Ff1600 Reviews In The Comics

Anybody fancy a guess at how many column lines the Star of Midlands, Castle Combe, Southern and North West FF1600 Championships will be allocated in ASpt. and MN this year?

diz Tip : Go for single figure answers.

These reports will cover the efforts, achievements, successes and failures of approximately 200 drivers!

If it wasn't for TT, you would read very little of the FF1600 world.

Other classes, feel free to join in.
:banghead: :( :rolleyes: :confused: :censored:

autosport covered combe quite reasonable this year,

I'll be gutted to see it it become poor

I would be surprised if there was any season reviews in MN this year from what I have heard. A different (not necessarily better) approach is being taken.

If we get the FF1600 Clubregsiterassociation going I will push the mags to give us more space.

Originally posted by darcym
autosport covered combe quite reasonable this year,

Agreed darcym, but I am talking specifically about the end of season reviews, which get worse and shorter year by year.

Ian Sowman,
"If we get the FF1600 Clubregsiter association going I will push the mags to give us more space"

I thought Redracer57 was going to be heavily involved in this. Have you been in touch with him. See his post on the Oulton Park Test Day thread

It is a very state of affairs that potentially the most popular club series in the country (and I'm talking FF1600 here generally) gets so little coverage. We seem to get (I can only speak for the NW guys here) smaller and smaller reports every race meeting with sometimes a full 20 minute race condensed into 4 or 5 lines and the classified results only listing the first 4 finishers home. Is there anything we can do by speaking to the journos concerned or, is the decision made by "the powers that be" back at head office?
Would we fair any better as a single club/association? Would our voice be heard?

Diz - will PM you.

I try to give the Midlands championship 'feature race' status when I am covering the meeting as it usually deserves it - try to give it 150 words plus. In the NW it will almost always be Scherer and Lawrence doing the reports and I'm sure everyone knows who they are. You could talk to them, but at the end of the day they have a given number of words to cover the entire meeting.

As and when the club gets going I will speak to the relevant bods at MN and Autosport, will feed them regular news, get them to do features, maybe even see if I can persuade them to put a bit more in in terms of race reports. Will do my best.

Swift, Diz et al

Seem to be one or two selective memories here about NWFF1600 reports in the weeklies. Getting smaller and smaller, reckons Swift? I think not. Check Autosport Sep 18 (p103) and Oct 16 (p105) for some recent facts!
As ever, drivers can be a bit parochial on coverage of their race, but I don't think the NW guys have done too badly at all this year, regularly getting lead race and photos (on merit, of course, and 'cos we're scared of Diz).
Don't forget there are 149 other championships out there that also think they warrant more coverage...
And what about the page feature on Malcolm Barfoot in MN earlier in the year?
All race reports are written to a given word count, which is decided by the editorial staff based on what else is happening nationally that weekend. Generally, Autosport word counts have been up this year, and MN has at least kept station.
By all means, come and find us at race meetings (Diz will point us out), but we're doing what we can to highlight the best races at each meeting.

scoop, I've just sent you a PM to find out which of the two scoops you are.

He's the taller one.

Thanks Ian, It's difficult to judge height when you are down on your knees pleading for lead story, star driver etc. I'm still no wiser. Is he PS, or PL?
Diz

I'm almost certain its PL, judging from posts on the Clubmans Register!

Diz ,if you look at the a/sport oulton report18/09/03 its excellent, when this particular chap reports it is always worth reading,there has been a long tradition of race reports from the bar at oulton and i think its just whoever the journo is anyway. Most race meetings are not worth wasting the ink, i take it when this cosy little club is formed if you aint a member you get less coverage ,seems a good reason not to join!
The only two guys worth reading are Paul Lawerence and Simon Arron - you dont have to give either of them a free test/race/hillclimb to get your series mentioned .

Originally posted by dhart
Diz ,if you look at the a/sport oulton report18/09/03 its excellent, when this particular chap reports it is always worth reading,there has been a long tradition of race reports from the bar at oulton and i think its just whoever the journo is anyway. Most race meetings are not worth wasting the ink, i take it when this cosy little club is formed if you aint a member you get less coverage ,seems a good reason not to join!
The only two guys worth reading are Paul Lawerence and Simon Arron - you dont have to give either of them a free test/race/hillclimb to get your series mentioned . Hi Dave,
Controversial as usual I'm glad to see!
PL is good, so is PS, but they can only get so much into the number of words they are given.
SA is the little bugger who stole my freelancing work at Aintree and Oulton when he was an ambitious teenager, before he became an MN staffer [and he supports Altrincham FC which is a bad sign for any Runcorn Halton FC fan]. I grudgingly admit he is a super journo. He isn't averse to getting his ample bottom into race cars though.
################
We all appear to be deviating from the original thread. It is the end of season reviews, not the race meeting reports that I was throwing open to discussion. Still no guesses received.
################
"i take it when this cosy little club is formed if you aint a member you get less coverage ,seems a good reason not to join!"

LOL
If you are referring to the proposed FF1600 club / website, surely all publicity is worth getting. Surely you - as a team owner - should welcome as much press as possible for your team and it's drivers.

OK diz, I will guess. For MN - either just the championship points and no write-up, or a fair chunk. For Autosport - a paragraph or two.

On the subject of the club etc - publicity/promotion is one thing I personally am keen to improve on.

I dont think that an asociation is healthy,if you dont join then then you dont get the "benefits", therefore it becomes compulsory,this forum is adequate to air views,ideas etc and get a response from a wide range of individuals, not justFF biased people.
I have had some of my opinions/ideas changed by reading different peoples perspective here, people i would not have had the chance to maybe hear other than on this forum, no way would you get the healthy range of views in a "cosy little club"
Most of the mugs racing pay membership of "cosy little clubs" and then a fee to join championships - use these as a specialist forum you have paid to join a "club"
Oh and on the thread - be about the coverage it deserves

Tell you what Dave, we are getting very close to black decals on black bodywork again [everybody else, don't ask ! -in joke] No doubt we'll chew the fat verbally in the near future.
Diz

Diz and Ian:

Yes, Scoop is indeed Paul Lawrence; its a reference to a Catchpole character for those amongst you that are very old and is my little tribute to the late, great Barry Foley.
Must admit Diz, that my comments were about race reports and not end of year reviews.
Don't hold out too much hope for big coverage in the reviews. I think the MN one including single-seaters is down to Dud Candler again, and he's still smarting from being 'Dizzed' a year ago!
Back to NW reports, both Pete Scherer and I are fans of NWFF1600, so we'll always do what we can for the series and the competitors.

Scoop, why not some longer end ot term reviews, there's not a lot else to fill the comics with at this time of year. The MN especially is not worth buying in the winter months, the page count seems to drop of dramatically !

spearce (Steve P, I presume:

the format for reviews is decided at editorial level; this year several individuals will be prominently featured in MN from each group of championships, but I don't know which ones for club/national level single-seaters...

Is it just me...........
They started a section in Autosport, I think last year about the 'International Scene'. I don't know if anyone else agrees, but I don't really want to know about G.Khan in his Porsche 924 in Kaula Lumpa or M.Musilini in his Seat Cordoba at Mugello. I thought Autosport was primarily a British Magazine. There is club racing in this country Mr Editor. Marcus Pye keeps trying to do his bit, but this throws back to the other thread of promoting the club championships. If Autosport opened up what was really happening to the regular readers, they might come and watch rather than just attending Touring Car meetings because they looked good on the telly..........

Chaps,
Scoop is right. All these things are decided somewhere in the editorial stratosphere. Don't bash the reporter. He's only there because he loves what you're doing as much as you do.
And - you may not believe this - but club race reporting is about as profitable as club race competing.

I would disagree with that Richard. I know of many many people that don't buy Autosport anymore due to the dwindling coverage of Club racing. You only have to go back to copies from the early 90's to see the sort of coverage Club meetings commanded. And whilst most of the above people are competitors, they were still a large market to the producers of Autosport.

dhart,

My idea of the club was mainly for all the championships to join together on one website with regularly updated news and info. It became a club due to having to create an income source. Most of the sections will be available to everybody such as news reports etc but some of the other benefits such as discounts from Demon Tweeks etc that Jason has arranged will only be available to paying members. Which is fair.

Back on topic - the three single seater championships to be featured in the MN single seater review are: BARC Renault (Fisher), Palmer Audi (Lewis) and SOM FF1600 (Daly). The rest will have their points table and a 30-word review... The review this year is personality-led, rather than championship-led. Nothing decided for Autosport yet.

Is that the one that came out yesterday Ian, or a future one?

Future Justin - I said 'to be featured'. The clue's in the question (or something).

If the ramblings of A/Sport's Mr Pye today are anything to go buy expect nothing.Apparently marshalls now need to attend "racing school" so that he doesnt get overtaken too closely in the wet - what a waste of club repoting space - he was at a meeting where he could have written about the effort and sacrfice of future Zetec kids like Howson,Glew,Gough etc
, but no his qualifing 24th and dnf warranted all this space - exposure any of these kids would kill for, if any of these get on it will be despite of Club A/sport not because of .

Only just seen this thread but I'd be happy to cover as much FF1600 racing as possible next year in the new monthly magazine, Track & Race Cars (launched Jan 2004). All we'd ask for in return would be our sticker above the numbers.

I've raced Kents from 1996 to 1999 and then Zetecs from 2001 until now so I fully appreciate how much space Formula Ford in general doesn't get.

Could somebody email me at:

kwood@unity-media.com

Hopefully we can get something arranged.

Keith

"Track & Race Cars"
Tell us more...or better still create a new topic somewhere?

PaulSands,

It'll probably be taken off if I start a new thread purely because it's cheating advertising. However, as you may know Cars & Car Conversions has been shelved, so we here at Unity Media are not just replacing it with Track & Race Cars but setting a new trend by actually featuring racing cars, very much like it used to do back in the 80s and 90s.

What this means is plenty of coverage for the clubman and national racers in a monthly magazine. There's also a section on track day cars, news, new products, technical breakdowns (cams explained etc), technical tests (ie: how to setup suspension etc) and even a race diary section. The race diary is where we'd like to feature a months worth of club racing that we sponsor. We also want to do driver profiles, too.

There's lots more but I haven't the time to go into too much detail. You can find out more on www.unity-media.com for a rough look at what the logo is like...

Keith

I found that web site from your email address :) good to hear it from the horses mouth so to speak

Originally posted by Keefyboy
The race diary is where we'd like to feature a months worth of club racing that we sponsor. We also want to do driver profiles, too.Keith,
Good luck with it.
Pity that the 2nd Thursday of the month is Press Day at Autosport International in your launch month. Your 1st issue news will be dated when it hits the news stands.

Your "months worth of club racing" is "that we sponsor".

Sounds like a limited amount of series to me. So can I put my series down now for inclusion now?. I'm sure the Opal Telecom NW Formula Ford 1600 Championship drivers will happily display your logo above their numbers.

That is one featured open wheel series sorted for you then!

Please don't major too much - if at all - on BTCC, F3 etc. They get enough coverage as it is.
Ian

Where are you getting your photos from? :)

Diz,

We can't compete with MN or Autosport because we're monthly, that's why I can only feature limited amount of clubman racing. It took a while to figure out but we'd like to sponsor around six race championships (all club level) and feature the months worth of race news in the Track & Race Diary. There's room for championship standings, driver reviews and lots more. Can you email me your contact details and we can discuss getting involved with the Opal Telecom NW Formula Ford 1600 Championship for 2004.

PaulSands
I use freelance snappers for all the shoots.

Keith

Keith

You've probably seen the other threads about the proposed FF1600 club - it might be worth widening out from just the NW series if possible to cover all the regional/classic/historic series.

Drop me a line if you wish to discuss.

We've had brilliant coverage in MN and Autosport this year and last to be fair.

It's like everything else i'm afraid - you have to promote yourself, make the journo's job easy, let them have something fresh to write about, a 'story'.

We havn't the given right to be written about any more than any other class - and I'm sure their drivers feel as frustrated as FF1600's do if they don't get a mega mention.

A few (actually a lot) of years ago I finished 2nd o/a (By 2 seconds) on a stage rally in a standard mkII rs2000, blowing of hsr chevettes, BDA's, TR8's, lotus Sunbeams etc.

The other top drivers got rave reviews of derring do, whilst all I got was '..and KD took his wife out for a saturday afternoon drive to finish 2nd'.

Forget the modesty thing, tell em all how mega you are,how bad/good the car was, what a story they can tell, buy them a pint, send them money, ANYTHING to get your name, championship or whatever in the limelight.

I agree with you kartingdad about self promoting, but I don't agree with your comment on 'Brilliant coverage in Autosport and MN'. If you read some of the race reports this year, they didn't tie-in with what actually happened on the track which led me to believe that the journo wasn't even at the track and must have had his info 2nd hand.

Keefyboy. If you had a word with Martin Ruddick who is the resident snapper at Oulton, I am sure he would help you out. One other idea that I have used on other non-motorsport related activities, is to hand out a couple of those throw away cameras at the start of a meeting and pick them up at the end of the day. Half the time, they write their own story and you get some great shots (or should I say interesting) of the action around the paddock. Great if your featuring individuals and teams. Just a thought. We are actually trying to put together a promotions team for the NWFFC, but I am sure the Diz will supply you with that info.

BEST OF LUCK....

I'm sure there would be a strong market for this. You only have to read the other threads to see how many people would love a publication of this nature. Competitors, marshall's and spectators alike.

I meant 'we' as in us personally, not the nw ff1600 series actually.

Originally posted by kartingdad
We've had brilliant coverage in MN and Autosport this year and last to be fair. KD
That is because your lad is consistently on the podium. These are the ones that get mentions.
I'm sure we'd all like to see every race covered in depth -throughout the field - but as the journos and others have pointed out, limited space is all that is allocated. Sad isn't it?
diz

Success has it's rewards I guess.

I agree with KD, the coverage has generally been good for those at the front, and quite right too, i dont really think that a list of excuses for the rest of the field makes good reading.
The value of good reports is very important for the talented kids in NW FF to help them create a good profile for potential support, but i think those moaning want it on a plate, they dont realise the hard work some of these kids do to attract attention, self plublicity, and support, they just expect it by qualifing 22nd getting a missfire and a DNF hardluck story - those drivers and races worth reporting are i think quite well covered.

Originally posted by dhart
they just expect it by qualifing 22nd getting a misfire and a DNF hardluck story I totally agree Dave,
The problem is the comics major on the "perceived" premier classes - FR etc. These kiddies do get the qualifing 22nd getting a misfire and a DNF hardluck story. It is very sad. How many times does an "up and coming - very promising" driver get coverage for doing absolutely zilch. e.g. He would have qualified higher, but his practice was ruined by a midge squashing itself onto his visor, thus obscuring his vision and leading to him only qualifying 23rd out of 24 instead of his usual 22nd.

I'm waiting for the day when we get "Bloggs junior qualified badly because in mid session his ba££s dropped"

BTW "up and coming - very promising" driver means a very young one with parental funding, who is quite often out of his depth.

A wee anecdote about what the comics deem newsworthy. Some years ago, I wanted my calendar publishing in ASpt. It didn't go in - lack of space. What did go in was a piece about Gerry Marshall being spotted spectating at a Lydden Hill Rallycross. Need I say more?:banghead:
diz

They do print some garbage don't they?


Veteran Organiser to quote Autosport.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Incidentally, when they called you a vetran organiser, does that mean you organise veterans?

Originally posted by kartingdad
does that mean you organise veterans? I try Andy, but the only veterans I deal with tend to be drivers dads and they can prove to be very cantankerous [or should that be KATANGArous ?] :laugh: :rolleyes:
Anybody confused by the above, see KD's 8 1/2 minute thread

Thats not a bad effort for you Diz...

Your going off the point totally KD and dhart. Nobody was disputing the effort anyone puts into what they do. In fact, you seem to have misplaced some of the fundamentals.

1st. I didn't say they should write garb about drivers finishing 22nd. I said they should cover the whole race in greater detail. Does 3 in-accurate lines in Autosport constitute "Good reporting for the kids" as you put it? Let people know it's happening. Our very own 'SWIFT' does a better job in his race reports for our news letter than the so called journo's.

and

2nd. It's quite a conceited attitude to think that the people at the front work any harder than those at the back. I agree in some cases this may be so, but if anything, those at the back are trying harder as they have a steeper hill to climb to get to the front. When your at the front and winning, I not saying it isn't hard work maintaining that level, but you know what is required to win. How many times have we seen someone try and try to get that first win and once it comes, they are regular winners. It's like finding that bit extra, the secret. Everybody is trying hard to get there lads.

And just to add. Don't forget. Without all those people that "don't deserve a mention" in 22nd place, there wouldn't be a Championship. Anyone that makes the effort to get out there and give it a go instead of just talking about it deserves praise. Not only for driving, it takes a lot of time and effort to keep on top of a race car.

Walshy,

I'm not suggesting that the front runners work any harder than folk further back. In fact I'm sure they, in the majority of cases work harder with less resources.

The point i was trying to make was that in order to maximise profile you have to work hard in creating 'a story to tell' for the mags.

It doesn't always work, but just look at the newspapers in general to see what hits the headlines. It's not al;ways the best story, but a story that is presented in such a way as to cause interest to the reader.
I don't think anyone was saying 'we work harder than you because we are at the front', and in fact I am upset that you think that is our attitude.

Swifty writes excellent reports for our newsletter, but as far as the newsletter goes, the more words the merrier.With the greatest of respect, I don't know how he drives and writes such good reports, but ask hinm to comment on a 2cv race as well - forget it. Swifty writes from the heart (sorry dhart!) as he is involved, but he couldn't possibly know all the personalities, stories from ALL the races could he?
National mags sell on content that is interesting to the general bloke. How many times do you read a report of a clubbie at Lydenn or mondello park. If your like me, never. I'll bet you only by the comics primarily to see if you've got a mention after a race.

The journo's have a bad job really, trying to please every competitor in every race. Just cannot happen.

Anyway, i'm off to have my tea, otherwise I could blather on for hours, but I hope you get my drift.

Originally posted by kartingdad
Walshy,Anyway, i'm off to have my tea, otherwise I could blather on for hours, but I hope you get my drift. n.b. for our Southern readers, he means Dinner:D

Conceited is a bit harsh! although i do think the people at the front DO work harder, thats why they are at the front!Every driver i have run since i stoped racing has won a race and only one had previous race experience, now they all started at the back so i know what its like at both ends of the grid. Conceited is adj"excessively proud of oneself" whilst sometimes pleased i am not excessive and a look at Adlams recent record on another thread reminds you that someone is maybe trying a bit harder.,
Nobody thinks less of jurnos than me, but the fact is that after years of **** in the comics this year the reports HAVE been good - for the reason that the racings been good and worth reporting on, IF THAT HELPS THE KIDS GET DOSH AND MOVE UPWARDS - GREAT!
Diz echos my point that a/sport etc do fill their pages with dross , but they are lazy ,and those that know that feed them easy page fillers and they use it! Other hacks will write about you if you organise a free drive, the rather poor article in motorsport proved that,maybe if you offer M Pye a ride in your missfire stricken car he will write a comedy slot on your shed.
The point i would make is that i dont give a sh!t what some hack writes,id rather they left us alone completely, im only interested in winning, why do you so desperatly want to be in Autosport? Swift in the newsletter is great, surely that fills your gap,

I agree dhart, second place is first loser. As first loser, as a competitor you have to ask a very hard question. Why?
Actually, the questions easy, it's the answer thats hard to respond to honestly.

In our experience it's nearly always, 'I wasn't good enough'. From there it's not rocket science to realise that you must try harder.

The only problem is with racing is that it generally means more track time, better tyres, better equipment, etc..

The answer still remains the same.. must try harder. If that means trying harder to find money, tyres, resources - so be it.

You just have to do what it takes to win. If thats what you want to do, I mean REALLY what you want to do, you will find a way.
Unfortunately, most of us have mortgages, council taxes, food and other stuff to pay for. Just think yourselves lucky you don't have a young pretender (or two) to try and help out.
On the other hand think yourself blessed that you DO have a young pretender (or two) to help out!!

Well i'm off for my pudding now (or dessert in Diz speak) before it all gets a bit heavy.

I agree with dhart and kd: the weekly "comics" will always report on the battles up at the front and if these guys use this publicity to go onto bigger and better things, then good luck to them! Surely in this case it's worked! As for the rest of us, well do we really compete to see our names in print? I think not. Yes, I know that to see "our" races reported in depth would be fantastic but in reality I think a pipe dream. To mentioned in a report you either have to
a) finish on the podium
or
b)arrive at Old Hall upside down, backwards and 10 feet off the ground.

Now, I'd rather be the former rather than the latter. I throughly enjoy composing my scribblings for our own newsletter and I'm delighted you all enjoy them so much. I will try and mention everyone on the grid because I feel that our newsletter is the correct meduium to do this. As dhart mentioned we've all been at the back at some time or other so perhaps a club publication is the best way to publicise their efforts? As to kd's comments about second being the first of the losers, well I guess harsh but fair springs to mind. I suppose it comes down to the old chestnut of why do we compete? Only you can answer that, but speaking personally, I race because I believe that I've got the same chance of winning as anybody else sat on the grid and perhaps more importantly because I LOVE IT!!!!!!. Now, I'm sure we could all admit to wishing we had more testing, new tyres and a better car but if these things are beyond you for what ever reason just go out there and enjoy yourself!

Oh, by the way kd, writing notes and driving has never been my forte so, I use a dictaphone!! (cue comments that I should use my finger like everyone else!!)

I think your missing my point a little.

I am not trying to be a glory hound. It's not about individuals getting press coverage. I am looking at it from a Championship point of view. I am trying to raise the profile of our Championship. By doing that it hopefully gets more people to the circuit and hopefully reduces our race fees. This in turn allows more competitors to allocate their funds to new tyres and testing etc.
And yes kd, I buy Autosport /MN to see how people are going on in the club world. Drivers we have run and drivers that competed in the NWFFC, but the articles are getting smaller and smaller. You go back to the early 90's and Autosport had pages and pages of club meetings. With regards to the Championships profile, that has been covered on another thread.

On the subject of trying harder, I am trying hard not to throw the 'c' word at you again dhart. How do you know how hard someone is trying or not? You don't know what each individual is doing to get on the track. Everyone has their own story and you can't just say that because their not winning, they are not trying hard enough. As seasoned as you are, you know how many things have to come together to get the package complete and you will also know that running on limited resources makes the task all the harder. It's alright to say that you must try harder to find the resources and if it isn't happening, then you must try even harder. I think rather than trying harder (effort), the word we should be using is 'Perseverance'.

Without dragging this on, the fact is, all the pieces have to come together. Perseverance achieves this. 2nd place doesn't mean your a loser. I mean come on, NWFFC is not life and death stuff, it's a club championship. I do it because I love it and if I get in the position to win races which I want to do then great, but I'll have a lot of fun either way. Giving up and packing it in means your a loser.

You gotta want to win but also be realistic. If grids consisted of drivers that were consitent winners you'd end up with some very small grids. As a spectator of course the front three grab your attention but as many times as not its the guys in 12th to 16th dicing for what, judging by a lot of opinions above, is something not worth covering that provide the real excitement and entertainment.
Anybody that straps themselves in and throws themselves round a track at high speed for my entertainment is a winner in my eyes.
Personally I'd like to read in detail about the whole race and all the associated rivallry's, feuds etc. :laugh: in fact I'd go as far to say I'd buy an FF racers monthly magazine (and for other series too) that was choc full of detailed info but then I'm a bit sad :laugh:

Just ask Stuart if he thinks second place is first loser. He should know!

Paul, we should be able to save you £2.80 every week then as you can stop buying Autosport and read the 2004 Club FF1600 website for all the news and gossip in all the championships in FULL detail. Not just the podium but all the way down the field.

jobs a good un...but I'm so hopelessly addicted I think I'm past saving :laugh: