Autocourse

AUTOCOURSE, or Autocourse, is a series of annuals covering motor racing, and Formula One in particular. The annuals cover a long period of the sport's history, from 1951 to the present day, and, as such, are highly collectible.

History

The first edition of AUTOCOURSE appeared in 1951, as a monthly review of motorsport. Its aims were to "to provide the most complete data obtainable with interesting and authentic information, settle arguments and provide countless hours of interesting study and amusement." The first AUTOCOURSE in annual form was published in 1959. In 1963, Jim Clark started the tradition of the F1 World Champion writing the foreword for the annual, a tradition only broken in 1991, when Senna refused following a dispute over the annual's Top Ten drivers (see below).

Starting in 1966, the annual's editor (currently Alan Henry) has chosen the Top Ten F1 drivers of each season. In 1991, the Formula One Review was changed into a team-by-team format. In 2000, AUTOCOURSE celebrated its 50th anniversary. From 2005 onwards, the annual has been published by the [http://www.crashnewmedia.com/ Crash Media Group] instead of its founders, Hazleton Publishing.

Format

Title pages

The front cover features a full-scale photograph of that year's F1 championship-winning driver in his car, underneath the distinctive yellow "AUTOCOURSE" title. In 1994 and 1995, three photos were used on the front cover. The interior title page often features the runner-up, or another photograph of note.

Foreword

This has been written by the newly-crowned champion since 1963 and is accompanied by their signature. The only exception was in 1991, when Nobuhiko Kawamoto, the chief of Honda's F1 engine programme, wrote it instead of Ayrton Senna, after Senna was not acclaimed the Number One driver in the annual the previous year, despite winning the title.

Editor's Introduction

This is a page or so of material which summarises the year in motor racing from the editor's point of view. Since 1988, the editor has been Alan Henry; his immediate predecessor was Maurice Hamilton. For the 50th anniversary edition in 2000, the publisher, Richard Poulter, also wrote a brief introduction.

Top Ten Drivers

The annual states that these top ten F1 drivers are "chosen by the editor, taking into account their racing performances and the equipment at their disposal". This has been a feature of AUTOCOURSE since 1966. Drivers who do not complete the whole season are not usually eligible to be included in the list, although exceptions have been made.

List of Number One Drivers

*1966 - Jim Clark
*1967 - Jim Clark
*1968 - Jackie Stewart
*1969 - Jackie Stewart
*1970 - Jackie Stewart
*1971 - Jackie Stewart
*1972 - Jackie Stewart
*1973 - Jackie Stewart
*1974 - Emerson Fittipaldi
*1975 - Niki Lauda
*1976 - Niki Lauda
*1977 - Niki Lauda
*1978 - Niki Lauda
*1979 - Alan Jones
*1980 - Alan Jones
*1981 - Alan Jones
*1982 - none (left blank as a mark of respect to Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi)
*1983 - Nelson Piquet
*1984 - Alain Prost
*1985 - Alain Prost
*1986 - Alain Prost
*1987 - Alain Prost
*1988 - Ayrton Senna
*1989 - Nigel Mansell
*1990 - Alain Prost
*1991 - Ayrton Senna
*1992 - Nigel Mansell
*1993 - Ayrton Senna
*1994 - Damon Hill
*1995 - Michael Schumacher
*1996 - Michael Schumacher
*1997 - Jacques Villeneuve
*1998 - Michael Schumacher
*1999 - Heinz-Harald Frentzen
*2000 - Michael Schumacher
*2001 - Michael Schumacher
*2002 - Michael Schumacher
*2003 - Michael Schumacher
*2004 - Michael Schumacher
*2005 - Fernando Alonso
*2006 - Fernando Alonso
*2007 - Lewis Hamilton

Formula One Features

There are usually some in-depth articles on various F1 topics, e.g. Rule changes. These are usually written by well-known motor racing journalists, for example Nigel Roebuck.

Formula One Review

This is the main section of the annual. Before 1991, this consisted of an in-depth analysis of the season as a whole, followed by technical reviews of each team and chassis specifications.

Team-by-Team

From 1991 onwards, the Formula One Review was organised in a team-by-team format, with the analysis, specifications, an illustration of each car and photos of the relevant drivers (and team personnel) in a single team's section.

Grands Prix

This is the longest section of the annual, and contains a report on each Grand Prix in the Formula One season, including qualifying, photos, comprehensive results and sidebars for more in-depth news stories.

Points and Percentages

This consists of the full results table for the season, featuring each driver and accompanied since 1996 by a group photo of all the drivers in one of the Grands Prix. Other statistics are also given, such as overall career details for each driver and their average qualifying position over the season.

Other categories

Every year, a review of junior single seater formulae is included (currently GP2, A1 GP and Formula Three), as well as reports on the year's GT racing, and the American racing scene (comprising NASCAR and the IndyCar Series). The current annuals are over 300 pages long.

ister publications

Aside from one-off driver and team biographies branded as AUTOCOURSE publications, there are also two other annuals: RALLYCOURSE, which covers rallying, and MOTOCOURSE, which covers motorcycle racing.

References

*"AUTOCOURSE 2000-2001", Henry, Alan (ed.), Hazleton Publishing Ltd. (2000) ISBN 978-1-874557-79-1
*"AUTOCOURSE 2005-2006", Henry, Alan (ed.), Crash Media Group Ltd. (2005) ISBN 1-905334-04-4
*"AUTOCOURSE 2006-2007", Henry, Alan (ed.), Crash Media Group Ltd. (2006) ISBN 1-905334-15-X
*"AUTOCOURSE 2007-2008", Henry, Alan (ed.), Crash Media Group Ltd. (2007) ISBN 1-905334-21-4

External links

* [http://www.autocourse.com/ AUTOCOURSE homepage]
* [http://www.autocoursegpa.com/ AUTOCOURSE Grand Prix Archive]