Why is Formula Junior so popular as a series - yet neglected by the media?

[john ruston]

Understand the Motor Sport people hold the responsibility for the mag with Carol being part time Editor.Thats where the extra advertising comes from.
As Motor Sport is in my opinion the best old car main line mag I can see HRMN improving and more widely read as previously it has been the only decent coverage of old time racing and more investment may help.The problem is that all mags have decreasing sales due to the internet

[DaveGT6]

Originally Posted by john ruston

..... I can see HRMN improving and more widely read as previously it has been the only decent coverage of old time racing and more investment may help.The problem is that all mags have decreasing sales due to the internet

I've been following motorsport since the mid '70s and into the Historic/Classic side since early '80's and a racer of a '60's car for 11 years.......and yet I have never heard of HRMN before! Either I'm completely in the dark or there is a serious lack of self promotion going on. I gather that HRMN is only available by subscription - how does one subscribe?

[LYNX]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do this under the rules of Ten Tenths! But here goes...................? Email Carol@historicmotorracingnews.com for anything to do with HMRN. You can send letters/suggestions/reports/requests for subscription information etc etc. If I am blocked I will send a PM to anyone who wants further information!

[john ruston]

They, the Gods,should leave it in!Well done

[LYNX]

Well the big guns haven't fired so will risk it again:
administartion & subscriptions contact@historicmotorracingnews.com
Editorial carol@historicmotorracingnews.com
Only because I have received PM and am not sure that Carol is inviolved in subscriptions! But I am sure that she will pass any emails on to the appropriate department.

[John Turner]

Happy to leave it in; it does cater specifically for the sort of motor racing we love on this forum. I'm a subscriber, but it was ages before I'd even heard about it and I've been a close follower of historic racing since the Griffiths formula series started. This is actually its 13th year of publication and I only knew of its existence when I read about it MotorSport over the last year!

However to be even-handed , the HSCC also has its own mag, which is edited by the excellent Paul Lawrence and having read the November issue, I'm about to subscribe to that as well. Interestingly, this issue features Duncan Rabagliati. You can subscribe online by going to the HSCC website.

I agree with JR about MotorSport; it has always been compulsory reading for me but its coverage of historic racing is brief, as is that of its closest competitor, Octane. Haymarket's Classic & Sports car also covers it a little. It's weekly publication, Autosport, which is oft maligned on other parts of this site does its best to cover historics but like every mag, whether specialist or not, it is subject to word count constraints for its race reports. However, there are two very enthusiastic supporters of the historic racing movement on its National side; Marcus Pye, and my son, Kevin, so you can be sure that it has its advocates within the editorial staff.

[simon drabble]

As usual John you hit the nail smack on its head - I think that is a pretty good assessment of the situation.
As an interesting comparison I am trying to help a friend of mine raise some sponsorship for his son who is racing with Double R Racing in F3 next season after 2 successful ones in Formula BMW and its as difficult to get money for current racing so profile and sponsorship is an inductry wide issue!

[zefarelly]

sponsorship is even harder to get than publicity!
as an aside, I got my only ever sponsorship this year, getting it was a miracle, but even more suprising, in fact gobsmackingly so, was the fact it came from the wallet of an estate agent !

[LYNX]

How did you convince him/her it would benefit their agency? or maybe my questions should be......what made you ask him in the first place?

[john ruston]

Zef-Bet you will have problems getting it from him next year!

[HMRN]

Originally Posted by John Turner

This is actually its 13th year of publication and I only knew of its existence when I read about it MotorSport over the last year!

Thank you for leaving our address in. A group of enthusiasts, without much money for promotion, started this 13 years ago. Most writers and photographers are volunteers. We are not writing for the general public, but for the racers, which limits our subscriber base. Last year we went into asociation with Motor Sport, who have taken over our ad sales, our admin, and promotion, (which is starting to bear fruit) but the editorial team remains unchanged and independant.

We try as hard as we can to cover historic motor sport all over Europe, but the job is so big we can only cover meetings and rallies with international content. We publish in English, which further limits the number of Continental subscribers.

Yes, there is certainly truth in the fact that we are more likely to cover events where there are helpful organisers, but we also actively chase stories that we think interesting for our readers.

As for reporting the middle of the grid, we do try. Ask one of our reporters how easy it is to follow a race meeting with 16 races on the programme! Also, reports would be very, very long. I do hope, though, that we mention class battles and outstanding performances more often than most other publications. We do publish full results and not just the top ten.

We welcome comment and letters, "sidebar" type reports and snippets from readers. We are not a big commercial organisation with staff reporters like Haymarket, or even Octane.

My main aim, as editor, is to make sure that readers can rely on us for news and information they can't get elsewhwere (or at least not easily in one place). To do this we need the organisers, and the racers themselves, to report back to us so we can spread the 'News.

I agree there are many Club magazines, of which the HSCC is one, that do an admirable job of reporting their own club events. Our remit tries to be wider.

[TorqueWench]

HMRN is like one big club magazine for all the clubs - and it brings other aspects of classic and historic motorsport to the reader - for instance I have often wondered about doing some classic rallies in Europe - AND LO - there's the coverage in HMRN, along with contact details, and calendars etc.

It also covers other issues such as green fuels (one of mine), road tax for classic cars etc. You will find that there is a sympathetic ear for articles that are relevant or possibly even controversial but that need an airing.

There you go Carol - now you'll be inundated with Race Reports from the tail-enders!

Now where did I put those pictures from Daytona.....

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by HMRN

Thank you for leaving our address in.

No problem; there wasn't much likelihood of this being removed. It was on topic in that it responded to the issue of media coverage for historic racing, including FJs and has allowed us to open up the subject. Hopefully, our thread starter, LYNX, won't mind.

Originally Posted by HMRN

We are not writing for the general public, but for the racers, which limits our subscriber base.

OK, but most people attending historic races (with maybe the exception of Goodwood) are not by definition 'general' public; they are enthusiasts (some would say 'anoraks'!) like me who, if they knew about your product, could help you expand your subscriber base to. I'm sure that your assocation with Motor Sport will help that.

Originally Posted by HMRN

As for reporting the middle of the grid, we do try. Ask one of our reporters how easy it is to follow a race meeting with 16 races on the programme!

Well I think, from personal experience, I have a pretty good idea, anyway!

Originally Posted by HMRN

My main aim, as editor ......

Managing Editor, or Editor GB? Edit - Sarah appears to have answered that now!

Originally Posted by HMRN

I agree there are many Club magazines, of which the HSCC is one, that do an admirable job of reporting their own club events. Our remit tries to be wider.

Indeed, I wasn't suggesting it was an either/or situation; merely what was available to address the questions of who covers our hobby. Its horses for courses.

[john ruston]

Carol has run an Independent mag and thats where its strength comes from.

[LYNX]

Originally Posted by John Turner

No problem; there wasn't much likelihood of this being removed. It was on topic in that it responded to the issue of media coverage for historic racing, including FJs and has allowed us to open up the subject. Hopefully, our thread starter, LYNX, won't mind.

I am happy for any discussion on historic racing that leads to wider audience participation and it has been made clear on this thread that HMRN has not brought itself to the attention of the broad base of the sport. Now all on this site know where we can look for a fuller write up of our sport
- HMRN plus the individual clubs/associations.

[LYNX]

Publicity via race meeting write ups that come under the category International Historic are well catered for by HMRN. Domestic series/championships will find little coverage in the motoring press and unless there is a serious incident unlikely to make the general press. Many of the public think motor racing is an elitist sport that requires oudles of cash! Compounded by TV presenting races at Goodwood and other venues that have multi-million pound grids and ignoring the minnows that often give a much more exciting race. There are many facets to historic motor sport but it is only when you start attending meetings or competing that you discover them. This web site has done a lot to open my eyes as to what is available and I am looking to try alternative areas of the sport next season.

[LYNX]

No further comments? How about how you achieve sponsoprship for a series ofr indinvidual?

[john ruston]

The question is what can the Team give the sponsor.
In Historics I can't see a positive answer unless the sponsor want in on the old car scene.Look for an over 45 and racing nut.

[zefarelly]

agreed John, I've only had one donation from the aforementioned fraternity, and thats because he's a friend and exactly as you describe . . .

and I probably just blew my chances of any further support by suggesting he's over 45 !

[zefarelly]

Q: does anyone have a set of engine regs for FJ ?

I keep gertting asked for things and I'm sure they're not quite right !

[LYNX]

Regs for FJ can be found on the FJ site at:-
http://www.formulajunior.com/Formula...tions_cars.htm

Otherwise send an email to Duncan. Hope this is of help.

[TorqueWench]

Originally Posted by zefarelly

Q: does anyone have a set of engine regs for FJ ?

I keep gertting asked for things and I'm sure they're not quite right !

Also it was announced at the AGM by Duncan that he and A N Other (apols for forgetting exactly who) are settting out the definitive set of regulations to clean up the regs (hope i got that right!) but as Lynx says, email Duncan if in doubt!

Sorry I missed the lunch on Sunday - hope you all had a good time! (if dinner the previous evening was anything to go by I would be surprised if anyone can remember whether it was a good time or not!!!)

[zefarelly]

theres nothing much in the regs about engines

as an example, I was asked about a cylinder head recently, Twin cam sprint valves aren't FJ, for a start they didn't exist in earlier FJ, and they're too big for the capacities/chamber volume required ( unless you have a trick head !)

[Marcus Mussa]

The regulations Lynx pointed you to are the original regulations for FJ. The regulations for historic FJ are slightly different in that they define what is allowed for the various makes of engine, i.e. FIAT, BMC, Ford. For example if you run a Ford engine, you are allowed "Richardson" cylinder heads in the rear-engine disk brake class, but not in the earlier classes. There is nothing to limit valve sizes etc, however (except what is written in Appendix K). As far as I know there is no advantage to be gained using bigger valves, it is better to stick to what Cosworth did in period.
All the best
Marcus

[zefarelly]

Thanks MArcus, I know big valves are a waste of space in many cases, been there, tried that, scrapped a few heads in the process !