Hey folks, Dre here, and yeah… It’s been a busy month. So busy infact, I’ve not written a damn thing here for nearly a month. Apologies, and if anything, I’ve been using more of my written skills to start my new YouTube series, “The Drebrief” over on the #Motorsport101 YouTube Channel. Now, to compensate, given that the average Drebrief script is around 700 words long, which would make a pretty solid column in it’s own right, I thought, why not post all the scripts for the episodes here, while adding some extra points and insight to make it a bit more… meaty, for lack of a better term.
So, why did I change the series from my usual, successful Dre TV formula? Well, simply put, it just isn’t YouTube friendly. I actually did some homework for this one. The average watch time on my old channel, was about 4 minutes. The average Dre TV episode was 10-15 minutes long. Heck, Series 1 of the show, I was trying to make 30 minute style TV episodes, just without the production value. Or the talent. Not to mention, looking back, when the show went unscripted in Series 2, I felt like I would ramble a lot, and not make my ultimate points concise enough. I felt, given the way YouTube is calibrated, if I put a bit more confidence in myself as a writer, and relay what I want to say in a shorter, punchier format, I think I could be on to a winner.
I realized this when watching other favourite similar formats of show:
– Bomani and Jones: Bomani Jones is one of my favourite Journalists. No-one in the game is able to convey and talk about sports in such a way where you can relate it to everyday life, but he does it in such an intelligent and humorous way. His show was satirical on the nature of the US and major Sporting events when he worked for SB Nation, and I highly recommended going back and checking his show out. Maybe more of the big sporting ones for ore clarity if you’re not into the NFL or NBA as much, like the Lolo Jones 2-parter, or his talk on the Olympics.
– The Jimquisition: Nobody messes with Jim Fucking Sterling, Son. The Englishman turned US refugee was a video game critic for Destrutoid and The Escapist and has now been independent on YouTube for the last 18 months or so, and his series of breaking down the inner workings of the video game industry with humour, strength, and… a little bit of unhinged craziness has been amazing for quite some time, and I’m glad he’s finally getting the mainstream attention he deserves.
There was also other influences like Vox, my partner in crime Ryan King’s work on his channel Formuletta (Formerly Formulae), and others, and he’s edited my series to this point and has done a brilliant job of seeing my vision come to life, and it’ll only get better in time, so I owe him SO MUCH.
So, Episode 1, and I was greatly inspired by it after watching the IMSA Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona a fortnight ago, and seeing how outstanding a job Katherine Legge had done in the Deltawing, which after 2 years of being written off as a joke, suddenly handle like it was on rails, Legge starting from 13th, to eventually leading the race before the awful delayed FCY that caused an unnecessary accident, putting the team out altogether.
So, here’s the script for the first episode, with some extra notes put in where I deemed appropriate. Look out for the blue, it’s [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”Not sure that’s a real word, but we’ll go with it.” placement=”top” trigger=”hover” class=”” id=””]Wordpressy[/fusion_tooltip] stuff and it’s really cool.
“One of the genuinely cool reasons to be a Motorsport fan, is that in a world that still suffers from sexism and bigotry when it comes to female athletes, Motorsport is genuinely still one of the most gender inclusive in the world today, with mixed competition and generally speaking, equal respect and treatment.
The problem has been a matter of inclusion. As we said on the Podcast, on a grass roots level in the UK, for every woman entering the MSA’s Formula Ford Championship, there’s 39 men. Whether we want to accept it or not, Motorsport is a male-dominated industry on every level, even when we know it probably shouldn’t be. As a result of this skewed ratio, [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”Look at Danica Patrick’s racing career. Or basically whenever an American does well at a World level.” placement=”top” trigger=”hover” class=”” id=””]whenever a woman does anything significant, it thrusts a greater lens on it[/fusion_tooltip], even when she doesn’t deserve it. If you want any proof of that, just look at how [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”Before the anti-feminist crowd comes after me, this is in regards to ability, not gender.” placement=”top” trigger=”hover” class=”” id=””]Carmen Jorda and Adderly Fong[/fusion_tooltip] got treated on TV and on the Internet, despite them doing the exact same job.
Which brings me neatly to last weekend’s IMSA 24 Hours of Daytona. This was the first Endurance race I’d ever paid proper attention to, and trust me, it was well worth it, it was an incredible spectacle, and amazingly, one of the stars of the show, was Katherine Legge for the Deltawing, and for many reasons, it was something I genuinely never saw coming.
Katherine’s now 35, and has been a pro in various forms of Motorsport since 2004. She even tested an F1 car in 2005, following in the footsteps of Sarah Fisher. But her career never really reached the dizzying potential she showed as a junior. She was last prominent in Formula E in 2014, where she raced in the opening 2 rounds for Amlin, but again, never really took off, after two 15th placed finishes.
And to make matters even more surprising, she was representing the Deltawing team. A big project with obvious visual differences to try and think out of the box, [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”Somewhere, I hope Nissan are regretting pulling the plug on NISMO’s LMP project so fast. Even if it was doomed from the start.” placement=”top” trigger=”hover” class=”” id=””]but had been laughed and written off[/fusion_tooltip] for the most part after a poor run of reliability and results.
So, of course, you bring these two written off elements together for IMSA’s headlining race, and what happens? Magic. The Deltawing team elected not to qualify, but despite that, and the obvious early carnage of a 50+ car grid for a 24 hour race, Legge took the opening stint, and in that time, was the fastest combination on track, clawing her way through the field, pulling off some great passes, and eventually, leading the race before she handed the car over, 2 and a half hours into the race.
And despite the horrendous luck of the Deltawing team failing to finish, due to IMSA being ridiculously late with a full course yellow, it was more than clear that the combination of the car’s much improved performance, and Legge’s incredible early Triple Stint had captivated the viewing public, given the high amount of universal Twitter praise, and her winning the Eye Respect “Spirit of the Race” award for her efforts, voted on by the fans.
In the grand scheme of things, there’s been a real surge of forward momentum with the campaign to push more women into Motorsport. Susie Wolff’s overall impact within F1 is debatable, but without any doubt, she’s become an inspiring figure to other women trying to climb the ladder, like [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”And since writing this, she’s gotten a GP3 seat. Good for her, will be eager to see how see progresses!” placement=”top” trigger=”hover” class=”” id=””]Tatiana Calderon[/fusion_tooltip], Beitske Visser, and a good deal more. And while Susie never actually raced, she’s putting her good name to the “Dare To Be Different” campaign, attempting to inspire the next generation.”
Bonus note on Susie Wolff here real quick: I’ve often said before, she’s kind of been that “necessary evil” when it comes to F1 and female participation. We all know that on merit, she probably would never get in. But, without question, when you ask any aspiring woman in Motorsport, they look to Susie was a role model and trendsetter, and Susie never really did anything of MAJOR significance in F1 anyway, so ultimately, if it inspires the next generation, then I’m all for her.
“And while Katherine may be from a few years back, and she’s a bit of a rocky road across her career, her run showed that a female driver, in a brilliant field of cars and all-star drivers, with the Nick Tandy’s, Ryan Hunter-Reay’s and Graham Rahal’s of the world, on the one of the biggest stages in Motorsport, that a woman can kick some ass too.
And while yes, in a perfect world, we would never take gender into account, and that talent would matter above all else, the reality is, that’s just a pipe dream. Katherine wasn’t just great for a woman on Saturday. She was great. Period. And that, is exactly to me, why her Daytona, was so important.”
And what was the most amazing thing about all this? Katherine Legge herself ended up watching the video and sharing it out with her followers! Couldn’t have asked for a more amazing start to the series. Thanks Katherine, you’re a superstar.
If you have any feedback, let me know, nothing about Drebrief is set in stone, and I’m more than open to subject ideas and discussions, all that good stuff. And of course, a massive thanks for supporting the show, and if you haven’t seen it already, Episode 2 is now, which talks about the nature of Carmen Jorda after Richie Stanaway decided to play the fool on her on Twitter. Thanks for reading and hopefully, watching!
[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
