Summer of Sport: Driving forces
Phil Mellows looks at how to enhance your Formula One coverage and how to enjoy the summer weather even when there's a match on TV.
Formula One motor racing provides publicans with a set- piece Sunday event throughout the summer, and with world champion Michael Schumacher struggling in the early rounds, there should be even more interest this year. But it's not just a matter of turning the telly on for a couple of hours of burning rubber. Formula One also gives you a great opportunity to build activities around it and get your customers to participate.
One idea that is already catching on is race simulation. Racing Challenge, which boasts the only eight-car linked Formula One race simulator in Europe is celebrating its 250th booking - thanks largely to a rapid rise in interest from the pub sector, which now makes up more than 25 per cent of its business.
Successful events have been held with several pub chains including Charles Wells, Greene King Hungry Horse, Daniel Thwaites and Fuller's. The simulator is simply delivered to the pub and set up in the car park, making it an ideal summer attraction when linked to the Formula One calendar.
One licensee who has used Racing Challenge is Gavin Mansfield at the Bear & Ragged Staff in Oxford who describes it as "absolutely fantastic". He enthuses: "It's exciting and completely self-contained so there's no hassle. My customers loved it and my take was up 30 per cent. I'll definitely be using it again."
Racing Challenge allows eight drivers to race each other on the same track at the same time. Six race circuits including Monza, home of the Italian Grand Prix, have been recreated for an ultra-realistic driving experience.
It all takes place in a specially built, self-contained race transporter which can be operated inside or outside.
A full promotional and operational team is on hand as part of the package and additional screens allow spectators to watch every move the drivers make.
As well as one-off events, the simulators have been used for ongoing competitions such as the Pub Team Racing Challenge adopted by Greene King and Charles Wells last year.
It can also be linked into promotional partnerships with brands. Charles Wells tied up with Foster's for its competition and maximised the beer's sponsorship of Formula One by sending the winning teams to the Foster's British Grand Prix.
On a smaller scale, Budweiser, an official sponsor of the BMW Williams race team, has developed its own Formula One simulator. Called Race to Monaco, the game offers pub-goers the thrill of testing their motor racing skills on some of the most famous Grand Prix circuits.
Competitors race against each other and the clock with the fastest times being compiled on a national database. The fastest drivers will be given a choice of tickets to any of the meetings in the Formula One calendar.
Watch the major events outdoors
It's a dilemma. The sun is shining, the garden looks inviting and goodness knows, we've got to take advantage of summer while it's here. Yet there's a vital sporting event on the telly. What do you do?
Well, now there seems to be a way of having the best of both worlds. The latest plasma screen technology make is possible to watch the box outdoors.
Leading public information display manufacturer Densitron Ferrograph has designed a giant plasma screen specifically for external use, launching it in time to catch the early World Cup qualifiers, and looking ahead to a possible smoke ban.
The 50-inch screen, named the Terrace C, is claimed to be "entirely impervious to weather" - not to mention bottles thrown from the audience - with a wide viewing angle, no distortion and bright picture quality. It also has a heater and dew sensors to protect the screen against frost and damp.
