After the conclusion of the Formula One race in Yeongam, South Jeolla, local officials were patting themselves on the back - while also admitting to some embarrassing screw-ups.
“I would like to thank the people of South Jeolla, the government, event personnel and volunteers for all the support,” said Governor Park Joon-yung.
“We have successfully held the F1 event by building one of the finest circuits in the world in South Jeolla, which is one of the most underdeveloped areas in Korea,” he said. “Although everything didn’t go as planned, I want you to think of this as a long term investment for the future.
One man they profiled---and pictured jump-kicking a sign---complained of not getting the tickets he reserved, while others complained that the organizers gave out thousands of free tickets only to not honor them at the gate.
Entrepreneur Park Min-young, 28, traveled all the way from Busan to see the race, and he had a representative experience.
“I waited for the shuttle at the station starting at 1 p.m.,” he said. “But the shuttle, which was supposed to come every 5 to 10 minutes, did not come until 2:30. When I came to the circuit at 2:50 and tried to get in, I was denied access and not one person knew where I should ask to get answers.
“I bought two tickets over 300,000 won each and people next to me with a baby bought four Silver tickets over 1 million won each,” Park said.
“Nobody from KAVO [event organizer Korea Auto Valley Operation] came to the entrance or explained anything to us, and I couldn’t believe the fact that there was nowhere to get information or vent my frustrations.”
. . .
Another problem with tickets was that the local government gave thousands of free passes to university students to make sure the stands were filled. The local government also required its officials to sell tickets to their family and friends.
“Since the event is fairly unknown in Korea, I did ask for some cooperation in terms of tickets, and I am truly sorry for all the inconveniences that have been caused,” said Governor Park. “Also, there were some confusion and dissonance as the organizing committee was run simultaneously with us and KAVO. We will look into all wrong procedures and improve on these matters.”
Both Reuters and blogger The Chosun Bimbo have entries on the free ticket fiasco. The JoongAng Daily airs complaints about the facilities as well:
The spectators stands were rickety, like those at a high school sports field, and KAVO was forced to close certain sections while continuing construction on stands during the three days of practices and races.
Most of the parking areas and pedestrian walks were unpaved, creating huge amounts of dust for the first two days and large mud puddles on the day that it rained during the Grand Prix. After sunset, most circuit areas had no lighting, leaving pedestrians in the pitch black.
Volunteers who were supposed to help visitors rarely knew the answers to questions. Very few spoke any language other than Korean, and few knew where certain places at the event were.
Long-time Dave's ESL Cafe poster diver has an amusing point-counterpoint to the article, poking holes in the characteristic bombast of local politicians and spokesmen.
Quote:
“Since the event is fairly unknown in Korea...Yeah...because YOU didn't promote it properly. Idiot.
. . .
Quote:
“This circuit was a great accomplishment for us, as what would usually take about five years in Europe took us just over three years to accomplish,” said Kim Jae-ho, the general manager of KAVO’s marketing department.But KAVO didn't accomplish the same thing. Europeans run successful races. KAVO ran...well...not that.If the Europeans wanted to screw up a race as badly as KAVO, they could've done it in less than three years.
The thread has a collection of reviews from the event.
Anyway, according to the oldest article on it I could find, the Grand Prix was planned, or "planned," for Yeongam in October 2006.
KAVO was founded as a joint venture between the provincial government of Jeolla Nam-do and the official Formula One promoter, M-Bridge Holdings. Following the contract signing, construction of the circuit in Yeongam will begin in July 2007 and is expected to be finished by the end of 2009.
3 comments:
Sounds like some serious screw-ups. I would assume that the official F1 organization would have some kind of oversight in the planning and preparation of the new event.
I was at the event and had a great time.
Were there screw ups? Yes, definitely.
Who is to blame though? Its easy to point the finger at the local organizers who didn't have it ready on time. They can definitely share in the blame, but so too can F1. Their normal procedure is to have a course finalized and inspected 3 months ahead of race day. They chose to postpone these inspections to a mere 10 days before hand and even then it would have been clear to anyone that the facility was not at nor would it be at 100%.
As my section of the stands were not completed, I was moved to a different location which was finished. It actually provided me with better seats but I did feel sorry for those who bought tickets for the section I was sitting in but were dislocated because organizers made the seating arrangements first come first served.
As for promoting the race in Korea, I honestly believe that it would have been a hard sell regardless of how much time and money was spent. I live nearly 2 hours from the race and streets in my city were plastered with flags promoting the race. The sad fact is that Korean's support Koreans for the most part. I hope that the Korean Grand Prix is a successful event for years to come but the sad fact is that it will rely on domestic support to see it through and without a Korean team or more realistically a Korean driver for Koreans to support, they will most likely ignore the event. This has little to do with promotion and more to do with the Korean cultural mind.
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