Topic: so facebook is all atwitter...

about COTA yanking club events already scheduled and paid  for the 2013 season.

thoughts?


i'm thinking F1 was worried about all the lowly BMWs tearing up the surface.

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2 (edited by BoB 2012-12-22 10:41 AM)

Re: so facebook is all atwitter...

My guess is they found insurance was going to cost more than they though and financially they weren't going to make money, or figured they could make more money by running most of those events themself.

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Re: so facebook is all atwitter...

I think it's more likely that someone (like, say, Bernie) noticed the events that were scheduled for next year and said something to the track management about the level of exclusivity that F1 expects of their host tracks.

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Re: so facebook is all atwitter...

BoB wrote:

My guess is they found insurance was going to cost more than they though and financially they weren't going to make money, or figured they could make more money by running most of those events themself.

Nothing to do with insurance, they are noticing their high end exclusivity is about to be tarnished by us 99%-ters, this is simple snobbery and typical BS.

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5 (edited by Mulry 2012-12-22 07:52 PM)

Re: so facebook is all atwitter...

Despite all the rumor mongering, here's I believe is really going on from talking to people with skin in this game. Track ownership has just pumped something like one hundred trillion dollars (slight exaggeration) into that racing surface to get it billiard-smooth for F1. It was a huge undertaking. I know a bunch of folk in the construction biz down that way and getting that track surface right was an undertaking that was not lightly compared to a moon shot. Ownership was and is concerned with not getting their nice new track torn up by rank amateurs, so they are going to limit use for at least this year to "established" club racing and team rentals. For example, Ferrari's Corse Clienti was out there a couple weeks ago and the Corvette ALMS team was there last week. It looks like SCCA is getting their club date and PCA and BMWCCA are likely to get to keep their dates too.  What is getting bounced is the run-of-the-mill HPDE because track ownership was concerned about an inexperienced driver going coming out there in his (name your passenger sedan that also gets used for HPDE's) with little to no track experience and wadding it up and taking out a very expensive hunk of track and ARMCO with it.

I dunno if I agree or disagree with track management in terms of their evaluation of the risk that comes with the HPDE crowd, but it's their hundreds of millions of dollars invested; IMHO, they certainly have the right to limit their exposure while maximizing return on their very substantial investment.

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.

Re: so facebook is all atwitter...

Well, it's a good thing that ordinary Texans didn't cough up $25 million to help make the F1 race happen, given that they aren't good enough to use the track surface.

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7 (edited by Mulry 2012-12-22 10:39 PM)

Re: so facebook is all atwitter...

LOL. Looks like COTA has walked that policy back some pursuant to the PR nightmare that today had to be for them:

Circuit of The Americas™ today announced that it would honor track  rentals with four organizations that had booked track days and paid rental fees in advance. “We are moving ahead with these agreements and contacting clients so they can share this information with their members and customers,”  Circuit spokesperson Julie Loignon said.  “The executed rental agreements will limit the number of vehicles we have on track at any given time to ensure a fun and safe experience for participants, including any amateur drivers who will be participating. We regret the confusion that was caused  as we worked through these issues with our clients and look forward to providing a one-of-a-kind experience to auto enthusiasts coming to Circuit of The Americas through our track rental program.”

In other words, "we underestimated that we were looking at a substantial litigation portfolio and other associated damages if we tried to screw the guys who had already paid us for their days. We probably should have thought this through a little more first."

http://6bd32fe3d0a84caa1d3b-e077574ebbd … 22.12).pdf

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.

8 (edited by EyeMWing 2012-12-23 10:18 AM)

Re: so facebook is all atwitter...

Mulry wrote:

In other words, "we underestimated that we were looking at a substantial litigation portfolio and other associated damages if we tried to screw the guys who had already paid us for their days. We probably should have thought this through a little more first."

I doubt it was litigation. Settlements are cheaper than glass-smooth pavement, after all. It was probably more related to the long-term viability of the enterprise - get a reputation for screwing people in Year 1, and in Year 10 when F1 has lost all interest in the western hemisphere again, all of us nobodies and chumps (and our sanctioning bodies) will remember and be less apt to splash serious coin around.

The other big potential sanctions don't have nearly the financial pull of F1 (and most of them have vanishingly small American followings), and being stuck with a squillion-dollar facility without stuff scheduled every weekend (and as many weekdays as you can manage) or a ridiculously huge patron like F1 is a great way to end up shit broke.

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