As most of you will have realised by now, DR has closed its doors and will no longer be publishing the features and videos that we’ve become so renowned for.

There has been plenty of speculation on other sites and forums about the reasons why this has occurred, and despite the first impressions that it must have been for financial reasons, nothing could be further from the truth. Thanks to your participation and the generous support of the automotive industry we were in rude health and looking forward to a bumper year, but differences in my vision about future priorities have led to a parting of ways.

I set up DR because I am genuinely passionate about the communities of car enthusiasts that I have been a part of for many years, my vision was to create a ‘republic’ empowering readers to influence the publishing agenda and bring you closer to the subject (and industry) that you had shown so much support towards.

This vision embraced communities, not just within DR but across the internet, my intention was to let you choose who you interacted with, the content you preferred to consume and provide a quality platform from which you could share your experiences.

I greatly enjoyed meeting and talking with many of you, awarding a bounty of competition prizes and providing rewarding experiences, as those of you who joined us on the GT3 Launch Event can attest. You the reader, have proven that if we treat you with respect then you reward us with a high-level of constructive and interesting feedback. You’ve proven many people wrong who thought it was impossible for brands to engage with users in a social community. That’s what I’m most proud of DR having achieved.

I for one will miss the banter, so I have set up a new community at www.skiddmark.com which will give those of you who wish to keep in touch somewhere to congregate. If there is demand then I will develop it further, but I certainly hope that the momentum we have built will live on in other communities and that car manufacturers will continue to discover new ways of engaging us and making the process of buying and owning cars fun.

Keep the faith, and thanks for all your support. It’s been a blast.

Steve