Had a great time. 1200 miles round trip. Got there on Wednesday evening. Was amazed at the number of campers already there. Then I learned that the locals get there when the gates open Tuesday, set up or leave there camper and go home. Infield parking is up to interpretation. There is no organized parking on the in-field except for reservations for motorhomes.

There is very little level ground at Road Atlanta. Many tents were not on level ground because there is so little of it. Squeezed my 19' motorhome onto a space on the inside of turn 9. I was lucky to get such a good spot.
Everybody (it seems) brings a motorcycle, 4 wheeler or golf cart. Some were very imaginative. I took my bike. I coasted down the steep roads and walked it back up.

The viewing locations are second to none. I used to think that Road America was made for spectators. Atlanta is better. A short hike gets you from the back straight to the esses in no time. With all the hilly terrain viewing of large sections of the track is easy. Pit and paddock access is a toss up as both are very good. Atlanta does allow spectators to do a grid walk which I've never seen before.

Attendance was reported 119,000 (?) I think I read. Biggest crowd ever. There may have been that many at Road America for (3) years.

My biggest plus was watching those cars at night. I've never seen that before and it is so cool. I highly recommend this event although if you are taking a motorhome, get there when the gates open or reserve a spot. I was told all the reserved spots were taken so you might have to act quickly.

Awesome! I always hear comparisons between Road American and Road Atlanta and to say Atlanta views for spectators were better...WOW I really want to go there now. Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you had such a great time.

I feel awful now; lived in Georgia my whole life and i've never been to Road Atlanta. need to get out there for the Petit next year.

Gandretti - 05 October 2008 09:27 PM

Attendance was reported 119,000 (?) I think I read. Biggest crowd ever.

I believe it was stated as 113k for the four days (and thats a Road Atlanta ALMS record).

I went over for the race also. That was the first time I had been to Road Atlanta in over 20 years. First time for a race as the only other time I went over was for a manufacturer's driving event on the track. I was amazed at the size of the crowd. I didn't figure there was going to be so many people.

Not knowing how the seating would be further back towards the Esses, I decided to settle in at the Turn 10 area. It was so cool to see the cars come screaming off of the hill, brake hard for turns 10a and 10b, then back on the power for the run up the hill and under the bridge. I also wanted to stick around and see the cars at night which was awesome.

I know now what to do for next year and that is to get one of those portable folding chairs and a big golf umbrella. It will be easy to sit out there with those things.

I was a little disappointed with the vendors area. I was suprised that there were no factory apparel available. Audi, Penske Porsche, hats & shirts etc. Unless there were more vendor areas than I was aware of.

^Flying Lizard and Audi had their own vendors in front of their respective trailers down in the paddock. Not sure if there was a Penske vendor or not.

Vendor spots are expensive, the teams can save $$$ by working out of their paddock space.

Redcarfan - 06 October 2008 11:52 AM

I went over for the race also. That was the first time I had been to Road Atlanta in over 20 years. First time for a race as the only other time I went over was for a manufacturer's driving event on the track. I was amazed at the size of the crowd. I didn't figure there was going to be so many people.

Not knowing how the seating would be further back towards the Esses, I decided to settle in at the Turn 10 area. It was so cool to see the cars come screaming off of the hill, brake hard for turns 10a and 10b, then back on the power for the run up the hill and under the bridge. I also wanted to stick around and see the cars at night which was awesome.

I know now what to do for next year and that is to get one of those portable folding chairs and a big golf umbrella. It will be easy to sit out there with those things.

I was a little disappointed with the vendors area. I was suprised that there were no factory apparel available. Audi, Penske Porsche, hats & shirts etc. Unless there were more vendor areas than I was aware of.

In my opinion, the best place to watch the race is on what they call "Spectator Hill". If you get in the right place, you can see the cars from the point where they top the hill in turn 1, down through the esses and all the way down to turn 6 and 7. Also, while you're at that end of the track, you can walk about 200 feet and watch the cars come out of turn 7, through 8 and down towords the turn 10 complex

rockstar4199 - 05 October 2008 11:42 PM

I feel awful now; lived in Georgia my whole life and i've never been to Road Atlanta. need to get out there for the Petit next year.

Why wait until next year? I see your screaming firebird logo I bet you'd love the SVRA season finale in two weeks!

SVRA Season Finale

The link is right under my last post. It is greyed out though.

GAndretti glad to hear you had such a good time. Next year we will all have to get together! Or perhaps at Sebring in March. See the new Acura P1 battle Audi and Peugeot.

ALMSguy - 06 October 2008 12:18 PM

^Flying Lizard and Audi had their own vendors in front of their respective trailers down in the paddock. Not sure if there was a Penske vendor or not.

Darn it!! I should have gotten to the track a lot earlier than I did. But I'll know now what to do for next year. Thanks for the info. Still had a great time though.