Circuit of The Americas today announced that it has been declared ready to host the 2012 F1 United States GP by Charlie Whiting, who directs racing, safety and technical matters for the FIA. Whiting visited the Central Texas racing circuit as part of a scheduled pre-race inspection and approved the circuit for “Grade 1” status, hence appropriate to host an F1 race.
Why can't you or I bid for this?Too bad this is something you and I cant bid for. May be we should bitch about this too.
WilliamsF1 wrote:[quote="hairy_scotsman]
I'm sure he has plenty to sell you!
hairy_scotsman wrote:
The guy here who adapted that logo from a Texas war flag & slapped it on a bunch of t-shirts to sell.
I am quiet sure you are not the other one who paid 60k for the ticket.At a charity auction Friday for Austin-based Beyond Batten Disease Foundation, the final item up for bid created the biggest buzz of the night, a package that included two VIP tickets to Austin's inaugural Formula One race in November and the chance to do three laps on the Circuit of the Americas in a race car.
There were two winning bids, at $60,000 each.
"It was pretty amazing. It was a big night, but Formula One was clearly the top performer of our auction," said Shannon Janek, co-chairwoman of the event. Janek said one of the winners was Austin businessman/philanthropist Milton Verret . Verret, a car collector, is known for paying $1.8 million for Michael Jackson's Thriller jacket at another charity auction.
Bobby Epstein, an investor in Circuit of the Americas, which donated the racing packages, said, "The positive impact on the nonprofit community is something that no study captures. ... But, wow. What's nice to consider is that because it was an auction, there were other people who were in the bidding all the way. Clearly, the winners are the families who will benefit from advancements in medical treatments, and the buyers were selfless in their generosity. But it's gratifying to know that Circuit of the Americas was the catalyst."
Me neither.WilliamsF1 wrote: ...
I am quiet sure you are not the other one who paid 60k for the ticket.
Is this a serious question? Did you see the "BTW"?ok what has that got to do with...
No, I'm not. But there's nothing keeping me or anyone else from bidding on this package. Would I win? Not likely...but sometimes crazy things happen in auctions.I am quiet sure you are not the other one who paid 60k for the ticket.
hairy_scotsman wrote: No, I'm not. But there's nothing keeping me or anyone else from bidding on this package. Would I win? Not likely...but sometimes crazy things happen in auctions.
Your any comparison between complaining about a donation to a charity auction and complaining about COTA's ticket scheme is silly. The "complaints" I'm hearing about the ticket scheme are really just people saying that if this is the road COTA is going to travel, then they as consumers are going to vote with their wallets and take their money elsewhere. COTA can do whatever they want. It's their undoing. Not ours.
Slapped on? That sounds a bit like jealousy. You're not upset to have a little competition are you?hairy_scotsman wrote:The guy here who adapted that logo from a Texas war flag & slapped it on a bunch of t-shirts to sell.
First off, none of the following is a value judgement. It's just what I and a lot of other people think are mistakes by COTA in this process. It's also not by any means a complete list.WilliamsF1 wrote:hairy_scotsman wrote: No, I'm not. But there's nothing keeping me or anyone else from bidding on this package. Would I win? Not likely...but sometimes crazy things happen in auctions.
Your any comparison between complaining about a donation to a charity auction and complaining about COTA's ticket scheme is silly. The "complaints" I'm hearing about the ticket scheme are really just people saying that if this is the road COTA is going to travel, then they as consumers are going to vote with their wallets and take their money elsewhere. COTA can do whatever they want. It's their undoing. Not ours.
HS
Comparison is that PSL and charity auction tickets is not for you and me. COTA are selling their GS tickets to certain targeted group.
At this moment paddock tickets are available form FOM, again FOM is not targeting the general public.
There will be general tickets available for everyone else, and it will be in par with European tickets, if lucky closer to Canadian. It will be wishful thinking to hope for Indy type of ticket pricing as Indy's cost of building the track was comparitivly lesser and they had indy 500 event to offset the cost.
So what has COTA done wrong in asking the general public to wait for somemore time?
Can't speak for landscaping details other than the minimum 800 trees COTA agreed to plant.SeijaKessen wrote:How is the landscaping going to be at this circuit?
Open or are they going to be planting any trees in the ground?
With less than 8 months until the race, COTA hasn't even given basic GA pricing and terms (like whether or not you'll be able to freely roam the entire course or be stuck in subdivided GA sections). Most people outside Texas need to make travel plans and need this info to determine if that's even realistic. They don't even know if the ticket will be affordable or if it will provide them a reasonably good experience.
- So it looks like, at least for this year, GS seats will only be available to Companies, Brokers, or Tour Groups looking to recoup their investment.....and people hoping for GA seats are left in limbo waiting for even the most basic of info. The scenario I see is even if the PSL seats get sold, their resale is going to be difficult at best, and fans looking for a cost-effective alternative in GA will be delayed so long as to be unable to make arrangements.
Competition? No. We're not competitors. I'm not trying to sell anything. I haven't made a dime off this & haven't tried. I've helped others make money, though, including them.Slapped on? That sounds a bit like jealousy. You're not upset to have a little competition are you?
No, it's two siblings. They tried to recruit me to help them, but I declined. Busy enough as it was.I'm sure that just like any other fan group, it's just a guy and his friends,
It's a nice website, but they've never added anything to our efforts. They promote the website, what they sell, and themselves. Several people have helped them. The watch parties are great, but a mere shadow of the one they're emulating.\but he has put up a pretty nice website (http://www.theaustingrandprix.com/) and taken some initiative with the t-shirts and organizing F1 parties on race weekends, etc. I'd think you'd be happy to have the added support.
That's really just two complaints, isn't it?hairy_scotsman wrote:First off, none of the following is a value judgement. It's just what I and a lot of other people think are mistakes by COTA in this process. It's also not by any means a complete list.
- There's no middle ground. COTA has created a situation where you have to:
(a)shell out big bucks now if you want a reserved seat for 15 years,
(b)wait for the ticket brokers to sell off PSL seats at a significant markup above their considerable initial investment (PSL cost + 15 years of season ticket costs + season ticket price increases beyond year 3 + financing, if any) or
(c)go sit in the grass.
- With less than 8 months until the race, COTA hasn't even given basic GA pricing and terms (like whether or not you'll be able to freely roam the entire course or be stuck in subdivided GA sections). Most people outside Texas need to make travel plans and need this info to determine if that's even realistic. They don't even know if the ticket will be affordable or if it will provide them a reasonably good experience.
- So it looks like, at least for this year, GS seats will only be available to Companies, Brokers, or Tour Groups looking to recoup their investment.....and people hoping for GA seats are left in limbo waiting for even the most basic of info. The scenario I see is even if the PSL seats get sold, their resale is going to be difficult at best, and fans looking for a cost-effective alternative in GA will be delayed so long as to be unable to make arrangements.
- COTA may or may not be able to sell those PSLs. We'll see. But the average annual cost per GS PSL/Season Ticket, even assuming no interest or price increases, will be $567 (Trackside) to $1583 (Club). If I'm a ticket broker or tour operator, I have to think it's going to be hard to recoup all of that. Either way, it's bad news for any fans wanting one of those seats.
In other words, what they don't sell as PSL will get sold as one-off tickets. And they can add all the additional grandstands they want."All temporary and permanent grandstands are presently intended to be for PSL holders only."
"GA tickets will likely be grass seating only."
"PSL holders get first dibs on "VIP Parking"..."
"Currently defined seating blocks..."
