Sentence:  Race-drivers , on the other hand , are quite often killed on the circuit , and since it <WSD>was</WSD> obviously Mr. Remarque 's intention to establish automobile racing as life in microcosm , one might reasonably have expected him to demonstrate precise knowledge not only of techniques but of mores and attitudes . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)