CoTA sounds like it sucks

[utee94 15,805]

Oh no, you're gonna get wood all wound up again...

 

[wood 11,225]

16 minutes ago, faps said:

How's the track surface? I haven't been following the MotoGP subreddit to know if the riders are complaining or not like previous years.

Too early. Moto3 just hit the track at 9. Moto2 finishing up and MotoGP up next at 10:45 iirc. Should be interesting. It's been about 15 months since the last partial repair. The riders rode it within a month or two of that and said it was better, and 'acceptable' but not great, not a long-term solution, etc. Some also said that in places it was actually worse than before. Judging from NASCAR, and what we saw last year, you'll see a big bump on the exit of 5, and the same big bumps on the exits of 9 and 10, at least. Not sure if the big turn 2 bump is still significant or not. Back straight is bumpy. Front straight has lots and lots of smaller bumps, except in the T1 braking zone, where it's pretty rough.  

Edited April 14, 2023 by wood

[texasdago 7,567]

Someone was complaining about it... can't remember who but they always do which, uh, maybe time to fix it before you lose the race.  

I was out there for just a bit but not too long... kind of playing hooky so I just wanted a taste.  Going to be hot tomorrow.

[wood 11,225]

17 minutes ago, texasdago said:

Someone was complaining about it... can't remember who but they always do which, uh, maybe time to fix it before you lose the race.  

Don't hold your breath. It's Bobby Epstein - the same guy who just told KXAN that COTA 1.2 million visitors per year, and said that they're going to build "an amusement park comparable to Six Flags" .............. between turns 19 & 20 lol. He said the 'construction' isn't moving as quickly as he'd like. What construction? There isn't any, and how many years has he been talking about this fabled 'amusement park'? Sounds desperate.

[wood 11,225]

Re: the bumps, I found a BT Sport stream and watched FP1.

- Nasty bumps in the T1 braking zone.

- T2 bump is still there, but not yet as bad as it was before

- Esses overall still look good, bump on exit of 5, doesn't look as bad as before

- bump on 9 exit, then a series of bumps just before 10 and still the big one on the apex/exit of 10

- Turn 12. This is the biggest difference I can see just from watching on a screen. 3 or 4 different riders lost it there today. Big bumps in the braking zone, and a bump on the apex. The announcers said Neil Hudson described the apex there as being similar to "a poorly tarmac'd front drive". Oof.

- Bumps at 14 & 15

- Still a significant bump on the apex of 18

- 19 is rough from the braking zone all the way through

[texasdago 7,567]

Definitely saw some shaky moments as bikes were coming up on turn 1 during FP1 as i ended up watching from turn 1.

 

I read that interview.  What a freakin joke.

[wood 11,225]

6 minutes ago, texasdago said:

I read that interview.  What a freakin joke.

The KXAN Epstein puff piece? Yeah. Bobby has buddies at KXAN. They'll roll with any drivel Bobby wants to sell.

[texasdago 7,567]

9 minutes ago, wood said:

The KXAN Epstein puff piece? Yeah. Bobby has buddies at KXAN. They'll roll with any drivel Bobby wants to sell.

Hey man, gonna be like Six Flags 

[wood 11,225]

37 minutes ago, texasdago said:

Hey man, gonna be like Six Flags 

Yep, and I'd love to see the accounting gymnastics that gets them to 1.2M visitors a year, $9B a year, etc. Actually, I have seen quite a bit of it in the economic impact docs from Angelos Angelou. Quite impressive, to say the least. Bobby's motto seems to be "Lie big. Then lie bigger.".

Edited April 14, 2023 by wood

[texasdago 7,567]

https://twitter.com/matoxley/status/1647002239410765825?t=Jwi4QVkvKG9iJu5xI5klOQ&s=19

 

[wood 11,225]

Yep.

[wood 11,225]

In FP2 the announcers  were talking about 12 again, saying it's 'just unacceptable', saying that if you walked out to your car and found your driveway in that state, you'd call it 'appalling'. Said there are big gouges in the asphalt from incidents there, and it looked like someone had filled it with some kind of sealant you'd get at a hardware store. Said it's a strip about a meter wide right on the apex, right on the racing line, and that you'd lose time if you went around it, but it's a lottery every time you go through it. He also said Alex Rins has taken photos of it to present to the Safety Commission tonight.

[wood 11,225]

"Disaster" COTA surface still a point of concern for MotoGP riders

https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/disaster-cota-surface-still-a-point-of-concern-for-motogp-riders/10456595/

 

‘Four-asphalt’ COTA controversial again among MotoGP grid

https://the-race.com/motogp/four-asphalt-cota-controversial-again-among-motogp-grid/

[Burt Macklin 19,020]

On 4/15/2023 at 12:28 PM, wood said:

"Disaster" COTA surface still a point of concern for MotoGP riders

https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/disaster-cota-surface-still-a-point-of-concern-for-motogp-riders/10456595/

 

‘Four-asphalt’ COTA controversial again among MotoGP grid

https://the-race.com/motogp/four-asphalt-cota-controversial-again-among-motogp-grid/

Almost half the grid crashed out of the feature race today. It’s hard to believe the track condition making it bouncy under braking didn’t have something to do with that. 

[CooterBrown 18,003]

Even lowly TxDOT can build smooth highways on the same dirt as the track. Is it really an impossible task? Any problem can be solved with enough money.

[wood 11,225]

42 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Almost half the grid crashed out of the feature race today. It’s hard to believe the track condition making it bouncy under braking didn’t have something to do with that. 

 

[wood 11,225]

13 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

Even lowly TxDOT can build smooth highways on the same dirt as the track. Is it really an impossible task? Any problem can be solved with enough money.

They've pulled over $325M from the state so far. They don't have the money excuse. Having a quality racing surface simply just isn't a priority.

[wood 11,225]

Oof. I just heard from a friend that the final COTA Sunday MotoGP attendance was about 22,000 people.

[utee94 15,805]

36 minutes ago, wood said:

Oof. I just heard from a friend that the final COTA Sunday MotoGP attendance was about 22,000 people.

So I'm sure Epstein is claiming 220,000.

Seriously though, what has been the peak attendance and how does this compare?  I don't get into 2-wheels so I've never been, but I have a friend that owns two Ducatis and he loves it, goes ever year.

 

 

 

(Yes, he owns two Ducatis because one or the other is always in the shop.  Seriously)

 

 

[UnivTex34 1,763]

29 minutes ago, utee94 said:

So I'm sure Epstein is claiming 220,000.

Seriously though, what has been the peak attendance and how does this compare?  I don't get into 2-wheels so I've never been, but I have a friend that owns two Ducatis and he loves it, goes ever year.

 

 

 

(Yes, he owns two Ducatis because one or the other is always in the shop.  Seriously)

 

 

Anecdotal, but the first several years it felt at least 75% of the F1 races. I haven't been in a few years, but even in 2018 it felt like at least half of F1 crowds. 

 

 

[wood 11,225]

Judging from the capacity in use (about 32K), how full the stands were, how empty the grass areas were, and COTA reportedly not selling GA for this race, 22K sounds about right. I said earlier that if I was being generous, Sunday was 30K, tops.

From what I've heard chatting with Simon Patterson and Mat Oxley on the twitter, COTA told them last weekend their policy is to not release numbers. Their immediate response was "You don't seem to have any problem releasing them for the big crowds". Oxley told me a few minutes ago that there were 10K on Saturday, so from what I can tell there might have bee 40K for the entire weekend.

And yeah it was much better a few years ago. Hold on, googling.  

Here we go ...

2013: 3 days = 131,082, race day = 61,901

2014: 3 days = 118,918

2015: 3 days = 119,673 

2016: 3 days = 131,881, race day = 56,528 

2017: 3 days = 118,826, race day "larger than last year" per COTA (sure, ok. makes no sense)

2018: 3 days = 125,127, race day = 50,460

2019:  3 days = 120,545, race day = 47466

2020: covid

2021: can't find nothin'

2022: COTA was the only MotoGP venue that didn't release their MotoGP attendance numbers, but it wasn't much better than this year

2023: no official release 3-day = maybe 40K, race day = 22K

All the numbers through 2022 are COTA's numbers, so .... massive grain or shaker of salt, & all that.

Edited April 20, 2023 by wood

[utee94 15,805]

Yeah I don't believe the COTA numbers for obvious reasons, was more interested in anecdotal reporting from those of you who have been for MotoGP over the years.

[utee94 15,805]

 

[YGIFS 19,449]

they had me until Adam Lambert.  Still have a sunday announcement to get excited about.  

sting will be in Texas that week, just sayin's.........

[utee94 15,805]

Adam Lambert has been Queen's de facto Freddie Mercury substitute for about a decade now.  So, if you're getting Queen, you're also getting Adam Lambert.

I've seen live concert footage of that combination and it's not bad, but it's obviously not the same.

Last few years they're not doing folks as big as Sting on Sunday, more like Kool and the Gang, KC and the Sunshine Band, etc.  

 

 

[YGIFS 19,449]

Well, I realize that.             Now.

I guess I just assumed Paul Rodgers was still on vocals for Queen reboot.  

I guess with the new Fri/Sat qualifying format, Saturday with that lineup should be fun enough.  Maybe the network gods will lineup so Houston football will be a morning game and we can all head back and make Saturday at COTA.  I dunno.  I'm getting too old for this shit.

[utee94 15,805]

58 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Well, I realize that.             Now.

I guess I just assumed Paul Rodgers was still on vocals for Queen reboot.  

I guess with the new Fri/Sat qualifying format, Saturday with that lineup should be fun enough.  Maybe the network gods will lineup so Houston football will be a morning game and we can all head back and make Saturday at COTA.  I dunno.  I'm getting too old for this shit.

Ever since the USGP came to COTA, I've been just skipping the UT game and staying at the track all day.  If UT is playing they'll typically have it on TV in Velocity Lounge, the hospitality tents, the biergarten TVs, etc.

I spent the afternoon of our OT loss to Oklahoma State at the biergarten with a bunch of rowdy ozzies who were doing a bachelor party/walkabout, and the USGP was part of their itinerary (they were headed to Vegas on the following Monday).  They were getting really into our game just because WE were into the game, and when it went into OT they were losing their minds and buying rounds of drinks for everyone.  But then the game abruptly ended when we fumbled or threw an INT or some other stupid failure, and they were stunned.  They were like, "wait, that's it?  It can go into OT, and then just be... OVER?"  I said, "yup."  But we still drank a lot more beer with them and then wandered out to the esses for qualy I think.

 

[elfenix 34,223]

WEC is returning to COTA

https://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/wec-return-a-critical-piece-of-the-puzzle-for-cota/10482888/

[wood 11,225]

1 hour ago, elfenix said:

WEC is returning to COTA

https://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/wec-return-a-critical-piece-of-the-puzzle-for-cota/10482888/

Yeah I thought it was already on the WEC 2024 calendar for a while. Hopefully IMSA will come, too, but just having WEC back will be great. 

ETA: Oh yeah, here it is. Just wasn't official yet. IIRC we talked about it in your sportscar thread. https://us.motorsport.com/wec/news/austin-interlagos-on-course-to-rejoin-wec-calendar-in-2024/10458237/

Edited June 15, 2023 by wood

[wood 11,225]

September 1. Ferrrrrk. Bring a tree for some shade.

[elfenix 34,223]

5 minutes ago, wood said:

September 1. Ferrrrrk. Bring a tree for some shade.

drivers will pass out on their push lap turning off the AC in the car

[wood 11,225]

4 minutes ago, elfenix said:

drivers will pass out on their push lap turning off the AC in the car

Yeah they're gonna suffer for sure. Just saw on autosport that it's a one-year deal. Not sure where they saw that, but sounds about right, given the relationship between COTA and the WEC.

[wood 11,225]

LMAO. Just heard from a friend that there's a group that wants ACL and the Trail of Lights moved to COTA. I mean, sure, I guess if you wanna kill ACL Fest, by all means, move it to COTA.

[utee94 15,805]

1 hour ago, wood said:

LMAO. Just heard from a friend that there's a group that wants ACL and the Trail of Lights moved to COTA. I mean, sure, I guess if you wanna kill ACL Fest, by all means, move it to COTA.

Hmm, as a native Austinite, I strongly support this idea.

[utee94 15,805]

Seeing a recent blitz for tickets to COTA for the USGP.  Single day, 3-day, 2-day, and parking all available.  I believe I was told several months ago that this event was sold out...

 

[Guest]

I laughed:

For $4,200, I could prolly take the family to the Red Bull Ring and check that off the bucket list.

I know I could just head back to Montreal and still save a ton.

[wood 11,225]

3 hours ago, utee94 said:

Seeing a recent blitz for tickets to COTA for the USGP.  Single day, 3-day, 2-day, and parking all available.  I believe I was told several months ago that this event was sold out...

Every single year. 

I checked a week or so ago, and there were still lots of tickets at 2, 4, and 6. Bobby says the reason the GA tickets are on sale right inside the front door at Costco is to combat the high prices of the other races and make them available to the common man. Says they do it every year. They may have done it before, but I don't remember that. Y'all?

[UnivTex34 1,763]

Just now, wood said:

Every single year. 

I checked a week or so ago, and there were still lots of tickets at 2, 4, and 6. Bobby says the reason the GA tickets are on sale right inside the front door at Costco is to combat the high prices of the other races and make them available to the common man. Says they do it every year. They may have done it before, but I don't remember that. Y'all?

We shop WAY too much at Costco. And have for a while. I don't ever remember them before.

[utee94 15,805]

1 minute ago, wood said:

Every single year. 

I checked a week or so ago, and there were still lots of tickets at 2, 4, and 6. Bobby says the reason the GA tickets are on sale right inside the front door at Costco is to combat the high prices of the other races and make them available to the common man. Says they do it every year. They may have done it before, but I don't remember that. Y'all?

I don't remember it happening before, but I don't remember a lot of things these days...

 

 

[wood 11,225]

50 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

I laughed:

For $4,200, I could prolly take the family to the Red Bull Ring and check that off the bucket list.

I know I could just head back to Montreal and still save a ton.

Yep. I mean for a hundred or two more than the $2600+ it would cost me to take my family to COTA and sit in GA for the weekend, I could buy us airfare to Montreal and grandstand seating. 

[wood 11,225]

Meanwhile Bobby is doing his best Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer impression, trying to paint the USGP at COTA as the meat & potatoes, blue-collar F1 race in the States. He says we call it "The People's Race".

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/austins-us-gp-not-changing-recipe-amid-f1s-miami-and-vegas-hype/10508756/

At the People's Race, it seems like the People wouldn't have to fork over $900 for a 3-day GA ticket and a Parking Pass. COTA is not as expensive as Vegas is this year, but COTA's F1 prices have tripled just since 2021, and it's still  in the top 5 most expensive races on the calendar. Maybe he means 'the race the People pay for', or 'the race that wouldn't exist without the People'.  Maybe he's talking about the People who have supported the track since before it was ever built, and are now priced out of attending races there.

Got damn I suck at typing.

Edited August 23, 2023 by wood

[wood 11,225]

14 minutes ago, UnivTex34 said:

We shop WAY too much at Costco. And have for a while. I don't ever remember them before.

Yeah we've been there on average probably once a week ever since the south store opened several years ago. First time I've ever seen or heard of it. Right now those tickets are the first thing you see as you're walking in the door.

[faps 806]

25 minutes ago, wood said:

Meanwhile Bobby is doing his best Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer impression, trying to paint the USGP at COTA as the meat & potatoes, blue-collar F1 race in the States. He says we call it "The People's Race".

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/austins-us-gp-not-changing-recipe-amid-f1s-miami-and-vegas-hype/10508756/

At the People's Race, it seems like the People wouldn't have to fork over $900 for a 3-day GA ticket and a Parking Pass. COTA is not as expensive as Vegas is this year, but COTA's F1 prices have tripled just since 2021, and it's still  in the top 5 most expensive races on the calendar. Maybe he means 'the race the People pay for', or 'the race that wouldn't exist without the People'.  Maybe he's talking about the People who have supported the track since before it was ever built, and are now priced out of attending races there.

Got damn I suck at typing.

I complain about it often, but no shade and such a beat down to get in and out of for an F1 weekend too.

Always gonna be Canada if I do F1 on this continent anymore. 

[wood 11,225]

Just now, faps said:

I complain about it often, but no shade and such a beat down to get in and out of for an F1 weekend too.

Always gonna be Canada if I do F1 on this continent anymore. 

Yeah I loved lying in the grass back in the trees with my family between sessions in Montreal. So many trees that everyone could do the same if they wanted to. No such thing here, even though the City Council mandated thousands of trees to be planted as a condition of endorsement for the METF years ago. I really wanna do the WEC race at COTA next summer, but got damn. It's gonna be the hottest it's ever been for a major series out there. Maybe I'll only do the late afternoons and evenings.

[Goofyboy 3,269]

Anyone ever park in Lot A? What about the helicopter service?

[wood 11,225]

24 minutes ago, Goofyboy said:

Anyone ever park in Lot A? What about the helicopter service?

Lot A is great if you're at the Main GS or T1.  there's a premium for it though. Do they still even run the helo service? I thought that pretty much died out after the first couple of years or so, but I could be wrong. ETA: Maybe there's a People's Helo Service we could use lol.

Edited August 23, 2023 by wood

[Goofyboy 3,269]

Helicopters landed at the top of turn 1, in Lot T two races ago. They then drove folks down the damn hill to the gates.

[wood 11,225]

3 hours ago, Goofyboy said:

Helicopters landed at the top of turn 1, in Lot T two races ago. They then drove folks down the damn hill to the gates.

Yeah, they still land helos there. I was just wondering if anyone is still running a helo shuttle service. 

[Guest]

I can confirm USGP tickets at Costco. I can also confirm that I walked right by them, which makes me sad. 

[wood 11,225]

Yeah they're literally the first thing you see as you walk in the door. At $350, I walked right by 'em too.