Korean GP cuts ticket prices to help boost sales

Seoul: Organisers of the Korean Grand Prix have slashed ticket prices in order to attract fans following a disappointing turnout for their debut race last year.

Tickets for the Oct. 14-16 race weekend went on sale on Wednesday with the average costing 315,000 won ($280) and fans being offered a 50 percent discount if they purchase this month. That figure is lowered from an average of 460,000 won last year with the cheapest tickets for this years` s race available at just 87,000 won instead of 128,700 in 2010.Almost 170,000 spectators attended across the week of the debut race in October but thousands of free tickets were made available by the hosting South Jeolla province without the knowledge of organisers the Korea Auto Valley Operation (KAVO), resulting in a number of fans being turned away. This followed weeks of construction delays with the race only being given the go-ahead a fortnight beforehand. KAVO dismissed chief executive Chung Young-cho in January for lax management after an investigation into the problems. Head of the Korean Grand Prix organising committee Park Joon-young acknowledged their had been problems. "This year, we will try to improve our ticket sales, advertising and other areas of our operations," Park told a news agency on Wednesday."I know that there were controversies about our construction and also ticket prices. We will try our best so that motor sports can develop into a key part of our leisure industry." The Korean Grand Prix has a seven-year deal with Formula One and despite the chaotic problems surrounding the debut race they won an award from the International Automobile Federation (FIA) in December for best promoter of the season. Bureau Report