Star of stage, screen and....

[andy97]

.....Motorsport News.

Take a bow, Mr Bell.

Didn't know you were a Pug 205 expert as well. Perhaps you should build one of those for the 360. A nice light 1.9 would really fly.

[Derwent Motorsp]

Well after over 40 years of reading MN/MSN I finally cancelled it last month. It increasingly has less about what I am interested in. They don't seem to actually understand where the real interest of the clubman 9and spectators) is. MN used to be the clubmans paper and Autsport was for the pro racers.
I wonder how much longer MSN can survive considering its cost and declining size.

[tim dodwell]

Have to admit I agree with you - it seems to have lost the plot.

[midgetman]

Sadly, I think so too. I enjoy Simon Arron, but there are too many double page spreads based on stories such as:

"McLaren: We'll give Lewis a better car" or "Lotus: We're trying to win the championship" together with lots of meaningless graphs and timelines.

Durrrrrrrr.......of course they will, that's what McLaren and Lotus exist to do!!!!!! It's their job. Might as well say:

"Tyler: I'm going into work tomorrow" (although that's probably rarer and more newsworthy!)

So I'm thinking the same thoughts, can anyone point me the way of an online magazine that has the same clubman focus? I can get F1 news from Autosport.com and pitpass.com earlier than MSN manage it but I want the National/local fix.

PS From a business point of view, all I ever hear is of drivers giving up the magazines. Does anyone actually read any plus of course the ads? Is it the same for everyone or is it just us old codgers getting grumpier?

[delta]

Originally Posted by Derwent Motorsp

Well after over 40 years of reading MN/MSN I finally cancelled it last month. It increasingly has less about what I am interested in. They don't seem to actually understand where the real interest of the clubman 9and spectators) is. MN used to be the clubmans paper and Autsport was for the pro racers.
I wonder how much longer MSN can survive considering its cost and declining size.

Me too. you get sucked in with the front cover picture.Thing is I have the originals .

[Cliff Ryan]

I never thought an article about my chum would cause so many people to stop buying MN

[Moosehead]

I gave up with it years ago, sadly nothing good to say about it.

I do have around 10yrs worth of '80's papers in the loft though.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Cliff Ryan

I never thought an article about my chum would cause so many people to stop buying MN

[Alex E]

You have to sympathise with them, a lot of what they are reporting on is pretty dull to watch, let alone read about.
When is the last time you bothered to watch a WTCC race all the way through, let alone READ about it.
They usd to do brilliant reports on ETCC races and F1, Le Mans etc....years ago. Must be difficult to fill the pages now.

[Peter Mallett]

Hmm,

I stand to be corrected but I suspect there are more historic events happening around the country and mainland Europe than there are modern. If that is so MN and the others have a problem because the general public sees historics as a niche market, yet it arguably employs more track time per competitor than any other.

Ergo MN would turn into Historic Racing Today, or similar and they can't do that.

[Al Weyman]

Originally Posted by Alex E

You have to sympathise with them, a lot of what they are reporting on is pretty dull to watch, let alone read about.
When is the last time you bothered to watch a WTCC race all the way through, let alone READ about it.
They usd to do brilliant reports on ETCC races and F1, Le Mans etc....years ago. Must be difficult to fill the pages now.

Well apparently they reported on the successful and action packed CTCRC meeting at Mallory with a pathetic little report headed CSCC Historic Festival FFS.

[andy97]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Well apparently they reported on the successful and action packed CTCRC meeting at Mallory with a pathetic little report headed CSCC Historic Festival FFS.

That's interesting Al, because they've rarely mention CSCC at all!

[Paul D]

Originally Posted by andy97

That's interesting Al, because they've rarely mention CSCC at all!

Yep... and when they do, they get it totally wrong. I must admit that I found it ironic that when they do mention CSCC, it's to give them credit for an event run by the CTCRC!

However, I do agree with the sentiments of others re Motorsport News. I stopped buying it regularly a few years ago now, and I don't really think Autosport is much better from a clubman's perspective - but at least your fingers aren't black after reading it!

Surely I can't be the only one to remember how the classified section used to be in MN? It used to be my favourite bit! There were always loads of interesting cars for sale, along with lots of places selling spares and all manner of things you never knew you needed! Nowadays, it's pretty spartan in comparison, and when there is the odd car for sale, it's usually still there when you next pick up a copy months later! Not that I'm saying we should judge a publication by its classifieds - but the decline of the classified section seems to have accompanied a general decline in the paper.

[Peter Mallett]

The CTCRC was originally the CSCC.

[midgetman]

It's the Internet that's bought on the demise of the classifieds and the decline of print as a whole. There's no classifieds because everyone's using eBay or equivalent!

[Peter Mallett]

Of course they probaly increased their sales last week due to the Mike Bell interview. *successfully hauls the thread back on topic*

[Mike Bell]

Peter, it's a lost cause...

(The thread definitely, MSN probably )