Highlands Motorsport Park, the opening of a new race circuit

[Samwhk]

I certainly enjoyed the coverage, Bluespur is correct that it would've been better without the puff piece, but it's all got to be paid for.

Would love for the race to grow in stature, to enable full live coverage. Maybe a live stream next year could be an option.

[NZSTfan]

I enjoyed the coverage, and as soon as Mr Denyer popped on to the screen it was clear that this was not a tv3 production. So whatever the promoter wants to put in their telecast is up to them. The 'fluffy' piece about the drivers having a bit of fun was fine. It showed some of the things you can do in the area, and as others have pointed out, you gotta pay the bills.

10/10 as always to CRC...you guys do a great job

I noticed in the telecast they claimed some 25,000 spectators were there. Can anyone confirm that? great if it is true.

Some awesome in-car footage as well.

[The Realist]

I noticed in the telecast they claimed some 25,000 spectators were there. Can anyone confirm that? great if it is true.

12 to 15,000 over the weekend would be closer.

[Mark Petch]

Originally Posted by The Realist

I noticed in the telecast they claimed some 25,000 spectators were there. Can anyone confirm that? great if it is true.

12 to 15,000 over the weekend would be closer.

All motor racing promotors exaggerate crowd numbers, Highland's will be no different. From my own experience, 5,000 paying spectators a day would be a genuinely big day, particularly at $70 an adult ticket. Over two day at least 70% of the punters will be the same people that attended the previous, so that would equal 6,500 paying spectators at best.

If you count the same people twice thats 10,000, if you are like V8SC and you count them 3 times you could claim 15,000 people attended over 3 days.

I was not at Highlands for the 101 so am not in a position to be able to even estimate the crowd numbers, but personally if I were the promotor I would have been very happy with 5,000 genuine paying punters.

[socram]

Judging by the fleeting TV shots of the crowd, 25,000 looks optimistic even as Mark states, at 8,000 a day.

There appeared to be a fair few people on the grid walk but apart from those on the grassy bank, not many spots - which is what I was asking about earlier.

Is it a good venue for a paying spectatoror not? I suspect, NOT, but we are still waiting for a comment from someone who paid to be there.

[Bill Brown]

Originally Posted by Mark Petch

All motor racing promotors exaggerate crowd numbers, Highland's will be no different. From my own experience, 5,000 paying spectators a day would be a genuinely big day, particularly at $70 an adult ticket. Over two day at least 70% of the punters will be the same people that attended the previous, so that would equal 6,500 paying spectators at best.

If you count the same people twice thats 10,000, if you are like V8SC and you count them 3 times you could claim 15,000 people attended over 3 days.

I was not at Highlands for the 101 so am not in a position to be able to even estimate the crowd numbers, but personally if I were the promotor I would have been very happy with 5,000 genuine paying punters.

You are probably close with your figures Mark. "creative accounting"
You could easily generate big attendances by going this way.

3000 paying adults.

if kids are free add say an average of .5 per paying adult 1500.

Officials & competitors tickets which will include caterers, TV etc 1500.

Then you have the freebees for corporate sponsors etc 1500.

Multiply that by 3 days and you are nearly at the 25000 mark.

But of course this tactic can come back and bite you because when you are looking for funding which most circuits are doing all the time. The first question you are asked by your local councillor or who ever is " what did you do with all the money you made at the meeting i.e. 25000 x $70". The difference between attendance and paying spectators is not generally believed by most.

[NZSTfan]

Interesting conversation guys. From what I could see from the TV show, there was not even close to the stated figure there. I suppose both Mark and Bill's run-down of how these things are often exaggerated make sense, but Bill raises an excellent point regarding funding. Where did all that money go from the 25,000 people that turned up.......hmmmmm!

Having visited Highlands twice (not for race meetings, just for a quick looksee) I don't see it as a spectator friendly track. I see most people sit on the grass banks, which if the weather is fine and there is no Onehunga weed, then that would be nice. But if it had been raining, not so pleasant at all.

You would think that there are some excellent spots around the full track where temporary seated stands could be erected. If the event gets bigger (101), or they manage to secure an even bigger event, then one would think they would have to provide some extra seating around the track so that spectators get what they have paid for, and at different parts of the track. This is the one thing I like about some of our other tracks in NZ. HD has great viewing all over the place. Manfield can be seen from just about anywhere, and Levels has the wonderful grassy banks all around it. Taupo is also quite good, but it would be nice to see if somehow some infield areas could be organised. Ruapuna is also good, as is Teretonga.

[raymond]

Originally Posted by Mark Petch

All motor racing promotors exaggerate crowd numbers, Highland's will be no different. From my own experience, 5,000 paying spectators a day would be a genuinely big day, particularly at $70 an adult ticket. Over two day at least 70% of the punters will be the same people that attended the previous, so that would equal 6,500 paying spectators at best.

If you count the same people twice thats 10,000, if you are like V8SC and you count them 3 times you could claim 15,000 people attended over 3 days.

I was not at Highlands for the 101 so am not in a position to be able to even estimate the crowd numbers, but personally if I were the promotor I would have been very happy with 5,000 genuine paying punters.

Agree 100%

When I was on the Manfield Board, Rob Lester was always ensuring we quote real crowd figures...and as a consequence it looked as though our crowd figures at the big meetings were down compared to the other circuits. It even got to the extent where some members of the local council wanted a review because they thought there was something wrong with the circuit and/or it's operators. Shows the power that the media has, even when quoting inaccuracies

[socram]

Originally Posted by NZSTfan

You would think that there are some excellent spots around the full track where temporary seated stands could be erected. If the event gets bigger (101), or they manage to secure an even bigger event, then one would think they would have to provide some extra seating around the track so that spectators get what they have paid for, and at different parts of the track.

Good post. Maybe the problem with putting in extra spectator viewing is the requirement for the expensive and restrictive catch fencing?

Even temporary seating is expensive to hire and instal then cart away.

Where the track surface is below the spectator area, tall catch fencing isn't required, such as at much of Hampton Downs, where there are brilliant viewing spots for those keen on taking photographs but without the advantages of a media pass. I am happy enough taking it corner by corner but can see the attraction for spectators at Manfeild for example, or even Taupo where you do see the cars for more than 10% of the lap.

I still rave about Goodwood as the other amateur photographer friendly track. OK at some of these others if you have a telephoto lens the size of a small telegraph pole, but when you are confined to a tiny portion of the track, pics tend to be repetitive and I don't know of any photographer who is happy with a load of panned shots on a straight.

[RedZedMikey]

Originally Posted by NZSTfan

You would think that there are some excellent spots around the full track where temporary seated stands could be erected.

Originally Posted by Socram

Is it a good venue for a paying spectator or not? I suspect, NOT, but we are still waiting for a comment from someone who paid to be there.

Socram and NZSTfan, I went to the Highlands 101, both days, as a paying spectator. I was somewhat surprised that most spectators seemed content to stay by the straight in front of the museum. As a keen amateur photographer I always like to get around the whole track if possible, and get shots from various points.

Socram, I saw your earlier questions about photographic vantage points - asked the same questions, also for no reply. After viewing last year's race I expected to be disappointed with my viewing options, but am pleased to say that there are some good alternative spots, and am somewhat surprised that there weren't more people taking advantage of them.

Click this link to get a pdf of the circuit - the spectator areas are in orange; I visited all of them. http://www.highlands.co.nz/assets/Ev...ator-areas.pdf

Due to my pessimistic expectations I opted to pay the extra for the "Corporate Package" on the Saturday, which was described as having premium viewing. The Sunday corporates had already sold out when I bought my tickets, so I was limited to GA - but this turned out much better!

The "premium viewing" was a bit of a washout in my opinion. The extra $60 got me free museum entry (excellent museum!), free good quality food, a seating area to eat at and watch from - but photographically the "premium" viewing was limited to a roped off area which allowed me to take shots at the hairpin coming onto that short straight with a series of easy right handers in front of the main crowd. I did see a couple of people cross the ropes from the GA area without being challenged. I spent the day in this area, with a fair amount of time spent in the museum and merchandise shop. I would not pay for corporate again - sooner get the cheaper GA ticket, pay the $10 for museum entry, buy food or take my own, and wander round the circuit at my leisure. As it turned out most of my Saturday action shots were wasted due to me having an incorrect exposure setting, which was rectified overnight. This shot of Fitzy's R8 was taken from this premium viewing area.



Sunday brought a much better experience overall. There were free buses circulating pickup/drop off points around the circuit. I caught one of these behind the pits, and it took me to the first forest viewing point, which is the tight hairpin left hander. Limited photo ops due to catch fencing, but you can get them going into the corner with a long lens, or coming out of the corner with a shorter lens - the shot below of Lilley's Lambo was taken here.



From there it is a short walk to the other forest view, which is the higher speed l-o-o-n-g right hand loop. Once again, mucho catch fencing, but there are earth mounds here to stand on. Not a great spot - I didn't take anything worth while here and moved on quickly.

Back on the bus, and round to the viewing area along the long back straight. Good viewing here, and there is GA parking and admission nearby. You can see a fair bit of the circuit, and have cars travelling on 4 different areas in front of you. If there is a downside, on a sunny day, you would be shooting into the sun from mid-late afternoon. The shot below of the NZ Leitch Aston was taken here.



Stand towards the right hand end of this zone, and you can see the cars go past right to left in front of you, disappear into the forest, come back into view and into the tunnel.

From here I walked through the pits, around the back of the museum, and towards the viewing area in front of the go kart track. Some great viewing here with different angles and approaches. At the first area, you can see them coming off the overpass into a left hander almost directly toward you as in this shot:



Move a little to the right, and you have the cars coming out of the tunnel into a wide left hand 180° where a lot of slower cars tend to go wide and let the fast boys through ...



... and then a bit further right again to have the cars left to right reasonably close to you. There is no 8ft high catch fencing to impede photography in the area where these 3 shots were taken.



One last thing - the grid walk open to ALL spectators prior to the 101 was great; and after exiting the circuit, if you stayed in that corner of the viewing area you got interaction with the drivers while they waited to start the Le Mans style run. Richo looked a bit keener than Lowndesy!





For a visiting Aussie, the circuit's location was absolutely tops! I spent 8 days down there, and the roads were great for driving, with scenery to boot. I drove Queenstown - Te Anau - Milford Sound - Queenstown on one leg, and then QT - Fox + Franz Jozef Glaciers - QT on another. For the racing I based myself in Arrowtown (which I love) for 3 nights. The opportunity to "practice" the Crown Range Road here put a smile on my dial.
I didn't have long enough here to visit Dunedin or Invercargill, and I would like to travel Doubtful Sound having done Milford - so I guess in a year or 2 I will be back!

[RedZedMikey]

Originally Posted by socram

I still rave about Goodwood as the other amateur photographer friendly track.

Socram (Marcos?), if you ever get the opportunity to get to an event at Phillip Island or Bathurst here in Oz, both offer the amateur photographer some great spots to shoot at for those prepared to walk a bit further - and at Bathurst, climb a bit more!

The pics below were all taken with Fuji Finepix HS series compact cameras, with long optical zooms. Great value at $4-500 odd new for where something longer than 200mm focal length is required.

My Highlands shots were taken with the Canon 50d with 70-200mm lens I purchased 2nd hand just before the trip, and am still getting used to.



https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...83333470_o.jpg





But I still love a good panned side on shot

[socram]

Thanks very much for that redzedmikey. They are tremendously useful posts and I'll probably have to print out the HP one for future reference. It answered all the queries in one hit with excellent examples.

I hope others find it as useful.

Philip Island is on my "must do one day" list...

[NZSTfan]

Great post Redzed sounds like you made the most of your visit to NZ, and there are some great shots in your post above.

Very informative regarding spectator positions etc, so thank you for that.

On another note, if you get on the crown range, on a good day, with no camper vans, you can have a ball on that road (without breaking the speed limit of course). Last time I did it was in a hire car, and I cooked the brakes by the time I got to the bottom (QT end)....as they say, nothing goes like a rental.

There is also another great section of road which takes you from Cardrona in to QT. Once again, if the road is yours, and you stick to the speed limit, great fun as it winds down into the QT basin. I also enjoy the short run through the Kawerau Gorge, so long as Mr Plod in not waiting at the Roaring Meg

There are some great roads in NZ full stop, but my preference has always been some of the back roads in the North Island, particularly parts of SH32. SH43 is good if you've got the balls, so is SH49 and 47. My local 'Nurburgring' is Scenic drive in the Waitakere ranges. And being the owner of 2 Group N factory rally cars (Subaru's), we can spend hours "bedding in our new brakes officer" as the narrow road winds its way through beautiful native forest....but look out for cyclists.

Hope you come back to NZ and explore this wonderful country of ours.

Thanks again mate

Stu

[RedZedMikey]

Originally Posted by NZSTfan

Hope you come back to NZ and explore this wonderful country of ours.
Stu

Thanks for the comments Stu and socram.
Not if, but when I come back, it will be my 4th visit .
I was in a hire car for the Crown Range and all the other driving and made the most of it . Made sure it was a manual, even if it was only a Focus. Would absolutely love to come back bringing RedZed as well as Mikey!

[NZSTfan]

yeah you gotta have the manual. Although in saying that I have been getting the new Toyota Corolla with 7 speed CVT, and man those things can move (for what they are), and they have this fake 'sequential' shift that is around the wrong way (up to go up the gears and down to go down), which I know makes sense to a lot of people, but I have never seen a sequential box where that is the direction of throw.

Even modern DSG's are the wrong way around (except for the Evo 10 that I know of).

I have asked an engineer friend if it would be possible to re-arrange a DSG or CVT gear lever so that it could give you the feel of a proper sequential. He reckons its possible as its just connected to switches. Food for thought seeing as the manual may become a thing of the past

[Samwhk]

My VE SS ute has the tiptronic throw the 'right way' round. Well, as right as an auto can go. I miss my manual

[E36ST]

Speaking of the Crown Range Rd, check out this video of a Porsche GT3 Cup car from the recent Targa doing the fastest stage time of the event...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZbPe6PzeQw

[HProject]

I also play around on Scenic Drive from time to time in the wee Swift...

Anyway. Bit late, but here's a few of my snaps from Highlands. My my it's an incredible track for photography.



















I have plenty more shots if anyone's interested.

For the record (considering RedZed's post), I had media accreditation for the event. Shooting there is unlike shooting at any other track in NZ. I remember describing it as feeling like I was shooting in Europe. The open and picturesque nature of it all is fantastic, and therapeutic as a photographer having to deal with the tedium of Pukekohe and Hampton Downs all the time.

I still think that the track itself is more style over substance, but I'll certainly be back next year.

[socram]

Great stuff!

So maybe there is an opportunity for a limited number of photographer's passes for those without full media accreditation? They could still sign the same disclaimer, bound by a set of rules, and would have to wear orange high viz tabards (NOT yellow - they could be confusing to drivers) with a visible pass so that marshals could easily identify the genuine ones from a distance. As anyone can walk into and safety-wear shop and walk out with a fluro jacket, there needs to be some control.

There are meetings like this (and one or two others) where I'd seriously consider attending if they were more photographer friendly.

[RedZedMikey]

Excellent photos HP - consider me to be asking the same question as socram ... re access.

[HProject]

Originally Posted by socram

Great stuff!

So maybe there is an opportunity for a limited number of photographer's passes for those without full media accreditation? They could still sign the same disclaimer, bound by a set of rules, and would have to wear orange high viz tabards (NOT yellow - they could be confusing to drivers) with a visible pass so that marshals could easily identify the genuine ones from a distance. As anyone can walk into and safety-wear shop and walk out with a fluro jacket, there needs to be some control.

There are meetings like this (and one or two others) where I'd seriously consider attending if they were more photographer friendly.

Originally Posted by RedZedMikey

Excellent photos HP - consider me to be asking the same question as socram ... re access.

Sorry for the late reply guys

I guess the thought which has to be taken into consideration is - what would an organisation like Australian GT(or indeed any top tier form of motorsport) gain from adding more photographers to the mix? I suppose you could argue that profits would increase via the sales of the extra passes, but chances are that the logistics of organising bespoke passes for these photographers, vests (Highlands have their own which they distribute, in a gorgeous pink), and informing all the marshalls about these extra photographers wouldn't be worth their effort.

I guess another factor is that selling those kinds of passes openly to the public raises the issue of whether those buying them are able to act professionally at the meeting. I'm sure you guys wouldn't be an issue since you both know motorsport events, how they work and what not to do when you're there. But what would stop Joe Bloggs who's never attended a race meeting as anything other than a spectator buying a pass?

The best course of action, as harsh as it sounds, is probably getting outright accreditation. I wouldn't despair for Highlands, as getting media accreditation for the 101 is probably easier than getting it for the NZV8's or NZST's - tie yourself in with an outlet and you're pretty much away.

Sadly I think the days of the casual photographer are coming to an end for motorsport. That's one of the main reasons that I'm going to try and nab media for next year's Bathurst 1000. Thankfully a lot of club events are welcoming of up and coming photographers and happy to grant access to their events.

A few more photos for good measure:

[RedZedMikey]

Thanks for that HP. I understand and agree with all you say - years ago I actually had a media pass for drag racing in West Aussie as the photog for a magazine, so at least I have been able to experience life on the best side of the spectator fence

[socram]

Yup, good post HP.

I have had media accreditation for the Goodwood Festival, but although it got me access to the media building and closer car parking, it didn't cover a photographer's tabard! Same applied to a lesser extent at the Goodwood Revivals where at least I got paddock access.

Sadly, a couple of magazines I used to freelance for are no longer around so a full media accreditation isn't justified. At local events I usually know the organisers well enough to be able to sign the media disclaimer, but have never really used that to get to other spots on the track, as wherever possible, I prefer to be able to take decent photographs from spectator areas.

As far as I am concerned, the pics I take will always be a better memory of an event than the racing itself and is one of the reasons that the GT field at Highland Park was a far more attractive proposition than a load of utes and Falcodores or Suzuki Swifts.

[promax]

Enzed Highlands Festival of Speed - Friday Highlights

[on_to_it]

Originally Posted by promax

Enzed Highlands Festival of Speed - Friday Highlights

That was well worth a look; a very professional package. Thanks.