[Unhappu]

F1 2011 - Red Bull demo at the Circuit of the Americas - Coulthard on the dirt track - YouTube

I saw one photograph in the newspaper yesterday and thought that it must have been photoshopped. Turns out that Coulthard really did drive an F1 car in the dirt.

The track looks like it might have variations in height which could be interesting, and there's also the possibility that this is the first Tilke track that doesn't suck.

[RealCHEAPsoftDOWNLOAD]

Track looks a bit green. I suspect the lap times will come down a bit once it rubbers in

[AlbrtJhnsqw]

That has to be one of the weirdest and stupidest demo runs I have ever seen. What was the point?

[Soulofpostar]

He may be an old fart now, but he's still got it

[Misiotoagodia]

That has to be one of the weirdest and stupidest demo runs I have ever seen. What was the point?

Marketing! Any other smart questions?! LOL

[GroosteFoessy]

That has to be one of the weirdest and stupidest demo runs I have ever seen. What was the point?

Why stupid? I think it's rather interesting.

[AlbrtJhnsqw]

Marketing! Any other smart questions?! LOL

Okay genius, now that we've gotten past the initial douchebaggery, how about understanding my question this time? Let me expand and simplify it for you, for your convenience. What's the point of doing a marketing run on an unfinished track where the F1 car can hardly move, and there's not a soul in sight? I don't think this would make sense to even the most creative and brightest marketing managers.

[AlbrtJhnsqw]

Why stupid? I think it's rather interesting.

IMO it's pointless. The F1 car can hardly move on the dirt track, so it's not a very interesting spectacle, and I don't think I saw a single spectator there. I find other demo runs quite useless as well, where the F1 car goes slowly in a straight line, does some donuts, people cheer, well, whoop-de-doo. Another one was them running the F1 car on sand in the Dominican Republic last year. Quite lame. But I guess there are not many other marketing options available to F1 teams.

The only thing interesting was when Red Bull did that pit-stop with Webber at the parliament square, that was mildly interesting. This run at Austin was just dull.

[qd0vhq4f]

What about Tom Cruise driving? He is popular...

[AbraroLib]

Coulthard did drive the Red Bull around on the streets of downtown Austin in front of a lot of spectators, which I expect was the actual marketing purpose of the trip.
The jaunt on the unfinished track was probably an amusing afterthought.

[Pa33anger]

Coulthard did drive the Red Bull around on the streets of downtown Austin in front of a lot of spectators, which I expect was the actual marketing purpose of the trip.
The jaunt on the unfinished track was probably an amusing afterthought.

First lap of the track is a good enough reason to go there , paved or not .
Makes as much sense , and as much spectacle as driving on a frozen lake . Maybe more spectacle , as there might have been a few more spectators , as they wouldn't be freezing thier nuts off .

I mean , why not , eh ?
It got all of us talking about it .

By the way , are you the edv from the Holmes site ?

[vulikox]

Okay genius, now that we've gotten past the initial douchebaggery, how about understanding my question this time? Let me expand and simplify it for you, for your convenience. What's the point of doing a marketing run on an unfinished track where the F1 car can hardly move, and there's not a soul in sight? I don't think this would make sense to even the most creative and brightest marketing managers.

Relax there Captain Buzzkill.

People are just tryin' to have a little bit of fun.

[exeftWabreava]

When DC was driving on the paved sections of road, I was expecting tumbleweeds to roll across the view.

I can't imagine the car enjoyed that little run one bit. It would have been funny if they put some big, knobby air-bag tyres on it and raised the ride height for the dirt/construction site.

Oh, another thought. Maybe RBR should set the thing up with uneven sized tyres and a huge wing over the cockpit for a speedway style blast - imagine that!

Ok, I will stop now - but having the ways and means to fool around with an F1 car out of it's natual environment would be a great thing.

[Unhappu]

Okay genius, now that we've gotten past the initial douchebaggery, how about understanding my question this time? Let me expand and simplify it for you, for your convenience. What's the point of doing a marketing run on an unfinished track where the F1 car can hardly move, and there's not a soul in sight?

What's the point? I first read about this in the Illawarra Mercury. If it's even made the pages of a provincial two-bit rag then it's mission accomplished as far as publicity is concerned.

I don't think this would make sense to even the most creative and brightest marketing managers.

Red Bull company figures :: Red Bull

Considering that Red Bull sold over 4 billion cans of modified fizzy drink and returned a profit of €3.785bn, I think that the results prove your claim wrong. Obviously it did make sense to their marketing managers, otherwise they wouldn't have done it.

[AlbrtJhnsqw]

Relax there Captain Buzzkill.

People are just tryin' to have a little bit of fun.

Thanks looneyLAY. I just don't think it's fun. Problem?

[AlbrtJhnsqw]

What's the point? I first read about this in the Illawarra Mercury. If it's even made the pages of a provincial two-bit rag then it's mission accomplished as far as publicity is concerned.

Many better ways to spend their money and resources and still do an awesome job of marketing their product IMHO. Besides huge multinational companies pay crazy money to get their products placed on the front page. And while it may look good in pictures, certainly didn't look good in the video. Or maybe I just have way too high expectations.

Red Bull company figures :: Red Bull

Considering that Red Bull sold over 4 billion cans of modified fizzy drink and returned a profit of €3.785bn, I think that the results prove your claim wrong. Obviously it did make sense to their marketing managers, otherwise they wouldn't have done it.

I didn't say ALL of their marketing plans suck. I thought only this one was poor, and I don't expect it to trouble the 4 billion figure any time soon. And just because their marketing managers have done brilliantly before, doesn't mean they can't fail once.

I wouldn't buy their canned beverage or think, "Ooh, Red Bull is cool," just because they drove their F1 car on dirt. They could have done it like at Yeongam, after the first layer of tarmac was laid, when Chandhok drove it. At least you get to see the track. Here, there was nothing to see, just an F1 car struggling at 20 mph.

[exeftWabreava]

Ok Captain, you've made your (somewhat laboured) point. Time to move on?

[AlbrtJhnsqw]

Ok Captain, you've made your (somewhat laboured) point. Time to move on?

Not that I don't appreciate advices from complete strangers on whether or not I should continue posting my thoughts on a public discussion forum, but I believe I've already moved on.

[9wQlZkIj]

The more they open exposure to the track, the more interest will grow. As things progress I'm sure we will see a lot more about the track and more videos and such floating around.

Smart money would be to get some of the NASCAR drivers previously in F1 out on the track in a car once it's paved. Better yet a seat swap type thing where they take both an F1 car and a NASCAR car to the track. Time for JPM to make a run or two.

[pipittujbk]

Looking forward to the first race there, may even head over for it.

I think a good marketing move to run the Red Bull car there, keeps the locals happy and therefore the local voters. If you don't keep the locals happy you may end up with a circuit with some severe restrictions.

Ray