UK best crowd for World Series/donington or silverstone for 2008?

[glenquagmire]

Just seen this http://www.parcferme.com/content/view/4094/2/ on parc ferme - well done to British fans!

[Gaz]

And then it goes and moves to Silverstone next season! I think thats a daft decision - Ok it might be the home of the GP but Donington has made itself the home of the World Series in the UK and the central location of the circuit is highly suitable for everyone. I guess the one positive is the fact it won't take quite aslong to get off the car park at Silverstone!

[ChrisA]

I hope it doesn't go to Silverstone. Having marshalled all of them at Donington,and thoroughly enjoyed them. S'Stone maybe larger in area, but Donny has a better atmosphere and is more accessable(paddock). S'Stone for the GP, Donny for the WS.

[WSR Fan]

Even though I only live a stones throw from Silverstone, I have to agree with you. OK, Silverstone might have better facilities, but it hasn't got the wonderful layout and undulations that Donny has. I really enjoyed the atmosphere at the WS event in September so I hope it stays there in the near future.

[TFHarv]

I hope it doesn't move to Silverstone, to get the highest attendance in its 3rd year of running the event to move to a new venue seems ludicrous to say the least. It was a fantastic weekend this year even with the 3 red flags which added to the tension more than make people annoyed.

Its also a much easier circuit to attend and can be reached in less than an hour by myself from home ( selfish reasoning over )

Why they want to move such a successful event is anyone's guess but I think it would be a great shame just because they want to pimp Silverstone to give it more F1 appeal

[SALEEN S7R]

Personally im hoping the WSR does visit Silverstone. I've never really been a fan of Donnington, the circuit isnt particularly quick and unless they are using the dunlop loop it tends to lack overtaking opportunites. Sure it might be better for viewing than Silverstone but Silverstone is a good fast circuit with plenty of opportunites to overtake.

[bella]

au contraire, i find silverstone a tedious pit of despair. and most races on the full circuit are deathly dull. so no thanks, i vote donington...

[Rob29]

Certainly neither.Find somewhere more spectator friendly.

[Russfeld]

Silverstone is a poor circuit, poor facility, and is in a poor location to get the kinds of crowds WSR likes to draw. Donington is a knock-out event, why mess with it?

[Dean Watson]

Originally Posted by Russfeld

Silverstone is a poor circuit, poor facility, and is in a poor location to get the kinds of crowds WSR likes to draw. Donington is a knock-out event, why mess with it?

yet the 100,000+ at this years GP got in and out with out to much trouble.
Donnington is not and will not be disabled friendly, where as Silverstone could be

[bella]

regarding being disabled friendly, i assume it's not as simple as installing concrete walkways around the circuit and specific viewing areas. silverstone is lucky in that the circuit is almost completely flat for a spectator, and thus putting down concrete and tarmac walkways and viewing areas is simple. i'd imagine it's an enormous financial commitment (far greater than say, if silverstone had to do similar), and one that wouldn't be suitable considering there are maybe 2 or 3 events a year that would justify the investment.

i'd be interested to know how much donington actually receive for the world series event, and whether it's anywhere near close as benificial as moto gp is.

[minimangler]

The main problem with donington was crowd control; silverstone would be able to deal with it better, as they know F1 crowds. The idiots at Foggarty's outside sat on the wall shouldve been shot, imo.

[Russfeld]

Silverstone gets 100,000 because of Hamilton, Donington gets their crowds with Jonathan Cochet. Silverstone already has the F1 GP, it doesnt need to suck up the rest of the good events too.

[Dean Watson]

Originally Posted by bella

regarding being disabled friendly, i assume it's not as simple as installing concrete walkways around the circuit and specific viewing areas. silverstone is lucky in that the circuit is almost completely flat for a spectator, and thus putting down concrete and tarmac walkways and viewing areas is simple. i'd imagine it's an enormous financial commitment (far greater than say, if silverstone had to do similar), and one that wouldn't be suitable considering there are maybe 2 or 3 events a year that would justify the investment.

i'd be interested to know how much donington actually receive for the world series event, and whether it's anywhere near close as benificial as moto gp is.

it was not so much concrete or tarmac walkways but the simple fact that there is plenty of level carparking at donington but they decided to use the hill at the back of old hairpin. as a carer I did not expect any special treatment but when there is level ground and it not used then you have think why. it is just having the knowledge to stage a major crowd pulling event such as the WSR, and silverstone has that knowledge

[bella]

the car park situation depends on where you are coming from and which direction thanks to the traffic management systems. i come from the east, but i aim for the roads so i'm coming from the west, which gets me into the paddock end of the car parks. the only excuse i have is that i can't be arsed to walk very far - since you are a carer with a disabled passenger i'm very surprised you weren't able to negotiate into a more suitable car park.

i guess the problem with running the event on the cheap like the world series is that you have to make cutbacks in some areas. marshalling and car park management are clearly where you have to do it. from going to other world series races we suffer from not using the f1 venue for our races from the organisational point of view (if i remember correctly, at magny cours this year, the car park management was at the same level as the f1 race earlier in the year for example). but i don't believe silverstone is the correct place for the uk event, and the best place for it is donington. great visibility for the spectator, plenty of room for renault to set up their exhibitions and good location for everyone.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by Russfeld

Silverstone gets 100,000 because of Hamilton, Donington gets their crowds with Jonathan Cochet. Silverstone already has the F1 GP, it doesnt need to suck up the rest of the good events too.

I'm sure that the fact that the Renault event has free admission boosts the attedance figures up be a greater proportion than the drivers present.

On the subject as to which circuit should hold the event, then I am of the opinion that Donington is the better venue for it helps spread out the top events across the major circuits in the country.

[SALEEN S7R]

Originally Posted by Russfeld

Silverstone gets 100,000 because of Hamilton, Donington gets their crowds with Jonathan Cochet. Silverstone already has the F1 GP, it doesnt need to suck up the rest of the good events too.

Silverstone gets 100,000 for F1 yes but to say it has all the good events is something of a exaggeration. Donnington hosts Moto GP let us not forget which this year attracted 84,700 on race day. Not really a big differnce between the 2 events.

[glenquagmire]

Originally Posted by Rob29

Certainly neither.Find somewhere more spectator friendly.

Thanks for the input Rob, you're clearly a big motorsport fan. Care to suggest somewhere else in the UK that can handle 135,000 people in two days? Croft? Oulton Park?

[Lightning Bug]

What about Rockingham? Fantastic viewing, circuit layout promotes good racing, and there's loads of space to handle a big circus and a big crowd. It can be a bit flat atmosphere-wise, but not when there's a big crowd.

[Rob29]

Pheonix Park? Strangely is advertised at the head of this page.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by Rob29

Pheonix Park? Strangely is advertised at the head of this page.

That would be amazing. Unfortunantly, I think there may be too many safety upgrades required to make it viable. Its a bit of a pity though.

[Dean Watson]

Formula Renualt Uk and UK Renault Clio Cup dates announced

29th/30th March - Brands Hatch Indy
12th/13th April - Rockingham
3rd/4th May - Donington Park National
17th/18th May - Thruxton
31st May/1st June – Croft
7th/8th June - Silverstone GP – with World Series by Renault
12th/13th July - Snetterton
26th/27th July - Oulton Park Island
30th/31st August - Silverstone National
20th/21st September - Brands Hatch GP

more details here

[WSR Fan]

That's very interesting, thanks!

The other day I read something suggesting that the WS season will start on 10/11 May in Zolder, Belgium. Coincidentally though, the Spa 1000km LMS race, which the WS supported this year, is on the very next weekend, 17/18 May. I don't know why the WS would consider going back to Zolder, given that Renault are keen for them to race solely on current F1 circuits (thus the move from Donington to Silverstone).

[Rob29]

Anyone see coverage the other day of last round of this years WSR at Barcelona? There seemed to be hardly a single spectator at the place-were there no free tickets for that one?

[bella]

if it was like the 2006 one, yes, there were free tickets, but it's an absolutely huge place - unlike donington it's mostly grandstands, so anything other than a full house looks empty. again, if it was like last year, the main grandstand would have been packed, and the rest of the crowd dotted around the last few corners and the first one. the majority of the on track entertainment is focussed on those places, so that's where people sit.
edit - it's also a bloody long walk to get anywhere but the main areas, so i don't blame people for staying within chucking distance of the paddock!