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So I just got out of the first volunteer training session related to the showcar program. In short, the carshow program is a large effort program put on by the organizers of the Baltimore Grand Prix that travels to special interest locations to target a large scope of potential race attendees and even sponsor supporters.

What do I mean by "showcar" you ask? It is actually a former Champ Car (a 1998 Lola chassis) sans engine/trans. It gets trailered around to the events and as volunteers we set it up for display and do our best to address passer-bys and load them up with info about the BGP. We got a close look at it tonight after our little introduction session, so it was kind of cool. I even got to help with loading it back into the trailer.

So to answer some questions that you guys might be interested in, read below.

Ticket structure (sorry no prices yet):
3-Day Super Ticket: Premium Grandstand seating with pit/paddock pass.
3-Day Reserved Ticket: Premium Grandstand seating NO pit/paddock pass.
Saturday/Sunday only Reserved Ticket: Secondary Grandstand seating no pit/paddock pass.
Grounds Admission: 3-day or Friday-only, Saturday-Only, Sunday-only no pit/paddock pass.
Pit/Paddock passes can be purchased seperately

"Free" places to watch the race can only be achieved via booking a racetrack side room via one of the three hotels. They are The Harbor Court Hotel Building, The Zenith Building and the Intercontinental Hotel. There is a possibility to see the race from various office buildings but that comes down to the building owners and such. Street level race viewing will be nearly impossible. Due to the security and fencing around the track, you will not be able to get close enough or be tall enough to see it.

Parking as you might expect will be tough, best bet to use MTA i.e White Marsh.

Early release tickets will go on sale December 1st and then full sale by December 13th-ish. That info wasn't fully written out so I'm a little foggy on the exact dates.

Street access? Streets approaching and consisting of the track will be blocked off from 6am-7pm Friday through Sunday. Should be business as usual that monday.

Sponsor rumors? Looks like they are negotiating with two large sponsors that weren't named and it wasn't revealed if it was going to be both or just one.

The Baltimore Convention center will be the main paddox area, apparently it has an underground tunnel that allows for easy team access to the pit areas.



I'll do my best to trickle down as much info as possible. To be honest, this looks like it could turn into a large commitment if I want, so I'm excited about all of the possibilities and relationships this experience might open up.

Some links you might find of interest:
http://baltimoregrandprix.com/
http://baltimoregrandprix.com/volunteers/
http://baltimoregrandprix.com/tickets/

 

Damn....my dad used to live at the red dot below years ago....too bad he isn't still there.

 

i cant wait to get to see this!!

 

Looks hella fun. Also, I'll know which streets should be better to play on whenever I pass bmore.

 

Nice sounds good. I'd imagine the pricing would be similar to other cities. I'll look them up when I get a chance.

 

The Hilton hotel on W Pratt St. already sold out...smh

 

I will definitely say this will be a unique experience for almost everyone on this forum. I've been to one Indy/ALMS and the ALMS Petit LeMans at Road Atlanta. The super ticket with pit/paddock is well worth it. At mid-Ohio you could actually go in the pits during practice and qualifying as long as you had long pants on. You could stand 10-15 feet away from the cars as they pitted. On race day you can't go in the pits unless you have a fire suit, at mid-Ohio. At Road Atlanta all that separated you was a 8 foot chain link fence. Still a great show. You've never heard anything like a Ferrari 430GT popping like firecrackers while in pit lane on its rev limiter! Once they hit the end of pit lane and the rev limiter comes off, it's gone, gone, gone. A 1 ton car and 500 horsepower in ALMS makes for one quick combination. They will reach speeds of 170-180 in the streets of downtown Baltimore- again not something you see every day. You will never see anything like it anywhere else, trust me.

I submitted my name to volunteer as I have a regional SCCA tech and registrars license. They depend heavily on SCCA support but that is the same weekend as the Summit Point Mid Atlantic Road Racing Series (MARRS) so most locals will be at that. They can bring national license holders from fairly far away as they did for Road Atlanta so I don't think it will be a huge problem.

Here's a couple of pics from mid-Ohio:

 

The company work for was in the running to do the ticket sales for this.. it ended up being between us and one other company... so bummed we didn't get it

 

I wanted to update anyone interested in doing a room down there.

My awesome GF got me 4 tickets with 3 day passes/pits so I spent the better part of this morning looking for rooms. The hotels listed on the grandprix site are all booked. Hilton, Hyatt, Sheraton are all booked. Marriot has reg rooms avaliable at $399/night with a 3 night minumum.

That didnt work for me cuz I live 10 mins outside Bmore but want to spend Fri/Sat night down there.

I started calling other hotels within 1/4 mile and most were sold out!!!

I found the Springhill Suites .2 away from convention center, and booked a 1 bedroom suite. They still have reg rooms 1 King or 2 doubles @ $299/night, 1 bed room suits w/ pull out couch in living room at $329/night, and 2 bed room suites for $499/night. Have to pay in full.

I suggest if you wanna be there you call them now, Im shocked how fast this sold out already 9 months away. # for anyone that wants it is 410-685-1095, East Redwood St.

 

Wad up Bert, how you been? Damn just saw this, you going with anyone else or just you and Shawna?

 

Been good Chris, hopefully you're doing better man...

I have 4 tickets but havent decided who the other 2 will be. Tickets AFAIK arent sold out for the event just all the hotels are booking fast.

Free concert Friday and Saturday night for those with tickets also, but they havent announced who it will be yet. Im looking forward to a party weekend in Bmore watching the races.

 

^^ Thanks for the info!

 

Glad I can walk to the race. I should rent out my spare bedrooms.

 

 

Cool, sorry for the confusion bert with the rsvp, no worries, we luckily found a free place close to the area and just driving in and staying the night all three days. 8D27 Seat 2-8 three day is where we are at.

 

If anyone needs some advice on good areas to park in let me know. They are outside of the harbor but less than a 1.5 mile walk. It will save you some $$$

 

I'll probably take the light rail down. I'm going to buy my tickets this month.

 

I just bought 11 tickets last week. Apparently you got free paddock passes for friday if you bought before Dec 31st. Pretty Sweet