User:M.Aspin/10 Tenths Motorsport
10 Tenths Motorsport is an auto racing discussion forum which was first started in May 1998 by Craig Antill. It is well respected in the motorsport world, featuring in magazines [1][2], books [3], and even with it's own radio show!
Initially the site comprised of a links directory and a discussion forum but soon expanded to offer a whole range of other services including a chat room, news and race reports, an email newsletter, a guide to F1, an 'On This Day In History' feature, an events calendar, cartoons, circuit guides and an online shop.
Early Days[edit]
The founder of the site states[4] that it was founded after he came across a software package from Gossamer Threads whilst looking for a package to power another site that he was working on. After he downloaded it he realised it would not do what he wanted it to do and so abandoned it whilst he continued work on his main project. Once that website was completed and online he looked again at the unused software and decided to create a private links directory to catalogue the websites which he visited. After a period of time he decided to specialise on motorsport and make the content available to all, as no-one else was offering that type of specialised content at that time.
Adding a discussion forum from Madrona Park/Infopop shortly after meant an increase in the number of regular visitors but it wasn't until the Christmas of 1998 when the whole thing really took off.
Development Of The Site[edit]
The site continued to go from strength to strength and became one of the very few that were approved to use the brand new VBulletin software which would soon become the industry standard.
Realising that there were numerous small niche motorsport websites with tiny forums of their own, Antill came up with the idea of co-branding the content of the 10 Tenths forum; serving the pages in a variety of different 'skins'. The idea was embraced by the authors of the VBulletin package and would become one of the major factors in the growth of 10 Tenths.
As time passed the discussion forum became the most popular area of the site and, with the advent of sites such as the Open Directory, the links directory was eventually phased out.
The site is split into individual forums focusing on a particular areas of motorsport, ranging from Formula One to NASCAR and motorcycle sport. There are also sections for marshals to plan and discuss events, forums to discuss motorsport related books, videos and computer games, and a general chat forum for members, known as Parc Fermé.
Royalridge Computing[edit]
In 2005 the site had grown to such a degree that it was no longer manageable by one person and, with server bills increasing, Antill came to the conclusion that, despite the continued financial assistance of Chris Yates, he was unable to continue running the site. With the real possibility of being forced to close down the site he was relieved when Grant MacDonald and Terri O'Leary of Royalridge Computing agreed to take over the running of the site.[1] In August 2006, Royalridge Computing spent around 2,400 euros upgrading to newer, better servers.[2]
Royalridge decided to streamline the site and focus their attention on the discussion forum, and now has over 20,000 members[3]. New projects have also been developed, such as The Motorsport Wiki (bringing back the circuit guides feature) and had its own radio show on Globecast Radio during the off-season of 2005/06. The site continues to have the 'On This Day In History' feature, an events calendar, and chat rooms.
References[edit]
- ^ Reference to Autosport magazine questionnaire
- ^ Racecar Engineering
- ^ "Only here for the beer" - Tribute edition (the biography of Gerry Marshall). Haynes, 2005, pp7-9
- ^ Need a quote from Craig