Autosport 2012
Autosport 2012
I've been thinking about going to the autosport show in Birmingham this year however, last time i went most of the exhibits from previous years were gone but i might go again this year in the hope that its better, anyone else planning on going?
Re: Autosport 2012
I'd like to go, but I have an exam a few days after, so probably have to wait till 2013. Plus I might need to save money for other 2012 ventures.
Re: Autosport 2012
The NEC is just down the road from where I am currently with work, If I go it will be on the weekend.
I can't stand busy places though and I'm currently justifying the price of it.
I can't stand busy places though and I'm currently justifying the price of it.
Re: Autosport 2012
Have wanted to go for a few years, but it always falls in the exam period. Same this year, but I'm going anyway on the Saturday. 
Have a few days between then and my first exam so am going to give it a go. 
Have a few days between then and my first exam so am going to give it a go. 
Re: Autosport 2012
Been at the Autosport show all day. All of the interviews are on YouTube so I won't talk about them much here, but I found Pat Symonds talking about Marussia and his role particularly interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvnPnvkK ... r_embedded
It was a good day. I got there early, 8:50am ten minutes before it opened. I headed straight to the F1 Racing grid and Senna display before it got busy. Was able to walk freely around the Senna display (had a couple of Tolemans, a kart of his, a 1987 Lotus, an MP4-4 from 1988 and his Donnington 93 McLaren). When I walked back past it later the queue to get in was massive.
A personal highlight was getting up close to James Hunt's McLaren M23. I don't know what it is, but I love that car. Specifically the 1976 one driven by him. I was disappointed the only M23 they had on display in the McLaren Technology Centre when I went was one of Fittipaldi's. Also, the Hunt one they had today still contained the original Marlboro decals (probably because it's privately owned) whereas McLaren have removed the tobacco sponsorship from the cars they own leaving them looking very blank. It was good to see it in its proper livery, and to make it extra special it was next to Lauda's Ferrari.
One gripe I have is the F1 Racing grid. They bill it as last years cars, but in reality they're showcars that are much older. R28s, the 2010 Lotus (they did actually have a 2011 one on the Caterham stand which you get right up next to with no barrier, it had no Team Lotus branding and a map of Interlagos in the cockpit so I guess Heikki drove it there), the Toro Rosso even had Bridgestone tyres still! Only Force India, McLaren and Virgin provided 2011 cars. The Mercedes was bits of old Hondas cobbled together. Considering they had been using the Brawn, I'm not sure why they've started using something even further removed from their current car!
Seeing pictures, a few years ago it genuinely was the previous year's cars. Perhaps teams are paranoid about putting their designs on display, I don't know. It's a shame.
The Renault, despite being in the 2011 livery, already had the names of Raikkonen and Grosjean on the side!
Enjoyed seeing a group of Autograph hunters mobbing Terry Fullerton. Many of them thought he was Alan Jones. :P
Finally, I was surprised Sky had no presence there. Anthony Davidson will be there tomorrow, but that's it and I suspect he'll be there more in a Peugeot capacity than a Sky TV pundit capacity. Today you had Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard up on stage several times talking about F1 on the BBC. Tomorrow Ben Edwards will be there. You had no Sky people doing that.
But the biggest opportunity I think they missed was selling Sky to people. Haymarket magazines, who publishes Autosport and F1 Racing, had stands trying to get people to subscribe. Why didn't Sky do the same? 80,000 people were expected across Saturday and Sunday, 80,000 motorsport fans for you to sell your channel(s) to. You could even do a special discounted show only price or include a show only free gift.
Sky are obviously very committed and serious about F1, you'd think they'd want to take this opportunity to push their channel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvnPnvkK ... r_embedded
It was a good day. I got there early, 8:50am ten minutes before it opened. I headed straight to the F1 Racing grid and Senna display before it got busy. Was able to walk freely around the Senna display (had a couple of Tolemans, a kart of his, a 1987 Lotus, an MP4-4 from 1988 and his Donnington 93 McLaren). When I walked back past it later the queue to get in was massive.
A personal highlight was getting up close to James Hunt's McLaren M23. I don't know what it is, but I love that car. Specifically the 1976 one driven by him. I was disappointed the only M23 they had on display in the McLaren Technology Centre when I went was one of Fittipaldi's. Also, the Hunt one they had today still contained the original Marlboro decals (probably because it's privately owned) whereas McLaren have removed the tobacco sponsorship from the cars they own leaving them looking very blank. It was good to see it in its proper livery, and to make it extra special it was next to Lauda's Ferrari.
One gripe I have is the F1 Racing grid. They bill it as last years cars, but in reality they're showcars that are much older. R28s, the 2010 Lotus (they did actually have a 2011 one on the Caterham stand which you get right up next to with no barrier, it had no Team Lotus branding and a map of Interlagos in the cockpit so I guess Heikki drove it there), the Toro Rosso even had Bridgestone tyres still! Only Force India, McLaren and Virgin provided 2011 cars. The Mercedes was bits of old Hondas cobbled together. Considering they had been using the Brawn, I'm not sure why they've started using something even further removed from their current car!
Seeing pictures, a few years ago it genuinely was the previous year's cars. Perhaps teams are paranoid about putting their designs on display, I don't know. It's a shame.
The Renault, despite being in the 2011 livery, already had the names of Raikkonen and Grosjean on the side!
Enjoyed seeing a group of Autograph hunters mobbing Terry Fullerton. Many of them thought he was Alan Jones. :P
Finally, I was surprised Sky had no presence there. Anthony Davidson will be there tomorrow, but that's it and I suspect he'll be there more in a Peugeot capacity than a Sky TV pundit capacity. Today you had Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard up on stage several times talking about F1 on the BBC. Tomorrow Ben Edwards will be there. You had no Sky people doing that.
But the biggest opportunity I think they missed was selling Sky to people. Haymarket magazines, who publishes Autosport and F1 Racing, had stands trying to get people to subscribe. Why didn't Sky do the same? 80,000 people were expected across Saturday and Sunday, 80,000 motorsport fans for you to sell your channel(s) to. You could even do a special discounted show only price or include a show only free gift.
Sky are obviously very committed and serious about F1, you'd think they'd want to take this opportunity to push their channel.
Re: Autosport 2012
Why do you think I went on Thursday? No queues anywhere and easy to walk about
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Barthdesigns
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Re: Autosport 2012
So good for you guys, hope you fun there!