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Another doom-sayer? I wouldn't expect World
Endurance to be at the same level as GP's or
WSB's just yet. The broadening of the series from
a France-only event is moving along, although not
as fast as we all would like. WSB's took 10 years
to bring to the top level and it will be no
different for World Endurace - in fact, the
Endurance Championship is visibly growing,
whereas WSB's are going through "downsizing" at
the moment.
It's a bit of a Catch22 situation - can't get the
crowds without the coverage, can't get coverage
without money, can't get money without sponsors,
can't get sponsors without getting the crowds and
the coverage...somebody has to take the "hit"
somewhere along the line.
Yes, let's have more 24hr events...suggestions
anyone?...Silverstone, Brands Hatch...ok,
Pembrey, then...
Let's get serious and FIND the events. Philip
Island - that would be fun...at the moment they
are experimenting with a 1000km race (about 7 hrs)
in February next year. The Chinese have Zuhai and
a new track opening near Shanghai - and you can
bet that Zongshen will want that.
Howabout the former Eastern Bloc countries - they
probably haven't got the "not in my backyard"
mentality of the West just yet - Modlin in Poland?
Bring back the Hungaroring in Hungary.
Further afield, how about Kylami or Welcom in
South Africa?
Ok, let's get reasonable here - the costs of
travelling would rule out most teams doing the
series on a permanent basis if we included the
Far East, Australasia, South America, etc.
It comes down to MONEY, Eddie, not the lack of
will or lack of promotion from Octagon. It's
great for the French to sit there on their well-
developed and well-attended series - it's that
way because the French are passionate about their
Endurance Racing and the French outside of biking
still see bikers in the kind of light that Brits
could only wish for. Tell me the last time you
saw people in Britain lining the roads to "touch
the flesh" of bikers after WSB at Brands?
I must admit that this kind of whingeing really
starts to get on my wick after a while. It's easy
to moan from the outside but actually getting
your sleeves rolled up to actively SUPPORT
Edurance racing from the UK seems to be beyond
the national character. Support doesn't only mean
buying tickets to go to an event, it means trying
to make the event go with a bang, "big" it up,
promote it, push it in front of everyone you
know, be "sad" about Endurance racing...dammit,
MARKET the thing, don't moan to everybody about
how it's not as fantastic as you want it to be!
I'm hard-core about World Endurance. As Chris
Burns said, "..we only came here for a bit of fun
but when you get here...it's SERIOUS, isn't it?"
Damned straight.
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Another doom-sayer? I wouldn't expect World
Endurance to be at the same level as GP's or
WSB's just yet. The broadening of the series from
a France-only event is moving along, although not
as fast as we all would like. WSB's took 10 years
to bring to the top level and it will be no
different for World Endurace - in fact, the
Endurance Championship is visibly growing,
whereas WSB's are going through "downsizing" at
the moment.
It's a bit of a Catch22 situation - can't get the
crowds without the coverage, can't get coverage
without money, can't get money without sponsors,
can't get sponsors without getting the crowds and
the coverage...somebody has to take the "hit"
somewhere along the line.
Yes, let's have more 24hr events...suggestions
anyone?...Silverstone, Brands Hatch...ok,
Pembrey, then...
Let's get serious and FIND the events. Philip
Island - that would be fun...at the moment they
are experimenting with a 1000km race (about 7 hrs)
in February next year. The Chinese have Zuhai and
a new track opening near Shanghai - and you can
bet that Zongshen will want that.
Howabout the former Eastern Bloc countries - they
probably haven't got the "not in my backyard"
mentality of the West just yet - Modlin in Poland?
Bring back the Hungaroring in Hungary.
Further afield, how about Kylami or Welcom in
South Africa?
Ok, let's get reasonable here - the costs of
travelling would rule out most teams doing the
series on a permanent basis if we included the
Far East, Australasia, South America, etc.
It comes down to MONEY, Eddie, not the lack of
will or lack of promotion from Octagon. It's
great for the French to sit there on their well-
developed and well-attended series - it's that
way because the French are passionate about their
Endurance Racing and the French outside of biking
still see bikers in the kind of light that Brits
could only wish for. Tell me the last time you
saw people in Britain lining the roads to "touch
the flesh" of bikers after WSB at Brands?
I must admit that this kind of whingeing really
starts to get on my wick after a while. It's easy
to moan from the outside but actually getting
your sleeves rolled up to actively SUPPORT
Edurance racing from the UK seems to be beyond
the national character. Support doesn't only mean
buying tickets to go to an event, it means trying
to make the event go with a bang, "big" it up,
promote it, push it in front of everyone you
know, be "sad" about Endurance racing...dammit,
MARKET the thing, don't moan to everybody about
how it's not as fantastic as you want it to be!
I'm hard-core about World Endurance. As Chris
Burns said, "..we only came here for a bit of fun
but when you get here...it's SERIOUS, isn't it?"
Damned straight.
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