What makes a good race report?

[LYNX]

Watch out for piles!

[midgetman]

I've come lately to HMRN but am not much excited by it. Sometimes seems a bit cliquey. I enjoy Motor Sport as a thumping good read about events before my time, I don't want anything in any greater depth. 'Course, it's not a reporting mag in the same way as MN or AS.

I used to write MG BCV8 reports for Safety Fast, I tried to give everyone a mention in practice and race. Would be boring as hell for general public reading. MN is a bit too brief these days, an overview of the race and any incidents is nice so you can get a flavour of what happened. If e.g. a race is stopped, it's nice to know why. Bit more flesh on the bones.

[terence]

Quite agree,MS does have some excellent articles,probably the best of its type.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by midgetman

I've come lately to HMRN but am not much excited by it. Sometimes seems a bit cliquey.

A "bit"?

[john ruston]

HMRN My two major moans were LMC and Tour Auto as neither was covered in depth or with any knowledge.The superstar reporters were not involved with either.These two events are arguably two of the major meetings of the year and deserve some proper attention.I will be stopping my subscription after paying for the thing since it started.Motorsport has gone in same direction.Presumably if LMC did not clash with Goodwood it would have had proper coverage with a superstar reporter.Tour Auto report used to be written by Anthony Posner but since he stopped the reporting has vanished.

[john ruston]

Peter.If you asked people to cover an event it will include all the bits about their mates so yes it can correctly be accused of being cliquey.Thats old crocks racing which is usually about who you know etc.etc.All the mags are the same ,its not only HMRN.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by john ruston

Peter.If you asked people to cover an event it will include all the bits about their mates so yes it can correctly be accused of being cliquey.Thats old crocks racing which is usually about who you know etc.etc.All the mags are the same ,its not only HMRN.

I disagree. There's imparting a story based around someone like Whizzo f'rinstance and then there's concentrating on those that pay most rather than the race/event. Your mention of the lack of LMC/Tour Auto coverage is a case in point. Rather better to go to the garden party than concentrate on what is happening in the wider more accessible world.

I note that you get a mensh in Motorsport for your F5000 entry at Cholmondley. That makes it interesting to me, but I don't think it's cliquey.

[Peter Mallett]

BTW. I used to cover events for Safety Fast. Although I found it easier to do the "fly on the wall" type of report, by following one particualr driver. In one case it was Colin Pearcy at the Silverstone Classic (1990?). It was fun doing it and as it concentrated on his weekend it was fairly straightforward. I still covered the other MG drivers from the weekend but by centering on Colin (and of course the ever present Vince) it made writing it much easier.

Was it interesting? Dunno but I hope so.

[john ruston]

Stopped buying Motor Sport and do not have F5000 so its not mine but Chumley was superb with the cars we did take.It not unusual for Motorsport to get the facts totally wrong as in their LMC build up which was bigger than the race report.
HMRN and Motorsport same stable,bring back Haymarket or start again.I assume all these mags are fighting to stay alive due to web and that is the reason for there constant changes of direction hoping to find some magic formula that works.Its a losing battle and dumming down only works for the Sun!
Note that people are still suffering from Barry Williams syndrome,Has beens and never has beens,another one!

[Peter Mallett]

I used Whizzo as an example, however we are talking historic racing so anyone involved in its history or in current racing is, by definition, a good reference point. Could easily have used you or anyone who posts on this forum.

Because I "know" many people on this forum, any stories that appear about them will attract my interest, which is why I suggest, its better to write a story around an entrant/driver rather than try to do the "Autosport" style of event report.

From that point of view I don't think I'm any different from anyone else. It's always nice to see one's name in print so a mention in any report is good, but it isn't essential to getting a feel for an event or race. That said the cliquey-ness of HMRN is (I propose) because it tends to stick with a few personalities rather than bring in all the others out there, (a bit like Octane on slimming pills). Has-beens/old boy racing etc. Whatever you want to call it, it provides entertainment and as such deserves good reporting.

[john ruston]

Peter.I agree good reporting of checked FACTS,however they want to do it or package it.
Best article ever,Pete Lyons,"Riding with Revie" from years ago.Autosport.

[terence]

I think the reference of "hasbeen" for Whizzo is a little unkind,agree he is getting on in years but there are not many of the new "Superstars" who have anything like the experience he has under his belt,or indeed the speed he still has,how many new boys could do a 98mph lap of Lord March's puppet show for instance!. He might be getting on but at least he still has it!

[LYNX]

As those members of this Forum who read HMRN know I do write as a volunteer, and also take the odd snap. It is very difficult for one person to cover the whole Oldtimers as happened to me three years ago at my second attempt at writing. I try to talk to at least the Series organiser and/or a driver from each race to try and get a realistic take on the race. This can be very difficult as while I am talking to someone another race is ongoing. The reports I write for FJ are completely different as I need to mention far more people, the class tussles and misfortunes. I try to get the facts correct but as I do not know every name nor every vehicle by sight, if it is wrong in the result sheet and not corrected from practice I have no way of knowing. Sometimes it is very difficult to talk to a driver especially if they spend their time in a guarded hospitality pavillion. I find with FJ that I hear most of the "nuggets" at the prizegiving yet no other series has ever invited me to attend. I do my best and if that is not good enough then feel free to volunteer.

This theme was not about how good or bad a particular magazine was BUT what makes a good race report.

[john ruston]

Write what happened rather than opinions and smat a.... ideas.Thats what this Forum is for!
I reckon Jill will report the facts she is allowed to find out and thats perfect.

Terry,They are all has beens Williams,Frank,Dron....thats why they do Historics

[LYNX]

[quote=john ruston]Write what happened rather than opinions and smat a.... ideas.Thats what this Forum is for!
I reckon Jill will report the facts she is allowed to find out and thats perfect.

[LYNX]

[quote=john ruston]Write what happened rather than opinions and smat a.... ideas.Thats what this Forum is for!
I reckon Jill will report the facts she is allowed to find out and thats perfect.

Thanks John. I would be grateful for help from Forum members - next event I'm attending is The Goodwood Revival. Thanks to Roger Wills and others too numerous to mention who helped me cobble something together at the Oldtimers following my demolition derby act on route to the circuit Sat. morning! Thanks guys! Either PM or email.

[John Turner]

Although we are probably all looking for something slightly different, I think, in general terms, Ian Sowman summed it up accurately, earlier. However, as has been said, club mags try, not unreasonably, to name as many of their drivers as possible, just as I try to include as many 10-Tenthers (provided I know who they they are) as possible in my pictorial reviews.

I've noted references to a number of mags and also adverse comment about the weekly MSN but no-one has mentioned Autosport. Is that diplomacy at play or does no-one on here read it anymore? I can tell you that although Kevin doesn't want to get pigeon-holed at this early stage in his career, he is very heavily 'into' Historic racing and does his best, space permitting, to give it is as much cover as possible. The Silverstone Classic was a case in point, when he was able to give Marcus Pye's report a 4 page spread with a dozen accompanying pictures. Of course, almost every race reporter will complain about his/her wordcount, never able to give the level of detail that they would like. Recently he was able to allocate a bit of space to John's LMC effort, but for all these mags, it is all about balancing the level of interest of the reader with the advertising space to pay for the words!

Like JR, I have often thought it would be superb to have a monthly mag devoted solely to Historic racing with more detailed and factual reports accompanied by plenty of pics. HMRN comes closest but by its very nature is restricted. I think that, unfortunately, it would be cost prohibitive; the demand would simply not allow it to be profitable, although I'd love to be proved wrong.

I suscribe to Motorsport and it's true that it keeps changing its mind about what it wishes to cover. I'd be interested to know whether the latest change back to including contemporary stuff was generated by its readership or was simply perceived as a necessity to stabilise and/or increase circulation. I think that its only true competitor (again not so far mentioned) is Octane. Neither mag entirely satisfies me, but then, I'm just one reader and an 'anorak' one, at that!

[cptkablamo]

I like race reports to be very matter of fact - if something happened on lap 31 I want to know what it was - but then you need stories around the race to give it colour and excitement in separate articles. I don't like having to wade through paragraphs of colour to find out exactly what happened in a race and on the other hand, I don't like wading through paragraphs of detail if I want a feel for the weekend - that is both as a journo and reader perspective

But that is more for a website or dedicated publication - it would be hard for Autosport or MN to do something like that...

[terence]

John [T] Like you I subscribe to Motorsport mainly because of the articles it carrys,usually very informative.Octain I will only buy if there is something I am interested in.HMRNquite frankly I find boring,there are way too many ads in it which is obviously pointing to it a comercial venture as opposed to a genuine Historic racing enthusiast mag.Autosport is great[if you want to read all about everybodys hero [Hamilton]and whats ghoing on in the F1 world].As for the cover on MS,you cant judge a book------.
In order to have a really good mag,there would need to be an army of journos dotted around the country/europe,feasable? I think not.

[John Turner]

I have to confess that I rather enjoyed HMRN this month. Being a simple sort, I like loads of pics, and there were plenty of those to go with the reports. I have to take JR's word for it (and I do) that the LMC report was poor, because I wasn't there, and he was! Normally, like you Terence, I'm not a great fan of adverts but they are a fact of life, and those in HMRN have some lovely cars for sale, with accompanying pics, although one advertiser illustrates 6 cars, 4 of which are recreations which perturbed me, a tad. The other ads also seem appropriate to the mag and if they help pay for its issue then fair enough. I'd rather have the mag, than not.

As for the F1 in Autosport, I agree that there is too much for me, but it's another fact of life! You have to get beyond those pages; it gets better the further into the mag you get and particularly when you get to the last 20 pages or so (he said with total impartiality!! )

[john ruston]

Add 'Cars for the Connoisseur' to the rubbish pile.It arrived at noon and went in the bin at 12.02

[terence]

Originally Posted by John Turner

As for the F1 in Autosport, I agree that there is too much for me, but it's another fact of life! You have to get beyond those pages; it gets better the further into the mag you get and particularly when you get to the last 20 pages or so (he said with total impartiality!! )

The last 20 pages?,I might as well re-subscribe to HMRN.

[LYNX]

So, if you subscribe to your series or series organisers newsletter (free or otherwise) you want as many drivers/cars included as possible. In a more global historic report you want to know who made the podium and a little of the excitement on the way - illustrated with photos as necessary to help the story along? Or have I lost the plot?

[Peter Mallett]

I take it you asked the original question to satisfy yourself that you were providing the right product. If so then I suspect you are disappointed, simply because there is no one secret. Ian pointed out that you need a target audience and if you take the views on this forum, many people will really dislike it if you talk about the podium (which inevitably will include V8 drivers), without mentioning the Cortina that ran in 20th, albeit it had a pretty average race. This is because when one is driving the race will seem like the Le Mans movie and Where Eagles Dare, all rolled into one. From the outside it was crap. Its the latter that you will report simply because of the silk purse, sow's ear syndrome.

JR probably sees it in a similar vein, and I certainly subscribe to reporting the weekend around a particular driver, or drivers (even of they're not front runners), and throw in the important bits about the winners in the context of the event, rather than the race. That's historic motorsport.

[LYNX]

I did a feature on female drivers for Goodwood one year and this year I have approval for a different feature, but as the target reader expects to hear about the racing and read all the results, it may not appear until the following month. A conundrum for the reporter and a headache for the editor. I still need to write up each race I'm allocated - so yes you're right, I am trying to improve my writing skills. At the Oldtimers I followed a team through their preparation and race in the Marathon but it may end up cut. Large events with numerous races are very difficult to cover every race, let alone every driver's perspective.