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CoTA sounds like it sucks


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Posted (edited)
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 by wood
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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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Posted (edited)
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 by wood
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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.

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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. 

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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. 

 

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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.

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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)

 

 

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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. 

 

 

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Posted (edited)

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 by wood
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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.  

 

 

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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.

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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.

 

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