IndyCar Motegi - Expect Low Camera Angles

I'm checking out the Motegi "crowd" from various camera angles. It's about 30 minutes before the green, and the people in the pits outnumber the people in the grandstands. I am not exaggerating. There can't be more than 2,000 fans in attendance. They might get to 5,000.

Did Bridgestone forget to distribute the free tickets?

And Danica won this race last year? She should run as fast as she can to any NASCAR (sans-culottes!) series where she is able to land a ride. She doesn't need to fly half-way around the world and waste three weeks so that she can race in front of an average high school football crowd.

One camera has been fixed on a tight shot of about 100 people who appear to be eating lunch. That's the best crowd shot they've got.

This is why you operate your business for the benefit of consumers, not corporate partners.

If this were a street race, then we would calculate as such:

2,000 team members, sponsors, race officials, safety crew, food vendors, etc.

Let's be kind and say 5,000 fans in the grandstands

3 days

We're up to a crowd of 21,000!

On second thought, let's make it 4 days.

28,000 in attendance!

But ovals don't lie.

I can understand why the teams don't like them. It's tough to play Big Time Racer Dude when 5th grade productions of Our Town draw more people.

Honda should be embarrassed. It brought everybody to Japan for this? Well, sure, the teams and the IMS really paid for it. Think of it as the Motegi Tax portion of the engine lease, but still.

And why are IRL teams and the IMS still paying the Formula Dream Tax? It's no secret that Mutoh has about a dozen fans in the United States. But it looks like he has even fewer in Japan.

Maybe it doesn't matter. It isn't like Japan imports American sponsors' goods and services, anyway. Except Marlboro.

The poor camera operator in Turn 1 is gonna need some serious Ben Gay after this. The guy apparently is forbidden from showing the empty (and small) grandstands. He stops short every time he starts to pan left.

I'm sorry for piling on, but this really makes me angry. Let's chuck this puppy and start from scratch.

Roggespierre