Race meeting reports

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Chaps,

I tend to get to quite a few race meetings over the course of the year. I usually write these up and add a few photos on another forum I use. Does anyone else do this? Would they be of any interest to the readers of General Motorsport? I know most of you attend meetings and I'd love the chance to see personal photos and read about what has particularly caught your eye or excited you. There are so many races up and down the country (and around the world) and Autosport only tells a fraction of the tale of each. Just a thought anyway...

Thanks,

Andy

[HiRich]

For a few years I have written race reports for the series I'm involved in - used on the website and in the magazine. They are rather extensive, more like GP reports than a 20-minute race, but they have proved very popular:

• The drivers only see the 50 yards ahead of them, so get to find out what happened elsewhere.
• Those who didn't attend find out what has happened and are encouraged to come out to play.
• I make sure everyone is mentioned, even if the car fails scrutineering. Just for the recognition/boost to the ego. (Most will see me coming post-session and be ready with a quote/summary for me to start building the report)
• Newbies get a special mention, and all have commented how it has helped introduce them to the fold.
• It's quite useful to record news & gossip, and details of the cars (it's a historic series, so occasionally we get new cars and more history, the reports act as the organ of record).
• It has given some of the other attendees (wives, spannermen) something to do as well - taking photos, writing the reports when I'm not there.

It has benefitted considerably:

• Lots of interest from the readers.
• Grids rose in the early years - partly from getting slackers out more often, partly from new entrants - and we've done pretty well through the recession.
• Interest/turnover on the website has continued to grow, now there's a reason to go back regularly.
• It has cemented what was already one of the friendliest Paddocks around. Non-attendees read how we pull together to help each other.
• It has democratised things a bit as well. Rather than relying on the Committee (many of whom won't be at the races or the climbs, and therefore don't see what's happening on the ground), people are more willing to talk and act. I'll happily raise issues in the report totally undiplomatically, which may be read by people higher up. Complaints seem to have gone down a bit, and a little bit of that comes from the reports.
• Other elements have started to come through as other people step up to the plate in their own way. New trophies and memorial races (last year we had the inaugural Lewis-Evans Memorial Trophy), barbecues and lunches.

This is slightly different from what you do, because it's much more specific (one race raher than a whole event, a very clear target readership), but the same principles apply.

An example of a report is here