My mom got a letter through the door a couple of months ago about the Autosport Show. We hadn't actually heard of this show before, and we had just been to Top Gear Live a couple of weeks previously. It seemed to be fairly similar to that, having a load of traders, lots of cars, a Live Action show, celebrities, so it looked pretty good. Of course price is always an issue. Top Gear Live Platinum tickets (which is what we got) are £105. That's a lot, and because they seemed like similar events we were a bit cautious about the price of this. It was £37 per ticket, and a 3 for 2 offer. Hell, that's good value. So we bought tickets!
And now here I am, 3 hours after leaving the NEC. Completely shattered, but still on a complete high.
As we neared the NEC we could tell which cars were headed for the same destination: the cars were full of men. We got to the car park, not a woman in sight. No, wait, there was one. But she had clearly been dragged there by her husband. Fortunately, we got into the hall and did see a handful of other women.
The show is huge. No. It's COLOSSAL.. We immediately got lost, but who cares if you don't know your coordinates when you're surrounded by incredible machines! The first thing we did was go to the Live Action Arena (even though it took us an hour to get there) which introduces you to so many different kinds of motorsport, I have a desperate urge to try them all out. Particularly Formula Jedi (might just be the name though...). Jason Plato was a great host, even though he destroyed the gearbox of a car,
again, 5 minutes in. I won't spoil anything else because I think you should all find out what happens yourself by buying tickets next year!
The rest of the show is jam packed with traders from all different aspects of motorsport. Being a Formula 1 fan quite a lot of the stalls went over my head. But then there was the F1 stage which had interviews with Jake Humphrey, David Coulthard, Christian Horner, Allan McNish, Darren Turner, and loads of other people. There is even the chance to meet the stars and get their autographs. However (now this is my only criticism) the slots are 15 minutes each, and when Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard are doing a signing after their interview you end up with 200+ people queuing, including myself. It is not physically possible to get that many people through. I was devastated when I saw security lead them away before I got a chance to get their autographs. But DC went in my direction and I saw a mob of people following him throwing autograph slips infront of his pen. I hesitiated, thinking I'd lose my place in the queue for Paul Di Resta who was on an hour later, but then I went for it. It was then or never. So I joined the mob, that was starting to dissipate, also throwing my autograph slip into his pen, and just as he was about to leave the hall I managed to get him to sign it.
My. Day. Was. Made.
I also managed to get really close to the front of the queue for Paul's autograph, and after 45 minutes of waiting, I met him. And touched his finger (to a fan, it's the tiny details that mean everything).
There was also a lot to actually do. There were dodgems, go-karting, and a Caterham Experience. The Caterham Experience was incredible. So exhilirating. And very good value for only £10 (...considering at Top Gear Live some people try to charge you that to sit in their car and have a picture taken that isn't even by them).
You can see my experience on YouTube (my face looks weird though. I'm just trying to hold myself in the car. Throws you about like a bloody rollercoaster!) -> http://www.youtube.com/user/SarahwDW?feature=mhee
By 5 o'clock we were shattered. Completely and utterly shattered. But that is the sign of a brilliant day out. So we had a look at some supercars and went home for a chinese.
Overall, it was a brilliant day. And actually completely different to Top Gear Live, but not at all in a bad way.
I will be going again.
And now here I am, 3 hours after leaving the NEC. Completely shattered, but still on a complete high.
As we neared the NEC we could tell which cars were headed for the same destination: the cars were full of men. We got to the car park, not a woman in sight. No, wait, there was one. But she had clearly been dragged there by her husband. Fortunately, we got into the hall and did see a handful of other women.
The show is huge. No. It's COLOSSAL.. We immediately got lost, but who cares if you don't know your coordinates when you're surrounded by incredible machines! The first thing we did was go to the Live Action Arena (even though it took us an hour to get there) which introduces you to so many different kinds of motorsport, I have a desperate urge to try them all out. Particularly Formula Jedi (might just be the name though...). Jason Plato was a great host, even though he destroyed the gearbox of a car,
again, 5 minutes in. I won't spoil anything else because I think you should all find out what happens yourself by buying tickets next year!
The rest of the show is jam packed with traders from all different aspects of motorsport. Being a Formula 1 fan quite a lot of the stalls went over my head. But then there was the F1 stage which had interviews with Jake Humphrey, David Coulthard, Christian Horner, Allan McNish, Darren Turner, and loads of other people. There is even the chance to meet the stars and get their autographs. However (now this is my only criticism) the slots are 15 minutes each, and when Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard are doing a signing after their interview you end up with 200+ people queuing, including myself. It is not physically possible to get that many people through. I was devastated when I saw security lead them away before I got a chance to get their autographs. But DC went in my direction and I saw a mob of people following him throwing autograph slips infront of his pen. I hesitiated, thinking I'd lose my place in the queue for Paul Di Resta who was on an hour later, but then I went for it. It was then or never. So I joined the mob, that was starting to dissipate, also throwing my autograph slip into his pen, and just as he was about to leave the hall I managed to get him to sign it.
My. Day. Was. Made.
I also managed to get really close to the front of the queue for Paul's autograph, and after 45 minutes of waiting, I met him. And touched his finger (to a fan, it's the tiny details that mean everything).
There was also a lot to actually do. There were dodgems, go-karting, and a Caterham Experience. The Caterham Experience was incredible. So exhilirating. And very good value for only £10 (...considering at Top Gear Live some people try to charge you that to sit in their car and have a picture taken that isn't even by them).
You can see my experience on YouTube (my face looks weird though. I'm just trying to hold myself in the car. Throws you about like a bloody rollercoaster!) -> http://www.youtube.com/user/SarahwDW?feature=mhee
By 5 o'clock we were shattered. Completely and utterly shattered. But that is the sign of a brilliant day out. So we had a look at some supercars and went home for a chinese.
Overall, it was a brilliant day. And actually completely different to Top Gear Live, but not at all in a bad way.
I will be going again.
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