1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Flatrock Motorsports Park

Discussion in 'General' started by drop, Jul 19, 2022.

  1. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    Agreed, there isn't a ridge up there that can't be taken down. Plenty of strip mining experience near enough to help if needed :D
     
  2. drop

    drop Well-Known Member

    The did an official ground breaking yesterday. Lots of things discussed and details we spoke about.
     
    E Reed likes this.
  3. Badger911GT3

    Badger911GT3 Well-Known Member

    They just posted on their FB page "Exciting news, get your 2 wheels loaded up, tire warmers ready, our Grand Prix Circuit will be FIM Grade 1 Certified!"

    Do they mean "Grade A"? From what I can see, the FIM grades tracks A, B, C, etc. It's the FIA that grades tracks 1, 2, 3, etc.
     
    E Reed and prm like this.
  4. Badger911GT3

    Badger911GT3 Well-Known Member

    They edited their post. They will be "FIM Grade A".
     
  5. henry_carlson

    henry_carlson BREAD_RACING

    Hell yea, thats excellent news!
     
  6. prm

    prm Well-Known Member

    Really hope this turns out to be a great race track. The planned facility looking very promising!
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2022
    TLR67 likes this.
  7. stangmx13

    stangmx13 Well-Known Member

    That GP track layout looks pretty cool. Finally some new construction that looks to offer something fun for riders & drivers.

    As far as international pro racing, I'm not sold yet. It seems that tracks need to be reasonably close to millions of people and an airport to actually support that level of moto racing in the US. Hopefully Nashville isn't too far for fans living there and there's a higher proportion of moto ppl in TN compare to places like UT. I'd bet MA will can be successful there though.
     
    SundaySocial likes this.
  8. prm

    prm Well-Known Member

    As they state on their website: “Located less than a minute off of Interstate 40, and less than a day’s drive from 75% of the U.S. population, Flatrock Motorclub has accessibility like no other track in the United States.”

    The average Tenn football game brings as many people as a WSBK event so I’m sure Knoxville can accommodate.

    A quick search revealed this chart for MotoGP attendance. These are three day totals. Given that folks from NY to Florida, and the midwest could easily drive, this place could be ideal for bringing in fans. Not that I think there is a huge US fanbase, but races there should match or surpass COTA. 1806D9B1-3424-403A-B2CE-2871FE276726.jpeg
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2022
  9. stangmx13

    stangmx13 Well-Known Member

    Those stats seem irrelevant or counterproductive. The percentage of moto fans that would drive anywhere close to a "day" has gotta be tiny. SaltLakeCity can probably say the same crappy statistic and that didn't work out well. And from my experience in CA, football fans rarely watch moto racing. Maybe pro events would have no chance if the seasons overlapped :D

    Knoxville Metro has 850k people. More than 1/10th of them to a football game seems reasonable because America. But 1/50th to a moto race may also be reasonable, also because America. And to compare to Salt Lake again, there are 1.25M people in the Salt Lake City Metro. All the other tracks that do well for MA are near even more people. And of course COTA is near 2.2M people and a city much of the world is willing to travel to. I think Nashville will have to come through big to get international pro racing at this new track.
     
  10. prm

    prm Well-Known Member

    Salt Lake? There is probably 20x the population with a 5-6 hour drive of Knoxville than SL. Indy, Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincy, Memphis, Nashville, Birmingham, Lexington, Columbus…

    The football reference was only to demonstrate that the surrounding area has the hotels, etc. to accommodate.

    Sure I wish it were closer to a destination like Nashville, but its not. Not sure Indy is either, but they got a larger crowd than COTA back in ‘08 and ‘09. My point is if you want US motorcycle riders and racers to drive to an event, this is not a bad location.
     
  11. Dan Dubeau

    Dan Dubeau Well-Known Member

    If they get a GP race I'm going. COTA is too far for me, but I'm sure I can get a group of syrup swillers to drive down for this one. Always pissed I never went to Indy. It was always "next year"
     
  12. Phl218

    Phl218 .

    i've ridden and driven to Indy, driven and flown to Austin, anything TN would be awesome!!!! i'm sure there's many that'd come along for that.
     
  13. koth442

    koth442 Well-Known Member

    I saw on FB today that Flatrock will be FIM Grade A certified. Guess that means GP / WSBK is in the cards?
     
  14. stangmx13

    stangmx13 Well-Known Member

    Lots of things have to workout for a track to host GP or WSBK. It probably goes something like this. The State Tourism Board (or whatever it is called in TN) needs to be willing to pay (or help pay) the fee that Dorna charges to bring either series over. They'll investigate whether or not the influx of tourism is worth the cost. Dorna will probably want a multi-year contract as well, which puts someone on the hook for a lot of money. The track and its facilities will also need to pass a few inspections. And all that has to happen without the track running out of money, delaying major parts of the construction, going bankrupt, etc etc. The number of cancelled and delayed rounds off the GP/WSBK calendar is a good indication that adding a new round is not an easy thing. If you build it... they wont come unless you pay them a ton.
     
    Boman Forklift likes this.
  15. prm

    prm Well-Known Member

    You’re a shining ray of optimism! :D But pretty close to the mark I suspect. But if they build it, there’s at least a chance!
     
    tl1098, Badger911GT3 and ClemsonsR6 like this.
  16. ClemsonsR6

    ClemsonsR6 Well-Known Member

    It doesn't seem like this place isn't going to be completed enough to turn some wheels.

    If it's turning wheels, I'd be shocked like a college slut in a frat house that WSBK and/or MotoGP won't add this track to the schedule when they're already in the US.
     
  17. Boman Forklift

    Boman Forklift Well-Known Member

    So I didn’t go to a prominent university, :D I think that means you believe they will add it?
     
    ClemsonsR6 likes this.
  18. koth442

    koth442 Well-Known Member

    TN is investing into tourism and the state is rather poor. So it depends if the state wants to invest the capital to capture an event like GP / WSBK / high end car series (I doubt they can compete with F1). They could justify the investment to bring in revenue but also justify not investing because they're broke. Time will tell.
     
  19. TSWebster

    TSWebster Well-Known Member

    Where did this come from? Tennessee is one of the most financially healthy states.
     
  20. koth442

    koth442 Well-Known Member

    Per-capita GDP, bottom third. https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/richest-states-in-usa

    By income: 42nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_income

    By welfare: firmly in the middle https://www.statsamerica.org/sip/rank_list.aspx?rank_label=censgovtre_exp_1_c&item_in=040


    All that being said, I agree the state is financially healthy. Not a lot of income, not a lot of expenditures so the check book balances pretty well. I live here, I love it here. So far my favorite state to live in.
     
    Gorilla George likes this.

Share This Page