No Change in Info on Ticketek Yet but an Updated PDF

I have been regularly checking the Ticketek website to see if there has been any progress in the availability of reserved grandstand seating.

There have been some changes and an updated PDF document still states that there will be no grandstand in 2014 at the Tasmania 400.

Updated PDF - now called General Information rather than FAQ
but no change re grandstand.

My original questions still apply.

Is is OK for Tasmania to be the only round where reserved grandstand seating is not available? Are Tasmanian motor sport fans being treated differently? Is this OK for a national/international standard event that is very well supported?

The particular grandstand I am referring to has always been full so why is it not being provided if there is definitely demand for it?

Early morning view from Grandstand Turn 2.

Getting Some Replies

I have had a reply to my email to the V8 Supercar organisers.

I apologise for the delay in responding as we have been working through the logistics of getting a grandstand down to Tasmania and this is the only reason we are yet to put it on sale and as is always the case, there is a good reason as to why things happen or change.  Moving a show the size of the V8 Supercars is a major logistical undertaking and takes many hours of work to pull it all together and at the time tickets went on sale we could not guarantee that we would be able to provide the stand and I’m sure you agree that if we had put the grandstand on sale and then announced that we couldn’t provide it that this would have caused much more angst and inconvenience with our fans.

I assure you that we are doing all we can to provide the grandstand and will be making further announcements in relation to this in the weeks ahead.

In the meantime, we thank you for your patience.

I am sincerely hoping that this means there will be a Grandstand at Turn 2 in 2014.

I will definitely be waiting for further announcements about this that are not as final as the fine print in the Ticketek FAQ pdf document.

Why is there no Grandstand?

Another Agenda??

Further internet research makes for food for thought.

http://www.speedcafe.com/2011/09/20/new-three-year-deal-for-v8s-at-symmons-plains/

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-21/20110921-government-funds-car-races/2909416

http://www.motoring.com.au/news/2011/motorsport-v8-supercars-stay-in-tassie-until-2014-26824

http://monzaimports.com.au/automotive/v8s-hit-tasmania-11-13th-november/

All of these articles refer to the uncertainty that happened in 2011 when the Tasmanian State Government reneged and then back pedalled on a deal to ensure that the V8 Supercars calendar would include a Tasmanian round until at least 2014.

Why is there no Grandstand?

Is the decision to not provide reserved grandstand seating - The Turn 2 Grandstand - the beginning of the end?

Are Tasmanian motor sport fans about to be disappointed again?

Turn 2 Grandstand - another great view!

Definitely food for thought.

Less Choice in Viewing Options

The V8 Supercars returned to Tasmania in 2004 after no round for five years. The attendance figures for 2004 were around 60 000 people over three days. Some of these patrons would choose general admission ticketing and byo seating. Others would choose reserved grandstand seating. Others would be hosted in the corporate hospitality section over pit lane. Record attendances and one of the biggest crowds to a sporting event in Tasmania.

Late Friday Afternoon in 2009.

Jump forward ten years and there are fans who have returned year after year. Crowd numbers have fluctuated slightly over time but on average the Symmons Plains circuit can claim attendance figures around the 50 000 mark over each set of three days. A big sporting event for Tasmania. In all of these years patrons have been offered a tier of viewing options from general admission through to corporate hospitality. Plenty of choice for the variety of V8 Supercar fans attending a local event.

May 2009 - Early morning view from Grandstand Turn 2.

Jump forward to 2014 and things have changed. Loyal Tasmanian V8 fans are being offered less options for viewing this event. Why? Up until this current year there has been a reserved grandstand seating option for those who wished to pay more than general admission and less than the corporate hospitality. A seat for watching all the races, some protection from Tasmanian weather (4 seasons in one day!) and the inclusion in the price of a paddock pass to be able to wander past the pits and check out the action before returning to a seat to watch the next race.

Looking from the Turn 2 Grandstand in 210.
There is another Grandstand that vanishes in later years.

For my family this is a break in a tradition that spans all the years of the V8 Supercars coming to Tasmania since 2004. I have gladly purchased reserved grandstand seats every year. There has not been a year that we have missed travelling to Launceston and spending three days at Symmons Plains watching all the racing. Our seats have been in almost the same spot. We have seen the same faces return year after year. The grandstand has been full year after year. Why has this been changed for 2014?

View from Grandstand at Turn 2 in 2011.
Still a second Grandstand in the centre.

I have emailed the V8 Supercar organisation and I have phoned the V8 Supercar organisation and I am waiting for an explanation for this reduction in seating choice.

This is the only round in the 2014 calendar where patrons are not able to purchase reserved grandstand seating. Why?

Early Morning shot of the Grandstand at Turn 2
 ready to be filled with race watchers.

Why?

Why is there only one round of a National/International event that is not offering reserved grandstand seating in 2014?

Why is there no Grandstand? Screen clipping from FAQ PDF document on Ticketek site.
Hard to find!

Why are loyal Tasmanian fans who have purchased reserved grandstand seating every year since the V8 Supercars event returned to Tasmania no longer able to do this?

Since the return of the V8 Supercars to Symmons Plains in Tasmania in 2004 patrons have been offered a tier of entry options including reserved grandstand seating but this is not the case in 2014. Why?

In the first few years there were three grandstand options to choose from and this gradually declined until only the Grandstand at Turn 2 remained. Each year it is filled with fans who choose to sit and watch the racing from a slightly elevated, sheltered spot that gives great views of the racing action. Not so in 2014. It has gone. Why?

At the start of the return to racing at Symmons Plains the Turn 2 Grandstand was uncovered but it still provided a reserved seat that gave an elevated view of the action. Wisely the organisers added a roof and back curtains making this an ideal spot to shelter from Tasmania's fickle weather and still enjoy the V8 racing along with all the support categories. Great views of the start and battle for places in those first few seconds of each race. Great views of the exit from pit lane and the occasional excursion into the "kitty litter". Why has this option been removed?

Early Morning shot of the Grandstand at Turn 2 ready to be filled with race watchers.