in Valencia at GP2 awards
Hungarian e-reporter winner András Kittka shares stage honours with GP2 champion Timo Glock after parallel contests in Spain Hungarian student, András Kittka, was yesterday crowned as the 2007 Bridgestone e-reporter winner, sharing the spotlight on stage at the GP2 prize giving ceremony (30 September) with German driver Timo Glock (iSport) - as he clinched this year’s GP2 Series title in Valencia. András was announced on stage, as the e-reporter of the year, by the Managing Director of Bridgestone Spain - Tomàs Zumarraga - who also presented Glock, as the 2007 GP2 Series Drivers’ Champion, with the Bridgestone Prize of US $100,000.
Bridgestone, exclusive tyre supplier to the GP2 Series, took all seven Bridgestone e-reporter finalists from this year’s competition, to Valencia (29-30 September) for the end of season GP2 finale. Whilst GP2 drivers Timo Glock (iSport) and Lucas di Grassi (ART) were engaged in a final GP2 championship battle on track, 23 year-old András was part of the battle off track to claim the career enhancing young journalists’ award. Commenting on his win in Valencia, András said: “I can’t believe I’ve won the Bridgestone e-reporter title, it has been a fantastic experience for me, and what a great honour it was to receive my prize alongside Timo Glock at the end of season GP2 awards.
It’s unbelievable to think how much has happened since attending the Hungarian Grand Prix with Bridgestone, and how lucky I am to be this year’s winning e-reporter. It was great to meet all of the other finalists in Valencia and for us to work together, as a team, at the final round of the season. “I will take everything I’ve learnt from the competition and continue to follow my goal of becoming a motorsport journalist in the F1 paddock.
I must say a big thank you to Bridgestone for the opportunity they have given me to prove myself as a journalist. My message to students out there who want to become a writer or sports journalist is that this competition is something you simply must enter.” Included in the Bridgestone e-reporter prize package is a state-of-the-art laptop; the chance to interview a GP2 driver who has made the step up into Formula One; and a trip to attend a Bridgestone safety event (www.safetyatheart.eu). Bridgestone e-reporter is a pan-European competition for students striving for a career in sports journalism, and offers up and coming writers the opportunity to report on GP2, developing their journalistic talent with firsthand experience at a European Grand Prix.
András was the fifth finalist of 2007 to report on GP2 - at the Hungarian Grand Prix (3-5 August) - for the Bridgestone website, bridgestone.eu/e-reporter. Writing daily race reports at Budapest and Valencia, in his second language - English, his writing skills along with his journalistic approach in the paddock earned András the esteemed e-reporter title.
Other finalists this season included Peter Hodges (UK), Tom Hornsby (UK), Laura Postma (Netherlands), Michael Lea-O’Mahoney (UK), Jake Schembri (Malta) and Michael Scott (UK).
Previous winners and finalists of Bridgestone e-reporter have gone on to work in media as a direct result of their experience in the F1 and GP2 paddocks. In 2006, the overall winner, German student Martin Westerhoff, became a freelance journalist; British finalist Rupert Manwaring impressed F1racing.net to join their British reporting team; while Italian finalist, Fabrizio Corgnati, is now the Editor-in-Chief of Italy’s top motorsport website F1grandprix.it. In 2005, UK finalist Russell Atkins become a journalist with Crash.net; British winner Mike Channell secured an editorial position with PC Format Magazine; and Polish finalist Dorian Patynowski now works for the Polish publication, Autoklub Magazine, reporting frequently on the GP2 Series. Jamie O’Leary won Bridgestone e-reporter in its inaugural year and works for Eurosport.com.
The 2008 Bridgestone e-reporter competition – celebrating five years of the contest - will be launched this November. To find out more, and how to enter, visit bridgestone.eu/e-reporte
