New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing (2014)

[RacerT]

As a member of the paying public, I was disappointed at the quantity of cars in some of the fields, compared to previous Festivals I have attended. Was it because Kumeu was on the same weekend, was it because Taupo was the week before, or was it because the focus was for a marque? I dont have the answers to any of the questions, but I will admit that this years festival didnt appear to have the same kind of "vibe" that every other I have been to had.

I read on another website this morning that the crowd yesterday (incidently the only day I went, or will be going), was said to be the largest so far? I noted a lack of trade support relative to other years, and the timetable was a bit slow.

Dont get me wrong, I appreciate the massive effort to promote and run this event and I know we are damn lucky to have an event like this in NZ. But I was still disappopinted, given the price to attend, the fact that its the only motor racing event I take my teenage son too, and that some classes were appearing a little thin for quantity, or depth of vehicle content.

Oh yeah, yes I've raced, and I know what it takes to prepare and run an older vehicle, and have assisted with promoting and running motorsport events previously..........just saying

Hi Habu.
As one of the directors of the Festival, I can tell you that we think long and hard about the upcoming Festival and try to make each year a bigger and better 'circus'. The competitor entry was down, noticeably the BMW's, but the new class of Sports Sedans added many interesting cars. Next week there will be three new classes, including Formula Libre. The Taupo round the weekend before does impact on the Festival, but HRC has many competitors asking for that event, so what do we do? There were more trade stands than last year, positioned down the wall where the spectators come in. Ray mentioned that some classic and historic events are free for spectators, but these are the low profile events that cater solely for the competitors. All HRC events are marketed and advertised to try to build up classic and historic racing and a gate charge is made to cover these costs. We are trying to build up motorsport overall, firstly by building a circuit and then promoting race meetings to the public. I know the $40 entry charge is at the upper level, but early bird and online purchasing is cheaper. (V8 Supercars are considerably more expensive). My wife and I went to the movies the other night the other night and paid $17 each for a two hour film - 8 hours of motorsport is much better value! I think we have learnt that both competitors and spectators are fickle and we definitely cannot please them all, but I guess we will keep trying!

[Howard Wood]

Hi Habu.
As one of the directors of the Festival, I can tell you that we think long and hard about the upcoming Festival and try to make each year a bigger and better 'circus'. The competitor entry was down, noticeably the BMW's, but the new class of Sports Sedans added many interesting cars. Next week there will be three new classes, including Formula Libre. The Taupo round the weekend before does impact on the Festival, but HRC has many competitors asking for that event, so what do we do? There were more trade stands than last year, positioned down the wall where the spectators come in. Ray mentioned that some classic and historic events are free for spectators, but these are the low profile events that cater solely for the competitors. All HRC events are marketed and advertised to try to build up classic and historic racing and a gate charge is made to cover these costs. We are trying to build up motorsport overall, firstly by building a circuit and then promoting race meetings to the public. I know the $40 entry charge is at the upper level, but early bird and online purchasing is cheaper. (V8 Supercars are considerably more expensive). My wife and I went to the movies the other night the other night and paid $17 each for a two hour film - 8 hours of motorsport is much better value! I think we have learnt that both competitors and spectators are fickle and we definitely cannot please them all, but I guess we will keep trying!

Hi Tony,

As you know there is so much competition for the entertainment dollar today and despite the predictions there seems less leisure time available so most attractions have to reinvent themselves every so often to stay fresh and relevant.

As a competitor with very strong views on the need to maintain historical accuracy in "Historic" classes I fully support the direction and ethos of the festival and would love to see it develop to become the equal of any of the major festivals word wide. I also realise that you need to offer more than one weekend's racing to attract overseas entries and this is particularly true for the F/ Juniors next year. On the other hand, for local entrants particularly those running in other concurrent series the two weekend format can be a challenge. In my case, the Taupo BMW series round Jan 11/12 folllowed by two weekends of the Festival requires other family members sacrificing too much of their available holiday time year after year than is reasonable.

In addition, the date clash with the Scope races in the South Island means that many potential competitors (and I know several FFers in this category) have to make a choice between the two. Is it practical to split the festival format over two weekends between HD and Scope (or some other venue such as Queenstown) with the option of a either a one weekend or two weekend entry fee? It seems to me that this might offer something to attract more overseas entrants, show other parts of the country what you are trying to do here while catering for time poor local competitors such as myself.

[RacerT]

Hi Tony,

As you know there is so much competition for the entertainment dollar today and despite the predictions there seems less leisure time available so most attractions have to reinvent themselves every so often to stay fresh and relevant.

As a competitor with very strong views on the need to maintain historical accuracy in "Historic" classes I fully support the direction and ethos of the festival and would love to see it develop to become the equal of any of the major festivals word wide. I also realise that you need to offer more than one weekend's racing to attract overseas entries and this is particularly true for the F/ Juniors next year. On the other hand, for local entrants particularly those running in other concurrent series the two weekend format can be a challenge. In my case, the Taupo BMW series round Jan 11/12 folllowed by two weekends of the Festival requires other family members sacrificing too much of their available holiday time year after year than is reasonable.

In addition, the date clash with the Scope races in the South Island means that many potential competitors (and I know several FFers in this category) have to make a choice between the two. Is it practical to split the festival format over two weekends between HD and Scope (or some other venue such as Queenstown) with the option of a either a one weekend or two weekend entry fee? It seems to me that this might offer something to attract more overseas entrants, show other parts of the country what you are trying to do here while catering for time poor local competitors such as myself.

Thanks Howard.
Very constructive and well thought through, as all your posts are! TR

[Racer Rog]

In the deep South (Mainland) we run the ENZED CLASSIC, this is the weekend after the Skope, so we are always interested in working in with the others, in fact we organizes to get the Formula Juniors down to the South Island with the support from our own club (CMRC) and Toll Logistics, and this was the icing on the cake for these guys, we think that we have one of the best little Historic and Classic meetings in the South and we do try to stick to H & C type cars and in the main we do, but also have invited cars of interest, and this is to fill the fields. Our prime objective to make sure every one has fun and we ensure a great social side to the meeting, as many from the North Island can attest to, yes we do let them run provided they have a letter from their mothers saying that they are allowed to play. At this point in time we are accepting late entries for this years meeting, starting on Waitangi day with qualifying starting on Friday at noon. if any are interested PM me.
Roger

[Habu]

Hi Habu.
As one of the directors of the Festival, I can tell you that we think long and hard about the upcoming Festival and try to make each year a bigger and better 'circus'. The competitor entry was down, noticeably the BMW's, but the new class of Sports Sedans added many interesting cars. Next week there will be three new classes, including Formula Libre. The Taupo round the weekend before does impact on the Festival, but HRC has many competitors asking for that event, so what do we do? There were more trade stands than last year, positioned down the wall where the spectators come in. Ray mentioned that some classic and historic events are free for spectators, but these are the low profile events that cater solely for the competitors. All HRC events are marketed and advertised to try to build up classic and historic racing and a gate charge is made to cover these costs. We are trying to build up motorsport overall, firstly by building a circuit and then promoting race meetings to the public. I know the $40 entry charge is at the upper level, but early bird and online purchasing is cheaper. (V8 Supercars are considerably more expensive). My wife and I went to the movies the other night the other night and paid $17 each for a two hour film - 8 hours of motorsport is much better value! I think we have learnt that both competitors and spectators are fickle and we definitely cannot please them all, but I guess we will keep trying!

Hi Tony,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my criticisms. In relation to the trade displays, I clearly missed their representation. Although the entry price was $40, I didnt feel as though I had the same value for money relative to previous years - clearly my expectations had been exceeded by your previous efforts! As you have correctly indicated, compared to the movies, the Festival does represent good value for money for the time you can spend. The $5 parking charge could hardly be classified as exorbitant. As far as the Hampton Downs facility is concerned, it is always a pleasure to visit.

As a fickle spectator, I look forward to 2015.