It’s been a while, but I’ve been working on a pretty special film. The Escort Cosworth is one of, if not my all-time favourite car. And I’ve driven one…for you!
It’s taken twenty years for Ford to bring out anything close to rivaling the ‘Cossie’ for performance and extravagance, but the company will tell you they’ve done just that with the Mk3 Focus RS. So of course, purely in the name of scientific balance (and poetry!), I got my hands on one of those too.
The results of my fairly-conducted, controlled scientific test of the two cars (yeah, right!) are, I suppose quite predictable. But there are a few things in there that you maybe wouldn’t expect. Or maybe you would. Either way, I met some great people, drove some great cars, and hopefully you’ll agree produced a great film all in the name of one of the most iconic cars that ever…err…lived.
Film lands soon. Here’s a trailer to get you excited…
Four days of eight hour live online TV broadcasts, with no content produced beforehand, and a team which assembles for the first time the night before go-live. As challenges go, this was a big one.
Formula Student is an international showcase for engineering talent, the likes of which will likely drive the future of the motoring, motorsport, aerospace and countless other industries. And thanks to an ambitious vision conceived by technical partner GKN Plc, and High Viz Media, the showcase was about to get a new, bigger, shinier stage.
My live TV experience, including historic motor racing grid walks for live online features, and the UK round of the World Rally Championship prepared me well for teaming up with one of the most exciting female presenters in the world of motorsport, Alexandra Legouix. Alex’s experience presenting live coverage of the World Touring Car Championship meant we could both hit the ground running, so to speak.
Thanks to a hugely talented TV crew, headed up by Nick Collier from High Viz, and an incredibly passionate team on-hand from GKN, we did exactly that, and one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced as a presenter, resulted in one of the biggest successes I’ve enjoyed so far in my career.
Formula Student itself is a stunning spectacle of motorsport, engineering, and sportsmanship, and among the teams to have traveled from places as far as Sri Lanka, India and Australia, I was delighted to see my own home university team represented; Hull University fielding a car.
With over 150 teams, spanning more than 30 countries, and attendance from motoring heavyweights, including Head of Scuderia Ferrari F1 R&D, Nick Collett and Autocar Editor in Chief, Steve Cropley, together with some of the top execs from GKN, Formula Student 2016 felt like a big deal.
We had tens of thousands of viewers join us over the four day event, with thousands of hours of content watched, enough Twitter action to sink a large (and brilliant) ship, and one of the most heart felt farewell wraps I have ever experienced as part of a TV crew. To the viewers, and to everyone who helped make the live TV stream what it became; thank you.
I’ll leave you with my gallery of the event, my video blog with the Hull University Formula Student Team, and the live TV streams, which remain on YouTube for you to relive all the action from Formula Student 2016.
The excitement is starting to build for the Grand Tour, which is the new home for the ‘Top Gear’ threesome, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
We won’t have to wait long to see what antics they can get up to with a proper budget and creative freedom. I’m also excited for another reason.
You might have heard about their online motoring channel, which the three presenters have announced will run alongside the Grand Tour, providing a one-stop-shop for motoring media online. It’s called Drive Tribes.
Well, Clarkson Hammond and May (tried abbreviating them; didn’t look right) recently launched a talent search to find ‘Tribe Leaders’, who could creatively build and maintain a channel, and budding Hammond lookalikes (?) were invited to pitch their ideas for a channel, together with examples to prove they have what it takes.
Tonight, I got a very exciting email, letting me know that I’ve been selected as a ‘Tribe’ Leader.
There isn’t a lot of information at the moment, but if you want to read more, check out http://www.drivetribe.com.
I have to say though, I will be sad to hang up my leather jacket and park up the Series One Landrover if this means I have to stop my Richard Hammond tribute show.
How was your summer? I know I know, but it does at times feel like summer was only one day this year, doesn’t it?
However, we are promised more sunny weather, so the prospect of having some affordable summer fun in a convertible might just appeal. Particularly when, if you buy right, a sports car has the potential to be an easy short-term investment.
My latest motoring column in lifestyle magazine, LOCO features my top three picks for affordable top-down motoring. If affordable isn’t necessarily in the brief however, there’s also an article on the new Ferrari 488 Spider, and the latest super yacht. You can read my column in the latest edition of LOCO Magazine, HERE.
And while we’re at it, here’s an Italian drop-top that won’t break the bank…
July is a big month, with several events and TV shows that I’m working on, including Formula Student at Silverstone. It’s quite fitting then, that the first show of the month should be a big one.
The Historic Sports Car Club (HSCC) celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2016, and I’m presenting a series of TV programmes with SSTV to mark this big year in the world of historic motorsport. You’ll find content from the first even at Castle Combe, here.
The latest show took me to Brands Hatch for the ‘Super Prix’, a track I’ve only ever visited on a Playstation before (!), and wow did it deliver. Fantastic racing action and a chance to get a feel for the track with a sighting lap before the action got underway.
Among the highlights of the weekend were the Super Touring Cars (it wasn’t just me who grew up wanting to drive a Vauxhall Cavalier on two wheels, was it?), and the Derek Bell Trophy for ex Formula One and F5000 cars. I also got to interview on TV former BRM and Williams F1 driver, Howden Ganley.
But the overriding highlight of the day had to be a demonstration run (and subsequent competitive outing) for the 1977 MP26 McLaren which James Hunt drove in Marlboro / Texaco livery as he attempted to defend his, now infamous 1976 championship winning year.
If you haven’t been to a race track for years, or indeed if you’ve never been before, the HSCC provides a supreme mix of heritage and wheel-to-wheel action that will leave the whole family breathless at times. You can find more details about the club’s race calendar, here.
The full show comes out on TV and online on 6th August, so look out on Twitter for full details of where you can catch the action, and for teasers. For now, I’ll leave you with some live content, and photos from behind-the-scenes.
No, I’m not talking about Bluetooth or automated driver entertainment systems.
I’m talking about my big vision; the reason I do all this stuff I do.
I’m a petrolhead, there’s no denying it. But some of the best conversations I’ve had about cars have been with people who would not in a million years refer to themselves in such a ‘vulgar’ way.
For me, creating motoring content is not just something I do to (hopefully!) entertain fellow petrolheads. That’s why you won’t see me producing straight car reviews.
What I want to do is engage with everyone, using the story of cars. And it’s a vision I share with leading independent motor dealer group, D.M. Keith.
You may have read my recent column in LOCO Magazine, in which I set out my thoughts on how car dealers should engage with people beyond simply the process of buying a car.
I’m currently working on a pilot social media series with D.M. Keith which centres around their dealership, their cars, but most importantly their people.
You can watch a trailer for the upcoming series, which I’m filming and producing entirely on iPhone and iPad, below.
I hope you’re joining me on a long, and very exciting journey in reading this, because I’ve got a lot of ideas for how to make this work.
If you’re as passionate about motorsport, and motoring in general as I am, you’ll no doubt be interested in what the guys over at Spinal Track are doing.
They’re ensuring that a motorsport experience exists for as many people as possible, even those for whom daily life may be more a struggle than for most, owing to physical injuries or disabilities.
You’ll surely have heard of Nathalie McGloin, who following an accident has a complete spinal injury. Despite this, armed with her trusty hand controls, she races a Porsche Cayman S in the Porsche Club Championship.
Nathalie is not only an inspiration to both disabled and able bodied petrolheads everywhere, she is also a visible presence in British motorsport, and as such a superb ambassador for lady competitors. (And no-one would argue the balance still needs addressing there!)
Nathalie is joined by race and rally driver Andrew Bayliss in running the charity, which aims to provide a track driving experience to as many physically disabled people as possible. But of course, like any charity, Spinal Track does need our help to do its great work. Unlike a lot of charities though, you’ll actually get something back in honour of your support.
While I wouldn’t advocate giving to a charitable cause simply to get something in return, receiving a Spinal Track sock monkey does allow me to display my support with pride, and hopefully inspire some of you to also support the project.
To find out more about Spinal Track, and the ways in which you can support their work, visit the website, HERE. Do check out the site, or follow them on Twitter @spinal_track and be inspired.
My video blogging adventure at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last week was the first full video blog commission I have done. Or at least it is the first time I have visited an event with that sole purpose in mind.
So of course, it was both interesting and valuable to monitor the reach and exposure I was able to offer the brands I was working with one the day.
With over 10,000 followers and connections across the various social media platforms and accounts I work with, I’m able to leverage a consistently high number of engagements, but crucially, exposure puts this reach to the test in highlighting how relevant my content is to these people.
During the period on and immediately following my one-day attendance at Goodwood, this website was achieving an average of over 500 new visitors a day. The majority of this traffic was linked from Twitter posts, with some evidence of signposting from YouTube, Facebook and Periscope.
The hashtag #VPowerBlog which I set up on Twitter reached 232,394 users, with 505,234 impressions. This gives an exposure ratio of 54% between June 23-27th. See the infographic (provided by Keyhole) for more information. The hashtag had no use before this date, showing the power of a healthy mix of content and wide ranging delivery across multiple platforms.
Interestingly, the demographic of the hashtag engagement was entirely made up of male users. Perhaps next time I should find Jenson Button for a selfie?!
You can view all the video content from the #VpowerBlog HERE, together with the photo gallery HERE and my extended blog and car review of the hydrogen powered Toyota Mirai HERE.
This all adds up to a positive impact for Shell V Power, and Toyota GB, adding significantly to the value they were able to achieve from their investment in attending the event. I was proud to represent both these brands, and I’m brimming with ideas if your motoring brand needs some positive exposure at future events.
Well, now that the dust has settled on an incredible experience at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, thanks to Shell and Toyota, I thought I’d put my full #VPowerBlog series together in one place.
You can read a more in-depth review of the hydrogen powered Toyota Mirai HERE, and view my gallery from the event, HERE.
If you haven’t read my #VPowerBlog from the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which I attended as a guest of Shell and Toyota, you can view it HERE.
The amount of motorsport history, and the variety and quality of the machinery on display was absolutely staggering. Actually too much to take in, in one go. I guess that just means I’ll have to go next year, too.
For now, here’s a selection of images I snapped while I was creating my video blog content around the site.
It’s taken twenty years for Ford to bring out anything close to rivaling the ‘Cossie’ for performance and extravagance, but the company will tell you they’ve done just that with the Mk3 Focus RS. So of course, purely in the name of scientific balance (and poetry!), I got my hands on one of those too.
Paul Woodford 
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