11/05/2010
NEWS STORY
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In an effort to curb falling attendances, organizers of the Turkish Grand Prix are slashing the cost of tickets, in some cases by as much as 50 percent.
Despite having one of the best circuits - certainly compared to other efforts by Herman Tilke - and usually providing some decent racing, the Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul has never really captured the public's imagination, certainly in terms of getting punters through the turnstiles and in to the grandstands.
Now, with ticket sales exceedingly disappointing, organizers have decided to slash the cost of watching the race which takes place in two week's time.
According to Today's Zaman, the inaugural race attracted 185,000 spectators, but by last year this had dropped to 65,000, a fall of around 65 percent.
"Formula One is an expensive sport all around the world," said Istanbul Park General Director Bulent Ozerdim. "We worked on instituting discounts over the past couple of years to have more people turn out for the F1. Our study addressing the matter was completed last year, and we reduced the price of tickets in all categories this year.
"We wanted to make F1 within reach for more people. We especially aimed to reach those who never watched an F1 race live at the venue," he added."
It was noted that during last Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, despite Fernando Alonso's move to Ferrari and two other Spaniards lining up on the grid, there were a significant number of empty grandstand seats.