Mon 24 June: It’s a rollercoaster ride of emotions this racing lark, and the contrast for our two Australian racing driver clients could not have been starker over the weekend. Congratulations to Pat Heuzenroeder. The 18-year-old enjoyed his best performance to-date in his maiden GB3 Championship season, securing two top-five finishes at the Hungaroring, Hungary, to move back into the top 10 in the championship standings after four of eight rounds.
Meanwhile, Caitlin Wood – the only woman to compete in this season’s Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain – was unable to race in her event at Oulton Park due to budget constraints. She is working hard to be back on the grid for the future rounds of the championship, and we are continuing to work hard to promote her cause and shed a light on the disparity that exists in motorsport’s ‘billionaire boys club’.
The show went on in Cheshire, where Caitlin was due to support another of our clients – the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). Jake Hill ended a sensational Sunday of racing by making a last lap move for victory at Oulton to move to the top of the championship table. The relentless pace started on Saturday when Tom Ingram obliterated the qualifying lap record to take pole position, and he duly backed that up with victory in the opener before Josh Cook surged through the pack to win the second contest – his first triumph since 2022. Hill tops the order by four points from Ingram as the BTCC enters its mid-season summer break.
The action resumes at Croft in North Yorkshire on 27-28 July.
Tue 25 June: We have a morning meeting with our client Asetek SimSports to run through our comms/PR, digital/social media, and influencer marketing plans for the rest of the year, which includes several international industry events and product launches. More on the latter tomorrow…
There is a call with a modern-day Formula 1 icon – whose face (and voice!) will be familiar to fans around the world – to brief them for a very special event we are hosting in the build-up to the British Grand Prix. All will be revealed in next week’s Diagonal Diary…
Diagonal MD Matt Bishop has a lunch appointment with Otmqar Szafnauer to talk all things F1 and EventR – the app he helped design and develop to simplify team travel.
The Bish’s new Motor Sport column is published today. After the tragic death of nine-year-old motorcycle rider Lorenzo Somaschini, Matt asks whether it is time to increase the minimum age for competitive racing and/or to embrace age of consent as well as parental permission.
Wed 26 June: Launch day for Asetek SimSports. The sim-racing hardware manufacturer based in Denmark unveils a range of new accessories and adaptations to some of its current kit. During the launch on YouTube, CEO André Eriksen demonstrates how Asetek’s formula steering wheels will be customisable with different handles, including LMP handles for a closed design and a suede version of their current silicone handles. Asetek’s quick release system has also been reworked to include an adapter for wheelbases of other
manufacturers. Keep your eyes peeled for more new products from Asetek later this year.
Thu 27 June: A busy day of media outreach as we finalise plans for the F1 event we are hosting in London next week. The week of the British Grand Prix is one of the busiest in the F1 calendar given the race’s historic and marquee status, and the fact that the majority of the sport’s teams are based in the UK. We are therefore competing for media attention with several other events, many of them involving current drivers and world champions. Despite that, the relations cultivated by the Diagonal team over its 90 years of combined experience at the highest level of motorsport ensure top-tier journalists from national, sport, motorsport, automotive, business, and lifestyle titles across print, digital, and broadcast media will be in attendance.
Fri 28 June: EventR announces the release of version 1.3.0 of its app, which includes several additions and fixes. Heading to Austria for the Grand Prix or to Germany for the knockout stages of Euro 2024 this weekend? Head over to the app store to download the latest version and experience all the new features and enhancements first-hand, along with in-built itineraries for major sporting events.