Usually on a Thursday lunchtime in the Motor Sport office conversation revolves around the upcoming Grand Prix. Nowadays there seems to be a heavy slant towards Mercedes GP’s form after I made a £10 bet with art editor Damon Cogman that Michael Schumacher would win a race this year.

After a similar bet was made about Honda fighting for the World Championship in 2009, and said bet was dismissed when Honda was renamed Brawn, an actual contract (see below) has been drawn up this time. Trust is hard to come by at the Motor Sport office…

Anyway, today’s talk didn’t involve any racing as such because it was all based on an ITV drama called Midsomer Murders. Last year we got a call from the show’s production team, asking whether it could Photoshop some of our old covers to make it look like the racing drivers in an upcoming episode had featured in the magazine. We agreed of course, and having visited the set to watch a scene being filmed, forgot all about it.

However, while flicking through the channels last night I got a glimpse of Motor Sport on ITV. The penny dropped and I sat watching the rest of the episode, amazed at how much we actually featured in it! Apparently this isn’t the first time this has happened – deputy editor Gordon Cruickshank pointed out in our lunchtime discussion that you can find Pierce Brosnan reading a copy of Motor Sport in the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair.

Midsomer Murders has recently been in the news quite a lot because of rows over its lack of ethnical diversity, but it’s still watched by millions of people. So we shouldn’t have been surprised when we got a few e-mails today from readers saying that they’d seen it. One even commented: “That bit of ‘product placement’ in Midsomer Murders had all the exquisite subtlety of a wrecking ball. Nice to see the familiar green cover and relieved that our esteemed editor-in-chief hadn’t been found drowned in a barrel of Castrol ‘R’ before the episode’s end…”

We would have mentioned our starring role before, but we had no idea the coverage would be quite so prolific! If you missed it, then click here to view the programme on the ITV Player.

The contract:

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

The 2011 Motor Sport Hall of Fame was considered another huge success. Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Frank Williams, Jody Scheckter and Dario Franchitti were all inducted on the night and some 450 people came to watch, chat and of course, have a few glasses of champagne.

In case you couldn’t make it, here’s a small highlights reel to show you how it all happened.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Following the inaugural Motor Sport Hall of Fame event in early 2010, the prestigious awards evening will return to the Roundhouse in Camden, London, on Tuesday 15 February 2011. Celebrating and honouring the achievements of motor racing’s greatest luminaries, the event brings together a host of personalities from the sport.

The second annual Hall of Fame event, in association with TAG Heuer, takes place less than four weeks ahead of the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship, starting in March.

Already confirmed to attend the 2011 Hall of Fame, are two of Motor Sport Magazine’s existing Hall of Fame inductees – Sir Stirling Moss OBE and one of Britain’s most respected Grand Prix drivers, Tony Brooks.

Hosted by BBC Sport’s Jake Humphrey, the evening will be a gathering of names and faces, with celebrity guests joining legends from the world of motor racing, making it a highly memorable occasion for the next inductees due to be announced on the night.

Sir Stirling Moss explains what the Hall of Fame means to him, “I started reading Motor Sport avidly in 1947, or thereabouts, and I haven’t missed an issue since then. It’s an exceptionally good magazine. To be invited to the opening Motor Sport Hall of Fame event earlier this year, where I was awarded a founding membership, was an absolute delight for me. I can’t wait to attend again in 2011 and find out who the next inductees will be.”

Talking about the forthcoming awards, Motor Sport Magazine’s editor, Damien Smith, said, “The inaugural Motor Sport Hall of Fame event was a huge success. The evening has become a real highlight on the motor racing social calendar. Motor Sport Magazine is proud to present racing legends, which are an inspiration to our readers, with an accolade which pays tribute to their significant contributions to the sport.”

For further information, contact Debbie Beale at Jardine International:
Tel: +44 (0)20 8607 3907 / +44(0)7766 088 713
Email: debbie.beale@jardine-international.com

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Don’t miss out – subscribe today and make sure you get your collectors’ edition directly to your door! Please click here

Our October issue will be one to remember, a special edition that will feature Sir Stirling Moss as our guest editor to celebrate his forthcoming 80th birthday.

A collection of features to mark the occasion will make this issue unmissable, as Britain’s greatest racing driver takes his first desk job!

The highlights will include Stirling looking back at a selection of the rivals he raced against and the cars he drove during his 14-year career from 1948 to 1962, when a crash at Goodwood brought a premature end to his great career.

Since then, the Moss name has continued to resonate through the generations. Simon Taylor interviews him to discover how he has lived for 47 years as a retired racing driver.

We also feature an extract from Stirling’s new book, published by Haynes, in which he recounts every one of his 585 races. Our extract will focus on a month from his career to highlight the breadth and depth of races he could squeeze in during a four-week period.

Deputy editor Gordon Cruickshank interviews Ken Gregory, considered by many as the first professional driver manager – fittingly for the man considered to be the first professional racer in the modern sense.

We bring Stirling’s story right up to date with his new role as a star of childrens’ TV on Roary the Racing Car, while Nigel Roebuck reflects on Moss’s close friendship with Motor Sport’s famed Continental Correspondent Denis Jenkinson.

So don’t miss out – subscribe today and make sure you get your collectors’ edition directly to your door! Please click here

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine