Low turnout, stunt bike show in city a damp squib

In clear thumbs down to north India's first Freestyle Motocross show at Leisure Valley ground on Saturday, spectators' turnout was way below the expectations of the organisers. Although the organisers had initially set a target of 10,000 tickets for sale, with tepid response, they scaled it down to 4,000.

In clear thumbs down to north India's first Freestyle Motocross show at Leisure Valley ground on Saturday, spectators' turnout was way below the expectations of the organisers. Although the organisers had initially set a target of 10,000 tickets for sale, with tepid response, they scaled it down to 4,000.

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However, bikers from Australia, New Zealand and Canada performed their stunts in the show. "Not even 10% tickets could be sold," said Taj Sehrawat, director, Extreme Event, which organised the show.

According to the organisers, the poor response shows that the Millennium City's image has taken a beating after the cancellation of Metallica's concert recently at the same venue due to security reasons. Not a single company came forward to sponsor the dirt biking show though it was a success in other places like Banglore and Pune, thanks to the Metallica fiasco. "No company, not even the auto manufacturers came forward to sponsor the show," said Sehrawat.

Majority of the people present at the venue had dropped by since they were around and free. Hardik Rao, who came with a friend to watch the show, said, "We were here for the Metallica as well. But it was a huge disappointment. This time we didn't want to take any chance."