My impression was that the event needs a lot of organizational help. There was a line all day at one ped. bridge and looked like it was a one way bridge that switched directions. They needed at least 2 more on that stretch. The view from the ground sucked. I never made it to the hairpin b/c of the bridge line, but on the outside of the corners were where the cameras were placed. And because the cameras were placed on the outside of the turn the inside of the turn was covered in ads blocking the views of people that payed for tickets. The inside of the course was double fenced which didn't help at all either for viewing. The outside had a single fence (this seems backwards). The barrier around the track was so tall when you were on the ground you could only see the camera on the champ cars.

The best view i think was on TV, then next in line was in one of the buildings around the track. A friend of mine had a room on the 17 floor at the Hilton that I got to watch from. That was cool. The AC was on an there was a window that you could open slightly to hear the engines sing. A big sign that there were people probelms was that 1/3 of the people that came to the event were inside the convention center during the main event. I feel like they will make lots of changes for next year and not that many people will come.

QUOTE (Dave_Darling @ Aug 1 2005, 05:52 PM)

and for some dumb reason never got on the track that I know of.

I heard for some reason, he has a clutch problem, it is currently on order from Germany at a cost of $9k. Don't know what type would cost that much but then, this car is worth, what....$450k????

Don't know much about this car, haven't read up on it, so don't blast me if I'm way off target on the pricing.

My Brother in law had access to it (his wife was managing the booty pagent). He has pics of the interior and close ups of the engine bay.

I can't believe all the negativity here! Give it a chance; Long Beach has had a long time to set up a perfect venue! Yes the views aren't all the best and the bridges were a real bitch and the cars sure did bounce a lot and it was a little hot in the grandstands but all these things can be worked on. The grandstands at the hairpin looked like a good location for next year and also the grandstand looking at turns 4-6 looked like a great place too. You can't beat being that close to the action without the traffic/parking hassles you routinely deal with at Laguna and Infineon. Hell, the pit row walks alone were worth the price of admission. I just heard today that the downtown businesses pulled in $20 million in revenue for the 3 day period - not too shabby! I'll be back for sure in 2006.

Here's a pic of the front straight - imagine the cars coming at you at about 160.

Here's a pic looking the opposite direction towards the "new" chicane; note the braking markers.

I thought the best part of the whole weekend was the drifting cars...talk about badass!

-Britain