Five things to look out for at Autosport International

For car and motorsport enthusiasts, the Autosport International Show has it all. Cars – including classic and racing – on display, motorsport merchandise on sale, and motorsport stars taking part in Q&A and autograph sessions. A host of cars are also put through their paces in the Live Action Arena including Stock Cars, National Hot Rods, and the Drift Cars. There is a lot to see and do at the NEC, but here is a look at of some of the stands I recommend visiting at the show tomorrow.

Dunlop BTCC Stand

The British Touring Car Championship has been well represented at Autosport International. Andrew Jordan, Gordon Shedden, Matt Neal and reigning champion Colin Turkington are amongst the drivers in attendance. They will appear at the BTCC stand for Q&A sessions. On display at the stand are Jordan’s MG, the Infiniti Support Our Paras Racing car, and Rob Austin’s Audi. Elsewhere a WSR BMW, the Mercedes cars of Aiden Moffat and Adam Morgan, and the Handy Motorsport Toyota Avensis are on display elsewhere.

F1 Racing and Autosport

The F1 Racing stand once again features the F1 Racing grid with cars from the 2014 season on display.

Interviews will be held on the stage with the likes of Allan McNish, David Coulthard, and David Brabham.

Similarly, stars will appear on the Autosport stage, including the aforementioned touring car drivers, the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver finalists and winner, and Petter Solberg.

Subscriptions to both magazines are also available at the show.

Motorsport Merchandise

From teamwear to photographs and from models to scale helmets, there is plenty of motorsport merchandise available – some is even signed! There is a range of stalls selling merchandise including Race to the Finish F1 Memorabilia, The F1 Shop Ltd, and F1 Model Helmets (where I picked myself up a model!)

One particularly unique stand is Memento Exclusives, who offer a range of upcycled F1 products such as wheel rims turned into tables, dog ring clocks, and a Force India engine cover turned into a chair. Even if you don’t plan on buying anything, it’s definitely worth a look to see the quirky items they have on display!

Historic Displays

There are a number of displays of classic cars at this year’s show, for those who love a bit of history. Classic & Sports Car magazine along with the Silverstone Classic have brought a range of cars including the Ferrari F40, the 1960 F1 championship winning Cooper T53, and the Mercedes Benz C11.

Just next door is the 60 Years of Motorsport News display which features iconic race cars from the last six decades including show guest Petter Solberg’s 2014 Rallycross winning Citroen PS3.

Three-time F1 World Champion Sir Jack Brabham also has a display dedicated to him including the Cooper T53 which he piloted to championship glory in 1960 and ten Brabham Racing cars.

Sir Jack Brabham’s son David Brabham is also at the show with Project Brabham, an innovative new approach to motorsport. Project Brabham intends to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship this year, having kicked off with a crowdfunding scheme. The ultimate goal is to bring the model to Formula 1. David Brabham said: “Crowdfunding gives people the chance to be part of the team from the start. Once we have built a large community we will start to see the power of a collective force that will attract the funds and partners to make this journey a success”. In return for contributing, access will be provided with access to the inner workings of a race team from its early days of development.

For further information check out the Brabham website: www.Brabham.co.uk.

Challenges and Competitions

There are a number of competitions going on throughout the show including the opportunity to win tickets to F1 and the BTCC. Fans will also get their chance to take part in the wheel change challenge at the Alcatel OneTouch Stand. If pit-stops aren’t your thing then take on the Motors TV commentary/presenting challenge. A winner will be selected to front the broadcaster’s 2015 British GT coverage.

All-in-all there is plenty going on at the Autosport Show to keep you busy all day. There are plenty of interesting stands at the show and above is just a small selection of what to look out for.

McLaren ’50 in 50′: Alain Prost

Alain Prost was McLaren’s fourth world champion, winning it on three occasions for them. Following Emerson Fittipaldi (1974), James Hunt (1976), and Nika Lauda (1984) Prost was their first multiple world champion. The Frenchman also won a world championship in his final year in Formula One, driving for Williams.

Prost, like many other racing drivers, cut his teeth racing in karts. He won a number of championships after starting aged 14, and it wasn’t long before he progressed to single seaters. He won the French Formula-Renault championship in 1976 and 1977. He then went on to win the French Formula 3 championship in 1978, coming ninth in the European series.  He was then invited to a test with McLaren, which took place at the Paul Ricard circuit. He made his Formula One debut in 1980 with McLaren, scoring in his first two races with credible fifth and sixth positions. He ended the year in 15th place but left the team to go and sign for Renault, under somewhat of a cloud. During the year he suffered a number of mechanical failures and this apparently played a part in him deciding to leave his contract two years early.

Prost’s Renault career did not get off to the most positive of starts, but it did not take him long to reach the podium. His year consisted of either DNF or podium positions, including his first (and subsequently second and third) wins. His first win was particularly important as it came at his home Grand Prix and featured a Frenchman driving a French car. He said afterwards: “Before, you thought you could do it. Now you know you can.” He won again in Holland and Italy and finished the year in fifth place. He remained with Renault through 1982 and 1983, winning six more races and finishing on the podium a further five times. Once again, Prost found himself having difficulties with his team so left at the end of 1983 to return to McLaren.

His return to McLaren signalled the start of a highly successful period in Prost’s career. He finished second in the 1984 world championship with seven wins and two further podiums. He missed out on the championship by the narrowest of margins, however – just half a point between himself and team-mate Niki Lauda at the end of the year. The following year, however, he was successful in taking the crown. Prost once again partnered Lauda, but out-drove his more experienced team-mate. He finished on the podium 11 times, including five wins. Despite what appears to be a commanding performance, however, the team were unhappy that Prost did not take many risks and accepted results when he could have pushed for more. “I’ve lost the championship at the last moment so many times,” he explained. “I’m not taking any chances.” Given the proximity of his loss in 1984, it was a commanding 23 point cushion that he had over Michele Alboreto at the end of the season. And his form didn’t end there.

Prost became the first back-to-back World Champion since Jack Brabham in 1960 when he won the championship again in 1986. It was a closer margin, but he still beat Nigel Mansell. The pair were matched on victories (four each), but it was Prost’s seven further podiums to Mansell’s four that swung the pendulum in his direction. A dip in form for McLaren saw Prost drop to fourth in the 1987 championship, but he came second in 1988 to his new team-mate Ayrton Senna. This proved to be a turning part in one of Formula One’s most iconic rivalries, and featured heavily in the Senna docu-film. Despite Prost having more points at the end of the season it was Senna who clinched the championship due to the ’11 best results’ rule.

1989 proved to be Prost’s last year with McLaren. With Honda appearing to favour Senna, Prost informed the team of his decision to leave mid-way during the year. Despite taking only four victories, Prost beat his team-mate by 16 points, albeit in a slightly controversial manner. The rivalry came to a head at Suzuka, the penultimate race of the season. Prost lined up on pole with his team-mate beside him. Senna had to win the race to be able to win the championship. The pair had a coming together as Senna lined up Prost for an overtake. The former was able to continue and won the race, while Prost retired. Senna was later disqualified, however, due to the way he had returned to the track. This gave Prost an advantage that could not be overtaken and he therefore won the championship.

And then he left for Ferrari. He spent three further seasons racing in Formula One, taking his fourth and last championship in 1993. Following his retirement from racing The Professor, as he was dubbed, became a pundit for French TV as well as joining Renault’s PR department. He returned to McLaren in 1996, although not as a racer. He worked as a technical adviser before taking ownership of his own team when he bought Ligier. This led to the formation of Prost GP. The team was on the grid from 1997 to 2001, featuring familiar faces such as Jarno Trulli, Nick Heidfeld and fellow Frenchman Jean Alesi. The team’s debut year turned out to be their best in the championship when they finished sixth with 21 points.

He now competes regularly in the Andros Trophy (a French national ice racing championship) and has also taken part in a number of bicycle and mountain bike races. He became an OBE in 1993

He left an impressive legacy in Formula One: 51 race wins (a quarter of the races entered), 106 podiums, and 33 pole positions. He has won four world championships – only Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio have more, although Sebastian Vettel looks set to join him on four. He is second to only Schumacher in terms of races won (51 to Schumacher’s 91) and second only to Senna in terms of most consecutive pole positions (seven to Senna’s eight). 86 of his 199 starts were from the front row of the grid and finished 128/199 races in the points. Of the 107 races he started for McLaren, 74 were points finishes. 63 of these were on the podium and 30 were wins. To put it simply: he is a McLaren legend.

McLaren ’50 in 50′: Denny Hulme

New Zealander Denny Hulme drove for McLaren not just in Formula One, but also in Can-Am and the Indianapolis 500. During his time with McLaren in Formula One, he won six races, joining the team in 1968 off the back of his world championship with Brabham.

Being a Formula One world champion brings a certain aspect of celebrity. For Hulme, however, it was this aspect of racing he did not like and instead preferred to be low-key. He was generally well liked but was given the nickname “The Bear” due to his gruff nature, especially if someone got on the wrong side of him. He left school aged 17 and became a mechanic, saving up to buy himself an MGTF and then racing in an MGA which was a present from his father. He then purchased a Cooper-Climax and became joint winner of New Zealand’s Driver to Europe Scholarship, which funded a season’s racing abroad. Hulme and fellow winner George Lawton moved to London, where Bruce McLaren helped them set up. Lawton was tragically killed but Hulme perservered. He worked as a mechanic for Jack Brabham and in return was given drives in Brabham’s cars.

He joined the F2 team in 1964 and, after dominating, he was promoted to a drive in Brabham’s Formula One team. He finished the year 11th overall, with five points altogether from France and the Netherlands. 1966 was a more successful year where he finished on the podium in four out of nine races, unfortunately retiring from the remaining five. His team-mate, and boss, Brabham himself won the world championship that year. Hulme became world champion in 1967, scoring his first Formula One victory in Monaco and backing that up with a victory at the notoriously difficult Nurburgring.

Hulme complimented his Formula One season with a run in the inaugural season of the Can-Am racing series. There he drove a McLaren M6A but scored no points. In 1967, however, he finished the year second to team founder Bruce McLaren with three out of six victories. The team continued to go from strength to strength when Hulme won the championship for them in 1968 and they dominated the 1969 season – winning every race. After the tragic death of Bruce, Hulme raced on and again won the championship winning six of the ten races and having more than double the points of his nearest rival. He continued racing in the Can-Am series until 1972.

Hulme joined McLaren in Formula One in 1968 following his world championship. The team started the year with the M5A at the first race (the South African Grand Prix) where Hulme finished fifth. At the next race he finished second and by the end of the season he was in contention to win (another) world championship. When it came down to it, however, he suffered suspension failure in Mexico, the last race of the season. The next two seasons were not so successful and Hulme’s best finish before he retired was third overall in 1972. Overall in his McLaren Formula One career he took six victories, 15 further podiums and, surprisingly, only one pole position. Following the death of his good friend and former McLaren team-mate in 1974, Hulme chose to retire from the sport at the end of the season. Following F1 he returned to his native New Zealand but still continued racing. He died at the wheel of a BMW touring car at Bathurst after suffering a heart attack.