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  #2421  
Old Posted Jan 19, 2020, 5:04 AM
hookem hookem is offline
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Originally Posted by turn1 View Post
Yeah that's a popular take by some folks who only watch races. It's funny though, that seems to be most prevalent in the reactions to COTA's tweet about it ... for some reason. On Reddit and other places, it's a different story. And 99% who mention that they've driven or raced there say they're happy about something being done. Even some of the F1, MotoGP & sportscar guys say they enjoy rough tracks & that typically bumps add character, then go on to say the bumps at COTA are/were just way too much.
It made me re-think some of the statements that the top F1 drivers like Hamilton would say about the bumps being "the same for everyone" or not mention them or downplay them. I had initially thought that they were saying that in order cover up problems with COTA or not badmouth it... Now that I've seen this reaction from the fans (at least the viewing ones), I think the drivers might have understood their fans a little better than I do... and knew that if they complained a lot of fans would come down on them as overpaid primadonnas who couldn't handle a bit of track adversity.

It was a weird revelation. Anyway, for the fans that are upset about the bumps being gone, I think they should rest assured that they will be back...
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  #2422  
Old Posted Jan 19, 2020, 1:47 PM
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Originally Posted by hookem View Post
It made me re-think some of the statements that the top F1 drivers like Hamilton would say about the bumps being "the same for everyone" or not mention them or downplay them. I had initially thought that they were saying that in order cover up problems with COTA or not badmouth it... Now that I've seen this reaction from the fans (at least the viewing ones), I think the drivers might have understood their fans a little better than I do... and knew that if they complained a lot of fans would come down on them as overpaid primadonnas who couldn't handle a bit of track adversity.

It was a weird revelation. Anyway, for the fans that are upset about the bumps being gone, I think they should rest assured that they will be back...
Yeah, good observation imho. 2019 was the first time I know of that he ever had anything negative to say about COTA, talking about the big bumps literally right out of pit lane on his FP1 installation lap, and asking if the track was even safe to drive. Then after the race he was talking about the pounding of the bumps and the massive headache they had given him.

And yeah, this is not a long-term fix. Hell, they did the same thing last year about this time at T10. That bump on the apex there is already back.
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  #2423  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2020, 4:03 AM
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Maybe it's just me, but I value the safety of the drivers over whether it's more exciting to have bumps on the track or not. Especially Moto GP riders who unlike their F1 counterparts do not have any vehicle casing to protect them. I've seen some crazy wicked crashes of F1 cars on YouTube, its amazing that the drivers walk away from those relatively unscathed, though there have most definitely been some horrible tragic accidents over the history of F1. Doesn't matter how advanced the motorbikes are, if something happens, it puts the riders at very high risk.

To all those complainers, I'd like to see them try to drive around COTA bumps and all at high speed and see how far they get. It's one thing to watch from the sidelines and complain but they have no clue what it's like to be in the driver's shoes.
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  #2424  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2020, 9:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Jdawgboy View Post
Maybe it's just me, but I value the safety of the drivers over whether it's more exciting to have bumps on the track or not. Especially Moto GP riders who unlike their F1 counterparts do not have any vehicle casing to protect them. I've seen some crazy wicked crashes of F1 cars on YouTube, its amazing that the drivers walk away from those relatively unscathed, though there have most definitely been some horrible tragic accidents over the history of F1. Doesn't matter how advanced the motorbikes are, if something happens, it puts the riders at very high risk.

To all those complainers, I'd like to see them try to drive around COTA bumps and all at high speed and see how far they get. It's one thing to watch from the sidelines and complain but they have no clue what it's like to be in the driver's shoes.
Exactly. It's not just you.

ETA: And yeah, the last time I drove out there in the AMG Academy (2018) the back straight had already gotten so bad that they'd only let us do drag strip runs on about 1/4 of a mile of it, to keep us from getting too much speed. We had to come to a complete stop after T11 to set up for our runs. We could get up to about 110 or so before getting hard on the brakes to make it through a very slow chicane of cones just before the crossover. Under hard acceleration, the cars tracked hard from side to side, and once you got some speed, the cars felt like they were gonna take off, even just at those speeds. Then under braking it was back to the hard side to side movement. And we were nowhere near racing speeds. And it got a lot worse in the year that followed that.
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Last edited by turn1; Jan 25, 2020 at 1:23 AM.
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  #2425  
Old Posted Jan 20, 2020, 2:20 PM
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#1, driver safety, #2, pervent excessive damage to the cars, #3, competetive racing. Responsibilty, track condition. The owners owe it to the teams and fans.
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  #2426  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2020, 6:44 PM
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New onboard video shows areas of COTA that were resurfaced recently...with varying degrees of success. Esses bumpier than ever, but not addressed.


Still a big bump in the T1 braking zone (it's actually visible as he approaches it), and between 9 & 10 where they just resurfaced. Back straight, 16-19, & 2-3 are better. For now. Recently there's already been water seeping up from under the track, where last winter's T10 resurface meets the original pavement downhill of the apex.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9dx...ature=emb_logo
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Last edited by turn1; Feb 4, 2020 at 8:22 PM.
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  #2427  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2020, 7:10 PM
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Originally Posted by turn1 View Post
New onboard video shows areas of COTA that were resurfaced recently...with varying degrees of success. Unrepaired areas still very bumpy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9dx...ature=emb_logo
couple of questions/thoughts:

1. wife bought me a gift cert to drive the "go-carts" out there....has anyone here driven them? what were your thoughts?

2. with regard to the video....are the bumps in the road much worse than the bumps on the edges of the track? the red/white ones they intentionally run over at every turn....it seems.
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  #2428  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2020, 7:23 PM
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Originally Posted by urbancore View Post
couple of questions/thoughts:

1. wife bought me a gift cert to drive the "go-carts" out there....has anyone here driven them? what were your thoughts?

2. with regard to the video....are the bumps in the road much worse than the bumps on the edges of the track? the red/white ones they intentionally run over at every turn....it seems.
1. Driven the karts a few times with my boys. Not bad, but I like Driveway Austin better. The circuit at COTA is trickier, but not as fast and not as conducive to wheel-to-wheel racing, and at Driveway you actually do race from a standing start, as opposed to running 'qualifying laps' at COTA. The karts at COTA are starting to get pretty shitty now though. Last time out, my 16 yo's kart would barely turn right, even at full lock, my wife's stalled several times, and a neighbor kid got sprayed with fuel from a fuel line while driving. Not cool at all.

2. The rumble strips/curbs on the side of the track are noisy, but they do very little to upset the car. The bumps are much worse.
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  #2429  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2020, 7:35 PM
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Originally Posted by turn1 View Post
1. Driven the karts a few times with my boys. Not bad, but I like Driveway Austin better. The circuit at COTA is trickier, but not as fast and not as conducive to wheel-to-wheel racing, and at Driveway you actually do race from a standing start, as opposed to running 'qualifying laps' at COTA. The karts at COTA are starting to get pretty shitty now though. Last time out, my 16 yo's kart would barely turn right, even at full lock, my wife's stalled several times, and a neighbor kid got sprayed with fuel from a fuel line while driving. Not cool at all.

2. The rumble strips/curbs on the side of the track are noisy, but they do very little to upset the car. The bumps are much worse.
well shit, maybe we can get our money back. I'll check out Driveway Austin.

Thanks for the info.
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  #2430  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2020, 8:23 PM
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Originally Posted by urbancore View Post
well shit, maybe we can get our money back. I'll check out Driveway Austin.

Thanks for the info.
Sorry ... wish I had a better answer for you. There are videos on youtube for both. That might help.
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  #2431  
Old Posted Feb 6, 2020, 1:24 PM
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Rolling Stones announce 2020 North American stadium summer tour dates

The Rolling Stones are revving up their lucrative rock ‘n’ roll machine once again: The iconic band has locked in a round of summer stadium shows.

May 20: Nashville, Nissan Stadium

May 24: Austin, Circuit of The Americas

May 29: Dallas, Cotton Bowl Stadium

June 6: Buffalo, New Era Field
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  #2432  
Old Posted Feb 6, 2020, 11:29 PM
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ACL would've been nice for them to perform at
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  #2433  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2020, 1:17 AM
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The Stones seem to be playing at large stadiums except for the 14K capacity COTA amphitheater.
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  #2434  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2020, 1:44 AM
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Unless they do what they did for Taylor Swift which had over 80+K in attendance. Last time the Rolling Stones came, they were at Zilker Park and recorded that show. One can find the clips on YouTube. Too bad they aren't going back because it would make for a cool before and after moment with the changed skyline in the background.
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  #2435  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2020, 1:47 AM
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Unless they do what they did for Taylor Swift which had over 80+K in attendance.
Cool. I didn't realize they had that option.
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  #2436  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2020, 1:57 AM
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Cool. I didn't realize they had that option.

Yea they had a different stage and a different location on site somewhere along the straight away if I'm not mistaken.

https://youtu.be/gjYh4OntVvE
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  #2437  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2020, 2:00 AM
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Yea they had a different stage and a different location on site somewhere along the straight away if I'm not mistaken.

https://youtu.be/gjYh4OntVvE
I guess I never thought about it, but since the F1 concerts are included in the F1 race ticket price, they need to plan for 100K concert attendees.
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  #2438  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2020, 2:08 AM
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I guess I never thought about it, but since the F1 concerts are included in the F1 race ticket price, they need to plan for 100K concert attendees.
Here is one more from even farther away from the stage
https://youtu.be/UcG7hpm2Mws

Still I think Zilker would be cooler with the city in the background like the last Rolling Stone concert.


Someone has the entire concert uploaded so here it is if you haven't seen it.

https://youtu.be/boeEcc6hirk
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  #2439  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2020, 5:13 PM
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Yeah they're using the Super Stage.

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I guess I never thought about it, but since the F1 concerts are included in the F1 race ticket price, they need to plan for 100K concert attendees.
But they don't. They said they had 80K for Taylor Swift, but they didn't. The place isn't rated by the Fire Code to even hold that many people for a public gathering. The Super Stage's Occupancy Load Card limits the facility to 65,000 attendees - ie the Super Stage's legal capacity is 65,000 - and it wasn't full that night. It was crowded for about the first 1/3 of the distance from the stage, but much sparser farther out from it.

Let's put it this way, ACL Fest has multiple stages and often has huge crowds at 2 or 3 stages at one time. They have a usable area that's 3-4x larger than the area in use at the Super Stage, and they're limited by the City to 75,000 people.

For the Stones, COTA will say they drew over 100k, which is what Bobby has been dying to do. If they actually draw 100k, they'll say it's 150k+. Of course they can't legally have that many people at the Super Stage, but it didn't stop them from claiming over 80k for Taylor Swift.

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Still I think Zilker would be cooler with the city in the background like the last Rolling Stone concert.
Yep, they'd have a lot more room and it would be a much better setting.
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Last edited by turn1; Feb 7, 2020 at 5:48 PM.
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  #2440  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2020, 6:03 PM
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Nobody loves the Stones more than me. I was front and center at Zilker when they came. But I gotta admit, 78 year old Mick ain't the way I want to remember him. I'm gunna stick to my memories of "Zilker Mick".

They really did kill it back in '07 or whenever it was. Watching him sprint all over the stage was inspiring....made me feel cool with getting older in a way.
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