Autosport International Show 2014 - Plenty of cars, plenty of colour

By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The motorsport season officially began for many budding fans of the sport this weekend. Some of the finest and colourful models were on display to the public for the 2014 Autosport International Show.

The annual exhibition, once again in Birmingham’s vast and spacious LG Arena or in the NEC as it might be better known saw some of last season’s cars pitted together with new designs for 2014 and echoes of a great past. As ever I made the trip on Saturday, 11 January for the 11^th successive year. Leaving Birmingham, I couldn’t say I had been shortchanged in going.

The Live Action Arena produced the usual blend of thrills and spills. Hosted by Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft and Pollyanna Woodward from Channel 5 programme The Gadget Show, the content was diverse from stunt driving to BRISCA racing and a display by the six contenders nominated for the prestigious McLaren Autosport Young Driver award. After a slow burning beginning with a fair amount of talking from the hosts, the action hotted up in the second part of the programme with the Freestyle Motocross at the end of the performance a definite highlight. Even if you left feeling a bit disappointed with the general content, everyone who had tickets for the arena would have to admit it was worth the value to see these experts in action.

One of the main selling points of the 2014 show was a grand exhibition of cars to celebrate the life and career of British racing driver John Surtees. This year marks the 50^th anniversary of his 1964 Grand Prix championship triumph with Ferrari and the great man was in attendance all weekend to reminisce about the past and share his thoughts on the current breed of driver. Among the exhibits of a man who is still the only individual to win major world championships on two and four wheels were his F1 winning car from 1964 which won races in Italy and on Germany’s daunting Nurburgring circuit and the 1970 Team Surtees TS7 which made its debut on home soil at Brands Hatch in that year. I was surprised with how good the quality of this part of the exhibition was and it was a fitting mark to a man who I think is sadly often overlooked for his achievements in British and world motorsport.

As ever, the Autosport Stage in association with KX Momentum Energy Drink was a place for the stars to be interviewed with some lucky fans winning tickets to the 2014 British Grand Prix for testing and challenging questions. It was short of mega superstars from Formula One although respected commentator Martin Brundle was a frequent visitor to the stage throughout the weekend. New Sauber driver Adrian Sutil was there too but only for the Sunday of the exhibition and Max Chilton was the other Grand Prix driver in attendance. After a 100 per cent finishing record in his maiden season in the elite, Chilton was confirmed this weekend as a Marussia driver once again for 2014. The show must carry on but there was also a small box for guests to come and leave messages of support for Michael Schumacher following his recent skiing accident which has left him fighting for his life. It was a nice gesture but I was personally disappointed there were no cards or paper left out for guests to fill out and post in the box. It was a good thing I brought pen and paper to the event. If you didn’t and wanted to leave a message for Schumacher, I’d imagine you’d be leaving a little bit annoyed.

The F1 Racing Grid was the last chance to see cars in their V8 guise

The F1 Racing Grid returned for another year and was a real highlight of this year’s proceedings. It was the last time that visitors will get to see the F1 cars in the previous regulations of the V8 era (Lotus Renault car pictured above). 2014 brings a new raft of technical changes including the return of turbocharged power and a switch to V6 units. There was easier access to the cars throughout apart of course from when top guests arrived to be interviewed. Sky commentator Brundle admitted in one of his many exchanges this weekend that “all bets are off for the 2014 season.”

It is fair to say that Pirelli attracted some difficult publicity in 2013, most notably when the Italian manufacturer’s tyres kept blowing up during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last June. Question the tyre construction if you want but don’t question the staff who work hard for them and the options open to fans for their stand. The racing simulator and driver reactions game were both back – both priced but at prices that wouldn’t leave anyone out of the market. I tried the driver reactions twice during the day and got a high score of 37 and an average in six 30-second stints of 33. I was pretty happy with that and it does get the adrenaline going. Those who don’t fancy a lengthy jog should try this. I must also credit Pirelli for the neat presentation of their display.

There was a lovely collection of cars from the likes of Caterham, Porsche, Ford and Subaru and the Asian manufacturer was also highly prevalent at the Wales Rally GB display. Celebrating its 70^th anniversary in 2014, three classic Impreza models were on show in Birmingham, including the late Colin McRae’s winning car from 1997 and the machinery that took Richard Burns to his WRC title four years later (pictured below). This was during a golden period for rallying which might have a brighter future following this weekend’s announcement that it has been added to the portfolio of events in 2014 to be live on BT Sport. It was another polished display but I for one would have liked to have seen two or three more manufacturers represented on this stand.

Richard Burns' 2001 WRC world championship car was a highlight

Lastly the pick of the exhibition this year was the Dunlop BTCC section. It looked superb, slick and stunning and you were able to get close to the drivers too. A whole host of the BTCC class were there which included a couple of mass signing sessions during the weekend. Those in attendance included defending champion Andrew Jordan, 2012 title winner Gordon Shedden, seasoned campaigners Matt Neal and Jason Plato and the popular Rob Austin. I was lucky enough to get autographs from many of the drivers and had a brief conversation with Neal, telling him I liked the look of the new Honda Civic that he and Shedden will be driving in the upcoming campaign. It was great to see the camaraderie between the drivers and I’m a huge fan of the championship. With F1 becoming more sanitised (especially when you think of the double points decider gimmick in Abu Dhabi), I will even go as far as saying the Touring Cars is my favourite motorsport and the championship I’m looking forward to the most in 2014.

So there you have it, another year and another exhibition at the NEC comes to an end. Autosport International continues to drive the crowds through every year and will be back next year hoping for another special exhibition. Having been to 11 of these now, I would happily admit that I have been to years where I enjoyed it more (2008 and 2012) being standouts but it was an improvement on last year and well worth going.

What will happen in the motorsport season in 2014? Well like Martin Brundle, all bets are off and I won’t be making any predictions. I’m sure though the sport in general will create many more headlines and talking points over the course of this calendar year.

Categories: Autosport International Show, Birmingham, BTCC, Caterham, David Croft, John Surtees, Motorsport, NEC, Pirelli, Subaru

Autosport International Show 2013 – Stars and cars make up for lack of general content

By Simon Wright

The NEC in Birmingham hosted the annual motorsport exhibition, Autosport International from 10 – 13 January 2013. 

I went on Saturday, 12 January, the 10^th successive year I have been to the event that often is seen as the official start of the motorsport season.

Last year’s exhibition was the best in the proud history of the show.  12 months on, it was going to be difficult to beat this. 

Ultimately there were many cars for the public to see, and some top motorsport stars, but the lack of general content was noticeable to see.

Stewart leads the star guests

Leading the star guests at Autosport in 2013 was three-time world Formula One champion Sir Jackie Stewart.

The SF1 from 1997 was in attendance - beginning the team now known today as Red Bull

Stewart gave several interviews throughout the weekend, and was also around to promote his own collection of great racing cars.  Features included his three F1 world championship winning machines from 1969, 1971 and 1973, as well as the SF1 – Stewart Grand Prix’s first car in Formula One in 1997, which metamorphosed into Jaguar and lastly, the hugely successful Red Bull venture.

Scotland’s Paul di Resta also made an appearance for the second successive year.  Di Resta had a tough second season in F1 last year, but is ready to improve on his results with Force India, and seemed in good spirits.  He was the only Grand Prix driver to turn up in 2013.

Jake Humphrey was a big attraction, as he prepares for a new career

Outgoing BBC F1 anchor Jake Humphrey was also around, sharing F1 Racing Grid interview duties with Sky Sports F1 HD commentator David Croft.  Humphrey admitted that he found the 2012 season frustrating to watch, especially as the Beeb don’t have the live central contract anymore, and was surprised to hear that Lee McKenzie was overlooked for the presenter gig in 2013.  Jake’s replacement will be the unattractive Suzi Perry – who used to front MotoGP for the channel, but not since 2009.

Johnny Herbert and Anthony Davidson were also guests of honour, representing Sky as it continues to go from strength and strength.  There were also appearances from World Touring Car champion Rob Huff, DTM racer Andy Prialux, reigning BTCC champion Gordon Shedden and TV presenter Steve Rider.

Racing Grid lives upto expectations
The F1 Racing Grid, which has been a real letdown in recent years was a major plus point this year.  There were lengthy and amusing Q&A sessions between the presenters and the hundreds of fans who flocked to the NEC.  Croft, Herbert and Davidson played a version of the Sky Sports F1 Buzz Game, and Croft even spotted my nodding when I agreed with Davidson’s viewpoint that Nico Hulkenberg would have been a better fit at McLaren, rather than Sergio Perez. 

Testing the reactions with Pirelli was an enthralling experience

Grand Prix tyre supplier Pirelli was back, and allowed fans to test their instant and lightning reactions with the ‘Reactor Game.’  Each person taking part would donate £2 to Great Ormond Street Hospital, and had 30 seconds to see how many times they could press a variety of buttons that flashed up on the stand.  I did this three times, and got a high score of 33 – which was an excellent effort.  I have to say, I got very competitive and felt the high adrenaline buzz from taking part.

There were some flashy road cars from the likes of McLaren and Porsche at the show, along with plenty of go-kart and touring car models, plus a lovely tribute to former World Rally champion Richard Burns.

The tribute of cars to the late Richard Burns was the main highlight

Burns display was main highlight
Burns won the WRC title for Subaru in 2001, but sadly lost his fight against cancer in 2005, after being forced to retire from the sport due to ill health.  Some of Richard’s famous cars were in attendance, including his British Rally entries, the Subaru he drove to the title in 2001, and the Peugeot 206 with which he was leading the 2003 title race until his health declined. 

It was a popular part of this year’s exhibition and is a sad reminder of rallying’s fall from grace.  Both Burns and Colin McRae are no longer with us – the last two World Rally British champions – whilst Sebastian Loeb’s decision to walkaway might end his domination over the past decade, but means there is a severe lack of quality in the 2013 championship.

The Live Action Arena didn’t disappoint either.  Louise Goodman and some bald guy (his name is not familiar!) were the hosts for the usual thrills and spills.  Stunt driver Terry Grant put on another tremendous show with his own tribute to James Bond.  The McLaren Autosport nominees were in attendance, and there was a good luck message from the Road2Recovery rally team, who were involved in a tragic accident on the Dakar Rally last week. 

'Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing!' - Classic Kimi

Not enough choice
Unlike last year though, it seemed like the amount of space had been condensed and there wasn’t as much to see.  There was a lack of book and DVD stalls, so if you wanted to take something away as a souvenir, clothing was your best bet.  I think I made the right decision to buy a black Kimi Raikkonen top, with his famous radio message from Abu Dhabi last year painted in the gold Lotus colours.  ‘Leave me alone, I know what I’m doing’ really does get the message across.

Many manufacturers were missing too.  The powerhouses from Japan, France and Germany were conspicuous by their absence.  Although Britain is in the midst of some freezing temperatures and snow at the moment, it would have been nice from a fan’s perspective to see more choice.  

The economic recession is probably the main factor though.  Many businesses are struggling after Christmas, and notable names like DUKE video were missing this year – suggesting they couldn’t afford to make it to Birmingham in 2013.

All in all – 2013 was a good and entertaining exhibition, but it struggled to match the success of 2012.  That probably won’t stop me though from making the annual pilgrimage again to Autosport International in 2014.  

Categories: Autosport International Show, BBC, Birmingham, David Croft, Formula One, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Jaguar, Jake Humphrey, January, NEC, Paul di Resta, Pirelli, Scotland, Sir Jackie Stewart, Sky Sports F1