San Jose Residents = Money to Spend

[racer2c]

According to Speed, the Mayor of San Jose confirmed Champ Car Plans.

Here's a few interesting facts about this city.

San José is the largest city in the Bay Area, located roughly 50 miles south of San Francisco and 390 miles north of Los Angeles.

POPULATION: 926,200*
San José is the third largest city in California, following Los Angeles and San Diego. It is the 11th largest city in the U.S. (2004 State Department of Finance)

DISPOSABLE INCOME*
Ranked No.1 in the U.S., based on median household income of $76,181. (Census Bureau, American Community Survey; 2002)

CLIMATE
Temperatures vary from an average of 50 degrees in January to an average of 70 degrees in July. San José boasts an average of more than 300 sunny days per year, and has a mean annual rainfall of 14.4 inches.

So, those who are so vehemently opposed to the growth of foreign races, here's a new US race for ya. But I'm sure you'll cry that it's a street race right? I though so... :shakehead

[Mark521]

I'm considering attending this race and was wondering if anyone could help me with some info regarding the best airport to fly into, decent local hotels near the track and near some other points of interest (something for the lovely wife to do while I'm at the track, etc). We've had a good time at Houston and Denver, so I hoping to put together a similar trip next year.

Thanks...Mark

[Winston Wolfe]

yeah, and dont forget about those 1,300 s.f., 3 bedroom homes that are going for $600k and up....
The traffic pretty much sucks as well, from about 3:00PM - 7:00.... just like any other "big" city in the great state of California.

[Sean O'Gorman]

EDIT: wrong thread :o

[Dr. Corkski]

San Jose is a city you only go to if you are being paid to go there. It's more of an oversized subburb than an actual city as it is. Given the population demographics here (especially if you have $$$ in your eyes), it's pretty much going to be a foreign race anyway. :gomer:

[RichK]

I disagree, corkski.

Mark, fly into San Jose (SJC), which will be a mile or two from the track (depending on where the track ends up). Alternative airports are OAK (about 30 minutes from the track) and SFO (probably cheapest & about 30 minutes from the track).

[Rob]

Here's the track map:

http://www.sanjosegrandprix.com/images/trackmap.gif

Depending on what you read it's either 1.3 miles or 1.9. It's OK I guess, if you like 90-degree corners, although that kink looks like a real white-knuckler.

[Dr. Corkski]

Here's the track map:

http://www.sanjosegrandprix.com/images/trackmap.gif

Apparently it's a 1.9-mile track.Man that is a horrible track. Not quite Miami bad but it's bad.

I am almost certain it's only 1.3 miles. The start/finish straight is way too short, and the kink would make passing tougher that it already is. Montgomery and Cahill are basically oversized alleyways. Santa Clara is only about 4 lanes wide across, which should be OK, but the proposed stretch is probably too short for the Champ Cars to go full blast. I don't remember how St. John and Almaden is off the top of my head, but I wouldn't call them racing-friendly streets either. Short of major work around that area, the race itself might be disappointing (assuming that actually matters nowdays). :shakehead

What do you think, Rich?

[Sean O'Gorman]

THAT is what is replacing Laguna Seca??

[Methanolandbrats]

750 HP is too much for an autocross track.

[RTKar]

NASCAR (& irl)- 1.5 to 2 Mile banked ovals

Champcar - 1.5 to 2 mile 90 degree corner street circuits

F1 - chicaned road circuits

The homogenization of auto racing...... No matter how much money is spent on any spec, it looks as if we're destined to monotony for the foreseeable future. A sad development for motorsports.

[Mark521]

I disagree, corkski.

Mark, fly into San Jose (SJC), which will be a mile or two from the track (depending on where the track ends up). Alternative airports are OAK (about 30 minutes from the track) and SFO (probably cheapest & about 30 minutes from the track).

Thanks

[Sean O'Gorman]

And why are the stands on the inside of the course? What crappy views!

[Rob]

And why are the stands on the inside of the course? What crappy views!
St. Pete was the same way, at least along the front stretch, where most of the stands were. You could see the entire frontstretch, but for everything else you had to rely on the big screens located directly across the track.


THAT is what is replacing Laguna Seca??
Sad, isn't it?

[Winston Wolfe]

750 HP is too much for an autocross track.

EXACTLY. Where do they pass ? Mebbe going into 7, or 8, and when the race gets going, there might be some "push to pass" action going into good old T1, but this place is built for a street parade, if I have ever seen one.

HOWEVER, we should still be thankful that there will even be a race... right?
Since we may have lost Laguna, would you rather have this one, or nuthin ?

[RichK]

What do you think, Rich?

Most of the track (everything to the left of where it says "Checkered Flag" is the parking lot for the Shark's arena, except for that U-shaped section.

Almaden and Santa Clara St's will look good on TV, they are nice sections. It goes under the Hwy 87 in two spots. I was just there last week, and noticed that the streets are VERY crowned for drainage.

Mostly a parking lot race, not worthy of Champcars IMO.

[FCYTravis]

Actually, if your departure airport is served by Southwest, OAK will likely be cheaper as it's a major hub for the blue'n'beige fleet.

SJC also has Southwest jets.

[Methanolandbrats]

EXACTLY. Where do they pass ? Mebbe going into 7, or 8, and when the race gets going, there might be some "push to pass" action going into good old T1, but this place is built for a street parade, if I have ever seen one.

HOWEVER, we should still be thankful that there will even be a race... right?
Since we may have lost Laguna, would you rather have this one, or nuthin ? Nuthin. That track would be perfect for a BICYCLE race. Bicycles should race around town squares, not Champcars. This is bull****. It might turn a short term profit, but so does a lot of other crap that is for sale.

[nrc]

The view from lemming land...

IMO, they're taking Pook's street racing concept, which largely has failed, and trying it again on some charity's money on a short budget.

So Pook launched three street races, St. Pete, Denver and Miami. Miami was a failure largely because of the cost involved of buying the rights to the race. Denver seems to be finding its legs and has a secure spot on the schedule. St. Pete was such a disaster that the IRL poached the date of Champ car's calendar. Two out of three sounds more like "largely proven" than "largely failed".

[Clown]

STFU with the doom and gloom :gomer:

Atleast wait until the friggin' thing has happened before you write it off :rolleyes:

[Dr. Corkski]

Most of the track (everything to the left of where it says "Checkered Flag" is the parking lot for the Shark's arena, except for that U-shaped section.

Almaden and Santa Clara St's will look good on TV, they are nice sections. It goes under the Hwy 87 in two spots. I was just there last week, and noticed that the streets are VERY crowned for drainage.

Mostly a parking lot race, not worthy of Champcars IMO.On the bright side, the city can get those valuable fountain shot when a toxic sewerage drain from the meat plant between Montgomery and Cahill bursts. :laugh:

[jonovision_man]

The view from lemming land...


So Pook launched three street races, St. Pete, Denver and Miami. Miami was a failure largely because of the cost involved of buying the rights to the race. Denver seems to be finding its legs and has a secure spot on the schedule. St. Pete was such a disaster that the IRL poached the date of Champ car's calendar. Two out of three sounds more like "largely proven" than "largely failed".

They're probably looking more at Long Beach, Toronto, or Australia as models for the new street races than Miami or St. Pete's! There is a good history here of successes on street circuits, regardless of the failures under Pook.

The street racing concept is sound, bring the race to the people. My only concern is the bizarre promoter arrangement with the charity, we'll see how that shakes out.

jono

[FRANKY]

It will be better than Laguna's 5,000. Enough said.

[Redwing]

Man that is a horrible track. Not quite Miami bad but it's bad.

I am almost certain it's only 1.3 miles. The start/finish straight is way too short, and the kink would make passing tougher that it already is. Montgomery and Cahill are basically oversized alleyways. Santa Clara is only about 4 lanes wide across, which should be OK, but the proposed stretch is probably too short for the Champ Cars to go full blast. I don't remember how St. John and Almaden is off the top of my head, but I wouldn't call them racing-friendly streets either. Short of major work around that area, the race itself might be disappointing (assuming that actually matters nowdays). :shakehead

What do you think, Rich?

I'm getting a figure of about 3/10ths of a mile for the stretch on Santa Clara Street, or about 1500 ft if the track is 1.3 miles, or about 2300 ft if it's 1.9 miles. Never do math in public.

[CART T. Katz]

take this for what it is worth

word i hear from someone who lives close to san jose is that this is NOT the final layout. there is a possibility of a (his words) "montreal style" hairpin added. the cars would turn left on that side street right where that footnote on the light rail is go through that described complex and turn left right where that green dot is.

[TravelGal]

Thank you, Clown.

As to the Mark's question, having just returned from a weekend in the snow in Palm Springs (yes, you read that right), I'll toss in my 2 cents. From socal and the pacific northwest, San Jose is definitely the cheaper airport, unless the others have a big fare sale. Another thing to consider is that the rental cars are usually quite a bit cheaper from SJC than they are from SFO. Oakland is quite a drive. Bad news if you want to get back there on Sunday after the race.

See ya'll there!