ON
TRACK WITH RICK PEARSON
By Rick Pearson
Hello and welcome to the first of my columns for 2001. Despite the lack of votes for my articles last year, the powers-that-be have decided someone, somewhere must be reading this stuff and given me another chance! If you want me to continue though, please go to Parc Ferme and put a vote in at the end (and make it a high one!) I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year.
The off-season
for a driver is often far more stressful than the season itself as you
try and scrape together the budget for the year to come. Whilst at the
time of writing, I have yet to secure funding for 2001 (more of which
in future articles), I am glad to see that my teammate from last year,
Jim Edwards Jr, has secured himself a drive in a Honda in the Production
class.
Jim is that rare talent: a driver who is quick enough to beat all comers
when he has to, but also able to stay out of trouble and put together
a Championship challenge. I hope all readers will join me in following
Jim's season in what is basically a low budget privateer effort. I think
with his talent and a proven car he should hit the ground running and
with the limited amount of testing allowed might even be able to hold
onto that advantage despite his car being a year old and not quite cutting
edge. I will be reporting back on Jim's progress in future articles, but
for now I wish him well!
The other highlight of the off-season was the Autosport International Show at the NEC. Although the show is a shadow of its former self when Formula 1 teams used to unveil their new challengers on a regular basis, it is still a great place to catch up with all the people I know in the sport and this year, pay homage to Murray and Foggy! 2001's show was a little different for me as I had a personal appearance on the British Motor Racing Marshals stand and some journalistic obligations as well. The personal appearance was low-key, but it never hurts to keep the marshals sweet as it is them that comes to get you when you are sat in the wreckage trying to remember what day of the week it is!Fortunately I was not as low key as the other special guest, Jason Plato, who apparently failed to show up. Wouldn't go crashing that Astra next year Jason.
On the journalistic side, I was earmarked for an interview with a delightful journalist who I had had the pleasure of trying to scare at the Charity day last year. However, she showed up armed not with a pen and paper but with an entire camera crew needing to film footage for Sky and Granada. Fortunately, this footage seemed to be more to promote her than me and she seemed a whole lot more nervous that I was!
Amusingly, a crowd gathered as soon as the camera's lights were switched on and although it didn't take them too long to work out I was a complete unknown, it made it a whole lot harder to concentrate on the questions being asked, especially as the interviewer was squeezing me hard enough to cut off my blood supply in her anxiety! I am sure I came across as a bit distracted, but it has to be better than my interview with Channel 4 at Snetterton last year.
Catching us as we got out of the cars after a hugely entertaining night race, I did a great impression of a deer in headlights with my eyes bulging from the adrenaline. As vain as it might seem, it makes a hell of a difference how you come across on camera if you avoid a few of the pitfalls and this is what matters to sponsors (and vain racing drivers). Rick's top tip for not looking like a complete wally on the podium is to put a curve in the brow of the ELF cap we get handed to us. You'll see the Formula 1 drivers doing exactly the same thing with their tyre manufacturers caps as they head for the podium as the square brim on a round face can look very odd! I solved this problem at Brands by throwing the cap to the marshals at Druids as we were on the podium truck so it was long gone before the television crew got to us.
No such worry at the Autosport show where there was not a lot of adrenaline (apart from the proximity of the rather sexy and under-dressed interviewer), and certainly no rogue baseball caps. That's all for this week as I must press on with the sponsor hunt if I am to be out there this season.
Next week, I'll talk more on this Search for Sponsorship.