On The Road - 2012 Autosport International Show

Yesterday @GraceF1Fanatic announced that she's creating a new feature to run alongside #FanFormula, called #OnTheRoad. Fans will be able to do a review of any Grand Prix meetings they've been to, as well as give their own tips on getting the most out of attending. Which is a really great idea, as you can never be too prepared! Similar advice on sites like F1Fanatic proved invaluable when planning to go the British Grand Prix, and being prepared really helps you to enjoy the experience as much as possible. But there are plenty of non-F1 specific events to get stuck into as well, with the most recent of these being the Autosport International Show last month.

Show cars + pretty lighting = Photographer's dream

For those unfamiliar with the event, Autosport International is the largest exhibition of its kind in Europe, held in mid-January each year at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, UK. All areas of motorsport are well represented, from karts and historic car racing to Formula 1 and Le Mans, while the Live Action Arena gives you the opportunity to witness racing series you never even knew existed. I'd been meaning to go for a few years, but kept putting it off because I thought it would be too expensive. After being persuaded by the TV adverts I finally decided to go at the last-minute on Saturday 14th January, to see if it would live up to the hype. 

9:00am: Opening and Senna Tribute Display

The day started with a nice ribbon-cutting ceremony by BBC F1's Jake Humphrey and Force India driver Paul Di Resta. Immediately I regretted bringing my winter coat, because it was roasting! It might have saved me from the bitter cold outside, but it was a burden in a hall filled with hundreds of people. First call of the day was the Senna Tribute display, as with the recent BAFTA nomination of the SENNA movie it would be very popular. Although relatively small, it was concise; the collection featured 7 cars, from Ayrton's 1979 DAP/Parilla kart to his 1993 European GP-winning McLaren MP4/8, with a loop of the SENNA movie playing in the background. For someone who only knows Ayrton Senna through archive footage and stories, it was very informative and gave a real sense of the development of both driver and engineering at the time. No wonder it was still heaving at the end of the day.

 

     Left: 1984 Toleman TG 184-Hart 415.   Right: 1987 Lotus 99T-Honda

                               

10:30am: Exploring

There was a very long wait until the Live Action show, so this was the perfect time to just wander around and explore the different displays and stands on offer. Some of the more hands-on experiences, like the Cruden hydraulic simulator and the Caterham Drive Experience, charged an extra fee of between £5-10 but seemed worth it - how many times are you going to be a passenger in a Caterham Seven, doing endless donuts? A big bonus was coming across the Sunoco stand, where British F3 champion Felipe Nasr and MSV F3 Cup champion Aaron Steele were signing autographs. Both were very friendly and more than happy to have a quick chat about their upcoming stints at Daytona, in the Rolex 24 Hours and Grand-Am 200 respectively (unfortunately Aaron retired due to a gearbox failure, but Felipe and his team finished 3rd overall - well done guys!). There were also a couple of auctions where you could buy cars, but also more exotic items like an old Footwork F1 wind tunnel model and, for one lucky fan, a set of Heikki Kovalainen's race overalls.

All of these events were worked around interviews on the F1 Racing and Autosport stages, with the latter behind an impressive display of F1 show cars. Not wanting to give any secrets away, most of the teams had sent cars which were a mish-mash of parts from models as old as 2008. This was a great chance to get close to some familiar faces, including the BBC F1 team, Sky F1's Steve Rider, racers such as Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen, and SENNA writer/producer Manish Pandey. A personal highlight was Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard phoning Eddie Jordan while he was on holiday in South Africa - being Eddie, he was totally unpredictable and his usual mad self! Everyone seemed to visit both stages so there were no worries if you missed someone in particular. But even if you did there was plenty to see and do. The halls were full of art shops, racing gear retailers, representatives from various car manufacturers and racing series, even a mini-careers fair offering information on automotive-related apprenticeships and university courses.

1pm: Autograph Hunting!

For an extra £7 visitors could buy a Paddock Pass ticket, which gave you access to special autograph sessions with the stars and a nice lanyard booklet for them to sign, as well as the chance to go backstage at any of the Live Action Arena shows. As expected, the autograph sessions were extremely busy. The waiting times for Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard, for example, were well over an hour, while the queues for Paul Di Resta at 3pm stretched to the other end of the hall and around the corner.

But for those prepared to persevere it was brilliant to be able to get so close to them, despite the one item/one photo limit. Security were very strict about this rule, but didn't seem to cope well with the more eager fans ducking under the ropes to cut in line. If you're with a friend, it might be a good idea to take it in turns to hold your place in line if you want to do other things. Unfortunately there was a lot of confusion with timings; they were published online beforehand but changed a lot on the day itself, meaning that no-one really knew what was going on. There were staff who carried around the new times on boards, but the print was tiny and they didn't hang around for long. If you really wanted to get some autographs, my advice would be to set your sights on someone in particular, stay patient and be polite to security. It's worth it in the end.

Left: Paul Di Resta, looking a bit overwhelmed.  Right: My reward! Clockwise from bottom left: Allan McNish, Jason Plato, David Coulthard, Aaron Steele, Felipe Nasr and Paul Di Resta

3:30pm: Live Action Arena

The day ended with the show at the Live Action Arena, a 5000-seater indoor track a short walk from the main NEC concourse. I'll admit that I was just expecting this to be a processional demonstration of some cars - but I couldn't have been more wrong. There was a whole range of series doing 3-lap races and stunt displays, with the Formula Jedi, Autograss classes and UK FMX Freestylers being some of the crowd favourites. One lucky fan even won the chance to be driven around in a drift car by Jason Plato, while the track being indoors meant the noise and smell of burning rubber were kept in to add to the fun, intense atmosphere.

Things got more serious with the feature on the charity Race2Recovery, which helps in the rehabilitation of servicemen and women injured in combat through motorsport, while also helping to raise money for other military charities like Help For Heroes. It was genuinely inspiring to see how the soldiers had overcome their disabilities, to be at the point where they'll be running a specially-adapted Bowler Wildcat in the 2013 Dakar Rally. Finally the show concluded with some good ol' banger racing, with a special appearance from a souped-up ice-cream van that kept stopping to give out free cones!

The Virgin MVR-02, one of the few full 2011-spec cars in the F1 grid display

So, was it worth it?

Definitely! Considering how much there is to get stuck into £40 is very good value for money - there is a VIP ticket that lets you do all of the above, as well as giving you a free goodie bag, access to the VIP Lounge (where a few of the stars went to relax in between interviews) and a free glass of champagne, but at £100 I personally thought that was a bit excessive. The NEC is very easy to get to by train from almost anywhere in the UK, there's ample parking space for those driving and once you're inside everywhere is very well signposted. For the casual fan it's great just to be able to mingle with other like-minded people and the venue's well-equipped for those with disabilities, young children etc. One of the few downsides was, like at any other major event, food and drink was seriously overpriced. In future I'd probably make a packed lunch to cut down on costs. Still, at £90 for the full day including train tickets, lunch and a programme brimming with autographs, it was a brilliant day out and I'd recommend it to anyone with any level of interest in motorsport.

(All photographs used in this post are my own, you can see the whole album at http://imgur.com/a/ht90Z#0)