A highlight of the Live Action Arena at this weekend’s Autosport International will be the ever-popular BriSCA Formula 1 stock cars. These V8 monsters are designed to race on short ovals and thrill with their fast-paced display and an aural assault that makes the grandstands shake.
But while BriSCA F1 machines are used to turning left, left, left and left again, Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre isn’t quite their natural habitat. From March to November they compete on quarter-mile ovals, paved or with loose shale surfaces. Over a 70-year history, the formula has evolved from genuine ‘stock’ cars to highly specialised purpose-built machines with huge power combined with mean-looking steel bumpers and side rails to withstand the rigours of full-contact racing.
