Anything to be learned from the 1st Baltimore Grand Prix this past weekend?

Yea the 12 oclock boyz would love a race in baltimore, they need newer bikes LOL!

It was a good match for Baltimore, which is a sports kind of town, with all types of people living there. I thought it was really cool. The track looked very tight, and the pavement a little rough, but it worked fine. They were also smart to put it right smack on the harbor.

Vancouver used to draw 200,000 - 300,000 people per race weekend for an indy event.

The races always do well in a new city. Once people have been out to the races a few times and realize they can get more out of the event by watching it on the tube, attendance falls off quickly.

Not true. Attendance at Long Beach still gets 200,000 per weekend. That race first started in 1975 as an F1 race but changed to Indy cars in 1984 and has been going strong since.

Toronto was another race that had increasing attendance for 20 years - at least until they screwed it up. It was getting about 73,000 when they first canceled it. I am sure they'll grow it if they keep it on the schedule and promote it correctly.

You get more out of a motocross race by watching it on TV too. But it's great to go out and see and hear it in person for both sports.

I love Indycar. Their street course events always work well when the area has a good open wheel history or if it's the only game in town.

I've always thought a downtown course that was a hybrid SX/MX could be a huge hit, if you found the right kind of market. Wouldn't take near the space and road closures that cars use.

We are already planning it. Chances are it will be out in the County however, not the city itself. We are developing relationships with County Commissioners from Baltimore to Washington Counties to get new tracks there. We'll have an announcement shortly on reopening one of the long-closed tracks. Also we are actively seeking the support of committed volunteers to begin work on the tracks and spreading the word about The Motocross Council. I've posted on this forum if you recall.

To answer the question about how much space it will take, my feel for this is that it will take 100 acres. Bikes are loud and I'm thinking about requiring dB Dawgs, for 4 strokes. That's not unreasonable is it. 100 acres barely provides the needed buffer distance for the neighbors, I'm finding. We need to get the levels down more, folks, or should I say, manufacturers!

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