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Autosport International - The
Racing Car Show "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability" said Martin Luther King. As far as the Autosport Show is concerned, he was wrong. First of all, it's not called the Autosport Show any
more, it's Autosport International - The Racing Car Show.
A bit of a nuisance as I've only just started calling it
the Autosport Show instead of The Racing Car Show. But
much worse is the reality that, good, enjoyable show that
it is, it's not really a Racing Car Show. Because Racing,
as we know it, has changed. Less than 10 years ago, there
was a Constructors' Pavilion, containing production racing
cars. Now as far as show exhibitors are concerned it's
Radical and ......I'll get back to you. Oh, yes Ginetta.
Modern single seater racing is a rarified place. The well
intentioned but hopeless FIA initiatives have destroyed
cheap and cheerful single seaters. Single seater series
are barely visible. Today's flavours are historic racing
and track day. It's no coincidence that the biggest single
seater championship in the world is Historic Formula
Junior. Quite how this sustains the motor sport industry
as shown in the Engineering Show, I don't know. What's
more, the show is no longer representative of the sport.
There aren't any of the smaller clubs there, and almost
none of the small specialist suppliers/resellers. There
are far fewer race tyre suppliers with giant stands, and
many more tyres of the "budget" competition type. On a much more pleasant note, the show was good fun,
people seem to like fast cars, and even in the present
"economic recovery pause" there seems to be a fair bit of
money sloshing around. The historic cars which were there
were excellent, and it's always fun to see how much people
can spend to make a road car go slower than a Monoposto
car. Education seems to have replaced club formulae
as the source of some interesting show stands. And I did
have one very pleasant surprise. The sandwiches may be
horrendously expensive but they are excellent. Which you
could never say about NEC sandwiches in the past. Tony Cotton
Disclaimer: The above represents only the unofficial view of the writer and not of the Monoposto Racing Club in any way whatsover. Subheadlines and captions are not originated from the named author. We are unable to reproduce results due to copyright reasons. If any pictures are copyright and the owner wishes them removed please email us.
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