‘If anyone wants the Birmingham train this is not it!’ yelled the conductor down the carriage. The board definitely said platform 5B, but it had been changed and they hadn’t bothered to inform the passengers. Along with several other sleepy passengers up at an ungodly hour (especially for a Saturday), I filed off the train and onto the one in front.
This had not been the best start to the day, wrong train after missing the bus I wanted to get to the station. It had not been my fault; as I approached the stop ten minutes earlier than the bus was meant to arrive it drove past ahead of schedule and without waiting meaning I had to get another one, one that went to the other side of the city center to where the train station was. But after a missed bus, an unfulfilling McDonald’s breakfast and nearly a journey on the wrong train I was on my way to the 2012 Autosport Show.
For a few years now I have wanted to go, but being in January it has always fallen during or close to exams meaning I have decided against it. This year was no exception, with exams starting this week. But this time I was overcome with an attitude of ‘sod it’ and I spent £37 on a Paddock Pass ticket which included a seat for one of the Live Action Arena shows during the day.
Once on the correct train getting to the NEC was very easy. Get off at Birmingham New Street and get another train to Birmingham International. These are very frequent, every ten minutes or so and the journey between the two stations is only about fifteen minutes. Once at Birmingham International, it’s a short (indoor) walk to the show with signs pointing you in the right direction as soon as you get off the train.
As I walked through the long corridors I looked at the posters adorning the walls promoting upcoming events at the NEC and neighbouring LG Arena. John Bishop? Seen him on the telly. The X Factor Live? I’d rather slice my ears off. Westlife Farewell UK Tour? No, just no.
Having established this would be my only trip to the NEC for a while I arrived at the desk to pick up my paddock guide. Despite having been up for close to four hours it was only 08:50 and the show did not open for another ten minutes. I took my place in the queue, well more of a crowd, that had formed and patiently waited for the show to open.
Once inside, I headed straight for the F1 Racing grid to get some photos of the cars before the crowds got too big. Every team had sent a car along bar Ferrari, Sauber and HRT. From there I headed to the Ayrton Senna Tribute. With a renewed interest in Senna over the past twelve months or so thanks to the film the Ayrton Senna tribute contained a kart he drove prior to switching to cars, a Toleman TG183B he drove in early 1984, a Toleman TG184 also driven in 1984, a 1987 Lotus 99T, a 1988 McLaren MP4-4 and the 1993 McLaren MP4-8 he drove at Donnington in 1993. Unsurprisingly, this display proved extremely popular. I’m glad I headed to it early in the show, as whilst I was able to walk through it freely and without waiting when I walked back past it during the afternoon the queue was massive. Despite the renewed interest in Senna, it was not enough for a Metro 6R4 rally car once driven by Senna to sell in the Coy’s auction later in the day. A top bid of £80,000 was not enough to meet the reserve. Here is the car in question.
Next to the Senna exhibition the FIA Historic Formula 1 Championship had some cars on display. This was a real treat. They had a 1976 James Hunt McLaren M23 on display which was a personal highlight. It’s hard to put my finger on why, but I love that car particularly the 1976 one driven to the Championship by Hunt. When I went to the McLaren Technology Centre for the FOTA Fan’s Forum last year I was disappointed they did not have this car out on display. An added bonus was it had the original livery complete with Marlboro decals. Perhaps it’s because it is now privately owned rather than by McLaren, as all of McLaren’s old cars at the MTC have had tobacco advertising removed meaning they look rather bare. Not this one though, and to make it extra special it was parked next to a Niki Lauda Ferrari 312T. The historic Formula One stand also included a Brabham BT37 driven by Carlos Reutemann, a Lotus 87 driven by Nigel Mansell and a Lotus 91 driven by Elio de Angelis.
As you’d expect, there were plenty of non-F1 cars on display as well. The British Rally Heroes display included a Ford Focus driven by Colin McRae, Paddy Hokirk’s Mini Cooper S that won the 1964 Monte Carlo rally and a bang up to date 2012 spec Ford Fiesta WRC car which a bloke who peered through the window and tried to open the door informed me was ‘empty.’
Elsewhere there was a display marking sixty years of Formula 3 that contained a wide variety of cars; from one driven by an aspiring racer named Bernard Ecclestone (what ever happened to him?) through to more recent machinery such as the Dallara car Takuma Sato used to dominanted the 2001 British F3 season and a 2012 spec Dallara.
BTCC was also represented with Team Dynamics having their 2011 Championship winning Honda Civic on display and Special Tuning one of their Seat Leons. I was most interested in seeing John Thorne’s Thorney Motorsports Insignia though, a very nice looking car indeed. It made a brief appearance in the final round of the 2011 championship but he’ll be doing a full season in 2012. I wish him all the best.
Having taken in all of this and more it was time for me to head over to the Live Action Arena. The show lasted sixty minutes and started with a ‘contest’ between Jason Plato and Louise Goodman. Quite clearly scripted for Goodman to win, it did not matter as it was good fun. It was meant to start with an Auto Test, but this didn’t happen when Plato broke the gearbox. I’m yet to establish whether this was scripted ensuring Goodman won, or whether he really did break the car. This was followed by a driving contest which involved a member of the public being driven around the arena at high speed by Plato and low speed by Goodman but with a grid girl around each arm. Unsurprisingly he chose Goodman’s ride at the best, before she secured a 3-0 win over Plato in a straight race where Plato ‘missed’ the start.
After this a variety of cars powered their way around the arena and the show included appearances from Christian Horner and David Coulthard, the 2011 McLaren BRDC Young Driver award finalists and members of the excellent Race2Recovery. Google them.
There were two highlights of the Live Show for me. Firstly, van banger racing. I never knew such a thing existed, but old transits, flat bed trucks and even a bus raced around the arena. Even in a few short laps there were a few spins as drivers tipped one another round. I can imagine at a proper event things get pretty manic. The second was Terry Grant, the stunt / precision driver setting a new world record driving a car one two wheels with seven people inside including a fat man in the boot.
I spent most of the afternoon at the Autosport main stage listening to various figures being interviewed by Henry Hope Frost. The screenwriter of the Senna film Manesh Pandey made an appearance alongside Senna’s karting team-mate Terry Fullerton. The Senna film must have boosted Fullerton’s profile, with him enjoying much attention I guess he did not receive before. After his appearance an enthusiastic crowd gathered round him for an autograph, but I have a feeling a few were disappointed. Looking at a picture in their paddock guide, they thought he was Alan Jones!
Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard made appearances on both the Autosport stage and F1 Racing grid pushing the BBC’s coverage and Alan McNish and Tom Kristensen were interviewed along with Leena Gade , the first female race engineer to win the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The person I enjoyed listening to most though was former Benetton and Renault technical director Pat Symonds. Now a technical consultant to Marussia, it was interesting to hear him talk about his role and what is happening with that team.
All of the videos from the Autosport stage are available at http://www.autosport.com/video/.
The Paddock Pass also gains you access to autograph signing sessions, but be warned the queues for these were very long. Many were left disappointed and for this reason I gave them a miss. There were plenty of autograph opportunities hanging around the side of the Autosport stage as people came and went.
Overall the show was excellent, a great day out which I strongly recommend it to any motorsport fan. Many figures remarked how for them it always feels like the start of the season. It certainly got me in the mood for a year of great motorsport in 2012.
One gripe I did have is the F1 Racing grid. They bill it as last year’s cars, but in reality they're showcars that are much older just in last year’s livery. It’s great to have some F1 cars there, but the Renault looked to be a R27/28, the Mercedes some old bits of Honda / Brawn cobbled together and the Lotus their 2010 car. The Toro Rosso even had Bridgestone tyres still! This would not be so much of a problem if they did not advertise it as last year’s cars and put signs in front claiming this is what they were. Only McLaren, Force India and Marussia Virgin provided last year’s cars so thank you and well done to them (Caterham had a 2011 Lotus on display elsewhere at the show). Perhaps teams are paranoid about putting their designs on display, I don't know. Whatever the reason it's a shame for the fans.
One final point, I was surprised Sky had no presence there given the launch of their new F1 channel in March. Anthony Davidson was set to attend the final day of the show, but that's it and I suspect that’s more in a Peugeot capacity than a Sky TV pundit capacity. Today [Saturday] you had Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard up on stage several times talking about F1 on the BBC. On the Sunday Ben Edwards was set to be there there. You had no Sky people doing that.
But the biggest opportunity I think they missed was selling Sky to people. Haymarket, who publish Autosport and F1 Racing magazines, 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.
