Discussion
Alarm bells are ringing. Claims of an extravagant prize pot with no visible way of funding that, even at the entry cost of $10,000 per team. No Ts and Cs. No sign of sponsorship.
I love the spirit and maybe I'm too cynical but I'd be waiting until their second event before I parked $10,000 with them.
I love the spirit and maybe I'm too cynical but I'd be waiting until their second event before I parked $10,000 with them.
100 teams to cover the prize fund, but how many more to cover all the cost of recce'ing a 1000km route, organisers expenses, etc... without a big sponsor on board...
just check out what happened to the Silverstone 24 hour race. The organisers took over 100k in entry fees and walked away with it all bar having paid something like 20k to Silverstone as a deposit for the circuit hire. The optimist in me says there were holding out for the big name sponsor to come in and save the event, the cynic in me says they didnt really care what happened but took over 80k and had nothing to show the creditors what it went on bar their salaries...
Enter by all means, but only if you have 10k spare and dont mind not seeing it again...
just check out what happened to the Silverstone 24 hour race. The organisers took over 100k in entry fees and walked away with it all bar having paid something like 20k to Silverstone as a deposit for the circuit hire. The optimist in me says there were holding out for the big name sponsor to come in and save the event, the cynic in me says they didnt really care what happened but took over 80k and had nothing to show the creditors what it went on bar their salaries...
Enter by all means, but only if you have 10k spare and dont mind not seeing it again...
MTB in S.Africa is a different kettle of fish to Silverstone.
First of all, land owners and companies actually support racing, rather than try and profit out of it.
Everything else can be done on a few entries I am sure, so 105 entries to break even.
That said, until more info starts to emerge I am sure people will be holding off.
Fair play to the people behind it for having the balls and imagination to come up with something new and different that has so many people talking about it.
First of all, land owners and companies actually support racing, rather than try and profit out of it.
Everything else can be done on a few entries I am sure, so 105 entries to break even.
That said, until more info starts to emerge I am sure people will be holding off.
Fair play to the people behind it for having the balls and imagination to come up with something new and different that has so many people talking about it.
It looks awesome but I'm not sure what you get for $10k entry fee given its largely a self sufficient race with a few race stations along the way, well other than feed that prize pot, call me tight but I'd rather a $1k entry fee and be racing for a $100k prize pot that I dont have a chacne of winning than pay ten times that to not win... the rules are a bit sketchy too, nothing about cancellation etc and you need to have paid up within 60 days of registration (and a $2k non refundable deposit within 24 hours...). Good luck if you go for it but be really careful, it has a really amateur feel for a race with a $10k entry fee.
To be fair, Silverstone were pretty good about the 24 hour race, someone comes along and wants to hire the circuit and the posh new pit complex, Silverstone give them a price and a deal is struck. That the organisers couldnt get the entries or find a title sponsor wasnt the fault of Silverstone and they even reduced the fee to help support the event...
To be fair, Silverstone were pretty good about the 24 hour race, someone comes along and wants to hire the circuit and the posh new pit complex, Silverstone give them a price and a deal is struck. That the organisers couldnt get the entries or find a title sponsor wasnt the fault of Silverstone and they even reduced the fee to help support the event...
pablo said:
To be fair, Silverstone were pretty good about the 24 hour race, someone comes along and wants to hire the circuit and the posh new pit complex, Silverstone give them a price and a deal is struck. That the organisers couldnt get the entries or find a title sponsor wasnt the fault of Silverstone and they even reduced the fee to help support the event...
It wasn't really a pop at Silverstone. It is understandably a very big, expensive complex to maintain and costs need to be passed on.As for The Munga, I have heard that it has been bank-rolled by an individual (car related too!) so the money is fixed, regardless of entry numbers.
I can't argue about it being value for money, or anything like that though. It bears more resemblance to gambling than racing.
I think it will be mostly people who think they have a chance of winning that will enter, not your average rider and most of those who enter will be sponsored.
Anyone who just wants an experience, then Cape Epic, or any other well organised stage race would be better, or failing that Tour Divide if you wanted an adventure.
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