Ben Collins drives RB Toyota Cup Car!

[JovialJooles]

I tend to agree with Nick. Ben would get eaten alive. Look at how Montoya faired this season when he cut up drivers.

As to him not mentioning ASCAR, let's remember he isn't editing the articles or the film excerpt...

[a.howes700]

Many thanks to Alfa Fan and Henry Cutts for directing me to the interesting Ben Collins interview on Autosport TV. I couldn't find it at first because it was titled 'Video', not 'TV'.

[Jeff Carter]

I'm probably going to get shot down in flames for this but I have to ask everyone here - why should Ben mention ASCAR / DoT / SCSA?

He is a professional driver and has raced in plenty of high level championships. He isn't paid to promote individual series long after he finished driving there. As the British GT PR Manager did I get upset when he didn't mention the fact he finished as Vice Champion in British GT when he did an interviewed on TV for the FIA GT championship? No, because I didn't expect him to.

Yes he won the DoT championship but would it impress the NASCAR boys if he told them that? The answer is no and he would have sounded like a pretentious, know-it-all, European thinking that he could go to the States and drive an 800 bhp stock car on a short oval just because he drove ASA cars at Rockingham if he had of done.

The team would know of his previous racing experience long before they let him near the car, so there is no need to mention it. A bit of humility and a willingness to learn came across loud and clear in the video.

As for Autosport not mentioning SCSA. Well that is when you need a good PR person making sure your message is getting to the right people in the media

As another example - I ran a story on the British F3 series website about Nelson Piquet Jnr signing for Renault F1. As the 2004 British F3 Champion this is great news for the championship and I put an F3 spin on any stories relating to this signing when I can.

However you can be sure Piquet wont mention once what a great series British F3 is and, despite how much I would want him to do so, I wouldn't expect him to mention it either. 2006 F3 Champion Mike Conway is a test driver for Honda F1 and 2007 champion Marko Asmer is on the verge of signing for BMW Sauber but like Piquet I don't expect them to dwell on British F3 much if at all but I will use this to promote British F3 as the world's leading Formula 3 category.

In the real world professional racing drivers only say and do what they are paid to say and do. You can't expect Ben or anyone else to be an ambassador for a championship unless you are willing to pay them. The best thing that can happen is for Ben to get a drive in the States and you can use that as a story to promote the V8's by pointing out the fact a past champion has stepped up to the big league.

Jeff

[racing59]

As for Autosport not mentioning SCSA. Well that is when you need a good PR person making sure your message is getting to the right people in the media

I know you're busy Jeff........ but.....

Seriously though, you're right with what you said.

I won't say I bombarded Autosport with releases, but I did send quite a few, especially when I set up "Team Air Ambulance" with the intention of raising money and awareness for the various air ambulance charities in England & Wales. The response from them ...... zilch. I even chatted at length with a motorsport news reporter at one of our meetings, she was most enthusiastic about getting a bit in the paper about it..... nothing. The reason "the editor didn't think it was worth printing".

Had I been Fred Bloggs in the "Non-descript Fits All Saloons" series, and I wanted to tell the world that I'd pumped my tyres up by another 2psi and changed the plugs, finding 0.0000001s per lap at the 'recently ignored by the public' meeting at Anglesey", it would have been in print for all to see.

It make I wound up!

Must try harder this year.

[Nick Brad]

You are right Jeff in that he's under no obligation to promote us, but when talking about his past experience in the film he could have mentioned how he'd done some oval racing in the past and how it differed from the Nextel, (now sprint,) cup car instead of pretending he'd never done anything remotely like it.
I too would be disappointed if I was in your shoes Jeff about him not mentioning his British GT success. In my eyes, I think drivers should give a little nod towards their past experience and successes, it doesn't hurt them and those series undoubtedly gave help to the drivers on their way up the ladder.

[Old Stock Nut]

Jeff, I haven't got a problem with the bits he did on camera with the crew chief. That was truly the time to be humble and although he was a bit scripted, he did come over humble. My gripe was when he was effectively talking to camera to UK subscribers. Since the car was so similar, at least in looks, to the one he drove here, I would have expected him to at least refer to his time driving at the top on the big oval at Rockingham by way of comparison, no more. It was vey clear that the piece was very heavily scripted, so I doubt if he had much input anyway. I do hope he can eventually make it in NASCAR for two reasons. One, it would help to give NASCAR a bit more exposure over here and make it easier for me to follow it and two, it would show that the UK series could act a a bit of a feeder to the the lower rungs on the US ladder.

At least you could see his face when he had his helmet on in this piece....

[Jeff Carter]

I know you're busy Jeff........ but.....

Seriously though, you're right with what you said.

I won't say I bombarded Autosport with releases, but I did send quite a few, especially when I set up "Team Air Ambulance" with the intention of raising money and awareness for the various air ambulance charities in England & Wales. The response from them ...... zilch. I even chatted at length with a motorsport news reporter at one of our meetings, she was most enthusiastic about getting a bit in the paper about it..... nothing. The reason "the editor didn't think it was worth printing".

Had I been Fred Bloggs in the "Non-descript Fits All Saloons" series, and I wanted to tell the world that I'd pumped my tyres up by another 2psi and changed the plugs, finding 0.0000001s per lap at the 'recently ignored by the public' meeting at Anglesey", it would have been in print for all to see.

It make I wound up!

Must try harder this year.

Rob

One thing I have learnt about Autosport and MN is that they hate stories about sponsors, even if your sponsor is a charity. Alex Waters in BF3 last year raised £150K for ClicSargent and I managed to get just a few lines out of Autosport. They don't even name check championship title sponsors in race reports, something that really hacks me off when you consider that most of the top levels of UK motorsport couldn't function without such sponsorship and the journalists would quickly out of a job if there wasn't any motorsport wouldn't they.

My advice is to do something outrageous, such as try and break the world record for the number of donuts in a minute or a similar stunt in aid of the Air Ambulance. Then get a journo from MN to join you in the passenger seat when you do the attempt and offer them the story as an exclusive. I can't guarantee that it'll get you loads of column inches but it will help build those bridges if nothing else.

Make sure you get to know your MN and Autosport representatives and make sure they get to know all of the interesting, behind the scenes stories around the paddock. Don't treat the journalists with suspicion, invite them in for coffee and a bacon roll and just talk to them. The journalists on the ground don't have a lot of clout at Haymarket, especially if they are freelancers, but they have to fill a quota of column inches and the better the stories you let them know about the better the coverage you'll receive.

I've been looking after the Mini 7 Racing Club PR for two years now and I have been busting my gut to get them some decent coverage in MN despite the fact that the Se7ens and Miglias provide some of the best on track action in the UK. In 2007 I finally made a breakthrough and the coverage has increased by 200% but it has taken a lot of behind the scenes effort to get this far.

It is easier for F3 / GT because these championships are two of the three major UK championships (BTCC being the other) and to a degree MN and Autosport have to report on these series. But I don't take that coverage for granted and I work as hard for the two/ three pages we get after each meeting as I do for all of my other clients.

I don't have all the answers, but I will always put in a good word when I have the opportunity for both SCSA and for Rockingham.

Jeff

[Old Stock Nut]

Rob

I rememeber Jeff giving us some figures a few years ago about the number of petrol heads in the UK and it was not very large (if my memory is right it was well under 100K in the UK), hence the push for non-motorsport angles at the Rock in his time there. I wonder how many people actually buy and read Autosport/MN other than when they are waiting for torture at the dentists or doctors? And how many of those who do buy it are already in that petrol head count? Going back to your "slightly" religious angle - you are not likely to increase attendance at the church on Sunday by advertising the times of the services in the Parish Mag.

What we need to do is push the boundaries a bit and find out who we are trying to bring in and how best to do that. If it is families, how do they get their information other than from TV because obviously that is well over our price bracket. Maybe Denis the Menace should be driving an ASCAR, or would it be Billy Whiz? I am out of touch with the lads mags these days, but I would guess they have trouble filling the pages at times and a few big muscle cars burning the rubber might fill the bill? And is there any way to use the Hammond factor on the Air Ambulance? Have you tried to get him interested. Perhaps the BBC Health & Safety people could be convinced to let him have a ride in the two seater for Top Gear?

Brian

[racing59]

I've tried the Hammond factor. His agents are very protective! Still trying through devious means...

Is there a two seater left running? They have two wrecks, at least!

And the kid's favourite is "Roary The Racing Car", where no. 88 is "Tin Top" the American car, who keeps hitting the wall and getting a black eye/fat lip.
We tried to get "Roary" along to a meeting last year, but they were already booked up. As I understand it, Colin White stood in for "Tin Top" at the Autosport show on the "Roary The Racing Car" stand in Hall 10.

Yes, we need to push the boundaries.

I still have things up my sleeve for this year, and I now have some more tentative dates to work with, so I can plan a bit more "overt" work!

Team Air Ambulance is still running this year, and I have the head start of knowing most of my contacts. We raised about £750 last year (still waiting on some money which was promised), which isn't a lot, but considering we didn't really start fundraising until June, and were all "done" by September...

Lots to do. I'd better get on!

Rob.

[Jeff Carter]

Rob

I rememeber Jeff giving us some figures a few years ago about the number of petrol heads in the UK and it was not very large (if my memory is right it was well under 100K in the UK), hence the push for non-motorsport angles at the Rock in his time there. I wonder how many people actually buy and read Autosport/MN other than when they are waiting for torture at the dentists or doctors? And how many of those who do buy it are already in that petrol head count? Going back to your "slightly" religious angle - you are not likely to increase attendance at the church on Sunday by advertising the times of the services in the Parish Mag.

What we need to do is push the boundaries a bit and find out who we are trying to bring in and how best to do that. If it is families, how do they get their information other than from TV because obviously that is well over our price bracket. Maybe Denis the Menace should be driving an ASCAR, or would it be Billy Whiz? I am out of touch with the lads mags these days, but I would guess they have trouble filling the pages at times and a few big muscle cars burning the rubber might fill the bill? And is there any way to use the Hammond factor on the Air Ambulance? Have you tried to get him interested. Perhaps the BBC Health & Safety people could be convinced to let him have a ride in the two seater for Top Gear?

Brian

You are dead right. Local press is the key with good interesting stories. However don't ignore MN and Autosport because they are important too. The V8's need to build bridges with the rest of UK motorsport and the best way to do this is working with the Motorsport media.

When Ashley Pover arrived at Rockingham in 2002, I gave him a guided tour and as we looked out over Rockingham from the top of the main grandstand he asked me about the best way to promote the venue in the media. I said we had to target local media within a 30-mile radius because this was the key to get a large crowd. I pointed out that you could fit every person who bought a copy of Motorsport News into the venue and still have 20,000 seats left over. I believe that figure would be nearer 30,000 today.

The Motorsport media are important to any race series but they are certainly not the only avenue - why do you think I got Top Gear, 5th Gear, Scrapheap Challenge, Bargain Hunt, the Holiday programme and Top of the Pops to film at Rockingham? Great exposure in a far, far larger market!

However the stories have to be good to attract such coverage and putting Richard Hammond in an ASCAR would be thrown out before Andy Wilman (Top Gear Editor) had finished reading the first word. It has to be a grand stunt of some description to be worthy of Top Gear coverage. Know your target and come up with ideas that fits with their thinking!

Blimey, I'll be giving away all my secrets before the end of the night at this rate!

Jeff