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GP2 News
Bridgestone ereporter finalist James Aitcheson from Wiltshire
11/07/2008
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 James Aitcheson, from Marlborough in Wiltshire, attended the British Grand Prix (4-6 July) 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. James, currently a student at Bath Spa University, was the fourth e-reporter to submit race reports, working over the race weekend at Silverstone.
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 British Grand Prix weekend James interviewed star drivers in the GP2 paddock, including Saturday’s feature race winner Giorgio Pantano, and Sunday’s sprint race winner Bruno Senna.
Commenting on his invaluable experience, James said, “Coming to Silverstone to cover the fifth round of the 2008 GP2 Series as a Bridgestone e-reporter finalist has been an incredible experience. With access to the paddock, the drivers and all those involved in the running of GP2, I have had a unique opportunity to view the world of motorsport from the inside.”
“Due to the intensity of the programme, I have managed to learn a great deal in the course of just a few days, developing confidence both in my interviewing technique and in my ability to report effectively on a wide variety of subjects. Ultimately the weekend has allowed me to sample first-hand the life of a motorsport journalist, and in doing so has supplied me with an excellent platform on which to build my future writing career.”
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 Alan Ng (from Bonn, Germany), who will be at the German Grand Prix from 21-22 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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