GOING RACING IN THE RIGHT WAY
This week, we not only welcome the return of Formula 1 but of national racing too. It has been a long four months since we should have begun, but UK motorsport is back. The landscape looks very different, and we sent Paul Lawrence to Castle Combe on Saturday to explore. It seems the grids are healthy, the measures put in place work and the volunteers and clubs are just as enthusiastic as ever. MN hopes that national rallying can find a solution to get itself back into action again soon too.
For those who had avoided the temptation to head to the nearest pub, there was also the grand prix to enjoy on Sunday. While it looked, initially, like it would be a walkover for the Mercedes-benz team, it made hard work of it. A scrappy race for Lewis Hamilton and reliability concerns for both cars made it tense, but the superiority of the Mercedes looks daunting for its rivals for the remainder of the season, however long that might be. Our congratulations also go to Lando Norris on his maiden Formula 1 podium, and we hope it is the first of many.
Our question-and-answer target this week is Mark Blundell, himself no stranger to the grand prix podium. The British ace, a winner at Le Mans and in Indycar, is taking a step back from front-line competition this year to take up a new role as head of the Mark Blundell Motorsport British Touring Car Championship team and he reflects on his career and tackles the posers set for him by you.
Elsewhere, deputy editor Graham Keilloh looks into the history of the prolific Cliff Dempsey Racing team, a single-seater stalwart on these shores and in Ireland. The national racing perennial has been sold with its ebullient team boss taking a backseat role. But the portents under its new stewardship are encouraging, as Dempsey himself tells us.
We also look at the varied role of the team manager in the British Touring Car Championship, which is as busy as it is varied up and down the grid. We talk to some of the top men who make the action happen and find out what they do when they are not perched on the pitwall. In more BTCC news, our columnist, 2013 title winner Andrew Jordan, explains to us the reasons behind his shock decision to withdraw from the 2020 competition in the wake of the recent turbulent times.
His column is on page 11.