I have a good idea as to who 'timelinedubai' is but it matters not to me who the statement is from, more what is being said....
Ian, thank you for the kudos regarding the images, there are a few out there who do care about the quality of the press releases and the images which are sent out also...Yes, it's a fact most images come from Paul Velasco or myself for the DAMC race series and are available for free download from the Autodrome web site...
There are also a few riders/drivers/teams which send out race reports on a regular basis (Ian leads the way there) for the various local media outlets such as Track Talk, Circuit Pro Digital & Crank & Piston to name but a few, the newspapers have them sent out to them also and chose to run them if they like but no guarantees....
Personally, I got fed up of asking for stories which we could run to try to promote the racing, the drivers and riders alike, now, if we get them sent, we will run them after 'spell checking' them and adding images from my own image bank......I also know C&P do the same.....And this is all for free
In regards to the racing, the dwindling grids are not down to the Autodrome not marketing the racing well enough...A good example of this was the last Aussie V8 event at Yas Marina where it was advertised, promoted, marketed in every way possible, even regular slots on the radio....How many people walked through the gates to see what to me is some of the best and closest racing on track at this present time....Very few....So even if you offer the best race series in the world on a free of cost basis, this will not guarantee bums on seats.....
Some of the top GT racers and teams packing it all cannot also be blamed on the AD...There are other more private issues which stopped them appearing on the grids again this season, also eligibility of cars and classes played a part. Costs are another major reason why people are no longer out there racing. It is an expensive hobby and people no longer have the same disposable incomes to run such teams/cars etc and therefore chose not to race, other due to business commitments....These are facts, not made up by me to add fuel to any one particular argument....I do believe that Peugeot recently pulled the pin on their race plans at the last minute, I don't think it was anything to do with non-promotion of the LM series....I'm sure it was a financial decision....
I also think that to call the recent Yas event a 'farce' is also unfair and very narrow minded, after talking to a lot of the drivers after that race, the majority thoroughly enjoyed the racing and the on track battles. The fact that the Ferrari had to come from the back of the grid is irrelevant, this happens all over the world when cars or bike for whatever reason have to start from the pit lane....The racing was very clean and with no major accidents, not by luck...By good driving ! As Ian mentions, during the recent 24 hr race, there were over 70 cars on grid, Merc SLS monsters down to Clios and diesel cars, we witnessed some of the best, closest driving ever seen on that track and once again, no major accidents which involved a slower car taking out a faster car.....
The Porsche and Maserati series cannot be fair comparison, these are totally different in the way they are promoted, organised, backed and run....Still, for the most of last season and once again this season, the Porsche grids are under 15 cars and that is with the weight of such a great name prepping and running the cars in Walter Lechner...Also the same with the Maserati series, small grids of 11 or 12 cars.....
Every person is responsible for the promotion of the racing out here. The concept of circuit racing is still in it's infancy and needs to grow. It does not have such a rich history as in other countries and therefore it will take years to build. How much international racing will we see in the region next season? very little, even Yas Marina has now pretty much closed it's doors on the hight level stuff and will host only the F1 & support races...The highlight will once again be the Dubai 24hr race which is by far the best of them all and, its free....
Most people would love to see instant success and full grids in each class for every race day, that would be great and there are people trying to achieve this in whatever way possible....but the reality is, this is 'club racing' with tinsel on top.....the tinsel came from the drivers/riders/teams not by the request of the organizers, they merely acted on those requests.....
I am not supporting one or the other here, I have no need to, my racing days are long since over and now I am in a position to sit back and watch others go through what I went through when I was racing many moons ago.....Do I care, of course I do, I am a motorsports fan and want to have the option of seeing live races on a weekend....I just think that there are those (not all) who need to get off their soap boxes and maybe come up with constructive criticism on how to help racing develop in the region instead of repeating what has been said season after season.........
Over to you.........
