The 4th Annual Black Book Motorsport Forum – exclusive motorsport networking
Dr Deakin is a Member of ICMS and Concussion Fellow for TOCA, currently completing a Concussion in Sport degree in the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Cambridge.
Tuesday 22nd August saw the return of the Black Book Motorsport Forum, held at the 5* Grange Tower Bridge Hotel in Whitechapel, L
Now in its 4th year, the Black Book Motorsport Forum is open to individuals representing teams, promoters, manufacturers and sponsors, but is unique in also welcoming the motorsport enthusiast. This is a truly global event with representatives from a plethora of international mainstream and niche championships on both two- and four-wheels, be they new arrivals this season, or historic well-established events.
An extended breakfast set the tone for the day with organizers creating flexibility in the programme to allow attendees to fully network and engage. BBMF’s 2017 delegates started the day with a Keynote One-on-One Formula 1 interview with Frank Arthofer, Head of Digital and New Business at Formula 1 at Liberty Media. This cemented the theme of the day, with a focus on novel fan engagement strategies and exploration of the digital motorsport world.
Panel discussions throughout the day bought representatives from NASCAR and MotoGP to the Teams panel with Shell, Estrella Gallicia and Monster Energy in the Sponsors slot. Constructor representation was similarly varied with representatives from Ford, Audi, Nissan and Hy
Stimulating discussion and debate was sparked in the ‘Long Haul’ panel where representatives of the FIA World Endurance Championship discussed damage limitation after the unpredictable loss of Porsche and the ultimately inevitable loss of Audi. The future of the FIA WEC was discussed and the 2018/19 calendar reshuffle mooted prior to its announcement shortly after the forum.
The day continued with a Challenger Panel, exploring new niche motorsport championships and how they reach a wider audience, represented by Formula Drift, Pirelli World Challenge and Roborace. The focus then shifted to explore the digital frontier of motorsport and how the industry can drive fan engagement through social and OTT (online) platforms. The panel here was eclectic; McLaren, Jacksonvill
The penultimate session harked back to the theme of 2016; hybrid vehicles and the electrification of motorsport. Unsurprisingly therefore, it was Formula E that took centre stage, with teams Mahindra, Panasonic Jagu
The closing session of the day brought back Allan McNish together with Karun Chandhok to discuss the new era of Formula 1 under Liberty Med
A virtual summary of the 2017 event can be found here:
And interest can be registered for the 2018 event here – http://www.
Author disclosure: ND attended BBMF as a Representative of the ICMS.
All BBMF images are subject to copyright (2017 SportsProMedia Limited) and are found at: http://www.
