TXE36

I'd consider paying $100 more than last year with a significant boost in track time and passing zones. I'd want to see the track schedule *before* signing up. Just bump up the price list I sent you last year by $100.

I wouldn't do the deal we did this year again for $600. Not enough bang for the buck, especially when it isn't the first time anymore.

All that said, I realize I'm on the low end of the scale. I take being a professional tightwad seriously . There is likely enough demand to tolerate a higher pricing structure until the newness of COTA wears off. Locals like me have lots of alternatives, but COTA will draw people from around the country.

Assuming the economics of the first PCA CR/DE at COTA were marginal at best, the increased fees have me thinking: rock --> you <-- hard place. With higher fees, the logistical problems that COTA has with running DEs will become more significant.

-Mike

GuyIncognito

FWIW the MVP deal at COTA is 3 days, not 2.

I've paid $3-400/day at other tracks (Laguna Seca). not ideal, but for first tier tracks or something really unique I'd pay it.

85Gold

I get where you are coming from but comparing the rental cost of TWS to COTA is like Kobe beef to ground round.

Peter

Doug007

I would be out for a $1000+ event. However, I would pay $300 to instruct there.

I think you might be able to get about half the normal Texas DE crowd that has budgets that can absorb that kind of hit. The other half would sit it out. However, you may be able to fill that other half with crazy people from other parts of the country There still seems to be quite a lot of demand just to step foot on this track and people with the means to do it will pony up.

Meanwhile I am happy to DE/race TWS and Hallett until COTA gains some sanity.

EDIT: If you are talking about a race only I think it could be filled, mostly with travelers. Racers have a higher tolerance for budget pain too I would recommend doing one or the other. Race AND DE involves too many compromises (see Sebring thread!)

mglobe

Assume three days for that price

txhokie4life

That's 7 months of membership dues for H2R the same distance from my house.
Darn near unlimited driving. Yeah the surface sucks -- but still.

That's 4 DE's at TWS. OK, 2 with travel and lodging.

COTA is a bucket list track for me == but at that price -- I'd probably sit out.

Mike

MikeJim

My luck, I'd haul the 1,200 miles from Florida and it would rain for three days in Austin (and I'd forget to bring my rain tires).

TXE36

We will have to agree to disagree. Kobe beef maybe to a very nice home grilled steak is a comparison I could agree to. I don't value the paddock very much beyond providing a decent place to park the car. The racing surface at TWS has nothing to really apologize for and it has a great layout it its own right.

If you do come out to COTA, make a point to stop in at TWS. COTA has nothing like TWS CCW T1-T2, T7, and T13-15.

Make no mistake, I like COTA too. I just don't like it as much as the folks that own it do .

In TX, the going price for a track weekend is about $300 for everywhere else but COTA, and there is a lot of "everywhere else" in TX.

-Mike

85Gold

Mike

I have been to TWS and had a blast. I wasn't comparing the tracks just the cost for the organizer to rent COTA is significantly higher than TWS.

Peter

Drew_K

Keeping in mind that the MVP event is THREE full days, not the typical two, I would have paid the $1,375 for their event earlier this year. However, since I've already driven COTA several times, I'm on the fence about whether to do it again in 2014 at that price. If I had to decide today, I probably wouldn't.

FullThrottle64

I love the track and staff (won the SCCA Major there in 2011), but it just doesn't have the long high-speed straights that you get at COTA, Road America, VIR, etc.

If you're racing competitively in a top class, the entry fee is a drop in the bucket. DEs are another matter entirely, and I'd bet that anything over ~$750 is just not happening for very many people.

jenk12m

It's 3 days, jan 31st-feb 2nd


Mike, I would race for that price at the track where I get plenty of track time b/w practice, sprint race an enduro. Now I can't see myself paying that just for a DE and travel, gas, etc. if local, may be different

rlm328

It would depend a lot on track time. At this year's PCA event the DE guys were lucky to 4 to 5 hot laps on the track per time out. And on top of that the Cup guys insisted on having a close personal relationships with the Air Wall by the esses, which really cut down on the available track time. I (do not know if I would race or just DE) would pay that for a 3 day event if the time spent on track would improve, which I doubt.

Ritesh

I have done a wknd DE at COTA.

IMHO - The biggest draw for COTA is that its a proper F1 track. Its like getting to play basketball at Madison Sq. Garden. The place is epic but as a track I find it to be just avg. Sure the big carousel is cool and Turn 1 is pretty neat but other than that it is a series of late apexes with long straights. It can be challenging but I prefer TWS and MSR - Cresson 1.7 ALOT more.

One advantage COTA has is that it is an ideal track for big HP cars, something MSR can't really claim.

CKit

It may be a little different for me because my wife drives too.
Having a city like Austin to play in the down time, seeing friends, and getting out of the Midwest Winter... still a bargain for me.