In 2006 I had the incredible fortune to interview Britain’s beloved motorsport commentator Murray Walker at his home in the New Forest.
I was ushered into a study crammed with assorted motorsport memorabilia, gloves and helmets signed by racing greats and row upon row of books. These included a collection of increasingly yellowed Autocourses which clearly ran back several decades and appeared – still, my beating heart – to be complete.
That was the moment I resolved to start building a collection of my own. The best part of two decades later, it’s still no match for his, but I’ve come to appreciate why so many in motorsport consider this the indispensable annual reference to a year in motorsport.
The latest edition runs to a mammoth 432 pages, of which 344 are devoted to Formula 1. This includes both a race-by-race review of the season, plus detailed surveys of each team’s performance over the year. Now the F1 calendar has grown to a mammoth 24 rounds, recalling the events of every event each year becomes more challenging. Autocourse has therefore become a vital reference to fill in the gaps on what happened on- and off-track.
Despite the inevitable heavy slant towards F1, Autocourse also covers the wider world of professional, four-wheeled motor racing in a series of season summaries. These include prominent junior single-seater series, leading US motorsport categories and sports car racing. I regret the removal of international karting coverage from its pages a few years ago.
With veteran scribes Tony Dodgins and Maurice Hamilton among the writing talent, the quality of the coverage is first-rate. It’s generously illustrated with a varied selection of photography, along with statistics and diagrams, though never to the extent that they overwhelm the text.
At £70, it is a premium product with a premium price: you get an awful lot of quality motorsport coverage for your money. However, it’s discounted to just under £60 on the publisher’s website and RaceFans readers can claim a further saving as described below, making this even easier to recommend.
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Autocourse 2024-25
Publisher: Icon
Published: 2024
Pages: 432
Price: £70
ISBN: 9781910584583
Special discount for RaceFans readers
RaceFans readers can claim a 50% discount on Autocourse Archive subscriptions (£49.99 reduced to £24.99) using the code RaceFans50 and a 25% discount on Autocourse and Motocourse 2024 Annuals using the code RaceFans25. Buy them here:
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