from.All GC cars to be housed on the road back from Copse on there own.I'll think about it!

Was'nt supposed to raise a laugh John,I meant it.
Some of the other ideas are OK though,I do think that 90s BTCC would go down well especially if the original drivers were in there.The only way to keep the cars in the paddock is to give the owners a reason to stay, plus of course,some will have a long journey in front of them before work in the morning.

[delta]

Sorry everyone but i was very happy with it all in 2008.If the Delta team get the same treatment next year i will be very happy. We did have a small prob when the van was towed away but that was soon sorted .O yes one small thing they can invite and have a race for the Historic FF2000.

[compte deGraves]

Originally Posted by delta

Sorry everyone but i was very happy with it all in 2008.If the Delta team get the same treatment next year i will be very happy. We did have a small prob when the van was towed away but that was soon sorted .O yes one small thing they can invite and have a race for the Historic FF2000.

Delta, you were not very happy on Thursday when you spent 2 hours trying to find a pair of XXXXXL overall for the fat Count - and all because the scrutineers improperly confiscated his own overalls. BUT seriously how is it that the German organisers can lay on breakfast lunch and dinner for the drivers and mechanics for free (over three days!), entry fees for spectators and competitors are less and the stands are full to capacity? The hotelier I stay with says they make more money at the time of the Oldtimers than at any other time (other than F1 when it ran at Nurburgring).

[terence]

Originally Posted by compte deGraves

Delta, you were not very happy on Thursday when you spent 2 hours trying to find a pair of XXXXXL overall for the fat Count - and all because the scrutineers improperly confiscated his own overalls. BUT seriously how is it that the German organisers can lay on breakfast lunch and dinner for the drivers and mechanics for free (over three days!), entry fees for spectators and competitors are less and the stands are full to capacity? The hotelier I stay with says they make more money at the time of the Oldtimers than at any other time (other than F1 when it ran at Nurburgring).

Just one of those very British mysteries ,something I've often wondered about !!!

[terence]

I should point out that my previous comment was not aimed at Roger Ectell's team,as Mr Will's has said,considering the relatively short space of time,they did an excellent job at organising the actual event.I still think it would be even better with Masters organising the racing though.

[Belmondo]

- Replace "spectator viewing areas" out on GP circuit (slag piles) with grass banks.

- Revert to original Stowe, bottom straight & Club (still used in early Christies meetings). Becketts is a mess, get rid of it. Also the Complex –*awful.

- Remove a few thousand miles of chicken-wire fence from paddock.

- Move track 50-100 yards nearer spectators.

- Nothing post-1975.

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by compte deGraves

... BUT seriously how is it that the German organisers can lay on breakfast lunch and dinner for the drivers and mechanics for free (over three days!), entry fees for spectators and competitors are less and the stands are full to capacity? The hotelier I stay with says they make more money at the time of the Oldtimers than at any other time (other than F1 when it ran at Nurburgring).

The answer is simple, the marketing concept is "set the price low and the spectators will come" thus you actually pull in more money at the gate as a consequence. There were "over 700 entries" at Silverstone according to the commentators and with a bit more imagination that figure could be increased! So the entry fees could be reduced as well.

As for the free food etc that is just down to superb German organisation and a little thought for the events customers (i.e. the competitors) and marshals who give of their time. Again costs need not be huge and the effect of such a gesture is that the marshals and competitors will keep coming back.

Thinking back I was amazed that big chunks of the central paddock area were devoted to "hostility" which I thought should have been a more peripheral activity.

I also agree with one of the earlier contributors that signage in the paddock was poor bordering on none existant.

[Mark Griffiths]

"Five Hours of Silverstone"- now that's a good idea.

[mattt]

Have marshal sign on in the paddock bar
Allow some marshals car parking on the inside

[chunder]

Reduce the ticket prices

I know I harped on about it, but put simply it cost them over a ton on the day as we would ahve come along and spent money on prgos, food etc. But would simply not pay those prices on the day.

In future clearly will check advance, but as a last minute thing, never again.

[John Turner]

Why have we started to have a go at the organisers? Is that really the one thing you would change? According to the programme, Motion Works UK Ltd were both the event organisers and promotors. In respect of the latter aspect, they did a great job and the substantial increase in punters would seem to bear that out. With input I'm sure from the HSCC and Masters regarding race content, I'm not sure what the issue is. Much better to influence the existing set up than change it. Our views/feedback and those of others were noted last year and some changes were made. Similarly, I KNOW what we have said on the main thread this year has been viewed and noted. We may not get everything we want but then we are but one sector of the target audience!

If I could change one thing, it would be dispense with the Porsche races.

I rather like JR's idea of a longer race although 5 hours might be a bit steep. A 4 hour race from 7.00pm would be good, but we'd need to make sure that the marshals had plenty of breaks. However, I wonder whether the Snetterton 3 hour meeting might not be a better event to develop into a full blown 'enduro' weekend.

[LYNX]

I started the thread so that people who had something constructive to say could put it in one place. I think Motion Works , given only six months to plan, have got off to a better than expected start. So, lets post the issues that have caused a problem for us or someone we know and just maybe it will be taken on-board and at least considered by the organisers.

[Rob29]

Hold it at a more spectator friendly venue.

[john ruston]

The Silverstone Event organised by Motion Works put The Silverstone Festival back into No1 position as far as UK Historic Motor Racing is concerned
so no change needed there.

To promote a Festival you need all forms of Racing from 20's thru to 90's

To do this you need all the various organisations,HSCC,Ragbags FJ,Duncans Legends and Masters etc so the idea that Ron and his crew take overall charge is nonsense as he has many opportunities during the season to run Masters Monopoly Days and Weekends

The length of races should be thought through with longer and shorter races being considered,depending on type of car

Sunday Paddock needs to be kept full if you are serious in considering spectators

Costs should be compared with other major sports events and will seen to be reasonable

Several of the problems spelt out by competitors seem to be trivial and shows that some of the people involved are experts in navel gazing

Certainly the Festival this year was superior to the previous two Oldtimers

Who pays for these old Drivers to come out and race the 90's Saloons and where do the cars come from?

Idea

5X Single Seater Races(inc Masters)

1x Group C

1x Pre 50 Sports Car(2X 35 min Heats)

1x Pre 60 Sports Car(2X 35 min Heats)

1x Pre 72 Sports Car

3x Masters Races for Sports cars inc Gents Drivers

Pre 68 4 hr Race organised by Graham White's Gang

No one Marque Races

All in all it was a superb weekend and needs to be massaged in certain areas

The crap that the marshals have to put up with needs to be addressed under another Heading as there is obviously a shortage of marshals for all events and there must be an underlying reason

Paddock needs further cleaning out and the Punters given an idea where they can find various cars they are hunting for.I had no idea where certain cars were.

Make it Four Days and forget about Test days and race on Friday as two years ago

Change commentators

[KA]

Originally Posted by john ruston

Who pays for these old Drivers to come out and race the 90's Saloons and where do the cars come from?

To be honest John, finding the cars might not actually be that much of a problem as there seem to be a fair number of 90's touring cars still active in club racing, (although some of them aren't in 100% original spec or liveries...) A quick look at the website for the LMA Euro Saloons series shows something like 10 90's Supertouring cars registered this year for that series alone. To be honest, as much as I'd enjoy seeing a good grid of them, that's the real issue to me- I don't think it's really time just yet to be seeing them at historic meetings given the quantity of them still around in 'modern' racing.

I think it's time will come, it's just a bit premature right now, and we run the risk of ending up with something that looks more like a modern club saloon race than a feature of a major historic meeting

Now a grid of original 80's Group A cars, is a different thing entirely- but probably much harder to put together....