Matters of moment, August 1998
It is hard for any editor to explain to the satisfaction of his readers why a magazine’s price needs to rise. You have no interest in the costs of producing a publication like this; you simply see it and, if you like and can afford what you see, you buy it. So as I tell you this month’s rise to £3.10 reflects no more than what’s required to support our on-going investment into providing more pages and better features, so I know also your faith will stand or fall simply on whether you regard Motor Sport as worth the extra money. There is, however, a way not only to beat the rise but also have the magazine delivered to you for just £2.32, and that’s to join our ever-growing band of subscribers. When Motor Sport was relaunched last year just over a thousand readers subscribed; since then that number has increased ten times and continues to climb. If you want to be part of this and save a lot of money in the process, all you need to know is on page 23. You should be aware, however, this offer will not last for long.
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This is your last chance to win a VIP trip to the next British Grand Prix by nominating the greatest ever Formula One car from the list of ten candidates on page 65. Please don’t choose more than one car or ignore the lot and put forward a choice of your own; by doing so, you will be ruling yourself out of contention before your entry even reaches the postbox.
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The party in Goodwood house on the Saturday night of the Festival of Speed is a glittering occasion. At dinner I sat next to Rick Mears who confided that he’d left Florida for Goodwood with a heavy heart. Exhausted after weeks on the Indy trail with Penske and Mercedes-Benz, the last thing he needed was a transatlantic flight and another weekend away from home. Seeing the Festival and Goodwood, however, changed his outlook entirely and he and his wife, Chris, were having a ball. Where, I politely enquired, were they staying during their short visit to Goodwood? He paused enough to shoot me a quizzical look before replying. “Upstairs. How about you?”
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I’ve always regarded petitions as a pretty monumental waste of time so it seems odd to be asking you to sign up to one. That said, I have been asked by one Chris Balfe to mention his campaign to rescue the Monza banking from the environmentalists and couldn’t leave his plea unanswered. Stirling Moss, Phil Hill, Jody Scheckter and Lord March feel likewise. If you want to sign up, therefore, you can send a fax to Balfe on 0131 467 4857, or an E-mail to [email protected]. For those net-surfers among you, his home page is: http://wkweb5.cableinetco.uk/ferrari/monza_camp.htm
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Keith Schellenberg’s explanation for failing to complete the 1968 London-Sydney marathon was, and I quote, “We missed the boat because we stopped to see the Taj Mahal by moonlight. Somehow that seemed so much more important than getting to Australia.” All this and more on page 54.