Autosport International Show 2018: Day 1 Round-up

At the end of the first day of the Autosport International Show, Motorsport Radio looks back at the key points and events from around Birmingham’s NEC.

F1 News

It was fairly quiet from the majority of the Formula 1 representatives, with Ferrari a rare exception as one of the typical highlights of the show.

The only real news though came from the Cosworth camp. The British engine supplier has been absent since 2013 and has been involved in the 2020 engine negotiations, but Bruce Wood, the teams managing director has admitted that a return will not be on the cards unless they can make a deal with a manufacturer and they should not work on a “Build it and they will come” mentality.

International News

Perhaps the biggest noise today was made by the International series, with LMP1 welcoming back Ginetta after a year of absence in the top category of endurance racing. Going into the 2018-19 FIA WEC Super Season, they revealed their challenger.

The Ginetta G60-LT-P1 has been designed to challenge for “overall wins” according to chairman Lawrence Tomlinson with only one manufacturer (Toyota) competing next season.

They weren’t the only international outfit breaking cover today, with M-Sport, the team defending champion Sebastien Ogier and British driver Elfyn Evans will race for, has shown off their new Fiesta for the season, with Ford announcing a technical partnership between the two.

Speaking of the World Rally Championship, the series itself was showing off their new cars during what is their official launch of the 2018 season.

Most interestingly, WRC has announced that they will offer live streaming via their subscription service WRC+. This will give customers access to over 24 hours of coverage from each event, on top of their existing service, which includes live maps and onboard videos.

Called WRC+ All Live, it will be an upgrade for many fans who already own the service being priced at €8.99 per month or €89.99 for 12 months.

The Cars

BTCC Announcements

On the national level, the British Touring Car Championship, which has seen Jack Goff announced at Eurotech and West Surrey Racing keep Rob Collard, Andrew Jordan and Colin Turkington in the last few days has seen the cars for the first time today.

At Motorbase, they’ve announced a return of the RS brand with their new Ford Focus RS. Driving the car will be Mat Jackson and Tom Chilton as the team aim to win the Independents crown in 2018.

Meanwhile, their rivals at Power Maxed Racing will run Josh Cook for the coming season, as many look for ways in which they topple Ash Sutton who himself confirmed he’d remain at BMR.

Finally in the BTCC paddock, AmD Tuning, who have already announced two drivers for the current season, has acquired a pair of MG6 GT’s from Triple 8 Racing, expanding their influence to four cars, the most they’ve ever run. As a result though, AmD will pull out of the British GT and Le Mans Cup championships.

Elsewhere, HMS Racing would also reveal their new car and livery for the upcoming season.

GT Announcements

Talking of British GT, the loss of one outfit was quickly overshadowed by the introduction of another, with Jaguar coming back to the Championship for the first time since 2007.

The Jaguar F-Type SVR will enter a pair of GT4s as part of the Invictus Games Racing team, entering four ex-British serviceman as their Am driver for the season. The project is the brainchild of Superdry co-founder James Holder who raced during the 2016 season.

Matthew George, who has previously raced with Holder will be the Pro to Steve McCulley and Paul Vice, while former-PWC champion Jason Wolfe will coach Ben Norfolk and Basil Rawlinson. The servicemen will take turns in the car throughout the season.

Jaguar themselves have also announced that Michelin will join them as the tyre supplier and partner to their eTrophy series. This puts them in line with their FIA Formula E operation.

Single-Seaters

The biggest news to come out of the BRDC British F3 series today was the revealing of another team to the championship. After buying HHC’s entry at the end of 2016’s, P1 Sport have themselves been taken over by Stratton Motorsport after P1 failed to field a driver in 2017.

The Norwich-based team has had experience in GT and historic racing, but will make their debut in this year in single-seaters.

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It was also announced by the MSV, that BRDC F3 drivers will also qualify for the Sunoco Whelen Challenge, along with British GT and Radical Euro Series drivers with the prize to race at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

In the rest of single-seaters, during a talk about his MABA nomination, Max Fewtrell revealed he would return to the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Series in 2018, though has yet to announce which team.

RallyCross

Last but not least, the British RallyCross Championship will have a new face onboard, with three-time British Rally Champion Mark Higgins making the step across with Albatec Racing from the Silverstone round.

Motorsport Radio and Motorsport Media have been hard at work today, with exclusive interviews coming out over the next four days.

The Autosport International Show will continue tomorrow. Follow @msportradio on Twitter for further updates.