F1 fans on Saturday "packed eight-deep along Pennsylvania Avenue" for Red Bull’s first Showrun in D.C., according to George Gerbo of the WASHINGTON TIMES. Event organizers estimated the crowd to be "more than 50,000 along the five-block makeshift track. Fans "craned to catch a glimpse as the machines sped by, going so far as to climb up trees and even some light poles to get a better view." What fans "predominantly came to see" was Oracle Red Bull Racing’s RB7, the car driven to a F1 world championship by Sebastian Vettel in 2011. Thirteen-time GP winner David Coulthard “piloted the car in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol." While D.C. "hasn't been among the rumored destinations" for any potential F1 expansion, Coulthard “gave his endorsement to the energy and vistas he saw along D.C.’s streets." Coulthard: “If they did a Grand Prix here, you would sell out because people have turned up today, and this is just a demonstration” (WASHINGTON TIMES, 4/20). NBCNEWS.com’s Kapur & Hayes wrote the event was part of a series of events in U.S. cities designed to “bring the world’s fastest race cars closer to the sport’s fastest-growing fan base.” Coulthard said, “The American owners, Liberty [Media], have understood very well the American market ... and they’ve opened it up and made the paddock more accessible.” Kapur & Hayes noted this year is a “crucial time for the sport in the U.S., a test of whether it can keep growing -- or even sustain its new fans” (NBCNEWS.com, 4/20).
