Austin Formula 1 USGP $!

[texkayaker]

things went very well yesterday at the track as far as getting in and out according to local news. Most people are talking the busses from downtown. They have 100 of them and as soon as one is full they load the next one. The line to get on seems to keep moving. I will have to give my hometown credit for great organization so far for the race.

[Manuel B]

Track looks really GREAT, I expected a much flatter track from Tilke, I think this is his best design,
But I still refuse to pay the $7,500. to park my rig there.

[Manuel B]

Attendance number was 117,429
I want one of those Pirelli cowboy hats.

[jackandjan]

You guys have got to be hardcore race fans..................as a full time rv'er, the last place I want to be is nestled in with hundreds or thousands of other folks drinking and throwing chicken bones all over.............for the $7500 fee, the wife and I can take a pretty nice laid back cruise to nowhere......:-)

[nplenzick]

Originally Posted by jackandjan

You guys have got to be hardcore race fans..................as a full time rv'er, the last place I want to be is nestled in with hundreds or thousands of other folks drinking and throwing chicken bones all over.............for the $7500 fee, the wife and I can take a pretty nice laid back cruise to nowhere......:-)

I'm suspicious of that $7500 fee. General admission tickets were somewhere around $165.00 for three days. If that $7500 is true I wonder what it included, I'm sure it was much more then camping. There were some MH that I saw on TV there that I would highly doubt would pay that price.
As for the chicken bone drinking crowd (LOL) obviously you have never been to a F1 race. Very different then the NASCAR crowd that's for sure. Also if you ever heard and saw a F1 car on track, it'll pretty much put to shame just about any race series out there.

[Jmjtx]

Originally Posted by Manuel B

Track looks really GREAT, I expected a much flatter track from Tilke, I think this is his best design,
But I still refuse to pay the $7,500. to park my rig there.

I was fortunate enough to attend. It is a great track and you don't get the full appreciation for the elevation changes. Lots of General Admission seating! Which we may try next year. We sat in turn 3 watching the S's. we walked most of the perimeter and saw expensive motorhomes with Ferrari's parked behind them-not kidding. Also saw a few smaller TT's and 5ers. We stayed at Bastrop-The Oaks RV park. Friendly staff with many F1 fans. One Brit. Told us he callled about parking his rental MH trackside and he said it was 12,500, but he might have been thinking pounds vs. dollars. Scots and 2 MH full of Italians? That roasted a lamb on a spit over the campground campfire. Our hookups were 75 per night, which seemed reasonable during the race weekend. It was something for this smalltown boy to see!

[datrbone8]

I got in from Austin early this morning. I was an official at turn 15. I didn't pay to park the MH in workers parking so I have no idea as to what it cost to park RVs on the back straight. On Sunday I saw one vacancy there. The stands were full and there were loads of people with GA tickets on the various viewing areas.

The track is awesome. They did a great job with the track layout and construction. It really is a world class facility. Every comment I heard about the track was positive. I think the drivers found it a great venue. Hopefully next year the peripheral areas will be finished to the same standard. There was a lot of dust from unpaved perimeter roads and parking areas.

Congratulations to Austin for a magnificent facility and a great time

[Manuel B]

[QUOTE=nplenzick;1376535]I'm suspicious of that $7500 fee. General admission tickets were somewhere around $165.00 for three days. If that $7500 is true I wonder what it included, I'm sure it was much more then camping. QUOTE]

The $7.500. included 8 tickets and laundry facilities. Thurs/Fri/Sat night camping, you MUST be off the property Sunday after the race, he said if we got a season pass it was a bargain at only $15,000. for three races, F1, Moto GP and Aussie supercars,
I don't know 6 people I'd want to drive 14 hours to Austin with, and my coach does not sleep more than two couples, or hold enough food or beer for 8 people for 3 days. Every other large race I've been to allows you to leave Monday to avoid the traffic.
I saw empty areas in the "sold out" grandstands.
I'm sure they will work out the bugs for next year, but if they sold all the RV spots at that price they will not drop the rate, and I will stay home.

The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona raised their rates from $220. to $280. for a 20' x 40' infield roadcourse spot and two adult admission to Infield, grandstands, fanzone and garages,(Additional admissions cost $55 each) Children 12 & under are admitted FREE, they have tiered rates, up to $810. for a pull-through 20’ x 55’ RV site (40’ paved / 15’ grass) electric, water and cable hookups available,
And you can arrive 6AM Thurs and you don't have to leave until noon Monday. This is how it should be done, but they didn't ask me.

[nplenzick]

[QUOTE=Manuel B;1377192]

Originally Posted by nplenzick

I'm suspicious of that $7500 fee. General admission tickets were somewhere around $165.00 for three days. If that $7500 is true I wonder what it included, I'm sure it was much more then camping. QUOTE]

The $7.500. included 8 tickets and laundry facilities. Thurs/Fri/Sat night camping, you MUST be off the property Sunday after the race, he said if we got a season pass it was a bargain at only $15,000. for three races, F1, Moto GP and Aussie supercars,
I don't know 6 people I'd want to drive 14 hours to Austin with, and my coach does not sleep more than two couples, or hold enough food or beer for 8 people for 3 days. Every other large race I've been to allows you to leave Monday to avoid the traffic.
I saw empty areas in the "sold out" grandstands.
I'm sure they will work out the bugs for next year, but if they sold all the RV spots at that price they will not drop the rate, and I will stay home.

The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona raised their rates from $220. to $280. for a 20' x 40' infield roadcourse spot and two adult admission to Infield, grandstands, fanzone and garages,(Additional admissions cost $55 each) Children 12 & under are admitted FREE, they have tiered rates, up to $810. for a pull-through 20’ x 55’ RV site (40’ paved / 15’ grass) electric, water and cable hookups available,
And you can arrive 6AM Thurs and you don't have to leave until noon Monday. This is how it should be done, but they didn't ask me.

You may have been given wrong information. I've heard all sorts of price quotes for camping in the area's that they now have for camping. COTA really had to rush to get this event in and I know many vendors who's phone calls had never been returned and were given no information what so ever. I just don't think they had the personal and what personal they did have may have had incorrect info. Then again if that is the correct price I wonder what tickets you received. Pit roof, Start / Finish, GM? I hope to be there this coming April as a vendor for the Moto GP, I have no contact info except their email of which they haven't replied to. Starting next week I'll start hounding them and see what I can find out for RV camping. I'll pass on any info.
As for Daytona, you really can't compare crowd wise the 24 hours and the F1 race. A better comparison would be the 500 and F1. For the 500 in Feb the Lake Lloyd camping area (20 x 55') with electric and water is I believe around $2500. I'm not sure what if any tickets you get with that price.
What stands were empty? I didn't see any on TV for the Sunday race but sometimes the camera never shows that.

[Manuel B]

[QUOTE=nplenzick;1378674]

Originally Posted by Manuel B

You may have been given wrong information. I've heard all sorts of price quotes for camping in the area's that they now have for camping.
As for Daytona, you really can't compare crowd wise the 24 hours and the F1 race. A better comparison would be the 500 and F1.
What stands were empty? I didn't see any on TV for the Sunday race but sometimes the camera never shows that.

They only had one area for spectator RV's, outside the back straight between T 11/12, and only one price, but it will be different for other races, Bernie Eccholstone owns the rights to all infield acctivities at any F1 race, and he's not a fan of crowds of RV's because they don't spend as much with the vendors and he thinks they look tacky, even though he has his beautiful personal rig at the races.
I compared the Daytona 24 because of the huge amount of international race teams and it being a road course,
If you watch the replay you see empty seats at the bottom of some grandstands, and big clumps of empty seats together, I figured those were corporate blocks that went unused.

Bernie's humble MoHo, sometimes it's surrounded by potted palm trees.

[nplenzick]

Do you think or have you heard if they'll be any RV camping on the outside of the track?

[cb1000rider]

It looks like people buying 3-day passes sell off one day passes... So you can find tickets in the $50-$75 range, if you don't need all day.

Also MotoGP appears to be cheaper than F1.

[Manuel B]

Originally Posted by nplenzick

Do you think or have you heard if they'll be any RV camping on the outside of the track?

For F1 ALL the camping was outside the track between T-11/12 on the back straight, for MotoGP it might be different but I can't find any RV info on the COTA site, GA tickets are $89. for a 3 day pass.
I go to Road Atlanta and Barber for motorcycle racing so I don't want to drive to Austin for that.

For the next INDY Car races at Barber in April they have lowered the hilltop RV spot prices down from $850. to $650. but you can't really see the race from up there.

[nplenzick]

I have left numerous phone calls at the track for vendor and RV info and I have received zero calls back. Pretty unbelievable that I can't get a reply to emails or phone calls. I think my next step is to contact my friends at Barber and see if they have any inside info contacts.