Horse Racing Vs Motor Racing

[andy97]

Went to the races on Sunday at Uttoxeter as a guest of a friend. Never been before and not really interested in things with just 1 hp but it was free entrance & a hospitality box too. Apparently it was the "Summer National" & the place was packed, despite the recent weather & the weather forecast. However, I was told that the crowd was down on expectation. To be honest, I thought that it was all very dull although the drink was good and some of the stable girls were attractive. Not much seemed to happen on track & there were big gaps between races. Why then, does the gee gees attract the crowds and motor racing doesn't?

I asked a couple of fellow guests what they thought of going to the motor racing & they said that they thought that motor racing was boring, not much happens, no overtaking & too noisy. Trouble was that only a couple of these people had actually been to a race meeting - most of them based their opinions on F1 & none of them had even watched the Touring Cars on TV. Of those that had been to a race meeting, they complained that the facilities were rubbish, it wasn't family friendly, it was too noisy (again), too many gaps between races, and it was boring.

I can't reconcile the difference between the gaps between races and not much going on that I observed at horse racing and the gaps between races and more action at the average clubby than in awhole season of F1.

Hmmm. The thing was that some of the people I was talking to weren't even horse racing fans, as such, they were just going along for a day out. And for the average race goer, at £19 per head entrance fee, it wasn't even a particularly cheap day out. What was clear, though, was that the facilities were good and the the place looked quite smart with good quality staff, food stalls, bars, toilets, covered stands and large TV screens.

Perhaps, also, horse race goers feel more involved because thet can bet on a particular horse & therefore feel connected to the action.

Conclusion to all of this? F1 is doing national level motor sport no favours, good facilities (inc large TV screens and smart helpful satff) are absolutely essential and there needs to be some way of connecting the race goers with the drivers - even at club or national level.