ETHERINGTON

Using the power of motorsport for the greater good

Bad news has not been hard to find in recent weeks, both within motorsport and the wider world. The coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate life and is likely to do so for some time, but already there are some positive messages to be found as people and businesses club together to find solutions to many new problems. Motorsport is full of intelligent and skilled people, used to working at a pace most other industries struggle to imagine. That is why we have looked into the best ways our sport can help in this time of crisis (page 14). Not only can this give some of the many thousands of people employed in motorsport some work to focus on, it can also demonstrate the strengths of our community – and really make a positive contribution to society during a troubled time.

Beyond that, we know the next few weeks and months could be tough, but we also know that many people will want to find the occasional escape and still enjoy motorsport. Although we won’t have any races to cover, Autosport will continue to talk to people within the sport to provide articles full of insight and opinion. This week we’ve spoken to some of the leading BTCC lights in our preview, which went to press before the season was pushed back even further. We will of course bring you the latest coronavirus-related news, but we’ll also be looking back at the sport’s rich history, picking out some of the greatest races, stories and personalities motor racing has enjoyed over more than a century. This will include selecting some of the highlights from the archive as we mark our 70th birthday, and special issues, the first of which is set for next month.

In the meantime, we hope everyone stays safe, and look forward to a future when COVID-19 isn’t at the forefront of all our minds.

Kevin Turner Editor kevin.turner@autosport.com

NEXT WEEK

2 APRIL We interview Felipe Nasr and look back at the 1982

F1 season with an

archive article

COVER IMAGES Tee/Motorsport Images JEP

PIT & PADDOCK 4 F1 delays new rules until 2022 6 No Monaco Grand Prix this year 8 Joest out of Mazda IMSA programme 11 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 12 Opinion: Jonathan Noble 13 Feedback: your letters

INSIGHT 14 How motorsport can help fight COVID-19 22 Sebring 12 Hours greatest races

BTCC PREVIEW 32 BMW battle: Turkington versus Jordan 36 Sutton’s new Infiniti challenge 40 Jackson’s comeback with Vauxhall 42 BTCC stories to look out for in 2020

CLUB AUTOSPORT 56 Motorsport UK extends suspension 58 Jamsport to run eight in Mini Challenge 60 HSCC chairman Lyons handed ban 61 Opinion: Stephen Lickorish 62 A look at the BTCC support series

FINISHING STRAIGHT 66 What’s on this week 69 Top five Netflix motorsport docs 70 From the archive: 1972 Monaco GP 72 From the archive: 1972 Le Mans 74 Autosport 70: Driving a new F1 car

SUBSCRIPTION OFFER 68 Special deals for Autosport

VISIT AUTOSPORT.COM For other ways to read Britain’s best motorsport weekly

FREE INSIDE

HISTORICS SUPPLEMENT

Some unusual tin-tops, the racing career of Jaguar ace Gary Pearson and South African events feature in this week’s special.

26 MARCH 2020 AUTOSPORT.COM 3