30/01/2008
NEWS STORY
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When Renault launches its 2008 contender at its Corporate Communications HQ in Paris on Thursday, there will be one notable absentee.
Back at the French F1 team's British race HQ at Enstone, Senior Press Officer, Bradley Lord, will prepare the last of the press releases, deal with the many moans and groans from journalists eager for that little bit more, before walking out of his office for the last time. After just over seven years, Bradley is moving on.
He joined what was then Benetton in late 2001, and over those seven years he has seen many changes, not least two Drivers' and two Constructors' Championship victories for his team.
Sadly, and we talk from experience, good press officers are seemingly in short supply these days, with some teams opting for glamour over ability, youth over experience, wacky wit over facts and stats.
Thankfully, there are still a few good press officers out there, however, we won't embarrass them by naming them... we know who they are, they know who they are.
With Bradley, like all good press officers, nothing was ever too much trouble, you could call any time of day or night and he'd be there to assist you. Indeed, while some 'journalists' blindly chose to run with stories cut and pasted from elsewhere, good press officers are only too delighted when someone calls to check the facts.
In Bradley's case, the situation is helped by the fact that not only does he know his job, he is passionate about it, indeed, he is passionate about motorsport. He was also passionate about his team, quick to speak out when he believed it to be unfairly treated, misquoted or misrepresented. However, rather than an angry e-mail, phone call or consignment to the 'enemy of the state' database, he would discuss the matter objectively and intelligently - then again, what would one expect of a man who got a double-first at Oxford?
In addition to his work as Senior Press Officer, we believe Bradley went beyond the call of duty. Whereas as some press officers appear to see their roles as being reactive, Bradley was always proactive. While all teams have a web presence, Renault's is a shining example of how to interact with fans, how to promote the positives of the sport and the team.
One of the best examples of this is the blog run by the team, which saw Bradley often giving live updates during race weekends and tests, both in English and French.
The test session blog, in particular, was a master-class in how teams can - and should - interact with fans, furthermore it brought out Bradley's very best qualities.
Originally, fans could post messages without the need to register, which ended up with the sort of nonsense you usually find on the very worst forums, fan boys slagging off one team or driver whilst praising another, yet Bradley always kept his cool.
While trying to give the fans (live) updates on what was expected from the test, the subtle changes being made to the cars, the need for long runs and practice starts, he would be bombarded by countless requests for the latest lap times.
Time and time again, a post would appear, "what are the latest times?", followed by a similar request a few moments later. And when Bradley gave the times, barely a minute would pass before the next request, "what are the latest times?"
Observing the blog, and admiring Bradley's ability not to lose his cool and either ban people or simply close it down - after all, who needs the hassle - I remember one time when two jokers turned up, claiming to be 'Billy' and 'Bobby'. The two said they were schoolboys taking time out from computer studies, and while Bobby asked for the latest times, and indulged in slagging off anyone who didn't like Renault, Billy chose to tell the other blog users what his mother had made him for tea the previous night. Bradley took it all in his stride, no bans, no harsh words.
From time to time, we did get the urgent phone call, a prime example being when we felt it our duty to point out the stark similarity between the (then) President of the Renault F1 Team and a character in The Simpsons. In this case, the piece we ran on the site was not "excellent", and Bradley wasted no time in asking us to remove it, fearful that some might not see the funny side and that he would end up retiring from Renault sooner than anticipated.
When we ran our Tsunami appeal, Bradley was first in line, offering a number of items we could auction, something we will never forget.
No doubt this tribute will embarrass him, he may even ask us to remove it, but this time we won't comply. We'll miss him, we're sure Renault will miss him, as will the many journos who came to rely on him, not to mention users of the team's website and blog. Thankfully there a few other Bradleys in the pitlane, even a few Bradleyesses, but they appear to be a breed doomed to extinction.
We're not sure what he has planned for the future, but he will certainly be a loss to the sport and we can only hope that he isn't away for too long.
We'd love to have him write the occasional article for Pitpass but after this he'll probably never talk to us again. Whatever he does however, we wish him well and thank him for his sterling work over the last seven years.
Personally, I thank him as a journalist and as a race fan.
Good luck mate
Chris Balfe (sadly, aka Billy)
Editor
Note: Our picture shows Bradley honouring a bet he made ahead of the 2006 season finale, whereby he said that should Fernando Alonso win the title he would shave off his fair. He did and he did!