CPoP should be a fantastic event. The idea of bringing the Goodwood Festival of Speed oop narf should work well, but it doesn't. This was the 4th year, i have marshalled every single one, yet too little improves each year and it's very easy to get bored.
As a marshal you don't expect much, but some basics wouldn't go amiss. To list just a few of the issues and complaints from various people over the weekend;
camping in with all the punters, over a mile away from sign on
only after intervention from Fazz did a shuttle bus get put on from the campsite
for day trippers (like me) the car park was almost as far on other side of the estate but again only after complaints was a bus put on
no shelter for people or bags on post. a cheapo gazeebo would have done, like a lot of the car clubs had up.
no vouchers for food or drink. at £2.50 for about 200ml of coffee it was a joke
only 8 people each day won something on the raffle. club meetings at anglesey do better than that
not even a small gift like an event sticker or pin badge which were on sale.
key attractions such as the McLaren MP4-12C, '94 & '03 Jordan F1 cars, ex-Schumacher Benneton, Ford Escort Cosworth, Ferrari 308, Ferrari 458 GT and many others not making an appearance.
rally stage being curtailed due to conditions, but despite many runners dropping out of the sprint stage the rally cars were not asked to fill in the numbers.
By far the biggest issue tho is what you get attending the event. Each year various parts have improved or new additions like this years rally stage, but it isn't growing enough to remain a draw. The vehicles participating on the sprint course have changed little in 4 years. Nice although it is, the Maserati Birdcage brought by the Minshaw's has been there every year. As have a lot of other cars and especially the bikes. There are nowhere near enough of them, not enough variety and you get to see each one at least 8 times over the weekend. And where are the celbrity drivers bringing in the punters, doing autographs and mingling with fans like at FoS? I think Derek Bell made an appearance on Friday (Bentley are title sponsors & his employer) and Tom Sykes on a bike. That was it.
FoS you can spend an entire weekend at and still not see everything. And all for one ticket price which includes all the various paddocks. CPoP were charging £20 in on gate and an extra tenner if you wanted to see the paddock, all 6 small tents of it. If i was a punter i'd never go back, i'd spend the small fortune in fuel and do FoS instead.
At the 1st event as a marshal you were made to feel special. Now there is nothing special about it at all. I've never felt more undervalued at a race meeting than i did at CPoP this year. Sure the weather was shit on Sunday and making life difficult but i was dressed right and stayed warm & dry despite no shelter other than my umbrella. But i get that most of the year at meetings all around the UK, at least those meetings have enough variety to keep me interested. I resorted to punishing Ady & Andy with my own commentary in the unique style of the Goons crossed with Jar Jar Binks on Sunday. Sorry for that guys but i hope it kept everyone entertained!
Unless CPoP get at least double the number of vehicles participating next year then i doubt i'll bother again. Maybe get convinced to do a single day, but the shine of a new exciting event has well & truely worn off. The only way you can survive events like that is with a great bunch of marshals to work with, so many thanks to Faz, Ady, Andy, Steve and all the others that had to endure the weekend too. Next stop, CSCC at Anglesey
0 comments:
Post a Comment