German finalist Martin Westerhoff takes 2006 Bridgestone e-reporter title  

Winner reported from Paris Motor Show Following  the  crowning  of  Lewis  Hamilton  as  GP2  Champion  in  Monza  last  month,  Bridgestone  is delighted  to  announce  Martin Westerhoff, from Bonn, Germany, as the overall winner of the 2006 Bridgestone  e-reporter  competition  –  an  initiative  developing  careers  for  young  sports  journalists through the prestigious Formula One feeder series, GP2.

At  the  beginning  of  this  season’s  FIA  Formula  One  World  Championship,  Bridgestone  invited  eight finalists   to   each   attend   a   European   Grand   Prix   weekend,   offering   them   a   once-in-a-lifetime opportunity  to  report  live  from  the  GP2  paddock  –  gaining  invaluable  experience  writing  daily  race reports for the Bridgestone Europe website www.bridgestone.eu/e-reporter.

Martin Westerhoff  was the fifth Bridgestone e-reporter finalist to attend a Grand Prix race weekend, taking  on  the  role  of  reporter  in  Hockenheim  (28  –  30  July),  and  impressing  Bridgestone  with  his journalistic skills. The 25-year-old student from Germany had the chance to interview his compatriot, GP2 driver Michael Ammermüller, and French driver Alexandre Prémat. He also experienced the glitz and  glamour  of  the  Formula One paddock, meeting Toyota F1 race driver Jarno Trulli and Renault F1’s test driver Heikki Kovalainen who graduated from GP2 in 2005, and will step up to an F1 race seat in 2007.

Selected as the 2006 Bridgestone e-reporter winner, Martin Westerhoff was flown straight to France to  cover  the  Paris  Motor  Show  for  Bridgestone  last  week.  Following  on  from  this,  as  part  of  the phenomenal  prize  package,  Martin  will  experience  Bridgestone’s  work  on  safety,  participating  in  a Think Before You Drive safety check event. In addition, the winner will also head to Belgium to report on  Bridgestone’s  launch  event  for  the  2007  Dreams  at  Heart  initiative,  feature  as  presenter  of  a Bridgestone Journal – a television bulletin covering Bridgestone’s main community programmes, and gain work experience with the UK’s leading paper in the industry, Motorsport News. Martin commented:“I am really pleased to have won the 2006 Bridgestone e-reporter title and having enjoyed the Paris Motorshow, as well as being awarded with a new laptop for winning the contest, I look forward to further events which I will also visit on behalf of Bridgestone. Attending Hockenheim was an amazing experience for me, and now to find that I have won the competition is incredible! I know that I was competing against some very talented reporters and I am delighted that Bridgestone has given me such a great opportunity to start my career as a journalist. “Bridgestone  e-reporter  is  such  a  great  way  to  introduce  students  like  myself  to  the  world  of motorsport and sports journalism, it has helped me to build contacts among the media and allowed me to meet numerous drivers and teams I would otherwise never of dreamt of being introduced to”.

Entries  for  the  first  stage  of  the  competition  were  reviewed  by  a  panel  of  judges  –  chaired  by broadcaster and publicist Tony Jardine – from which the finalists were chosen on the basis of their writing  ability  and  creativity.  Following  the  decision  on  the  overall  winner,  Jardine  commented, “Congratulations to Martin, each year the competition grows in stature and the entries show that there are many aspiring young reporters who just need the chance to prove themselves  – Bridgestone e- reporter provides them with this opportunity. I would like to wish all of this season’s finalists the best of luck in following their chosen career path, and, from having Bridgestone e-reporter on their CV, we hope their journalistic skills will be recognised”.

Bridgestone  e-reporter  has  already  helped  five  young  writers  onto  the  first  step  of  the  journalist ladder. Jamie O’Leary from the UK, now working for Eurosport.com, won Bridgestone e-reporter in its inaugural year. Following in his footsteps in 2005, finalist Dorian Patynowski worked for TopSpeed Magazine  in  Poland,  and  more  recently,  Russell  Atkins  from  Warwick,  UK, secured a position with leading  motorsport  website,  Crash.net.  Last  year’s  Bridgestone  e-reporter  winner,  Mike  Channell from Wakefield, England, went on to work on the editorial team for PC Format Magazine. Once again in 2006, the team of eight e-reporter finalists impressed their media counterparts in the paddock, with Rupert Manwaring from Kettering, UK, having secured a job with the British reporting team for F1racing.net.

Martin Westerhoff, the overall winner, has also been behind the desk at Auto Bild Motorsport in Germany gaining invaluable work experience as a writer. 2007 Bridgestone e-reporter competition details will be available early next year, to find out more visit: www.bridgestone.eu/e-reporter Log on to www.crash.net for the latest news, visit the e-reporter forum, or contact the crash.net radio hotline to ask questions for the next live interview – this time with Williams F1 driver Nico Rosberg - on 11 October at 12:00