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The rather pathetic 2002 calendar was sold to us, the endurance audience, and I suppose to the teams also as a "transitional year". There was plenty of debate about it but most people put up with it, thinking a fallow year would be worth it if the series promotors were going to put the work and resources in to get something really good for 2003 and on.
So we get to the end of 2002 and find that the 2003 calendar is almost as pathetic as last years's. Still only one 24 hour race, one 12 hour and a bunch of sprints. So where is the investment in this series that we were promised?
Sorry but that is not what we were lead to expect. More to the point, this is going to kill Endurance - this year we had scanty TV coverage and minimal crowds, and thus minimal media interest. More of the same will see the series wither and die.
Octagon have got this really, really wrong. Sure it takes time to build a series up but in order to pull the interest in, the series needs 24 hour races with all the razz-ma-tazz that the Bol and Le Mans know how to put on. Endurance racing on its own cannot gather the interest needed - the 2 people and 3 dogs that attended the laughable Silverstone round showed that. Endurance is so much more than just the track action. If the promotors do not get it right this year, it's probably too late.
It's been emotional. See you at Le Mans for some real endurance racing.
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The rather pathetic 2002 calendar was sold to us, the endurance audience, and I suppose to the teams also as a "transitional year". There was plenty of debate about it but most people put up with it, thinking a fallow year would be worth it if the series promotors were going to put the work and resources in to get something really good for 2003 and on.
So we get to the end of 2002 and find that the 2003 calendar is almost as pathetic as last years's. Still only one 24 hour race, one 12 hour and a bunch of sprints. So where is the investment in this series that we were promised?
Sorry but that is not what we were lead to expect. More to the point, this is going to kill Endurance - this year we had scanty TV coverage and minimal crowds, and thus minimal media interest. More of the same will see the series wither and die.
Octagon have got this really, really wrong. Sure it takes time to build a series up but in order to pull the interest in, the series needs 24 hour races with all the razz-ma-tazz that the Bol and Le Mans know how to put on. Endurance racing on its own cannot gather the interest needed - the 2 people and 3 dogs that attended the laughable Silverstone round showed that. Endurance is so much more than just the track action. If the promotors do not get it right this year, it's probably too late.
It's been emotional. See you at Le Mans for some real endurance racing.
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End of Endurance?
