Top Gear's visit to South Africa this past weekend, which spawned from a motoring theatre into a full blown motoring festival, promised to thrill its audiences like never before.
Yet judging by the complaints we've seen on our own forums and in other media, it appears that many fans are furious with the organization of the show, many vowing not to return next year.
The stunt show was way too short, long queues for the park and ride busses and long walks from the drop-off points, inadequate shelter during the heavy downpours that occurred and a lack of sign posting and communication were among the most common complaints.
We contacted the show organizers and they responded by stating that they're taking the feedback seriously and that complaints will be addressed on a case by case basis. Show visitors can direct their correspondence via e-mail to: [email protected] Here are a few extracts from our own reader forum:
"This was undoubtedly the worst live event I've ever attended."
"Worst organization I have ever seen; bus was late, we eventually had to walk from Waterfall Park to the track."
"Marshals, unfriendly and rude."
"Paid R730.00 to get wet and to walk a marathon."
"My show was rained out at 14h00. No backup plans for the spectators. No DVD!!! Disaster exiting the premises."
"Poorly organised, poor signposting, huge queues EVERYWHERE, no marshals with any clue, VIP Tickets - what a joke."
"We stood in a 30min queue waiting for busses in the rain. The bus then dropped us off OUTSIDE of the kyalami circuit. The worst thing for me was that they closed the bridges over the track. This meant if you wanted to see anything happening on the track you had to walk the long way around to the stands."
"I paid R1000 for 2 tickets and saw 20 minutes of it, because it started to rain and there was no back up plan whatsoever."