11/11/2011
NEWS STORY
Scarcely a month goes by without talk of a new race being added to Formula One's calendar. In the past year alone we have heard reports of Grands Prix being planned in Argentina, France, Hong Kong, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, Thailand and even more in America which already has two races due to join the calendar over the next two years. In 2014 there will be a Russian Grand Prix and by then F1 will have two races more than the maximum number agreed by the teams in the Concorde Agreement, the contract governing the distribution of the sport's profits. All it takes is for a couple of the planned races to be signed and F1 will have to drop a total of four of the current Grands Prix. It could leave a lot of top circuits in need of a replacement for F1 to engage fans and keep them on the motorsport radar.
The current Concorde expires at the end of next year and the teams are currently renegotiating terms with F1's boss Bernie Ecclestone. As Pitpass has reported, there are clauses in the agreement for the teams to increase the limit beyond 20 races which would suit Ecclestone down to the ground because more races means more profit.
According to F1's industry monitor Formula Formula Money, the average fee for hosting a Grand Prix comes to £18.7m ($29.7m) so there is a lot at stake. Pitpass' business editor Christian Sylt understands that the teams may consider increasing the number of races beyond this limit in return for them getting more than their current 50% share of F1's profits. Ecclestone says that this is not an option so it would seem that the 20 race limit will stick which brings us back to the question of what is the best route for a circuit to take if it loses a high profile event such as F1. They may need to think laterally
A good example they could follow comes from America where the Richard Petty Driving Experience (RPDE) offers fans the option of riding in a 600bhp NASCAR-style stock car which is either driven by them or a trainer driver whilst they sit in the passenger seat. It is named after NASCAR legend Richard Petty who won its championship seven times and scored a record 200 race victories. The RPDE operates at 22 circuits in the US but one venue shows the potential for benefit better than any of the others.
This venue is in the unlikely location of Walt Disney World in Florida where its Speedway hosted the first round of the Indy Racing League (IRL) in 1996. The Speedway is owned by Disney but its estimated £3.8m ($6m) construction cost was funded by IRL. Capacity is 50,000 plus hospitality suites in the infield and for several years spectators watched NASCAR's Craftsman Truck series race there as well as IRL. The last race it hosted was in 2000 which is when the RPDE knocked on their door.
"Disney was looking for tenants who would be at the race track a lot more, so we came in," says Dave Williams, operations manager for the RPDE at Disney World. Whilst a race gives a temporary boost to a circuit's exposure, an event such as the RPDE brings fans to it year-round.
"The Richard Petty Driving Experience started in Charlotte and they opened a permanent facility in Las Vegas at the end of 1996 so the driving experience was looking to expand," says Williams. "What better place to expand to than Walt Disney World where you have people from all over the world coming every day."
He adds, "I've driven on about 20 of the tracks around the country in a stock car and [the Speedway] is one of the top five tracks for me. It is a technical track, it is a drivers' track." This is reflected in the success of the RPDE at the circuit. A customer survey gave the experience high marks, and one-third of the customers said they'd come back for another drive in the next 12 months. "We do about 10-12,000 ride-alongs at this track each year," says Williams and at an average cost of around £250 ($400) it gives the RPDE revenues from that single circuit of around £3.1m ($5m).
The circuit's biggest cost is a low double-digit revenue share deal with Disney and Williams says that "after that [our biggest costs are] labour and probably racing fuel. We take about 8,000 gallons at a time so that's a big cheque." He explains that around 20 people work at the circuit every day and 12 cars are kept there with around 100 in total run by the RPDE.
Overall, the RPDE has over 100,000 customers annually who either choose the 'ride-along' experience - three laps with an experienced driver for £69 ($109) - or one of the driving programs, the most popular of which is the 'rookie experience,' with eight laps behind the wheel for £251 ($399).
When the company first started it bought old cars from NASCAR but as it grew bigger it found that it was more beneficial to build its own vehicles. "First of all we can build them the way we want them," says Williams explaining that "for example, the windows you have to climb through are slightly bigger because all different body sizes need to get in and out. We also have fibreglass bodies so they last longer and look better for longer. If you buy cars from different race teams they would all have different parts but when we build them every car is exactly the same which is a lot more cost effective for us." RPDE even builds its own engines. "We have a full blown shop," adds Williams.
In addition to attracting thousands of fans, the RPDE at Disney World has also been visited by a long list of celebrity wannabe racing drivers including John Travolta, Leonardo di Caprio, Michael J Fox and Samantha Mumba. You will also find plenty of real racers there. The circuit was home to one of US driver Danica Patrick's first NASCAR tests and, closer to home, Williams' driver Rubens Barrichello is a Disney World regular. However, when he races there it isn't on four wheels.
The Speedway is part of a giant sports facility, known as the Wide World of Sports, which is a model for facilities of the future.
Run by sports broadcaster ESPN, the Wide World of Sports spans 220 acres with state-of-the-art facilities for hosting around 40 types of sports and around 180 events annually. Its centrepiece venues are a baseball park and an indoor fieldhouse which has four full-size basketball courts on its ground level and another two on an upper level. Complementing these are four baseball diamonds, four multi-sports fields, a track and field complex, a six-field softball complex, a 10-court tennis facility and five further sports fields. And it doesn't stop there as the world's two most-visited water parks are located on its vast site.
But, beyond its sheer size, perhaps the most surprising aspect of the venue is its focus. The vast majority of the events staged at the Wide World of Sports are youth and amateur oriented which essentially makes it a sports-themed park. In December every year the venue hosts the Soccer Showcase, the biggest youth football tournament in the US, which is sponsored by Chelsea Football Club. The star players go to Stamford Bridge, all expenses paid, and practice for a week with Chelsea's first team.
Cleverly, the Wide World of Sports has also hosted practice events for teams in the NFL, NBA and MLB with the Atlanta Braves baseball team holding its spring training there in February every year. It is clever because it gives young fans the opportunity to play on the same grounds as their heroes. This even applies to F1 fans.
"My first visit to Disney World was in 1983 with friends," says Barrichello. He was 11 at the time but a love of Disney's parks in Orlando has stuck with him just as much as his passion for motor racing. "I visit twice a year more or less," adds the beaming Brazilian and he is proud of it. From his Twitter page Barrichello links to photos of him and his family standing in front of Disney World's famous Cinderella castle and with F1's low profile in the US it isn't likely he will be pursued by fans there.
"It's very peaceful and my kids enjoy it so much," he says and whilst the theme parks are the big draws for his two sons Eduardo and Fernando, Disney World also has the added attraction for Barrichello of having five lush golf courses. "The golf is also great," admits Barrichello who is friends with local Orlando resident Tiger Woods. Barrichello's boast about the quality of Disney's golf courses is no exaggeration since a round of the PGA Tour has been held there for the past 40 years.
Sport is never far from Barrichello's mind on vacation and in January last year he mixed business with pleasure when he ran a half marathon from Epcot, Disney's science-themed park, to the fairytale-inspired Magic Kingdom. It was also arranged by the Wide World of Sports and attracted 17,143 runners. Barrichello was not amongst the top finishers and there is good reason for this.
"I did it for pleasure and fitness," says Barrichello adding "it was my first one." Despite this, he still finished in 1671st place but was pipped to the post by former Jaguar driver Luciano Burti who was ranked 1383rd. They had an unexpected factor hampering progress as the weather in Orlando was far from what would usually be expected of the 'sunshine state.'
Temperatures hovered around zero during the race as the runners were pelted with snow and rain. "It was really cold and I started too far back so had to overtake a lot of people," says Barrichello adding that despite this "the rest was great and I had lots of fun." It didn't put him off and he ran again this year finishing in an improved 1,208th place.
The marathon complemented Barrichello's usual training regimen and he explains that "because of F1 I have to be well prepared but I had never run such a long distance. I had to alter my training a little but at the end it was good fun and it was good for me."
Whilst F1 drivers are supremely fit, their training prepares them for a different kind of exertion to marathon runners. Aside from Barrichello, only a handful of F1 drivers are known for incorporating this kind of endurance training into their fitness schedules. Two famous exceptions are Jenson Button, who is renowned for taking part in triathlons involving a 1.9km swim followed by a 90km cycle ride, and Mark Webber who broke his leg in 2008 during a mountain bike competition in Australia.
This year the Speedway is allowing fans to drive supercars, including the Ferrari F430 and the Lamborghini Gallardo, around the track. It could prove to be all too tempting for Barrichello who has said in the past, tongue-in-cheek, that after leaving F1 you will find him riding his beloved roller-coasters. F1 circuits could do a lot worse than taking his lead by visiting Disney World and seeing the benefit the RPDE has brought to the circuit after IRL's exit. At the rate F1 wants to expand, the circuits are a lot more likely than Barrichello to be out of a job soon.