Autosport's 1973 celebration & special issues

[krt917]

Hi all,

It's not often I do this, but we've had a lot of fun in the Autosport office putting our 1973 F1 special together. The mag is out today and we've just gone live with content on autosport.com.

Going to Jackie Stewart's house for the interview was incredible and a great privilege. It was also good fun to speak to Mike Wilds about the Lotus 72.

I'm interested to hear any feedback.

Best regards,
Kevin Turner
Autosport Features Editor

[The Fat Clerk]

Hmm just flicked through it in Sainsburys.................No Thanks
I couldn't believe how poor the quality of the paper has become

[bella]

i've been gradually reading the bits on the website and had a quick graze on the magazine yesterday (alt-tabbing behind a spreadsheet ).

the thing i like about these themed issues is that instead of just being random pieces about historical heroes or great battles, those of us who weren't around at the time can build up a picture of the featured year, and understand the season as a whole. so you don't *need* in-depth character studies that the one-off articles have to do to illustrate the times and create the context. you can get on with telling the story.

it's a lot more interesting than just another jason plato interview or something

[MikeM]

My era, and I am really enjoying it. I'd like to see more like this please.
Mike

[krt917]

Originally Posted by The Fat Clerk

No Thanks
I couldn't believe how poor the quality of the paper has become

Well, there isn't a lot I can do about that I'm afraid! You can always try the website

Originally Posted by bella

The thing i like about these themed issues is that instead of just being random pieces about historical heroes or great battles, those of us who weren't around at the time can build up a picture of the featured year, and understand the season as a whole. so you don't *need* in-depth character studies that the one-off articles have to do to illustrate the times and create the context. you can get on with telling the story.

Thanks Bella. Yes, I think that is one of the reasons we enjoy putting them together so much.

We'd love to do more MikeM. Next week we're doing a Super Touring special. The better they do the more likely we are to do them again, so I hope they go down well.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Craig]

I might actually buy that! It's been many years now since I last bought a copy of Autosport so it might be a nice thing to read through on my holiday!

[mountainstar]

It's kinda of sad that motorsport these days is so boring and appalling that Autosport has to go back to 1973 to find good stories. Vintage and historic racing and it's growth mirrors that. In general the people seem disenchanted with what is known as motorsport in 2013, myself included.

[bella]

well that's a bit obvious isn't it?

the appeal of the past is that it isn't now. it's got nothing to do with whether it was better back then.

"things were simpler back then" because all the unimportant things that assumed a silly level of importance at the time have been forgotten. all the politics and the infighting is a memory, and not an active fight. the past allows you perspective.

there's loads of interesting stories about nowadays, loads of tales of adventure and stuff but people don't really want to read the life and times of a mid-grid gp2 driver and his life story for example. but the same thing from 30 years ago and people will lap it up, because it's different to now. that's all. not better, not worse, just different.

[adstubbs]

Nice to see the F1 summer break being filled with something a bit different,with last week's 1973 retrospective being followed by Super Tourers this week.

[FastDB2s]

Originally Posted by mountainstar

It's kinda of sad that motorsport these days is so boring and appalling that Autosport has to go back to 1973 to find good stories. Vintage and historic racing and it's growth mirrors that. In general the people seem disenchanted with what is known as motorsport in 2013, myself included.

One of the problems is that few are interested in motorsport (not F1 but that's not motorsport) as its so boring.
Autosport itself is so boring & its expensive, the race reports are poor & often centred on the wrong thing, the demand is so little so that Tesco & the Spar shop in Stratford upon Avon now don't stock Autosport as there is little demand.
WH Smith possibly do but its 1.5hrs to drive the 2 miles into SoA, pay to park, get the mag & come back

[The SpeCTator]

Congrats to the Autosport team, another 4 week holiday for F1 would be welcome as the mag just gets better during the breaks!

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by FastDB2s

One of the problems is that few are interested in motorsport (not F1 but that's not motorsport) as its so boring.
Autosport itself is so boring & its expensive, the race reports are poor & often centred on the wrong thing

Well Chris, it's your opinion, which is fine but everyone wants something different. The quality of the reports surely depends on the reporter. As for the cost; it's about the price of a single pint isn't it which puts that into perspective.

[krt917]

Originally Posted by The SpeCTator

Congrats to the Autosport team, another 4 week holiday for F1 would be welcome as the mag just gets better during the breaks!

Thanks SpeCTator, we often find ourselves thinking the same thing!

Originally Posted by FastDB2s

Autosport itself is so boring & its expensive, the race reports are poor & often centred on the wrong thing.

Hi FastDB2s, could you be more specific on why you don't like the race reports? Centred on the wrong thing? They are the things that cause us the most trouble in terms of deciding how best to approach them so constructive criticism and feedback is always useful.

Think 'boring' and 'expensive' (it's still less than a pint where I live) is a tad harsh, but then I would say that!

[Tom V]

I enjoyed the 1973 special and was happily suprised when I learned that there would be a special on Super Touring! These days it's all about F1, you could easily have picked another classic F1 season but you didn't and for once thought about those who follow all forms of motor racing. And then to pick out Super Touring, just fantastic. That's why I wanted to say great job!

[Adam43]

And there was still a piece with three decimal places of percentage lap times for those that like their overly accurate F1 analysis. Not even by Mark Hughes either!

The SuperTouring part was very good. I forgot that there were some very good drivers and fun cars back then. It also reminded me that i haven't been to a touring car race since that era.

[Craig]

Thanks for the Super Touring thing. For the first time in years I went and bought a copy. Enjoyed it too. Probably not going to be a regular buyer again to be honest but I might consider it a little from time to time based on the lack of F1

[Knowlesy]

Originally Posted by Adam43

And there was still a piece with three decimal places of percentage lap times for those that like their overly accurate F1 analysis. Not even by Mark Hughes either!

The SuperTouring part was very good. I forgot that there were some very good drivers and fun cars back then. It also reminded me that i haven't been to a touring car race since that era.

Golden years!

Seeing the touring cars at the Silverstone Classic reminded me why I loved it so much back then. Probably more than any other motorsport, barring CART.

And the Codemasters games.