With the fifth iteration of dailysportscar.com now online it’s time to take a moment to consider the journey thus far.
It all began with one man, Malcolm Cracknell, who decided that if the existing media outlets weren’t going to do a proper job of covering his beloved endurance racing then he would do it instead. Grasping the opportunities offered by the then very, very new internet he did just that and SportscarWorld was born.
Together with a band of loyal friends around the world they reported the daily goings on in the sport and the industry, winning friends and influencing countless others that followed.
This very week in 2000 saw a near disaster as a corporate raid was mounted on the long-standing domain name by a Texan car dealer. Astoundingly Malcolm lost out, despite years of solid evidence of legitimate usage.
Supersportscarworld bridged a gap, then a rejuvenated Editorial team joined the hew for 2001 TotalMotorsport, expanding to cover BTCC matters in deference to the business owners other motorsport interest, a short-lived campaign with a pair of Lexus Touring cars.
That adventure ended at the end of the 2001 season and then a new plan was hatched Cracknell and long-time paddock mate John Brooks putting their heads together and inviting Graham Goodwin, by now a regular contributor, along for what would prove to be one hell of a ride!
2002 saw the launch of DailySportscar.com the trio, with a fourth partner, looking to break the mould, and it worked, a subscription model (again WAY before the mainstream media even thought about it) built up an income stream and allowed ever more professional standards to be applied.
Unfortunately the trio had not chosen their fourth partner wisely. A major technical failure revealed two things, that the person concerned had not been backing up the site, and that there was a substantial amount of money missing from the kitty.
That almost finished DSC, but a last ditch plan was hatched. Cracknell and Goodwin stayed aboard as Brooksie opted to move on. David Lord designed a stop-gap ‘New’ DSC that would see the operation through the crisis, and fourth new partner David Warnock supplied the finance and business know-how to navigate the good ship DSC into calmer waters.
2007 saw a first redesign, in the wake of the retirement of Malcolm from the Editor’s chair, ill-health forcing his hand.
Late 2012 saw version four, and the following year saw a tentative move to a free-to-view business model, later made permanent with the assistance of Nissan Motorsports sponsorship.
Throughout it all though we have retained the same basic principles:
- It’s always better to be best rather than first (though both is a nice place to be!)
- We leave ambulance-chasing clickbait to those who perhaps care more about numbers than people.
- And we ALWAYS remember that whilst this sport is a serious business for many, it’s supposed to fun along the way too.
DSC 5.0 though is more than just a single step forward. It is the starting gun to some major changes in the business, some will be seen very soon, others in the months and years to come.
DSC though is here to stay!
