Page 114 - Paddock Life Issue 13 ADRENALINE

When Chris and I met with SRO Motorsports Marketing and Business director Anthony Comas in the media offices at Monza, during the second round of the Blancpain GT series he showed us plans for a new hospitality concept they had commissioned. Anthony was very keen to create an environment that allowed business to be done and the sponsors, drivers and guests a place to meet, relax and for want of a better word “network” which is something Stephane Ratel, the architect of today’s GT racing series, has always seen as an important part of growing the sport.
The floor plans looked impressive as he showed us the A4 print outs from his file. The concept was for a two-part hospitality unit. The first part would be the Business Club, a lounge bar with a two tier terrace that was available for teams and VIP’s throughout a race weekend and would be in the paddock for all the races of the season. The second part, attached to the side of the Business Club was the restaurant, with its own access as well as a door into the club. This would provide meals over the weekends as the current Blancpain unit does, but on a larger scale, they wanted to take things up a level so it reflected the luxury lifestyle brand that Blancpain is.
This all sounded fantastic when we first talked about it at Sunny Monza in April, but seemed a long way off as it was scheduled to launch for the Total 24 Hours of Spa race at the end of July. As the season unfolded we all continued to use the current hospitality, at the Silverstone race I took some guests from the insurance world. They had not been to a race in the GT Series before and were impressed, even with the current offering. As the summer progressed I was in Monaco and Silverstone for the Formula 1, we are usually guest in the paddock based team motorhomes, all of which are very high standards, the food in the Ferrari F1 VIP hospitality is probably the best in my opinion. Then there is the Formula 1 Paddock Club, designed and aimed at corporate trackside hospitality, all done very well, used by all the teams and private promoters alike and very good quality. But essentially you are in a room of 200 guests, with buffet stations and bars, so whilst the atmosphere of numbers can be good on a race day, you lose that “VIP” feel of exclusivity. The average price for a weekend Paddock Club pass is around €4,000 so it’s certainly priced at the high end and you have no control over who may be at the next table...
Then there are the private suites, slightly less pricy but still a bit punchy. We took ten guests to Silverstone last year for the GP and spend £10,000 on a table for race day that was very average in all aspects. So Chris and I were very keen to see this new offering. We had high hopes as the team behind it were the sort of guys who could actually recommend a good restaurant or choose a bottle of wine. So as we loaded the car with the current copy of Paddock Life for the guests of the new hospitality suite and set off for Spa we hoped the reality would live up to the concept.
The paddock at Spa Francorchamps is a sprawling multi layered affair due to the topography of the circuit, so as we drove in under the bridge next to the car park and main garage buildings we were faced with the “support paddock” following around to our left and up the ramp took us onto the top level. We could see the Lamborghini flags of the Squadra Corse hospitality, then as we got to the top of the ramp and swung onto the main concourse the Audi Unit was unmissable, a vast white expanse with huge dining area, lounge and
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