THE PASSING OF A REAL INSPIRATION
Ferrari is in mourning this week after the passing of its long-serving technical director Mauro Forghieri. The Italian was the inspiration behind so much success for the Scuderia over the course of three decades and it is very unlikely that his like will be seen again. Forghieri is one of those engineers and designers who had it all. He would be as involved in the chassis as he was the gearbox design and engine developments. In this day and age, engineers tend to be focused on a particular part of the design and development process but, in bygone years, the man at the helm was literally in charge of everything.
And Forghieri too wasn’t just turning his attention to one sole programme. He worked on sportscars too and was responsible for the final design of the 250 GTO, arguably one of the finest-looking race cars ever built. His passing truly does mark the end of a certain era.
Elsewhere in this issue, we detail the shortlists for the 2022 Motorsport News Awards, so don’t forget to make sure that you check out the spread on pages 20-21 and help us to pick out your stand-out National Rally Driver and National Racing Driver of the past 12 months. There are also the other shortlists for the awards that will be determined by Motorsport News’s panel of experts.
Many of those on the list are featured in our BTCC support race review, which is on page 16. We examine the star performers. There were also plenty of stars on show at the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone last weekend. Graham Keilloh was there and he gives us the lowdown on pages 18-19 – even though the results might still be in doubt…
The subject of our MN readers’ Q&A this week is a person who has a voice that both race and rally fans will be familiar with. Commentator and broadcaster Alan Hyde is one of the most popular men in the paddock and he tackles the questions with insight – and some good humour too. The interview starts on page 22.
We report on the opening round of the MGJ Engineering Circuit Rally Championship, which is supported by Motorsport News. The new competition took place at the highly popular Oulton Park circuit and drew a competitive and lengthy entry list. The initial signs for the competition are strong and we wish the organisers well.
Matt James Editor, Motorsport News matt.james@kelsey.co.uk