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GP2 News
Bridgestone e-reporter finalist Olivier Cougard from Lille
27/06/2008
Bridgestone, exclusive tyre supplier to the GP2 Series, announced the nine finalists of the 2008 Bridgestone e-reporter young journalists’ competition at the beginning of the GP2 season. In 2008, the e-reporter contest celebrates its fifth anniversary and Olivier Cougard, from Lille in France, attended the French Grand Prix (21-22 June) to report on the GP2 Series as one of the finalists in this year’s pan-European contest, for students aged 18-30.
Each of the nine e-reporter finalists, who have aspirations to be professional journalists, are given the opportunity during the year to attend and report on a GP2 Series race weekend for the Bridgestone website, www.bridgestone.eu/e-reporter. Olivier was the third e-reporter to submit race reports, working over the race weekend in Magny Cours.
Bridgestone e-reporter is strongly linked to the GP2 Series, the feeder series to Formula One. While GP2 was created to provide gifted young drivers with the chance to make their way to the pinnacle of motorsport, e-reporter was brought to life to support the talented young journalists of tomorrow.
During the French Grand Prix weekend Olivier interviewed star drivers in the GP2 paddock, including Saturday’s feature race winner Giorgio Pantano, and Sunday’s sprint race winner Sébastien Buemi.
Commenting on his invaluable experience, Olivier said, “This weekend in Magny Cours has been one of the most exciting and amazing experiences in my entire life. I was surprised by the kindness of everyone in the GP2 paddock. During the three days I have been surrounded by people doing their job with passion and devotion. I guess that’s the key to success in motorsport. A big thank to Bridgestone for such a fantastic weekend.”
“I have learned so much during my time in the GP2 paddock. The Bridgestone e-reporter competition is THE experience for you if you have an interest in motorsport journalism. I am positive my involvement with this competition will be invaluable for my future career and the main thing is how much I enjoyed interviewing the drivers, team managers, GP2 Series crew and all the other people in the paddock. Take your chance and be an entrant for the 2009 competition. Maybe you will be one of the finalists and then you will know how lucky you are.”
Entrants for this year’s Bridgestone e-reporter competition were asked to demonstrate their ability to write topical interview questions and a newsworthy story when applying for the competition. The high standard of entries from students writing in English as their second language was highlighted by this year’s judging panel, which includes high-profile international journalists from four different countries.
This year the popularity of the competition has been shown by a 50 per cent increase in entries compared with 2007. Entrants also represented a wider range of European countries than ever before.
All Bridgestone e-reporter finalists announced for this year attended the official GP2 Series launch event in Barcelona (on 24 April), appearing on stage to mark the beginning of the season. All drivers making up the GP2 grid for 2008 were at the event along with Formula One personalities Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen, Mark Webber, Nelson Piquet and Lucas di Grassi.
The next Bridgestone e-reporter finalist to attend a race will be James Aitcheson (from Wiltshire, UK), who will be at the British Grand Prix from 5-6 July. The overall winner of the 2008 Bridgestone e-reporter contest, due to be selected in September, will continue their work on Bridgestone-backed events and will be offered work experience as part of the competition prize.
For further information on the 2008 Bridgestone e-reporter competition, and to view race reports throughout the season from this year’s finalists, visit www.bridgestone.eu/e-reporter.
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