2012 Bathurst 12 Hour - 24-26 February

[KSM86]

The live net stream will be on speed the speed site.

[nafe!]

A relative pointed something out to me last night, its one week out and neither of us have seen any promotional material regarding the race at all.

Granted we cant watch tv non stop, and surely there would have to have been some pages in motorsport mags advertising the event but i believe its a very poor effort regarding promotion.

Talk to casual motorsport fans and some of then wont even know the race exists!

[mtpanorama]

Originally Posted by nafe!

A relative pointed something out to me last night, its one week out and neither of us have seen any promotional material regarding the race at all.

Granted we cant watch tv non stop, and surely there would have to have been some pages in motorsport mags advertising the event but i believe its a very poor effort regarding promotion.

Talk to casual motorsport fans and some of then wont even know the race exists!

I have had people here in Bathurst ask me whats on next weekend. They have an idea that there is a race meeting on, but no idea what type of event.
We have had ads on the local radio, but thats about it.

[inpitlane]

Originally Posted by mtpanorama

I have had people here in Bathurst ask me whats on next weekend. They have an idea that there is a race meeting on, but no idea what type of event.
We have had ads on the local radio, but thats about it.

I was at the Victorian State Championship awards dinner last night and people there were asking the same thing.
It seems to be very low profile but perhaps that's a deliberate move by the organisers who feel that due to the nature of the event, no matter how much money they spend on promotion and advertising they're not gong to get a crowd anyway.
That seems to be the plan in a lot of local race series. The Victoria State executive have a similar philosophy which is that advertising and promotion is wasted money and better off trying to keep costs down for competitors.
Ultimately the best PR for the race will be a great race and then word of mouth spreads for next year and beyond.

[scudd]

Same thing happened last year which was disappointing.

Get the attendance figures up and online viewers up then more competitors may enter which attracts more viewers which attracts more competitors......

I'll be in garage #22, don't be afraid to stop by and say hi.

I know it can be intimidating standing at the back of the pit garage with crew everywhere and you have a feeling of getting in the way.

Show up outside the hour each side of prac/quali. Inside that hour before we go out and come in it's a bit hectic.

[Oldtony]

I think that post scudd indicates why some of us hope they keep the whole event a secret.
The great thing about the 12hr is that you can do exactly what you just described.
But seriously the event does deserve a much higher profile and word of mouth might be good but who can afford the wait for it to become effective.
Best hope for the future is to get as many tweets, face books and You Tubes as possible up, push the on line access and hope that something goes seriously viral on the net.
That makes the poor job keeping the Website up to date and getting news releases out that has occured this year even more disappointing.
See you there.

[KSM86]

Maybe they feel the speed coverage can get more of an audience for 2013??

Btw the tinkler 997 gt3 cup car, is that the same cup car as the one he raced in the carrera cup championsip?

[Reload]

Decided to head up early on Friday to watch all 3 days and hope for some good weather.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by KSM86

Maybe they feel the speed coverage can get more of an audience for 2013??

Btw the tinkler 997 gt3 cup car, is that the same cup car as the one he raced in the carrera cup championsip?

Mr Tinkler bought another car, for 'training',to run in the GT3Cup Challenge. Presumably this chassis is the one being run in the B12

[TCR]

Heading off very early Thursday morning, just gotta get through 3 days of work first. Can't wait

[mtpanorama]

I will drop my car off on Wednesday, do a full day/nights work on Thursday and get back to the track on Friday in time for drivers briefing and then practice at 10:30

[MGDavid]

dep. London wednesday evening, we'll be there from Friday afternoon....

[inpitlane]

Originally Posted by Oldtony

I think that post scudd indicates why some of us hope they keep the whole event a secret.
The great thing about the 12hr is that you can do exactly what you just described.
But seriously the event does deserve a much higher profile and word of mouth might be good but who can afford the wait for it to become effective.
Best hope for the future is to get as many tweets, face books and You Tubes as possible up, push the on line access and hope that something goes seriously viral on the net.
That makes the poor job keeping the Website up to date and getting news releases out that has occured this year even more disappointing.
See you there.

It would help if they do what FIA GT and Le Mans Series did last year and make the live stream embeddable on other sites.
We put a link on our site, Radio Le Mans puts it on their site etc... and it reaches way more people than just keeping it to one site.
They also need someone cutting online highlights on the fly and posting them to Youtube or Daily Motion direct after every hour as well as making sure that a well cut VNR is released to the media ASAP after the race.
That way more International news outlets will run it.
First rule of media these days, Make it easy, make it free.
Oh and make it Hi Def.

[St00ge]

Originally Posted by inpitlane

It would help if they do what FIA GT and Le Mans Series did last year and make the live stream embeddable on other sites.
We put a link on our site, Radio Le Mans puts it on their site etc... and it reaches way more people than just keeping it to one site.
They also need someone cutting online highlights on the fly and posting them to Youtube or Daily Motion direct after every hour as well as making sure that a well cut VNR is released to the media ASAP after the race.
That way more International news outlets will run it.
First rule of media these days, Make it easy, make it free.
Oh and make it Hi Def.

All extremely good points but no doubt will sadly shoot straight over the heads on the people in charge...

Such a massive audience out there that will watch this race on many varied sources through the net, these events need to embrace the easy at which the internet these days allows you to show your wares as you will only build up your brand by doing it and whose grass are you honestly cutting by doing it??

Not getting the guys from Radio Le Mans on board is a massive rookie move, those guys single handled brought the Ring 24hr to the English speaking world via their commentary and made the event huge on the internet... From the quote on the last page it sounds like they really wanted to come over for it and would of been nothing but a massive success having them here.. Does the promoter know who these guys are and how many people follow their coverage of every major endurance race on this planet?? it is not like they didn't work along side the US Speed commentary at the Daytona 24hr just last month..

[KSM86]

At the end of Last years race i emailed James Obrien and said Advertising wasnt great. When passing through bathurst you wouldnt of even known there was a race on. I suggest a billboard over the M4 motorway here in sydney. I also suggested to bring the radio Le mans boys down as they were the Murrary walkers of Gt racing. I havnt even seen an ad on the speed tv channel.
At the end of this years race i will email him again and even put in the thread link to this site so he can have a read.

[Reload]

Originally Posted by KSM86

At the end of Last years race i emailed James Obrien and said Advertising wasnt great. When passing through bathurst you wouldnt of even known there was a race on. I suggest a billboard over the M4 motorway here in sydney. I also suggested to bring the radio Le mans boys down as they were the Murrary walkers of Gt racing. I havnt even seen an ad on the speed tv channel.\nAt the end of this years race i will email him again and even put in the thread link to this site so he can have a read.

You would be looking at some serious $$$ for M4 advertising , however it would be money well spent as you would be sitting there staring at it for hours. To try and get this show out there and get people through the gate you have to spend some to make some.

[KSM86]

Originally Posted by Reload

You would be looking at some serious $$$ for M4 advertising , however it would be money well spent as you would be sitting there staring at it for hours. To try and get this show out there and get people through the gate you have to spend some to make some.

Exactly, during peek hour you could be looking at it for a few minutes.

[GTRMagic]

There are still a number of V8Supercar advertising signs up for the Homebush event... presumably this means the outdoor advertising company doesnt have another taker for the space, so might have been open to a discount discussion.

Opportunities always exist.. it just depends how hard you go looking for them...

[GTRMagic]

The Phoenix Audi Team Speaks...

[nafe!]

Originally Posted by scudd

Same thing happened last year which was disappointing.

Get the attendance figures up and online viewers up then more competitors may enter which attracts more viewers which attracts more competitors......

Exactly, you need the exposure in the first place to get the ball rolling. The way they do it now relying purely on only keen motorsport fans (no one in the general public even know the event is on) will either cause progress to be extremely slow or even stall.

Speedcafe's broad coverage of motorsport in the country has helped but once again its only going to grab the attention of a small market.

Surely it cant be a deliberate plan from the promoter, as his hurting his own hip pocket every single year that the race doesnt get the large attendances its possible of achieving.

Not getting the guys from Radio Le Mans on board is a massive rookie move, those guys single handled brought the Ring 24hr to the English speaking world via their commentary and made the event huge on the internet... From the quote on the last page it sounds like they really wanted to come over for it and would of been nothing but a massive success having them here.. Does the promoter know who these guys are and how many people follow their coverage of every major endurance race on this planet?? it is not like they didn't work along side the US Speed commentary at the Daytona 24hr just last month..

It would help if they do what FIA GT and Le Mans Series did last year and make the live stream embeddable on other sites.
We put a link on our site, Radio Le Mans puts it on their site etc... and it reaches way more people than just keeping it to one site.
They also need someone cutting online highlights on the fly and posting them to Youtube or Daily Motion direct after every hour as well as making sure that a well cut VNR is released to the media ASAP after the race.
That way more International news outlets will run it.
First rule of media these days, Make it easy, make it free.

Both good points, have either of you guys considered contacting the promotor and suggesting these options to him? He might just listen and the event and fans will benefit.

[GTRMagic]

Ahhh but I think you guys are missing the point... the plan seemed to be to bring European works and works supported teams down here.. for the most part these dont seem to rely on commercial sponsorship the way say a V8Supercar team might...

There are a number of patrons around, a number of cars that seem to operate without the backing of anyone other than the team owner, or perhaps the budgets the drivers bring along with them...

So... if there are no real commercial partners to satisfy other than the carmakers... then the level of exposure can be a lot lot less, and the organisers can think they are doing a good job...

[KSM86]

Does anyone know whats the go with the Mosler? Has Rod Salmon found any drivers?

[Shane001]

Does anyone know if entry to the top of the mountain will require a ticket?

[Reload]

Originally Posted by Shane001

Does anyone know if entry to the top of the mountain will require a ticket?

A general admission ticket will do the job.
I am going to base myself up there, but am hoping that there will be a few more drink / food vendors as there wasn't any / many last year ???

[alfacors]

There was a guy who was at McPhillamy that did a fantastic egg and bacon roll last year