PowerTour aims for people power

Speaking at its launch today (Wednesday) at Silverstone, PowerTour series director Roger Etcell said: "PowerTour is all about taking the sport to the audience. We are focussed on appealing to non-enthusiasts as well as established racing fans. We want to make PowerTour a day out, not just a race meeting."

PowerTour has re-profiled its championships for this season, with the Green Flag British Formula 3 and Privilege Insurance British GT championships continuing to headline the package but joined by a revamped support package of TVR Tuscans, Zetec Formula Ford, Porsche Cup and Ford Fiestas. British F3 will also change its format this year, with two races per race weekend.

The package will promote a new initiative called 'Ones to Watch', where selected drivers in each championship will be given a title and colour-coded identification. These will include 'Top Dog' for the championship leader who will feature a Tour de France-style yellow identification, a 'Hot Shot' for a pacesetter who has qualified lower than usual, and an 'Action Man' who is judged by the PowerTour panel to be the most spectacular driver in a series.

"We want to give the audience more ways of becoming involved," added Etcell. "By identifying key drivers to keep an eye on, we are confident that they will become more interested in the action and see how expert our panel claims to be."

Land and air-based stunt displays, on-event betting, autograph sessions and spectator circuit rides are other initiatives aimed at capturing the imagination of a new motorsport audience. PowerTour kicks off at Silverstone on March 31/April 1, and admission prices will be fixed at £15 per adult at each of its 13 rounds.