A total of 37,935 people came over three days – which is a drop of 5,495 compared to 2019 – and on Sunday, when the Elite Race was decided, 19,591 were in place.
The figure for elite race Sunday is the worst since 1982, according to the newspaper.
In addition, it happened during the competition weekend’s 70th anniversary and when pandemic restrictions were a thing of the past.
Jörgen Forsberg, Solvalla’s CEO, is not worried, however, but says that there is an explanation for the audience figure.
– There is an analysis that is not the whole truth, but in 2019 and earlier we did like all other trotting tracks: we clicked in everyone who went through the turnstiles, our guards did not take into account whether it was active, “regular” audience or if it was people who, for example, worked here, he says.
– We do not do that anymore, but it is a loss and we will take it with us. And the big loss came on Saturday, he says.
The goal was to attract 5,000 on Friday, 20,000 on Saturday and 25,000 on Sunday.
– We have not succeeded in that and it is impossible to ignore, says Forsberg.
– In 2019, we had 8,000 people who chose to buy a ticket at the “door”. Now only 785 people did it, we can state that that behavior has changed.
The elite race was won by French Etonnant with driver Anthony Barrier.