Club Arnage

I bought this weeks Autosport expecting a preview of the Silverstone 1000k and what did I get? A small piece about McNish, Orecas' target for 06 and precious little else. No entry list,  no timetable in fact no mention of the race hardly. The 1000k must be the top sportscar event of the year in this country and Autosport choose to ignore it. I vow from this day that I will never buy a copy again they can keep their F1 comic.

 Angry of High Wycombe >:(

I agree Bob, I have promised myself only to get it the week before Le Mans now (even the Le Mans pullout in that is looking the same each year).

I haven't bothered with it for years, but do buy the odd Motoring news.  This is exceptional value at the minute, as due to its 50th anniversary, there is a little "50" in a circle at the top.  SO you only get charged 50p rather than 1.99

I'm with you, the changes recentley have not improved the content, be going through some of last years before binning them and re reading some of the forecasts for this year, they are so wide of the mark.  All were saying that Ferrari would still be the team to beat.  Jenson wanted to race for Williams etc, and very little coverage of endurance racing, we need a specific internet mag guys.

Now then Peter.......what sort of 'specific interest' would that be? ;)

Gibb me ole mucker how the devil r u?  but of course one on endurance racing ;D

Doing nicely dear boy.  At last I'm getting a bit of time here and there, to get back on the forum.  Been a long time.  Hope yopu're well.

Subscribed to it from the mid-seventies till the mid-ninties, back when it was true to its name.  It covered single seaters, sportscars, rallying, club racing, all with equal enthusiasm.  Why don't they just change the name to what its really become?  F1 Tabloid Crap.
Personally I would rather read about the latest LMP contender than about Michael Schumacher's latest bowel movement.
Fax

Unfortunately its the Ferrari phenomena, talking some guys I know in the classic magazine circuit and they can guarantee a substantial pick up on sales if they have some articles on Ferraris its usually the same rubbish about running a 400i or 308 etc but occasionally you'll get something like running one of the classic 12 cyls like a 512 bb or 330 gtc something of a gents tourer. 

Seriuosly thinking of getting one soon,  had the chance of buying one that had just come out of a major rebuild at a good price.  Absolutely ideal for travelling down to northern italy through the moutain passes.

The long mountain tunnels, slow up engage low gear rev up and go, just glouriuos listening to the 12 cyls getting some decent breath into them especially with a decent tuned exhaust, bliss.

The guy I deal with for my Ferrari’s refuses to sell me 512 bb he reckons it bankrupt because the amount of mileage I do each year.

timetable is here:  http://www.silverstone-circuit.co.uk/PDF/events/1000km_provisional_timetable.pdf

I'm not so sure it could be described as tabloid. They do some very technical articles and I don't find it easy reading. It must be marvellous if you're a geeky fan of this F1 crap, but IMO it's the racing equivalent of the Gastroenterologists Digest or Gyaenocology Monthly periodicals.

I gave up it about 8 years ago, before then I brought it every week, but now its little more than a F1 Fanzine.

I have to say that MotorSport has staged a bit of a comeback in recent months, some good articles have appeared, but it does still rehash the same well trodden stories that get wheeled out time and again, Moss/Jenks win, Gilles, Ronnie Peterson stories etc. All good reading but I would be good to read something about some of the lesser known people/drivers who maybe just missed stardom.

It is a little sad the amount of F1 coverage Autosport provides as there's plenty of other magazines with F1 plastered all over them!! Although some of the technical stuff in there is interesting & the analysis of Mark Hughes/Nigel Roebuck is superb, it is more for the geeks though ::)

There is a fairly good section on the national scene, although the sportscars/rallying side of  motorsport doesn't tend to get much of a look in  >:(

Hi Guys,
Chris, agrred about Hughes, some of his stuff is very good but Roebuck?  I've kinda thrown in the towel on Nigel.  He's clearly bored with the contemporary F1 scene and most of his retrospectives are just re-hashing old material.  Pick up a copy of his 1986 book the GP Greats (which is a Magnum Opus for those wanting to learn about the greats of the sport) and everything he writes today about the greats of the sport is word-for-word from that.
Nordic, as far as material about Gilles, Ronnie, etc.? Thats where the interest is with most of Motor Sports readers, the high wire acrobats working without a net.  Rosemeyer, Behra, Rindt, Peterson, Villeneuve, Rosberg (featured this month)  Who the hell wants to read about Schumacher, Lauda, Prost,etc.  give us the guys who put the capital "R" in Racer.  As far as the guys who bought it but had greatness in them?  Some good stuff in recent months about Swede Savage and Tom Pryce.
Fax

Ok it's in french but you can subscribe to Le Mans racing

Agree that it is important these guys get featured, but there is sometimes a repetive nature to the stories, Unless there are some new insights or tales from those close to the drivers I think most of us have heard them before.

I like to read about some of the lesser known drivers and there stories, take Brett Lunger for example, war hero who saved a guys life who turn out to be related to a wealthy family who then bankrolled his racing as a way of thanks.

without these guys the stars would have had no one to beat, .

I would also like to read articles about races from the past, you could take any race form the last 40 years, and do an indepth write up about it

Can I get personal.

When I come 9th in some obsure little event, do I get my name in print.  Fraid not.  At least I'm treated the same as 1000km racers.  I feel a lot better for that

Agreed, sometimes they do get repetetive.  Occasionally they'll do a piece about a driver who for whatever reason never made it to superstar status or has been largely forgotten.  A few years ago Mark Hughes did a nice article about one of my heros, Didier Pironi, who has remained an enigma after all these years.  Regarding Brett Lunger...I think in order to be featured you should actually have had talent.
Fax

There are so many also rans.  E.g. the year Jenson Button ran in F3, who beat him and won the championship.  Answer is he ran in 2 years and they're both forgotten.

Didier Pironi, great driver who was able to mix it with the best, and not just a F1 driver.

Are you not curious as to why the no hopers are prepared to keep on trying when there is no chance of top 5 position let alone a win. Some of them shone in F2 or F3 but where not suited to F1, Pesca for example, a master in F2 and Sports cars, but never gelled with F1.

Hector Rebaque is another one who has always intrigued me, little talent but a shed load of money, given his resourse's would i have done the same, In some ways I admired his sprit (and as a little lad, he spared the time to show me round his Lotus 79 at silverstone in 1979) and think that I would like to have given it a shot, regardless of my talent level.

 :( >:(I agree it barely touches on the Endurance Racing subject, but focuses mostly on F1! Its name should be F1 Weekly and its way over priced for what it is!!!

Hector actually managed to win a CART round at Road America back in 1982 or '83.  Granted, about five cars ran out of fuel on the last lap ahead of him but hey, a win is a win.  Yeah, there are some interesting stories behind how some of these guys made it into the sport.
Fax

We already have one!!!!! May I be so bold as to mention those splendid chaps at www.dailysportscar.com (http://www.dailysportscar.com)?

Simply THE best on-line sportscar magazine and a darn sight cheaper than Autospurt for sure! (And no, I'm not on commission!!)

 ;D

thanks mr rick i had forgotten about the excellence of this web site. :o

In the interests of fairness, there are also some free sites that cover Sportscars, the best of which I think is:

http://www.planetlemans.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Maybe not as indepth as Dailysportscar, a darn sight cheaper!

www.motorsport.com is another site!!!