If you’re a fan of motorsport, you’ve probably heard of what’s known as “the Drive to survive function.” Basically, the Netflix documentary Formula 1 coverage is often associated with a growing audience, especially in previously underserved demographics, such as younger or female audiences. However, I have begun to notice that all racing series has benefited from increased viewership in the US, something attributed to DTS also; Fans have learned about motorsport and want to learn more about everything, not just F1.
But I’m curious: how far? DTS ineffective? Can I see it in action at a MotoGP event? The answer, I discovered, is yes.
On Saturday afternoon, I head to the fan zone at Circuit of the Americas during the weekend’s MotoGP’s Americas Grand Prix. I wanted to chat with some of the people who went to the track that weekend to understand why they were there. Are they longtime MotoGP fans? Did they travel for the event? Are they locals and just want to watch a decent race live? I intended to find out by asking some easy-going fans how they got into motorsport and specifically why they entered it.
I talked to 11 fans who attended the race, and I discovered that about half — or five out of 11 — are first-time racegoers who decided to watch a live event after discover the race past DTS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three of the other six longtime fans were from northern Mexico and had come to COTA for the event, while the last three were race fans in Texas.
The five new fans I spoke to all told a similar story: they were looking for something to do in isolation in 2020, and they found it. DTS on Netflix. Racing was one of the first sports to really kick back when restrictions were eased, and these fans noted that they were just looking to interact with others in real time.
“I never really thought about racing until I watched [DTS],” said a fan named Jack D.. “I watched, for example, ball sport, but nothing happened during the COVID period, so I thought, great, I guess I’ll just watch the cars go in circles.”
Jack, an Austin native, notes that he’s tested nearly every form of racing he can find on television – everything from F1 to NASCAR to IndyCar. However, he has never seen a motor race; When I asked, he couldn’t tell me if he knew if MotoGP events would be broadcast live in the US and he wasn’t sure how the sport was consumed either.
“Honestly, I don’t really know about this,” he said, pointing to the fan zone. “I wanted to go to F1 last year, but it was too expensive. Then I realized there are other races [at COTA]and I was like, great, I’m going to do that instead.
After just a few races on the track that day, Jack admitted that he was hooked on motor racing, pointing out that it was “crazy” to see such incredibly fast machines with The racer raced down the track.
His story is similar to that of Sabrina, who asked to withhold her last name because she attended the event with her teenage daughter. Her daughter is the one who found out DTSSkim through the richly detailed plot and lives of the drivers, especially in the first few seasons.
She was like, ‘mom, you Have to watch this with me,” Sabrina said. “I heard the premise, and I was like, really? You want me to see that thing? I was surprised by how much I actually liked it.
Sabrina and her daughter live in a small apartment in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area and drive down to the Grand Prix of the Americas. Only the two of them lived in the same room, Sabrina said DTS allowing her to bond with her daughter in a way that doesn’t feel like they’re “on top of each other trying to entertain”.
“I am working from home and she is trying to start high school online,” explains Sabrina. “We drove each other crazy. F1 has given us something new to bond with.”
But why attend a MotoGP race and not the US Grand Prix? For Sabrina and her daughter, it’s a matter of finances.
“I tried surprising her with [USGP] tickets last year, but between the fare and the hotel… it’s all too much.” Instead, Sabrina went to her daughter with another suggestion: “We’ve only seen a few MotoGP races, but fares are much more affordable. I ask [my daughter] if she wants to go, and here we are. We haven’t really gone on vacation before, so she’s been out of school for a while, and I’m off work, and we’re enjoying the week.”
By Saturday afternoon, the two had become MotoGP converts, mesmerized by the racers’ skill.
Circuit of the Americas has always played host to a diverse set of fans. When I attended my first USGP in 2014, I met as many F1 fans from Mexico as I met from all over the US, but attendance was still sparse. For the 2023 Grand Prix of the Americas, I found a crowd that was demographically quite similar to the first event I attended, but in much larger numbers. evolution DTS fans were looking for a new way to engage in motorsport — and MotoGP was there to welcome them.
