Halftime in a season is an opportunity to make initial assessments and draw conclusions. The same goes for the number of spectators at a meeting. A strategic influx because it is a strong argument when it is necessary to establish its legitimacy in a calendar. And even more so when newcomers want to enter in a context where it will be necessary to limit the number of Grands Prix in a year...
Before this weekend at Brno with a tenth Grand Prix of the year which will open the second half of the season, an overview of the spectators of the first half is to be studied. In the MotoGP World Championship, the Doha Grand Prix did not attract the absolute attention of spectators more than during its first edition in 2004. This happened again this year. The inaugural event of the season and night only saw 32 252 spectators in three evenings. Compared to the previous year (31), this still represents a gain of 618 people.
At the Sachsenring, although ticket sales due to the change of promoter only started in November, in three days, there were, 201.162, for the German Grand Prix. A year ago, we counted 193.355. On race day alone, a little more than 91 131 spectators went around the track in Hohenstein – Ernstthal.
In the opposite direction, the volume of fans was lower at Mugello, where 139 329 of them were counted over the weekend. In 2018 they were still 150 129 to make the pilgrimage to the classic in Tuscany.
The No. 1 of the first half of the season is the Grand Prix of France at Le Mans, where fabio quartararo, the sensational MotoGP rookie, attracted 206 323 spectators in three days. However, in 2018, the Bugatti Circuit was spread over three days with 206 617 spectators, for a Johann zarco, who in May 2018 still had chances of winning the championship with the Yamaha Tech3.
The Argentine Grand Prix has grown strongly at Termas de Rio Hondo with 179 551 spectators in three days synonymous with an increase of 7 spectators. This places Argentina in third place in terms of absolute numbers. In Jerez, at the start of the European campaign, there were 151 513 spectators. In 2018, there were 144.
In addition to Mugello, the United States Grand Prix in Austin is among the losers: 120 545 spectators were counted this year at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). In 2018, there were still 125.
The Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona (157 827) resists well with a slight gain of 2 people, as well as Assen (167 500), where the increase was exactly 330 fans.
