Q and a with Matt James, Motorsport News

The British Touring Car Championship wouldn’t quite be the same without Matt James, Deputy Editor of our favourite weekly rag, Motorsport News. So who the devil is this chap and what does he think about our beloved BTCC?

Full Name: Matthew James (but only my mum calls me that…)

Job Title: Deputy Editor, Motorsport News

Favourite BTCC Circuit: Knockhill

Favourite race car of all time: TVR Tuscan

What’s your road car: I don’t have one…

 

 

Q1 YRC: We get buckets of emails from YRCers and fans of the BTCC asking for advice on how to get into all manner of motor racing – the most common of which is ‘how do you get into motorsport journalism?’ So…

How did you end up working in the BTCC? The full story if you will!

“I started off writing about the BTCC back in 1988 while I was still at school! After having read Motorsport News (then Motoring News) and Autosport I would create a little BTCC newsletter, that I would then flog to my mates at school for 5p a time. Alan Sugar had nothing on me in those days…

I realised from a young age that I wanted to be in motor racing for a job and I was also quite quick to spot that I am not fit or brave enough to be a driver and I am too clumsy to be a mechanic. That left journalism…

“I was at Thruxton one March watching an F3 race with my dad and we saw the then Autosport Editor Bruce Jones watching alongside us. Being a very timid teenager, my dad went and did the talking and got me an introduction into freelancing for the magazine.

“I read the weeklies avidly and when a job came up at Motoring News in 1991, I applied. I was only 18 and they told me that I needed more experience and I should go off and work for my local newspaper to get a decent grounding before reapplying in the future. I did exactly that – I went and spent three years writing about parish councils, dog muck and speeding motorists while ‘stringing’ for Motorsport News at the weekends – before reapplying to MN and I got a job as a junior reporter in 1995. They haven’t been able to get rid of me since.

“I began by writing about Formula Vauxhall Junior and Formula Ford which meant I went to every BTCC round as they were on the support bill. I graduated through the ranks of MN until I became the grand prix editor in 1998 and went to the F1 races. That was OK, but I realised pretty quickly that my heart was in UK racing and I came back to that in 2000.”

MN had a staff change in 2004 and I got my chance to report on the BTCC and I haven’t left since! I love it.

Q2 YRC: Did you have to tell any lies to get there? If so, dish it.

“Of course I never told any lies although I have reported on a few. You have a pretty good idea of when someone is trying to pull the wool over your eyes with something they are saying but what can you do? You have to print it in such a way as to show that they are the ones who aren’t being totally honest…”

Q3 YRC: You’re a piece of the paddock furniture in the BTCC so you’ll have seen some changes over the years.

What has been your favourite season from a professional perspective?

“If I was Alan Gow, I would say that my favourite season is always the next one but I am not that lily-livered…

“It is so hard to pick one out, but one of the highlights for me remains the showdown in 2004 at Donington Park when James Thompson pipped Yvan Muller. Thommo and Yvan were nose-to-tail for the entire race with Jason Plato just behind in his Seat. It all came down to who got the fastest lap. What a humdinger! And Thommo won, which was the right result because we wanted a British champion.

“To make it even more memorable, my then editor Matt Burt managed to delete my 3000 word report while checking it on my computer, meaning I had to start all over again. Goober.

 

“The great thing about the BTCC as well as the action is the social side of it. There are some wonderful characters involved and I get work alongside some hugely talented people who are great friends – people like commentator Alan Hyde, BTCC media man Carl McKellar and photographer Jakob Ebrey”

 

 

Q4 YRC: In the past three seasons, we’ve listened to a lot of chatter about the wonderweb, Twitter, blogs, Facebook and other social media. On balance, do you think that the vast quantity of information now available to fans is a positive thing? (or, do you think that there’s a quality issue emerging?)

“Tough question this, because I am clearly in the print media camp! I use social media between my friends and it is a great and powerful thing, but when it is used as a purveyor of news and facts, that is where the edges get blurred.

“I think it is useful and fun, but I think it is just too easy to post disinformation on the web which means you have to be very, very careful about what you believe.

“When you write for a publication, be that on-line or print, you have to have a very strong legal knowledge about what you can and can’t say. These legal rules apply on the web too but people don’t seem to realise that. When you post a message or a tweet, it is published and that completely changes the rules – it is no longer a private chat, it has been ‘broadcast’. There will be lots of litigation building up and some bloggers and posters deserve it.

“In terms of quality, of course Motorsport News is the finest. And I think you have to trust the journalists in this situation to sift though what is just hyperbole and what is actually worth knowing about.”

Q5 YRC: What one thing would you do to change BTCC racing for the better?

“Make them all drive TVR Tuscans!

“Seriously I think the BTCC constantly delivers great racing, which is being played out in front of more and more people trackside and being watched by record numbers of people in their armchairs. That is pretty good evidence that Alan Gow has things spot on.

“I am not an administrator but I really don’t think there is too much you can do to the BTCC to make it better. The strength of the series at the moment is its strongest calling card.”

Q6 YRC: There’s been a big old shake up in F1 media in recent years with rights holders changing and access to the teams increasing. The YRC fan consensus is that the BTCC has been reasonably static in terms of what it delivers to spectators and viewers. Do we need to up the game?

“I am not sure who you mean when you say ‘we’(YRC: all of us involved some way in the championship). F1 is a great sport, it has the best drivers in the world and it can be hugely thrilling. It is the first part of motor racing that most people have access to, and that is what bugs me a bit.

“F1 tends to dominate the motor racing landscape, and I find that disappointing because you can go to your local track on most weekends of the summer and find racing that is far more enjoyable and entertaining than F1. The BTCC is right at the top of that list.

“In the BTCC, you have access to the drivers, the cars and the action. There are autograph sessions, there are podiums celebrations that everyone can access and there are fan clubs you can join. I think the BTCC does a great job at putting the spectators are the heart of what it does and it is a model that other championships could take note of.”

Q7 YRC: You are probably one of the best placed people to know who’s who on track in British Motorsport. Which drivers and teams should we be looking out for in the near future?

“That is the million dollar question! If I knew, I would be straight down to Ladbrokes with my fiver…It is all about money and the right opportunities, and that goes for teams as well as drivers. There are some great guys out there without the cash, and some not so good people with bundles of money.”

Q8 YRC: If you could do any other job on the planet, what would it be and why?

“I would like to be a pub reviewer. I spend most of my time away from the race tracks sampling the delights of the local hostelries in Teddington and I think I have a good knowledge of what makes a successful boozer. Or at least I do at the START of the evening, anyway…”

Q9 YRC: Would you rather be a Pirate or a Ninja?

“Pieces of Eight. Ooo arr. Sorry, what was the question?”