Autosport 2007 - the GTF 600R Launch

Autosport 2007 had promised to be the biggest ever and occupying 9 of the NEC’s main halls with over 20 different themed zones it didn’t disappoint. Everything you could think of was covered from Car care to F1, Careers to Parts Supply. So it takes some time and shoe leather to get round. In the Live Action Arena they had some spectacular demonstrations too. All kinds of stunts and tyre smoking antics were on view, and better still some of the biggest names in Motorsport were doing some of the driving.

The reason we came ofcourse, was the GTF 600R. And there it was, looking suitably menacing with only its bonnet visible through the crowds. The car was launched on the Track and Race Car Magazine Stand in Hall 8 and was causing quite a stir. Keith Wood (Co-Owner and Editor of TRC) has long been a supporter of tvr loving the Tuscans and covering our “Monster” events. See the media pages. Grabbing a quick word, I asked him why he was so supportive. “It’s a great shame, what’s happened to tvr” he said. “I grew up watching the Tuscans.

There sideways antics, huge speed and horsepower made them favourites with most race fans and it’s a great shame that the series didn’t move forward and was allowed to die. This happens too much in Motorsport and many new projects come to our attention over time but this one really seems to have struck a cord with people. It’s great to see the cars returning and the long overdue evolution happening. We are very happy to be a part of it and to help if we can.” 

The Easytrack Team was also keen to express support. “We at Easytrack have known these guys (Tim, Fred, Gavin) for sometime and have seen the cars develop over the last couple of years. Many of the tvr guys use our Trackdays to shake down their cars and check suspension set-ups etc and we are seeing more and more tvrs on our days. We know the GTF is very quick as we have seen them on many of our Trackdays and we have got to know the guys very well. The cars are well put together, it has all the right people and backing, and best of all we have seen a lot of interest from other drivers. We are very excited about this opportunity.” Easytrack are handling the Sales and Promotion side of the project. gtf@easytrack.co.uk

Whilst on our travels, we noticed some friends of the site with stands, so we stopped and had a chat. Gaz Shocks had a stand and were seeing a lot of interest. Not least from myself! Derek (www.absolutelyshocks.com) was there to launch their new Mono-tube coil-over shock absorbers for the serious track & race types. We intend to fit these to the monster Griff in preperation for it’s racing debut later this year, so watch out for a full test later.

They do look the business though. John Reid, mastermind behind, and saviour of, the current tvr Challenge Race series was there too. A deal was done at the show securing Dunlop support for the 2007 season so well done John, but John had more on his plate.He also has his own tvr Motorsport preparation company in Blackpool, that supports many of the current “Challenge drivers” and owners of “sorted” road cars. We only had a couple of minutes with him, but work is afoot to secure his parts supply for many years to come.

Steve Guglielmi (twice Tuscan Champ and tvrmonster instructor) had a Stand with a 360bhp Elise on it. Yep! 360 actual horses in an Elise. They had put an Audi 2L unit in there with some serious boost on the Turbo to give these huge numbers, but Steve said it wasn’t unmanageable…just seriously fast. It must be mind blowing on the track! Further round and we found Steve Wotton on the Historic Motorsports stand. He’s promoting a Racing Yearbook that he is putting together covering every circuit based Championship. There’s a whole lot of work involved in that, with every placed driver will be listed so we wish him good luck with it and we’ll be covering it properly later, when its on sale (you can reserve a copy now if you contact us).

On again past Astons, Maserati, McLarens and many other greats to the LE Mans Display. £20M worth of cars are on display including some of the greatest Le Mans cars ever seen. The modern Bentley car could be seen nestling in the crowds alongside the Ferrari 512BB LM  superb, and whilst we were meandering our way round the exhibition they played the 2004 LM race with Bob Berridge crossing the line in tvr No 89. Weird!

So there you have it…in brief. There is just so much going on at the show that I have just concentrated on the parts that are directly relevant to us at tvrmonster, but the show really must be on every Motorsport fans calendar

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