FEBRUARY 10, 2002

Haymarket and CART

HAYMARKET PUBLISHING, the publisher of Formula 1 Racing, Autocar, Racer, Autosport and Motorsport News, has long been the leading publishing business in motor racing but despite occasional forays into promotional magazines for F1 teams and car manufacturers (notably Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Jaguar) the company has managed to maintain the reputation of being relatively independent.

This is not going to be easy in the future as Haymarket has just announced a marketing deal with CART to "promote the series around the world in 2002". According to the company website, Haymarket will now be "responsible for brand positioning and visual identity of the championship".

While one can applaud the enterprise of the management it is difficult to see how the company is going to balance the conflicting demands of reporting about a series (and its bitter rival the Indy Racing League) while also being a cheerleader for CART.

It will be interesting to watch developments in the months ahead...