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Old 27 Jan 2015, 15:20 (Ref:3498015)   #26
Lorenzo S
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Lorenzo S should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridLorenzo S should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
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Originally Posted by Aysedasi View Post
Autosport has neglected sportscars for years. I had a sub for many years but canned it about 10 years ago. I only ever set out to buy two copies now, the copy with Le Mans guide (now a pale shadow of what it was back in the 80s) and the Le Mans results issue. I may buy another if I need something to read on the train or something, but I'd rather buy Motor Sport for train reading - much better value and I don't get modern-day F1 thrust at me as if it was the be-all and end-all of everything....
As a someone who *has* been a subscriber for the last ten years—in fact the last 25 years—I can safely assure you that Autosport does not neglect sportscars. I am one of those motorsport fans who has a preference for GT and sportscars over F1 and I don't know of any other weekly news outlet that covers every branch of motorsport in as much depth. I also tire of the excess of F1 coverage but, apparently unlike yourself, I do want to read about it and I don't need to continually denigrate the ‘pinnacle’ of the motorsport world simply because I enjoy WEC and GT more.

This weeks issue, for example, (which arrived late, again, today) has an 8 page Daytona preview and a 4 page interview with Oliver Jarvis. The last few years has also seen increasing coverage and lengthier WEC race reports. I hope that trend continues this year.

I agree the Le Mans guide has got thinner but other than the runners and riders, what else do you need to have in the guide? If you have been before you know everything you need to anyway. The old guide full of extras was only really useful for newbies.

I get the impression that a lot of the complaints directed at Autosport are less to do with their coverage of the sport and more to do with ageing fans falling out of love with motorsport and blaming the magazine for them not getting excited any more. I would really urge people who haven't read Autosport for a number of years to stop slagging it off. There really is nothing else like it.
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Old 27 Jan 2015, 17:17 (Ref:3498035)   #27
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I agree Autosport has become more in depth the last few years and has plenty of features outside of F1 and seems to have a retro story every week.
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Old 27 Jan 2015, 18:15 (Ref:3498044)   #28
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Maybe my rose tinteds are getting in the way then. I have bought Autosport occasionally and for me, it isn't the magazine it was 25+ years ago - I guess I shouldn't have any expectation that it would be. Take the LM results issue (because I do) - compare it to the in-depth analysis in any of the results issues from the mid to late 80s. That issue was always effectively a Le Mans issue, whereas these days, there are a few pages and a fairly brief write-up, but there will still be more pages on F1. Yes, when there is a major sportscar event, of course there is coverage, but from what I have seen over more than the past few years, F1 dominates - massively. (But I seem to recall that this has been a regular debate since I've been here at Tenths - with the editor himself at times, as I recall). Whatever changes there may have been recently, there's no way I would want to have a subscription these days - and that's not because I've fallen out of love with motorsport.
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Old 27 Jan 2015, 18:26 (Ref:3498051)   #29
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Originally Posted by Lorenzo S View Post
As a someone who *has* been a subscriber for the last ten years—in fact the last 25 years—I can safely assure you that Autosport does not neglect sportscars. I am one of those motorsport fans who has a preference for GT and sportscars over F1 and I don't know of any other weekly news outlet that covers every branch of motorsport in as much depth. I also tire of the excess of F1 coverage but, apparently unlike yourself, I do want to read about it and I don't need to continually denigrate the ‘pinnacle’ of the motorsport world simply because I enjoy WEC and GT more.

This weeks issue, for example, (which arrived late, again, today) has an 8 page Daytona preview and a 4 page interview with Oliver Jarvis. The last few years has also seen increasing coverage and lengthier WEC race reports. I hope that trend continues this year.

I agree the Le Mans guide has got thinner but other than the runners and riders, what else do you need to have in the guide? If you have been before you know everything you need to anyway. The old guide full of extras was only really useful for newbies.

I get the impression that a lot of the complaints directed at Autosport are less to do with their coverage of the sport and more to do with ageing fans falling out of love with motorsport and blaming the magazine for them not getting excited any more. I would really urge people who haven't read Autosport for a number of years to stop slagging it off. There really is nothing else like it.
I can first of all assure you that it is not old age and a lack of excitement from motor sport that drives any criticism so far as I am concerned. I have bought Autosport as a magazine for 60 years or so and still support it by being a subscriber to the online edition which I look at each day. I still have over 30 years of back numbers

It is no surprise that the hard copy edition has a big piece on Daytona as the F1 world is not very active just yet. As I have not seen it but may buy it based on your recommendation I cannot comment on the contact of the Daytona piece but my guess is that there will be lots about DPs and the possible victory for an LMP car and on the PCs but for the GTs I don't expect more than half a page but I hope I am wrong.

My main gripe about their coverage of Sports/GT racing is that a race report will concentrate on the front few cars and relegate the GTs to a side panel or side bar. The fact is that all races of this type could not fill a grid without GTs but Autosport views them as just that; "grid fillers". The investment that Corvette, Porsche, Ferrari and now BMW put into GT racing shows how important it is in the market place and it deserves better treatment from what I agree is the best motor racing weekly in the world.

Rant over!!! As Frank Sinatra may have said, my body may be 76 but I am 50!
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Old 27 Jan 2015, 18:29 (Ref:3498054)   #30
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So far this year we've had a 6 page Kristensen bets race feature in one edition, a 6 page Lotterer interview and 3 page Daytona test feature, and the last issue had a 4 page Oliver Jarvis interview and 8 page Daytona preview.

Obviously that isn't very good if you are TF110, or someone who goes dizzy at the sight of a yellow flag. However for Sportscar fans it's been alright! ;-)
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Old 29 Jan 2015, 07:59 (Ref:3498581)   #31
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Those rose tinted glasses do exist though don't they. The content has improved substantially over the last 10 years and for anyone taking the trouble to continue reading it rather than pontificate about how poor it is in comparison to all those years ago (actually it isn't - it's more about style, advertising and adapting to the modern limited attention span of so many). There have been literally loads of historicL features in recent years and I can promise you that a number of staff love GTs. It's more about the cost of space and advertising to make it a viable product these days, sadly. And finally, I've never understood this comparison between Autosport, which is primarily a weekly news magazine subject to tight copy and printing deadlines, to Motor Sport, which is a monthly magazine much of it historically based with months, if not years, to plan ahead for much of its copy. I've been reading both for over 50 years and never regarded them as comparable or competitors since they so clearly fill different roles. Now, for me, a much more logical and interesting comparison is between Motor Sport and Octane, and how, the latter was able to find a niche and establish such a strong foothold in the face of the historically significant and well loved former. Of course, there will no doubt be those who think that Motor Sport is also now a shadow of its former self!
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Old 29 Jan 2015, 15:01 (Ref:3498725)   #32
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old man should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridold man should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridold man should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
Ok, so I admit a bias where GT racing is concerned due to close involvement for the last 17/18 years. Thing is, I just don't like to see teams and drivers who make huge efforts to race relegated to the results list, it is a sort of insult I feel; " oh, they are just also rans". When listening to American commentators I often get the impression that they appreciate the efforts all entrants make.

I do agree that style is a lot to do with it and when commenting on this topic to Autosport staff I have had exactly the quote you make Mr Turner, "pressure on space and deadline" but all the people who earn a living out of reporting depend on full grids to keep the racing going. In our experience the Monday morning call from the editorial staff us, shall we say less noticeable and before you say, perhaps less deserved that is not the case.

On the BTCC thread we are talking about getting sponsorship, this gets very hard when the only place a potential sponsor can learn anything about a team or driver is that persons own website. Recently Wikkipedia has become an excellent source of info on such things, not Autosport. The whole industry runs on money and needs backers who need measurable returns.

Enough now I suspect
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Old 5 Feb 2015, 11:58 (Ref:3501296)   #33
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Hey, old man, not so formal - call me John!

Much of the problem is what we are using for this exchange; the internet. Everything has to be instant which makes printed copy come in second best these days. All I know is that the for the folks at both Autosport and Motor Sport News, who are just as enthusiastic about motor racing (you wouldn't do it just for the money, that's for sure!) as we are find it pretty soul destroying to get all the stick they do, often from their predecessors who were never subjected to the culture of the modern world or the intense scrutiny and comment that has been enabled by the internet.

The BTCC has always had a lot of cover in Autosport so I am surprised by the comment.

For the record I absolutely love the modern GTs - proper cars and my favourite class of modern motor racing.
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