14 replies to this topic

[danut]

I want to subscribe to a racing magazine, but I have only read a couple of issues of f1 racing, so I don't know how others are. What do you think of Autosport, for example?
Can you recommend a racing magazine?
Thanks,
Dan

[Ripples]

Originally posted by danut
Can you recommend a racing magazine?
Thanks,
Dan

Atlas F1.

[danut]

OK. Atlas, and the web in general is a great, and cheap resource for anything, not only racing, but I still enjoy reading a good magazine, and what about having your own collection to browse in a long winter night...

[JPMCrew]

Autosport is the best racing magazine without doubt. F1 Racing is ok, but it only covers F1 and it all gets a little boring after a while.

If you are into other types of autoracing, such as CART, F3, F3000, Rallying, Sports Cars, etc, Autosport is really the only choice. They still cover mostly F1, but it has a good chunk dedicated to other forms of racing.

If you are interested in the American racing scene, in addition to F1, Racer Magazine is a very good choice too.

[Uncle Davy]

Re US publications,

Racer magazine started to go downhill when it merged with Speedvision and moved a lot of its content online. It basically serves as a teaser for the Speedvision website anymore; that's why I dropped my subscription.

On Track magazine provides better race coverage, with the primary emphasis on F1 and CART. It is also published bi-weekly as opposed to monthly, thereby providing more timely coverage.

[Schumi Fan]

Buna Danut, ce mai faci?

F1 Racing is a pretty good magazine, and the pictures are top notch. Autosport has better articles about all areas of motorsports, but it's a lot more expensive (at least in Canada).

[danut]

Fac bine, SchumiFan! Tu ce faci in Canada, studiezi doar, sau esti "de tot" acolo?
Ce soc, sa dai peste un roman pe Atlas...
Thanks for the info on magazines, I think I'l go for Autosport, as they cover mostly european racing.

[Rudolf]

I'd advice f1racing if your just an F1 fan 'cause it really is the best mag! Autosport if you like other motorsport.

[Zoe]

I had a subscription of Autosport since 1993 or so, but I'm going to drop it. Sure it is a pretty good magazine, but I find the same, and less biased information on the web for less money. However, I think of the printed magazine I know Autosport is still one of the best, not as superficial and glossy as F1 racing, but covering a lot (albeit (and understandably) with a heavy bias on britain)

The only drawback is that I can't access the internet from my bathtub ;)

Anyone interested in my Autosport collection from 1993 to today?

Zoe

[Bruce]

"Autosport" has the best articles and editorial work.

"F1Racing" is good for the photography but little else.

"Motorsport" is excellent in both writing and photography, but adly doesn't cover current F1 races, concentrating instead on F1's history...

[danut]

Zoe!
I CAN acces the web from my bathtub! I have a laptop and a very long telephone cable, so I can move it all around the house; all I need is something to put it on, and I use the ironing table for that!

Still, I think it's much better to read a magazine in your bathtub...

[P1 Senna]

Why subscribe?? Well, I don't know your situation, danut, but for me I just head for my personal reading room, aka Borders Book Store. Grab a cappucino or similar beverage, and settle into a comfy chair for a couple of hours of reading pleasure.

After scanning the current offerings of Autosport, F1 Racing, Race Car Engineering and others, if I find something interesting I'll buy that particular issue.

I do subscribe to US weekly AutoWeek, and my wife just gave me a subscription to F1 Racing. Love the photography in F1 Racing - that's something that the web will not replace, imo. But the web DOES do a fine job for written content, and from that standpoint is a very real threat for traditional publications. I was a charter subscriber to Racer, but dropped it a few years ago when it became clear that written content was "old" news, something especially true for monthly mags.

[Eric McLoughlin]

For years "Motor Sport" was considered the definitive motor racing magazine - mainly because of the high quality, and opinionated, race reports. This was almost entirely due to the writings of Denis Jenkinson. Alas, DSJ is no longer with us and the magazine was revamped a few years ago. It now concentrates on the historical aspects of the sport. Having said that, I still like it. It has come in for some criticism in the Nostalgia Forum because of lack of historical accuracy and perpetuation of motor racing "myths" however. One of the reasons why it has "gone over" to the historical side is because it is owned by The Haymarket Group, who also own Autosport and the newspaper Motoring News - both of which cover the current scene pretty well.

F1 Magazine (another Haymarket publication) I have no time for at all - too superficial and definitely the racing equivalent of Loaded or FHM.

[tim]

Autosport and F1Racing are ok but they aren't perfect. I am British and I find their Britishness fairly annoying. It manifests itself as a particularly nasty kind of xenophobia and overt nationalism that has given us articles such as "Why David Coulthard is as brave as a WW1 soldier fighting in the trenches because he had a plane crash" and an article on Indiana at the time of the USGP which painted everyone as being relatively unsophisticated and backward looking. Then you have Nigel Roebuck who likes to think he is a writer on one of the very xenophobic British tabloids and likes to vent his peculiar brand of bigotry on the UK government and "foreigners". I think he called Michael Schumacher a "gauleiter" once (or something like that) - about the time of his crash with JV in 1997. A gauleiter, if you don't know, was some sort of a regional commander in Nazi Germany...

So, if you want to subscribe to Autosport and F1Racing, try to ignore their fairly narrow-minded outlook and just look at the pictures or something... (but not the one of Nigel Roebuck).

[Spot]

I have just cancelled my subscription to Autosport after 20 years - I found that it has moved towards tabloid or gutter journalism, concentrating on rumours and creating angst between drivers.

I am surprised no-one has mentioned F1 News. It is published the weekend after each GP so is quite up to date, and concentrates on facts rather than fiction. It's race reports are much better too - they give a chronological view of events, rather than just telling us how the top six got into those positions. It works out cheaper too, at £54 for a year instead of £28 per quarter, including off-season issues such as season review and preview issues. Good photo's too, in a glossy format magazine.

Effy, if you're reading this - do I get a discount now for next year?