Autosport Show NEC Saturday 16th January 2016

It was 5 years since I last visited the Autosport Show at the NEC near Birmingham so a very last minute decision to go saw me arrive bright and early on the first public day of the show. 
1991 saw Autosport International launched at the NEC and it quickly established itself as THE motor racing show and while other events have come and gone over the years the show has reached it's quarter century. Throughout the 90's and early 00's I would never miss a show but the quality and content dipped and it became less of a "must-do" event.
One thing I would always look forward to was to get as many fixture lists and information as possible and, in the days before the Internet, it was the only way to find out what was happening around the circuits. The very brief formation of British Motorsport Promoters (BMP) in the early 00's saw all circuits group together and promote the sport but that didn't last long and it was interesting to note that MotorSportVision had no presence at this years show at all.
Organising clubs do have a large presence though as they try to tempt potential drivers to join their club and it was good to see the likes of BRSCC, 750MC and BARC have busy stands.
The Oval racing world knows how to promote itself that's for sure and it was good to see that I could pick up a fixture list for tracks as far afield as Cowdenbeath in Scotland to St.Day in Cornwall all on one stand....
As part of the ticket price the indoor show was a fantastic piece of theatre with everything from freestyle motocross riders performing amazing stunts to  McLaren GT mechanics performing a mock pit stop. Oval racing was well represented with "races" for National Hot Rods, Brisca F1 and Autograss cars aswell.
The first year I really discovered and fell in love with motor racing as a 12 year old was 1986 and it was fantastic to see that Williams had a large exhibition with their Motorhome and several cars from their illustrious past including the 1986 car that Nigel Mansell should have been world Champion in that year! 

1986 Williams-Honda FW11

1996 Williams-Renault FW18
Compare the clean lines of the 86 and 96 cars with the front wing of last year's championship winning Mercedes...I know what I prefer!
Front Wing Mercedes W06
Couldn't resist taking a photo of one of the best looking racing cars of all time...
RLR Porsche 956
All in all I enjoyed my visit to the show this year and although entry to the show was pricey at £36 plus the £10 car park ticket, I made sure I got my money's worth and walked around the halls several times during the day! A good way to break the winter up and see some racing cars..!


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