ON
TRACK WITH RICK PEARSON No. 39
By Rick Pearson
Another column with a difference this week as I turn over the reigns to my dedicated Press Officer, Rebecca. Once voted the person in the Mark Fish team most likely to "Make it in Motor Racing" (to the disgust of the drivers), she will open the lid for you on the glamorous world of Driver PR. And whilst I am desperate to edit her musings to remove the various elements of slander or add a defensive comment here or there, she has to tolerate my columns as they are written so I will therefore refrain from censorship! So here she is: Rebecca Appleton Uncut:
As Rick's press officer, I'm often asked how I got my job. I always reply that two days after meeting and interviewing Rick for this web site, I managed to persuade him that yes; he really DID need someone to help raise his profile. At this point, the person who's asking the question (probably amazed at how simple it all seems) goes on to wonder how much I get paid. The first couple of times this happened, I explained that I got paid well and enjoyed my job. However, I soon began to notice that no one paid the slightest bit of attention to my answer.
Now, I recognise the warning signs; Cogs whirling, eyes narrowed, friendly smile. What we've actually been building up to is 'do I need any help'? Now, I know Rick gets more than his fair share of coverage but he's really not that much of a social butterfly! Who ever heard of one driver, ten press officers? Although he has been known to suggest that we allow the female element to do work experience with us, I've so far managed to stand my ground. It's a press officer's prerogative to pull rank in times of crisis you know! While it's my responsibility to promote Rick and his racing as best and as often as I can there are times when I suspect that he wonders what the hell he's gotten himself into.
Believe it or not, he hates writing about himself (talking is a different matter of course) so I can only imagine his look of horror when I suggested that he write this column. When I did finally park him in front of a keyboard, he was a natural.
Some of our more successful promotional ventures have included university lectures, personal appearances and charity days. Despite Rick's claims to the contrary, giving hapless Italians a helping hand into the nearest gravel trap at Magny-Cours was not in fact, a cunning publicity stunt on my behalf - yes, after escaping the wrath of the Clerk of the Course he did let it be known that I'd told him to do it!
As Rick's been racing in Europe this season, my workload has been light in terms of actual race attendance. On race weekends, the most taxing thing I'm called upon to do is keep his supporters abreast of any developments in qualifying and then post the results on the web site.
It's a different matter as soon as he returns on the Monday following the race as there are press releases and race reports to write, members of the media to speak to, sponsors to inform and a web site to update.
Rick and the team's European globetrotting has resulted in one extra job for me - team language teacher! As I speak Spanish and Italian, I'm often called upon to provide key phrases for the weekend ahead. While Rick's engineer, Bob approached the situation practically with a list of useful questions; I need only provide the driver with one or two phrases. Most importantly for Rick following his first encounter with the contact happy world of V6 racing was "Quisiera presentar una queja sobre (drivers name). Mia abuela es una pilota mejor." Roughly translated- "I want to make a complaint about (drivers name). My granny is a better driver than he is."
Now when Rick goes racing, I'm content with the knowledge that I'll undoubtedly be entertained with stories of fireworks in the Clerk of the Course's office upon his return to England! Ironically, this season has actually been busier than last when it comes to the pre and post-race build up due to the success of our promotional and marketing programmes. On the plus side, this means that a/ I must be doing a good job and b/ we get invited to take part in all sorts of things.
I've already explained how it's a press officer's privilege to take charge whenever she sees fit, so it'll come as no surprise to learn that I insist on vetting the invitations just in case there's anything I'd also like to attend! It's intensely satisfying for me when we are invited to a function as a result of my hard work.
Top of the list for this season has to be the Cranfield University Automotive Design Presentations. Alongside major industry players such as Sir Jackie Stewart, Adrian Reynard and Dave Richards, seats were reserved for Rick and I at the request of the department head. This came about due to a lecture Rick gave at the university regarding the importance of the relationship between the driver and his race engineer.
Earlier this year, I also arranged for Rick to test out a new kart track in Central London prior to it's official opening. He made such an impression on the management - no doubt regaling them all with tales of monster power slides at the second hairpin- that we were invited back for the opening night party. Despite the promise of several B-list celebrities, Rick went off to Spa for his race and I sent another driver along. But at least I can now say entirely truthfully that I was once invited to a showbiz bash!
Apart from the sometimes glitz and glamour, the most rewarding part of the job is undoubtedly being part of a team. I'm lucky in that when I began working for Rick, I was also given the opportunity to work for Mark Fish Motorsport. As most of you will already know, Mark Fish are the 2000 Elf Clio Renaultsport UK Cup team and driver champions. Mark is also one of the best team bosses in the paddock and the rest of the race squad - Bob, Tony and 'little' Mark- work equally hard.
With a bout of impeccable timing, I arrived in the team shortly before they secured both titles. The post-race, post-championship, end of season party at Silverstone two weeks later was fantastic. It's not all parties and social functions though. With the end of the season almost upon us, the hard work actually starts here.
In addition to the ceaseless rounds of promotion, preparation, networking, reporting and marketing that continues year round, we're already in the thick of our sponsor search.Most of the responsibility for this falls to me and while it's extremely hard work and occasionally disheartening, it's a crucial part of my job. It's also a task I relish. If I see Rick out racing next season with even one logo on his car that I was responsible for finding, then I will have done what I'm paid to do. Most importantly, I will have done it to the best of my abilities.
At the moment we're struggling to find the budget to compete in the final round of the Renaultsport Clio Trophy, due to take place at Estoril next month but we do have one more outing planned- the Snetterton Charity Day on 11th November. In addition to making sure that media, sponsors and potential sponsors have all been invited and confirmed, I've also been busily arranging media coverage for our part in the event plus cameras and other bits and pieces that'll remain a surprise for the moment.
Apart from the freezing conditions, last season's event was memorable for all the right reasons. Every single passenger enthused about his or her ride. Much to Rick's chagrin he didn't actually manage to scare anyone, not even Bob whose ride was made all the more 'interesting' with the sudden - worrying I would have thought- appearance of smoke in the car! Rest assured, Rick's already plotting ways to rectify this total miscarriage of justice. Rick will be back for next week's column, but I hope to see you all at Snetterton in a few weeks time. Rebecca.