[WEC] Silverstone WEC 2012

[Aysedasi]

We clearly need merguez!

[wedge]

I've been going to the UK round of ELMS/LMS/ALMS for several years.

Apart from 2008, I arrive at about 1130 and I thought there was a larger crowd than last year as I parked near the end of the gravel car park, whereas last year I parked far further up.

Main pit straight grandstand stayed pretty full.

Atmosphere? Each to their own. Lots of people looked hooked up with earphones; a lot seemed genuinely interested in the race; past 4pm the car park still looked full compared to last year or 2008.

However: seemed I was the only guy with an Audi flag (I actually drive a Toyota Celica but my dad has driven Audi ever since the Quattro came out and fallen for its history and motorsport activity since BTCC); Luffield terrace not as full as in previous years.

Main gripes: access to Wing/paddock, fan zone feels too small/claustrophic.

Roll on 2013.

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by wedge

I've been going to the UK round of ELMS/LMS/ALMS for several years.

Apart from 2008, I arrive at about 1130 and I thought there was a larger crowd than last year as I parked near the end of the gravel car park, whereas last year I parked far further up.

Main pit straight grandstand stayed pretty full.

Atmosphere? Each to their own. Lots of people looked hooked up with earphones; a lot seemed genuinely interested in the race; past 4pm the car park still looked full compared to last year or 2008.

However: seemed I was the only guy with an Audi flag (I actually drive a Toyota Celica but my dad has driven Audi ever since the Quattro came out and fallen for its history and motorsport activity since BTCC); Luffield terrace not as full as in previous years.

Main gripes: access to Wing/paddock, fan zone feels too small/claustrophic.

Roll on 2013.

Whats the fan zone?

[Tim the Grey]

They had a few bits n bobs for 'family entertainment', such as dodgems, Audi R18 stand, and a few Astons, plus WEC tent that was handing out a few freebies...

I was there Saturday. It rained. I had fun. You make yer own entertainment under grandstands, eh, Ayse?? (Good to see you guys, btw!)

Silverstone is HUGE. It can make 150K at a WSRenault day seem to disappear!

Yes, it IS an unconscionable(?) long way from the gate to The Wing. I believe there are plans for a bridge, or tunnel. I have NO idea where either would go. The Wing fills the old Club to Abbey straight, and at either end you have a MAHOOSSIVE area to cross. So I don't know how they can do it. The courtesy buses are a GOOD thing, but wouldn't be required if they applied some thought?

But at least you can still get fence free shots if you know where to go...

[Sodemo]

The lack of a tunnel or bridge is just mind boggling. Having said that, if the damned run-offs weren't so big then the required bridge would be much shorter. The only thing I could think of would be if a bridge was placed near the first corner, its still quite narrow there.

[GT6]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

We clearly need merguez!

No we do not, I agree the food in france is better but why would you want the worse thing they do to silverstone, now grand marnier crepes that would be better.

[The Badger]

Ill settle for a good old fashioned sausage in a bap ..... before one of those little red things , but I do kinda like'em too .

[Mike_Wooshy]

Just a quick thing on Devine Outlets, They are part of the SFC group in Gloucester. Maybe an email to them saying how poor the service was, might help bring improvements. Web site here
Silverstone is a very big place and many thousands of people can seem "lost" there.
The parking always boggles me as there seems to be no thought process sometimes.
Also every year the ELMS/LMS (Not the ALMS at Silverstone as mentioned earlier) has been to Silverstone, it has been one of the most attended events on the calender. (Expect the obvious exeptions IE Sebring, Petit and the big one itself) There have always been more people attending, than say at Spa, Monza Or Nurburgring. So I cant see what the criticisms is all about. Didnt go this year due to other commitments, I heard rumours a few years ago the Silverstone event was going to be 1000 mile race (like Petit and Mil Milhas), But 12 hours is good too.

[chunder]

There absolutely HAS to be some sort of access from old Abbey area to the Wing, OK it will need to be heavily staffed during big meetings to prevent the wrong people going over, but this is not hard to do.

For something like a Friday at most big meetings they can police the F1 paddock gates to prevent the normal people going in surely?

Having to walk all the way to the bus park, then wait for a bus, to find it is a media bus, wait a bit more!

Stupid and a total farce really, I dont mind the layout, but this lack of walking access from the start/finish area to the Wing is incredulous!

[Sodemo]

They could just do what they do at Oulton Park and other tracks and let people walk over the track when no cars are running.

On the food, I think I had a divine burger at Brands Hatch earlier this year. I actually took the burger back because the thing was red in the middle, they gave me an odd look like "what was I complaining about", and they reluctantly splatted another burger onto the stale bread. That second burger was actually better than the first.

[Graham Goodwin]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

1 Audi slams into the side of Krohn Ferrari taking the Krohn car off the circuit and Audi undamaged: JH: "uh, uh, that's an unfortunate incident"

7 Toyota with KN aboard avoids slamming into the rear of the Aston Martin GT coming out of club by running wide off the circuit and going around it, making the exact same move Audi did at LM in 2011 (except audi gained a position by overtaking the Pug). JH: "HE SHOULD BE PENALISED FOR THAT! He gained an adavantage"


.

Wrong - and Wrong!

Having had an opportunity to look back at the tapes - This is actually what John said:

'Ben's treading a very line there...(of the Mucke incident)

"Ben pulled straight into the side of him ....the stewards will be looking at both those incidents

"Tracey Krohn was completely blameless...absolutely nowhere to go.
Treluyer was just not looking in his mirrors, that's just nonsense!
He pulled out without looking"

After the stint finished Nick interviewed Ben and Ben gave his side, John said 'I don't think I agree with that'.

And on the subject of the Toyota running wide John said:

"'That was gaining an advantage. He's got to be pinged for that".

The word 'pinged' had been used unnumerable times over the weekend to denote a warning for just about every car on the grid - It does not, and he did not mean - Penalize the Toyota.

The boys then had a conversation about why he went 3 full car widths off the track and it was agreed he was avoiding the GT car ahead of him because he didn't want to lift.

Opinion is a massive part of what makes watching sport entertaining, but misquoting somebody to back up an incorrect assumption is a bit off mate! Feel free to disagree but what I have written above is exactly what was said at the time of the incidents you describe. Please don't go looking for bias where none exists.

[Graham Goodwin]

Originally Posted by Mike_Wooshy

Just a quick thing on Devine Outlets, They are part of the SFC group in Gloucester. Maybe an email to them saying how poor the service was, might help bring improvements. Web site here
.

I agree 100% - And I'd copy Silverstone's MD in too - If it isn't good enough then tell someone who's in a position to do something about it.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by GT6

No we do not, I agree the food in france is better but why would you want the worse thing they do to silverstone, now grand marnier crepes that would be better.

Man, I could have killed all weekend for a sandwich Americaine merguez.........

[Adam43]

Just started watching the race. I wish MotorsTV was HD
Exciting start made up for the Stingray bit and odd background music for the green flag lap

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Peat

Another thing that razzed me off this weekend was that the friends i took had to pay through the nose to get in. I had booked beforehand and used the radiolemans/travel destinations discount so had the weekend ticket for £32 delivered.

When we arrived on Saturday. My friends were told that weekend tickets were not available and that the two days had to be purchased separately. That amounted to £50 in the end. (not even the price advertised on the website...) If you are in the market for a weekend ticket, that means your are at least keen - talk about * on your own doorstep.

This was bad and I heard the same story from various sources. No weekend tickets available and not possible to buy any ticket in advance on the gate, so if you came on Friday or Saturday, you couldn't buy a Sunday ticket. OK, it doesn't deter the experienced - I also bought mine with the discount - but if occasional less committed visitors get stung like this, the short answer is that they just won't come back.....

[Bentley03]

A little bit late on parade here and much of what I have to say has been said already, but……

Excellent weekend!

Great company (thank you Ayse, Tony, Paul, Ian, Tim, Graham, Hugh and Andy), great food (away from the circuit ) and an incredible 3 days on track.

Good to see Simon on Sunday morning, but sorry not to have bumped into Rob.

Let me echo the sentiments of the majority regarding Divine Burger. There is presumably some wording in their contract with Silverstone regarding the quality of the fare they sell? I trust those responsible for awarding that contract will make sure Divine Burger address the unacceptable levels to which their food has fallen. In addition to addressing the well documented shortfalls in the quality of the cooked food they serve, I would also suggest they ask Divine Burger to keep any chocolate they plan to sell in the fridges The Snickers bar I purchased had clearly melted and reset several times whilst in the incapable hands of Divine Burger. On a positive note, the chips, coffee and hot chocolate, whilst unremarkable, were all fine.

And - as unacceptable as the cooked food served by Divine Burger (in fact, even more so), is the lack of a bridge or tunnel traversing the track on the pit straight. It should have been the first facility built on the new pit straight, not the last. Incredibly frustrating!

Fortunately, the on track action was sublime. I enjoyed what I saw of the the 'Formule Renault 3.5' action. Properly quick single seaters which sounded generally quite good, although they did make some very strange noises from time to time. And, I thought the CER race was also thoroughly entertaining, more so than I'd anticipated. Good choice of 'undercard' for the meeting.

Concerns regarding grid size for the main event were, in my opinion, unfounded. Thoroughly entertaining practice/qualifying/race in every class and in every session. But, it was Toyota who stole the show, both on and off the track, and it was the Audi/Toyota battle that held my attention throughout the race.

I should also mention Radio Le Mans, because although I haven’t quite worked out why, I thought their coverage of the race was particularly good this year. I suspect it was because there was more focus on what was happening on track. Thank you and well done guys!

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

This was bad and I heard the same story from various sources.....

......including one of Tony's friends who joined us both days. Totally out of order, in my opinion, especially if they're going to advertise 'Weekend Ticket' as an option at the ticket booths at the circuit.

And while we're having a good moan, I would reinforce what has been said already regarding access only being available to selected grandstands.

Thinking about it, I believe the ACO 'hire' Silverstone for the event. So, is it down to Silverstone or the ACO that many of the grandstands remained closed over the weekend?

[TheNewBob]

Originally Posted by Bentley03

Let me echo the sentiments of the majority regarding Divine Burger. There is presumably some wording in their contract with Silverstone regarding the quality of the fare they sell? I trust those responsible for awarding that contract will make sure Divine Burger address the unacceptable levels to which their food has fallen. In addition to addressing the well documented shortfalls in the quality of the cooked food they serve, I would also suggest they ask Divine Burger to keep any chocolate they plan to sell in the fridges The Snickers bar I purchased had clearly melted and reset several times whilst in the incapable hands of Divine Burger. On a positive note, the chips, coffee and hot chocolate, whilst unremarkable, were all fine

I suspect we'll have to wait until there are reports of people becoming ill from the purchase of their food before anything is done about it.

I used to buy from those stands when they first appeared, the standards were indeed better a few years ago, but nowadays I bring my own food. The last few times I bought any food from there, it didn't just look and taste bad, it was also nearly cold too.

That and the new paddock access is also my only issue with the weekend, with the possible addition of the quiet PA speakers. Great entertainment, nice to see a great crowd there, and Sunday was a really pleasant day. I surprisingly enjoyed the Renault 3.5 guys, I don't usually enjoy single seaters but these guys were great fun - particularly in the wet on Saturday!

My girlfriend also got her first taste of endurance racing at this event, having previously been just an F1 fan. Glad to say she really enjoyed it and can't wait for more next year!

[GT6]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Man, I could have killed all weekend for a sandwich Americaine merguez.........

Well I am glad they were not available numbers attending this year were down and if those horrid things had put paid to more people then next year they would have been even less. Surely silverstone could get an english sausage company to run a few stands with decent bangers rather than the fatty tubes on offer from devine burgers, come on this is a chance for english foods to show off

[CTD]

Originally Posted by GT6

Well I am glad they were not available numbers attending this year were down and if those horrid things had put paid to more people then next year they would have been even less. Surely silverstone could get an english sausage company to run a few stands with decent bangers rather than the fatty tubes on offer from devine burgers, come on this is a chance for english foods to show off

Surelly Fish'n'chips must be avalible some where at the circut

[GT6]

Originally Posted by CTD

Surelly Fish'n'chips must be avalible some where at the circut

No as far as I could find the only hot food was provided by Devine and therefore you had a choice of carpet burger or what they labelled as sausage (another misrepresentation) plus chips

[Aysedasi]

There was 'hog roast' at just one DB outlet behind the old start/finish straight - where there were precious few spectators all weekend,,,,,

[Peat]

Right, i have had enough of impotently venting on a forum. Below, is a drafted letter to Silverstone/BRDC:

Dear Mr. Pringle,

Apologies if this is landing upon the wrong desk, but please could you see that it reaches the appropriate eyes.

Having thoroughly enjoyed the WEC Silverstone 6hr meeting this past weekend, reflections have been made. Regrettably, away from the racing, it is littered with nagging annoyances from the venue that, to less of a ‘hardcore’ devote of the sport could be the difference between returning or not returning.

My first gripe is with the ticketing. I bought my own weekend ticket ahead of time but some of the group I was with did not. When we got there, Weekend tickets were advertised at the booth as £40.00. When we went to buy some, we were told that weekend tickets were ‘unavailable’ and only tickets for that day could be purchased. That meant that we had to buy a Saturday entrance (£20) & a Sunday Entrance on Sunday (£30). The Silverstone website had advertised weekend tickets for £35.00, which is what i had quoted to my friends. I felt deeply embarrassed that they had to fork out a notional £15 each before we’d even seen a racing car! Judging by the attendance, the weekend passes were certainly not sold out, so why were they not available as advertised?

Secondly, the ticket I had purchased said ‘Roving Grandstand Ticket’. In reality, i counted all of 5 grandstands that were actually open over the weekend. Now, I understand that you are obligated to provide spectator stewards and subsequent litter-picking/cleaning for each grandstand that would have made it economically unfeasible to open all of them. However, I feel that spectators were robbed of several good vantage points of the circuit - such as Stowe & Becketts, 2 of the more impressive sights. What was more surprising however, was to find that some of the accompanying toilets were also locked. Something of a grievance to the female members in the group.

The next sting came when we got hungry. It is my understanding that Silverstone has some kind of exclusivity deal with SFC Group (Divine Burger) to cater at events. I am assuming that the tender for renewal of this contract isn’t due for a while as the standard of food was significantly lower than previous visits. I certainly expect more than a luke-warm, dry burger with a slice of sweaty cheese served between 2 bits of also dry, bordering on stale infact, bread for £6.50. Not my definition of ‘Divine’. We didn’t make the same mistake on Sunday and brought food in with us. One saving grace for your vendors though - at least the beer was cold!

My final annoyance is more of a general one than event specific and one that I’m sure has been raised before, is that of getting to ‘The Wing’. To make the trip (200 yards as the crow flies from the International Straight Grandstand) is a considerable investment of time either way you look at it. I tried the shuttle bus over the weekend, but found the time saving negligible from that of walking once waiting for the appropriate bus (having been turned away from the empty media/VIP shuttle that was due to depart) had been factored in. At least on foot, you can still spectate along the way. I cannot understand how the provision of a bridge or tunnel was overlooked before groundwork began. That is of course assuming that you actually want to engage the great unwashed in that area and not keep them at an arm’s length.....

So, all in all, an unsavoury experience that detracted from what was a weekend of excellent motorsport. These may seem like nit-picky little issues, but added together really put a dampener on the experience. Silverstone boasts of itself as a world-class venue. Sadly, very little of what i saw last weekend convinced me of that.

Yours disappointed,

Currently, it's addressed to Stuart Pringle of teh BRDC, is there someone more appropriate you can think of?

I also plan on copying ACO, SFC and Radio Le Mans in.

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Peat

Right, i have had enough of impotently venting on a forum. Below, is a drafted letter to Silverstone/BRDC:



Currently, it's addressed to Stuart Pringle of teh BRDC, is there someone more appropriate you can think of?

I also plan on copying ACO, SFC and Radio Le Mans in.

I'm writing to Silverstone too I think, although this letter covers a lot of my points. I'm not 100% sure on this, but given the information on the site, and the ticket information at the track, failing to sell weekend tickets is actually illegal and I think it's within our consumer rights to get the money back. I think! Before we write it may be a good idea to check up on this.

The question I really want to ask Silverstone, is how many disgruntled fans does it take for things to change? I've never been inclined to write to any other circuit in the country to complain, and there won't be a single circuit on the F1 calendar to send so many fans home unhappy and miserable. Donnington deserved the Grand Prix, in my opinion.

I think copying the above organisations into the email would be great.

[Peat]

I'm certainly not going to try and get anyone's money back, but if my understanding of contract law is right, advertising a product and price is classed as 'Invitation to treat' and they are thus obligated to provide it.