[LM24] Motor Sport Magazine (Le Mans-related)

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by nobster

For myself, I am a watch maniac, I have a Tag Heuer Senna edition and a Tag Heuer Monaco watch in my collection.

Me, I'm a fountain pen fanatic. I own two special edition Italian Omas Senna Passion fountain pens (below). I also own two more Omas Senna Speed fountain pens. The 'Passions' are £250-300 each, second hand....

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by dank

Might be worth checking out Autosport's supplement next week. It's 68 pages - 20 more than last year's.

But A6 size?

(Overly harsh I know, but it was my first reaction)

[GT6]

Originally Posted by nobster

For myself, I am a watch maniac, I have a Tag Heuer Senna edition and a Tag Heuer Monaco watch in my collection.

We will have to compare watches when we meet

[Aysedasi]

Wasn't the supplement last year back to A4?

[Adam43]

See I knew I was being harsh.

[Le Vieux]

Originally Posted by GT6

We will have to compare watches when we meet

But presumably you'll only be able to meet if your watches are telling the correct time?

[rdjones]

Originally Posted by valedave

The free podcasts are also exceptional and almost always extremely informing. March '11 with Alan McNish, the Audi Readers Evening from November '11, February '12 with Derek Warwick and May '13 with Martin Brundle are worth a particular listen for people of this parish.

I would agree there they are well worth a list. I had flick through the mag in Smith's earlier looks like it might be worth buying and I think I will pick up a copy to take on my hols (which is the week after the big race.....).

[GT6]

Just got the autosport le mans guide, same thing as usual was hoping for more this year but it will be useful on the way down

[Aysedasi]

Bloody A5 size again..... Doh!!!!!

[isynge]

Originally Posted by GT6

Just got the autosport le mans guide, same thing as usual was hoping for more this year but it will be useful on the way down

Agree. Felt it was all a little ho-hum and some indifferent features, which I assume they sold a bit of advertising against. That said, the runners and riders guide is solid, and it feels like it's a bit better than previous years.

I also figure it's worth taking a step back from the perspective of being a long time sportscar enthusiast and Le Mans veteran, and try to remember just how exciting it was to pick up the supplement in say 1991, when the content was pretty much as it is now, and get a real feel for who was running, and vicariously enjoy reading about the logistics of getting there. Okay, the world's moved on a lot since then, and today's teenagers are presumably not relying on Autosport for their motorsport fix, but if it serves to fire the imagination of one or two people who generally buy the weekly for its F1 coverage then it's probably served its purpose.

[Mal]

I haven't bothered.

[isynge]

Originally Posted by Mal

I haven't bothered.

On balance, for someone who's engaged with fora such as this, and knows how to find your way to Le Mans, it's probably the right call to give it a miss.

My copy's currently sitting on the kitchen worktop and while there's a small chance it'll come south with us, the balance of probability says it's bound for the paper recycling bin.

So what should Autosport do? From their perspective an event guide is a great ad sales proposition, and as such it probably goes a long way towards paying Gary Watkins' salary and travel budget. We'd also moan a huge amount if they stopped doing it - probably claiming it was yet more evidence of the weekly being ever more F1 obsessed and not paying attention to sportscars.

So - what do we want in an Autosport guide?

I'd stand by my argument that a well put together one, spelling out runner and riders etc will help fire people's imagination. I still remember that it was the late lamented "Grand Prix International" Le Mans special, and even more specifically, the advertising for it showing fantastic looking cars, that hooked me on long distance sportscars back in 1982, and it would be a shame to lose something that might grab the attention of a newcomer.

More in-depth material? Well it's there - the Mike Conway profile's pretty solid (and again, I assume they sold something against it), as was the upbeat discourse on what 2014 might beckon. Is there something more we're expecting?

Format. A5 makes it pocket sized, and probably easy to slot into the printed magazine - going smaller seems silly, but would A4 (full magazine size) be substantively better?

Content? Some said it was a good thing that they lost some of the 'survival guide' sort of thing - I'm not so sure. Okay I've got my routine, same as a lot of others do, but stress testing this against common wisdom does no harm. Something like they almost do in talking about restaurants etc is actually reasonably welcome, and is maybe something that's relevant to more frequent visitors.

Any other suggestions?

The positive thing in all of this is that there's plenty of evidence that the guys from Autosport do engage with the fan community and within the parameters of the commercial realities they've got to live with, seem prepared to shape the magazine where they can.

If we can come with something that describes what we might want a Le Mans guide to look like let's hear it, and instead of carping at what Autosport comes out with maybe see if we can help make things better.

[GT6]

Although I at first was a little disappointed the more that i think about it the more i believe that they have got it right, for people like myself it will always be a case of "Seen that before" or "already knew that" but I remember, just, the time that when it appeared I would rush out and buy it reading it from cover to cover.
I think the size is right, A4 would be to a backward step and the guide to cars and teams is just what you need before you get the full brochure and even then for rolling up and putting in your pocket when walking around.
So perhaps people like me will all ways want more but the more you step back and think about the early years of visiting the greatest race in the world the more I think Autosport got it just about right

[Aysedasi]

For me, brought up on the 80's and 90's A4 versions, I hate the A5. I never bring it here so portability is of no consequence to me. It's generally read once and goes into the annual memorabilia folder....