Not sure if you have seen it, but 18th March at Donington Park is the official media Launch day for the BTCC and the best thing, it's free to enter from 12:30pm with the cars taking to the track around 13:00pm
well its running a race version of the Yamaha V8, flat-plane crank which makes it more or less a double inline-4. Merc and Nissan probably use the same configuration, but Mercedes probably did more "sound engineering" to give its car a rather unique howl.
In amongst the crazy accidents and penalties there was some pretty decent action in V8s at the weekend. Bring on the rest of 2014 - could well be another classic year.
This is just insane and ridiculously awesome! The very best motorsports could ever be. Leaving each other nothing but the space that's needed and fighting until the very last corner. Chapeau! :bowdown:
I'm going to be in Australia in a couple weeks and plan on going to Winton on Sunday for the V8 Supercar race, any info you Aussies could give me for a first timer over there? Been to plenty of races over here in the States, just kind of wondering if there's anything I should make sure I do/see around the track on race day. Can't wait to finally see a Supercar race in person.
I've never been to Winton so I'm probably not the best person to talk to about this, but I have been to quite a few Clipsal 500's in my time including this year.
One of the first things to do when you get to the track is to buy a program. They should be around $5-$10. It's disappointing that you are only going on Sunday and not all 3-4 days, but that's just how it is.
Will you have general admission tickets or numbered grandstand seats? If you have general admission (you can do this if you have grandstand as well) is to get there and in the track right as the gates open. What you should do then is, spend a couple of hours walking around the track and then figure out the best spot that you want to sit at for the day. If you have general admission, you'll be able to sit anywhere that isn't a major grandstand, so you can move around during the day.
One important thing to note is the pricing. At the track, most if not all of the food places will cost a lot. What I did this year, and is best on your pockets, is to buy some snacks from the local mall/supermarket and also make things like your own sandwiches (or whatever you preference, but bring both snacks and sandwiches). It costs you much, much less overall. If you want to try out the food there that's fine as well.
You don't need to worry about bringing ear muffs. At least, I don't think so. I don't know what support categories will be there. You definitely wont need them for the V8 Supercars.
And relating to the last one, time you walks around the track with the times that there are no racing on at all. Always watch the support category races. Sometimes they are just as good, if not better than the V8 Supercars races. The support categories are also very exciting.
If it's anything like the Clipsal 500 is, not too long after the Sunday events finish, the track should be open for you to walk over. If you can do it, walk a lap of the track. It gives you a really different perspective from what you see on TV and your seat. Just check though before you wander on to the track though, I can't guarantee anything. :P
And when you are wandering the around the track trying to find a place to sit if you do have general admission, make sure that you find out quickly where the nearest toilets are. Also try and sit near a big screen and near one of the speakers you know what is going on around the track.
That was very helpful, thanks. I was actually wondering if we were allowed to bring food with us, since we'll be there all day we'll definitely bring some snacks with us. What about drinks/beer?
It looks like the grandstands are pretty limited at Winton so we're just going to do general admission and move around during the day. It would be nice to do a full race weekend but since we'll only be in Australia for 10 days, we only have so much time to devote to racing.
You should be able to bring every drink in the world in besides alcohol!
Unless the rules are different from there to hear, you will not be able to take beer in to the track, or out of the track at the end of the day. Beer is available there at the track though, of course!
I recommend you pack water to drink throughout the day, though. Also bring sunscreen, you don't want to forget that, especially here in Australia!
Yes it was inevitable, either for safety or cost reasons. I remember when the teambosses got together and vetoed against reverse starting order, it felt like the sport had grew up from spectacle to professional competition that day.