PRO ANNUAL 2018

on the look-out for interesting stories about sportspeople in their region. Generating media coverage isn’t always easy. It takes bit of persistence on your part and an interest in motorsport from the journalist in question. Most of all though it needs to be an interesting story. A lap by lap account of how you trailed home in ninth place isn’t going to have any radio station rushing to book you for an interview. ‘Local driver breaks through for a maiden win” has a far greater chance of appearing in the sports pages of your local paper. So, get out there and meet the press … and interact with the fans as well. After all, the fans are the lifeblood of any sport. Not only do they travel for miles and spend their hard-earned pennies to watch you race but they are the very people who those all-important sponsors are trying to reach. Drivers are the most visible face of motorsport so use that visibility to your advantage. Social media is a fantastic tool for doing just that and it enables you to shape exactly how you’re seen without your image being filtered through a journalist’s perceptions. It’s a tool that needs handling with care though. There are plenty of reasons for drivers to be fighting against each other but the ones that should matter are the battles you have out on track, not the ones that rage over social media. They’re undoubtedly entertaining for onlookers but not what your team, your championship or your sponsors want to see. So how can a driver help themselves to get the exposure their sponsors demand, get the kind of exposure that benefits rather than detracts from their reputation and build a loyal fan base for themselves? That’s where training comes in. Training is now recognised as an integral part of every racing driver’s life. The days when weight lifting for drivers involved raising a few pints in the bar after the race are long gone. Beneath every modern professional driver’s race suit lies a serious athlete honed through hours in the gym and miles on the bike. Simulators are increasingly employed to perfect on-track skills via virtual training laps and many top stars employ sports psychologists to sharpen their minds and focus their goals. The same approach applies when it comes to the media. Don’t just take it from me though. As nine-times Grand Prix winner and FIA World Endurance Champion Mark Webber puts it: “It’s a no-brainer that working with the press is a huge part of being a driver. Understanding how the media operates and learning how to work with them is essential if you want to make it to the top of your game.” So, what does media training involve? First and foremost, it’s not about turning racing drivers into PR machines who give bland quotes and gratuitously name-check their sponsors. That’s not what I want to hear when I approach a driver with a microphone and it’s not what the public wants to watch on their televisions either. We want memorable personalities with original comments who aren’t afraid to speak their own minds. Dull quotes and worn clichés won’t get you column inches in a newspaper >> “Social media is a fantastic tool for doing just that and it enables you to shape exactly how you’re seen without your image being filtered through a journalist’s perceptions” Top left: Formula 4 drivers training at Donington Park Above: : FIA F3 drivers honing their media skills at a training session in Hungary PRO ANNUAL 2018 17