Autosport show 2024
Discussion
I used to love this show in its hay day ! Read about the poor display last year but from seeing photos from yesterdays efforts i thought it looked to of gone up a gear comparing to the good times again? i.e WRC unveilings , BTCC attending , Live YouTuber projects , plenty of Motorsport Icons being interviewed on the Main Stage.
Fingers crossed this years event will be successful
Fingers crossed this years event will be successful
I think the show has declined a huge amount in the past 10 or so years.
Half of it it the venue, yes it is central but it is also hugely expensive to have stand space there, parking is borderline daylight robbery and always has been (apart from the days when you could watch the last live show and sneak out without paying as the guys would have gone home after 8ish)
I think for trade it might work as a meeting place, area to sort out deals etc, but for the public it is a fairly ordinary day. Nearly 40 quid is more than most race meetings you will attend all year plus parking, it is just too expensive and in recent times been a damp squib. I have no interest in watching the same things that have been in the area for the last 20 bloody years, so make that an option with a cheaper ticket.
They used to be able to get f1 cars there, the karting thing was huge, that seems to barely exist anymore, in the early days I went karting there and was on the same grid as Johnny herbert, he made me look idiotic but I didnt spin!!
it is a show trying to be something it isn't and asking prices it shouldn't.
They have a captive audience and that will always make them money but the crowds dwindle more the prices go up until it eventually ceases to be but fair play it somehow keeps going!!
It used to be huge, full of every kind of stand, full of merch stands, there was a karting HALL not just space, the short oval stuff was all on its own, it used to be great, such a shame profit comes before everything.
Half of it it the venue, yes it is central but it is also hugely expensive to have stand space there, parking is borderline daylight robbery and always has been (apart from the days when you could watch the last live show and sneak out without paying as the guys would have gone home after 8ish)
I think for trade it might work as a meeting place, area to sort out deals etc, but for the public it is a fairly ordinary day. Nearly 40 quid is more than most race meetings you will attend all year plus parking, it is just too expensive and in recent times been a damp squib. I have no interest in watching the same things that have been in the area for the last 20 bloody years, so make that an option with a cheaper ticket.
They used to be able to get f1 cars there, the karting thing was huge, that seems to barely exist anymore, in the early days I went karting there and was on the same grid as Johnny herbert, he made me look idiotic but I didnt spin!!
it is a show trying to be something it isn't and asking prices it shouldn't.
They have a captive audience and that will always make them money but the crowds dwindle more the prices go up until it eventually ceases to be but fair play it somehow keeps going!!
It used to be huge, full of every kind of stand, full of merch stands, there was a karting HALL not just space, the short oval stuff was all on its own, it used to be great, such a shame profit comes before everything.
I’ve just got back,it was ‘ok’ quite a bit to see but I wish I’d been for the trade day and seen the engineering bit as I find that interesting.
There were some nice cars on display, lots of stuff I’ll never be able to afford, some big names missing like Demon Tweeks and Grand Prix Racewear.
Strange to see a YouTuber seemingly being the most popular, Matt Armstrong , who I’ve now seen what he does and seems like a good guy.
The live action arena was as usual, run like a Taylor swift concert so you couldn’t really hear the cars over the bloody music.
And the train was delayed so had to spend an hour in the pub in Shrewsbury.
There were some nice cars on display, lots of stuff I’ll never be able to afford, some big names missing like Demon Tweeks and Grand Prix Racewear.
Strange to see a YouTuber seemingly being the most popular, Matt Armstrong , who I’ve now seen what he does and seems like a good guy.
The live action arena was as usual, run like a Taylor swift concert so you couldn’t really hear the cars over the bloody music.
And the train was delayed so had to spend an hour in the pub in Shrewsbury.
chrisgtx said:
I’ve just got back,it was ‘ok’ quite a bit to see but I wish I’d been for the trade day and seen the engineering bit as I find that interesting.
There were some nice cars on display, lots of stuff I’ll never be able to afford, some big names missing like Demon Tweeks and Grand Prix Racewear.
Strange to see a YouTuber seemingly being the most popular, Matt Armstrong , who I’ve now seen what he does and seems like a good guy.
The live action arena was as usual, run like a Taylor swift concert so you couldn’t really hear the cars over the bloody music.
And the train was delayed so had to spend an hour in the pub in Shrewsbury.
The trade day was “meh”, hardly anything of note there really.There were some nice cars on display, lots of stuff I’ll never be able to afford, some big names missing like Demon Tweeks and Grand Prix Racewear.
Strange to see a YouTuber seemingly being the most popular, Matt Armstrong , who I’ve now seen what he does and seems like a good guy.
The live action arena was as usual, run like a Taylor swift concert so you couldn’t really hear the cars over the bloody music.
And the train was delayed so had to spend an hour in the pub in Shrewsbury.
Overall I thought the show was pants.
No BRSCC stand, no HSCC, No British GT, no Ginetta, no Radical, no Caterham, no Demon Tweeks, no Burton; the BTRDA stand only seemed to have RC cars on it (unless I missed something etc etc etc.
The HRCR have chosen to have their open day at Gaydon on the clashing Saturday of the show, why? Because NEC is way too expensive.
It is time to put this show out of its misery - if I didn’t live just 40 mins away, have a licence holders discount and advanced parking discount, and use it for an opportunity to get my race licence medical done I would have been very disappointed, if not ripped off.
Much prefer Race Retro. They should just combine the two events.
Problem is RR is becoming less of a show every year too, it used to be enormous like the NEC.
RR is also starting to get dear, close to 30 quid and if it is anything like last year you could easily have walked out after an hour having seen everything, it was a disgrace last year, so much so I walked out and went home it was truly abysmal.
These shows just need to get back to basics, it is not that difficult, instead they are farmed out to events companies who are just interested in making a profit and seemingly give a damn on social media to make sue you still go without actually telling you what they are doing to make things better. I will not trust that sorry.
That is my experience so far this year. Lots of promises, very little concrete news, typical PR.
RR is also starting to get dear, close to 30 quid and if it is anything like last year you could easily have walked out after an hour having seen everything, it was a disgrace last year, so much so I walked out and went home it was truly abysmal.
These shows just need to get back to basics, it is not that difficult, instead they are farmed out to events companies who are just interested in making a profit and seemingly give a damn on social media to make sue you still go without actually telling you what they are doing to make things better. I will not trust that sorry.
That is my experience so far this year. Lots of promises, very little concrete news, typical PR.
I gave this show a miss this year after going every year for about the last ten years.
The show has been getting worse, well it's stale it's just the same people taking the same cars to show pretty much every year.
I think the location is fine being central, because everything else is usually in London which is even more expensive.
Maybe they need to combine it with the British Motor Show or something to try to bring down the costs?
The show has been getting worse, well it's stale it's just the same people taking the same cars to show pretty much every year.
I think the location is fine being central, because everything else is usually in London which is even more expensive.
Maybe they need to combine it with the British Motor Show or something to try to bring down the costs?
I think the biggest problem isn't location , venue, cost or exhibitors . Those are symptoms of the malaise which affects motor sport in general - the fact that for most people who profess an interest in the sport, it is manifested simply by watching it on TV and social media . And all they want is F1 and to a lesser extent BTCC and perhaps British GT . The rest of the sport - the stuff I spend a lot of time attending or being involved with - may as well not exist outside a small and often ageing demographic of people like me (and I dare say the people posting on this thread ).
I attend historic and modern club racing, hillclimbs , drag racing and other stuff and apart from big ticket events like Goodwood and the Euro Finals etc , the 'crowd' is so often the proverbial two men and a dog. I adore live motor sport and cannot take much TV stuff - which fails completely to convey what I most enjoy . But I'm in the minority - get a Red Bull to put on a 10 minute demo run and they'll be queuing up but hold a FF1600 race at Cadwell or Mallory, with overtaking galore and great viewing and guess what ? Nobody cares.
I attend historic and modern club racing, hillclimbs , drag racing and other stuff and apart from big ticket events like Goodwood and the Euro Finals etc , the 'crowd' is so often the proverbial two men and a dog. I adore live motor sport and cannot take much TV stuff - which fails completely to convey what I most enjoy . But I'm in the minority - get a Red Bull to put on a 10 minute demo run and they'll be queuing up but hold a FF1600 race at Cadwell or Mallory, with overtaking galore and great viewing and guess what ? Nobody cares.
I think there is another issue personally. A competitor wants something different from the show than a motorsport fan regardless of what racing they do or don't follow.
All the people I know on social media who haven't gone or have and didn't like it are competitors. All those I know who went and didn't complain on the socials are fans.
For me, personally as a competitor, there is little of interest there without trade stands offering big discounts and they have to be big to compensate for the costs. I'd rather spend the day travelling to Demon Tweeks than visit the show.
All the people I know on social media who haven't gone or have and didn't like it are competitors. All those I know who went and didn't complain on the socials are fans.
For me, personally as a competitor, there is little of interest there without trade stands offering big discounts and they have to be big to compensate for the costs. I'd rather spend the day travelling to Demon Tweeks than visit the show.
The show used to have everything, all in one roof, they seem now determined to have a trade show then a car show and even the trade aspect has completely worn off. I dont know why. Maybe the net?
When you dont even get Demon tweeks there that is telling you something, they used to have one of the biggest stands, you would get all the major UK manufacturers there small car builders, racing series, merch stalls.
It has just become a shadow of itself sadly, and yet they still plough on, so they must make enough money from it to warrant it, looking at pictures a lot of young people who would not really know any different.
When you dont even get Demon tweeks there that is telling you something, they used to have one of the biggest stands, you would get all the major UK manufacturers there small car builders, racing series, merch stalls.
It has just become a shadow of itself sadly, and yet they still plough on, so they must make enough money from it to warrant it, looking at pictures a lot of young people who would not really know any different.
coppice said:
I think the biggest problem isn't location , venue, cost or exhibitors . Those are symptoms of the malaise which affects motor sport in general - the fact that for most people who profess an interest in the sport, it is manifested simply by watching it on TV and social media . And all they want is F1 and to a lesser extent BTCC and perhaps British GT . The rest of the sport - the stuff I spend a lot of time attending or being involved with - may as well not exist outside a small and often ageing demographic of people like me (and I dare say the people posting on this thread ).
I attend historic and modern club racing, hillclimbs , drag racing and other stuff and apart from big ticket events like Goodwood and the Euro Finals etc , the 'crowd' is so often the proverbial two men and a dog. I adore live motor sport and cannot take much TV stuff - which fails completely to convey what I most enjoy . But I'm in the minority - get a Red Bull to put on a 10 minute demo run and they'll be queuing up but hold a FF1600 race at Cadwell or Mallory, with overtaking galore and great viewing and guess what ? Nobody cares.
Agree Coppice friends think i'm mad standing next to a cold windy track watching cars going round in circles. I couldn't be happier if the racing is good already planned my annual visit to Cadwell which is a warm up for the Monaco Historics!I attend historic and modern club racing, hillclimbs , drag racing and other stuff and apart from big ticket events like Goodwood and the Euro Finals etc , the 'crowd' is so often the proverbial two men and a dog. I adore live motor sport and cannot take much TV stuff - which fails completely to convey what I most enjoy . But I'm in the minority - get a Red Bull to put on a 10 minute demo run and they'll be queuing up but hold a FF1600 race at Cadwell or Mallory, with overtaking galore and great viewing and guess what ? Nobody cares.
Kev_Mk3 said:
It used to be if you needed parts, equipment etc you would go to Autosport Show and then you'd get deals and all under one roof at once. Literally nothing now, there seems no place to go see things like seats, helmets etc I don't plan on going ever again.
I’m really puzzled by this comment, did you go ?There were at least three stands with around 20-30 different seats to try, 5-6 with again 20-30 helmets to try etc ?
From an exhibitors perspective it was incredibly poor, when the organisers approached us late Sunday and openly admitted/ apologized they’d targeted it too much at the YouTube / modified crowd and lost sight of the Competitor you know the game is up.
They’ve plans for next year but after 30 years of attending and 10+ exhibiting that was our last I’m afraid to say.
The sheer cost vs return could be far far better spent with online adverts and discounts.
BEP said:
From an exhibitors perspective it was incredibly poor, when the organisers approached us late Sunday and openly admitted/ apologized they’d targeted it too much at the YouTube / modified crowd and lost sight of the Competitor you know the game is up.
Late on Sunday? Given people on public forums were complaining of that at last year's event, and the year before's, it's nice to see they have their fingers 'on the pulse'. So this is all about trying to increase footprint by going in a new direction and basically almost trying to make the show about something else other than motorsport.
That says to me they have got it so wrong for so long they had to try something new. How about reducing the price, making it cheaper for companies and other things to have stand space, offering more ticket options (I for one don't want to see exactly the same s
tty show that there has been for the last 15 years so offer me a cheaper ticket please).
You never know if you do this, it might encourage more companies to attend, do what other shows do offer to help with parking, the camping and caravan show is in exactly the same place and they cover the parking costs, why can't these greedy sods do that, that will add a few thousands people to the gate before you start anything.
The entire thing has been about one thing and one thing only for about 10 years, Greed, and I hope the whole thing falls into disrepair sadly. it is now an off season cash grab from a marketing company and an already filthy rich exhibition centre. It needs to be gone and something else needs to rise to replace it. there is a market for it, trouble is the people running this have ground it up into a tiny, pathetic show for less and less people to charge more for, when it used to be a total cert for tens of thousands of racing fans every year.
That says to me they have got it so wrong for so long they had to try something new. How about reducing the price, making it cheaper for companies and other things to have stand space, offering more ticket options (I for one don't want to see exactly the same s
tty show that there has been for the last 15 years so offer me a cheaper ticket please).You never know if you do this, it might encourage more companies to attend, do what other shows do offer to help with parking, the camping and caravan show is in exactly the same place and they cover the parking costs, why can't these greedy sods do that, that will add a few thousands people to the gate before you start anything.
The entire thing has been about one thing and one thing only for about 10 years, Greed, and I hope the whole thing falls into disrepair sadly. it is now an off season cash grab from a marketing company and an already filthy rich exhibition centre. It needs to be gone and something else needs to rise to replace it. there is a market for it, trouble is the people running this have ground it up into a tiny, pathetic show for less and less people to charge more for, when it used to be a total cert for tens of thousands of racing fans every year.
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