I love watching F1.
With the new season about to warm up and behind the scenes manoeuvering for drivers and suppliers mostly concluded, it looks very sunny for the season. But is there a shadow about to be cast over the sport?
It’s a multi-billion pound industry behind the sport with a lot to be gained and money to be made. What does that remind you of?
Cycling, athletics, horse-racing, international football & tennis possibly draw comparisons.
They have all come into the spotlight over recent years for unusual activity, drug use, alleged result fixing and incentives to move events to locations.
I was just sitting down the other day watching the latest claims being put forward and returned in a limp-wristed bit of tennis-PR and thought “that wouldn’t happen in F1”.
Certainly, the PR operation is as slick as the sport and we know that over the years there have been attempts at exposure and journalists trawling through F1 affairs, but the latest intensity being applied to other sports may generate yet another investigation, possibly by MEPs and EU Commission this time.
The secretive world of F1 and the engineering technology which it entails are both fascinating and frustrating, sometimes for the drivers and spectators as well as the head-scratching teams trying to make up that 0.001 of a second to get ahead of rivals.
F1 does on the surface appear to police itself very well and provide a level playing field, and I would not suggest there is any criminal activity going on, but there are some who think it needs to be more open than it is, to show its whiter than white.
We will just have to see what comes out in any wash.
DD2016 is being planned in earnest and the event in early June at our familiar Castle Combe venue is already attracting interest from manufacturers, so thanks for this early support.
The organising commmittee is looking at a few added-value aspects of the day this year which should have even better reasons for PRs to attend with their latest models.
More on this in due course, but watch out for the updates being sent by Alyson Marlow over the next few weeks.
Robin Roberts | Chairman WGMW
Robin is the longest serving chairman of The Western Group. He's been vice chairman or chairman for over ten years and oversees the annual Western Group PR Driving Day each summer assisted by the group committee and supported by group members.
He contributes to a number of outlets in Wales and the UK, including the Driving Force editorial syndication agency feeding the biggest regional news and feature publishers in Britain.
Robin specialises in the Welsh automotive sector and motor related businesses with interests in Wales and publishes WheelsWithinWales.uk which covers news, features, trade and motor sport in Wales.
