Since I can’t actually read the web, less I find out the results of the tape delayed World Superbike races from Brno, Czech Republic, I’ll take some time this evening to talk some more about last week’s USGP.

First, I think there are two different groups that demand, or at least expect, some changes to be made before the 2006 USGP. First, the riders want additional efforts made to improve security around the track, specifically by moving the wall along side Turn 1 further back into the hillside and also expanding the run-off in Turn 6 further into that hillside. Yamaha ponied up the big bucks for the track improvements this year as part of their 50th year anniversary marketing/PR campaign but I doubt they’ll be quite so free with their cash next year. Unless someone else opens up a real fat checkbook, making these safety changes will be difficult. (Needless to say, I’m sure more that one person is trying to drum up some serious intra-corporate rivalry between Yamaha and Honda right now!)

Second, the spectators seem to be pretty clear in condemning Laguna Seca for being unable to cope with the sheer volume of people that showed up this year. Parking, and thus traffic in general, was very poorly organized. I waited two hours on Saturday to get into the track and ended up parked about a mile from turn 2 where I eventually watched the races. Even when we took the free bus on Sunday, we ended up walking in from the main entrance because the bus was stuck in a traffic jam. I probably did as much hiking at the MotoGP races than I do hiking in Colorado! Traffic wasn’t the only thing backing up…the bathroom facilities, the food vendors and the souvenir booths were all insufficient to deal with 60,000 fans. I spent an hour in line for an event T-shirt on Friday and that was when lines were relatively short and all the merchandise was in stock. By Sunday the lines were hours long and many items were sold out. Food was another frustrating issue. As a vegetarian, I’m used to limited choices but the lengthy lines combined with price gouging meant my wife and I just packed snacks on Sunday saving both time and money. I’d originally read that the track improvements would include terracing the turn 2 hillside but instead it was just a steep, hot and dusty incline. The viewing was great but it wasn’t an ideal location to sit or to slide down. I think that Laguna needs to address at least some of these issues in order to keep up attendance. Otherwise, like in the early 90s, a great event will continually decline until it is no longer financially viable.

If, as rumored, Laguna got a break on the normal Dorna fees for the first two years of the five year contract then the SCRAMP officials need to spend some of that extra profit on improvements. If they can get a corporate donor to help then perhaps they can address the issues from both the riders *and* the fans. If not, they’ll need to carefully balance their future improvements so that both groups continue to come back year after year. I’ve read many suggestions on various web sites with suggestions on making next year’s event go more smoothly. I don’t pretend to know all the constraints that SCRAMP and Laguna Seca are up against but I do know they’ve been burned once before (’88 - ‘94) and hope they are smart enough to work hard to prevent it happening again.

[image from my photo collection.]