JGTC Gets Mixed Reviews
FONTANA - Event organizers and sanctioning body officials were reluctant to declare the weekend’s GT Alive at California Speedway a success.
The estimated two-day crowd of more than 45,000 told a different story. The crowd on hand for the Japanese Grand Touring Championship and D1 Drifting trailed only the two NASCAR Nextel Cup races in attendance at the Fontana track.
It mattered little that Andre Lotterer ran off with Sunday’s lone JGTC race, a 25-lap sprint that the German driver won by more than 10 seconds. What turned heads was the estimated crowd of 15,000 that stayed until after 9 p.m. to watch the drifting competition under temporary lights.
“Great concept, bad execution on our part,” said Randy Grupe, promoter for the first such event of Japanese road racing in the United States. “The theme park was very ambitious and with only two days, it was hard to execute.
“We were understaffed, we had a lot of last-second issues, such as parking, VIP grandstands and garage (area) problems. But I am encouraged and looking forward to next year.”
Jiro Kaji, secretary-general of the Japanese Touring Association, said he was reserving judgment of the JGTC American debut until after he “collected all the information.”But he made it plain he was troubled by various issues, some that were simply a matter of miscommunication between the event promoters, his group and the SCCA, the American sanctioning body.
During the post-race press conference, Kaji apologized several times for the various problems, which stemmed from changing the day’s schedule to parking woes.
“The first time is hard to control,” said Kaji. “The first time on this track, there were a lot of confusion. This was very different from the organization we have normally. We know what we did was not what was originally planned.”
“We apologize for this turning out amateurish.”
It was harsh criticism for an event that drew so many, and that so many did not seem to mind the inaugural jitters. In addition to the road races and drifting, the crowd was entertained by an autocross and nearly 100 vendors.
“I received three excellent feedback comments,” said Grupe, who said his group spent more than $2
