ONE of the biggest crowds Phuket has seen for any event gave motor racing in Phuket City a double thumbs up yesterday.

Estimates of the crowd varied, but some guests at the Honda Racing Fest 2010 said that a minimum of 20,000 people attended the event. Other estimates ranged much higher.

Organisers of other festivals of all kinds must have looked on in envy yesterday as the Racing Fest proved what everyone has always known: Phuket people love anything with a motor.

Thousands of people were bussed in from parking areas at the perimeters of the Saphan Hin public park in Phuket City, which was converted for the three-day event into a racing circuit.

A constant series of races, mostly involving Honda Jazz and Civic sedans, kept the rev-heads entertained while family groups also enjoyed the fair ground atmosphere, stage performers, and the sense of a big Phuket occasion.

Honda's Marketing Division Manager Oranuch Pruckwattananon told Phuketwan that the first event on Phuket had been ''very successful.''

''We look forward to returning to Phuket next year,'' she said. ''We'd like to thank the Governor of Phuket, the local Phuket authorities and the Phuket media for their help.''

She said she was delighted to see so many people turn out.

Remarkably, the thousands of expats and Thais came without the event even being mentioned in some parts of Phuket's English-language media - proving the growing marketing power of Phuketwan and other independent online sites.

Some attention to timing may be necessary to coordinate with other events next year. The weekend brought sports fans an overdose of topline action, with the Laguna Phuket triathlon, the Phuket International Soccer 7s, and an important FC Phuket match.

Coming next weekend is the Laguna Phuket Ironman 70.3 and the start of Asia's most important yachting event, Phuket King's Cup Regatta.

The first North Phuket Culinary Arts Festival begins on Friday and runs through the weekend.