Relevant Racing Is Better Racing For Everyone

Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today we have reports from Road & Track, The Daily Beast and Speedhunters.

More musings from Jack Baruth, and an excellent point. That whole, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" thing is overdue for a comeback.

Formula 1's biggest problem is getting, and keeping, manufacturer involvement. Its second-biggest problem is getting, and keeping, fan involvement. These two problems are not unrelated. When was the last time that some aspect of F1 had any relation whatsoever to street-car engineering? Was it when BMW determined that only "seasoned" blocks could hold the boost applied to the M12 turbo engine, prompting a mostly futile search for 320i coupes that had survived more than 75,000 miles without rusting into tiny piles of orange flakes?

Creepy, for sure. But haven't we all had creepy rides in taxis, too?

At the end of the ride, the Uber driver asked me if I had been near Lincoln Center a few hours earlier. I said I hadn't, since I didn't remember walking past there. Then he took out his iPad. "Really?" he asked. "Because you look like this girl." He turned the iPad around to face the back seat. To my surprise, I saw a full-length, close-up picture of me, wearing the workout clothes I'd had on an hour previously.

On a much happier note, a look inside a workshop just making powerful engines. And a nice story.

Across the UK, from industrial areas to garden sheds, there are people who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of performance in motorsport. Doing everything they can to find that extra tenth or hundredth of a second. In the south of England, not far from the M2, is a discreet premises where those inside are doing exactly that. Welcome to Connaught Competition Engines.

Photo: Getty Images