April 14, 2025 • 49 mins
In Episode 46 of Screen to Speed, powered by INIT eSports, host Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya (@LoveFortySix) features Alex Goldschmidt, who shares his inspiring journey from being a Formula 1 fan to becoming a dedicated motorsport commentator. Alex recounts his early experiences at Brands Hatch, his fascination with Ayrton Senna, and his transition into commentary through voluntary work and various gigs, including Formula E. He discusses the challenges and funny incidents during his travels for work, the importance of preparation in commentary, and the emotional significance of commentating at the Berlin Formula E race. Additionally, Alex talks about his podcast 'Commentators Corner,' where he delves into the stories of various personalities in the motorsport industry. He also shares his thoughts on the future of electric racing and sustainability in motorsports. So buckle up – Screen to Speed starts now!
===== (Oo---x---oO) =====
00:00 Meet Alex Goldschmidt 01:30 Alex's Early Passion for Racing 03:47 Journey into Motorsport Commentary 15:28 The Community Aspect of Motorsport 18:30 Emotional Moments in Commentary 22:03 Involvement with Formula E 25:46 Electric Racing and Sustainable Fuels 28:15 Technological Advances in Motorsport 32:48 Embracing Electric Vehicles 35:05 The Evolution of Formula E 38:20 Starting a Podcast: Commentators Corner 45:16 Advice for Aspiring Commentators 47:16 Conclusion and Final Thoughts====================
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INIT eSports focuses on sim racing events and digital tournaments. They bring eSports content to fans and sponsorship opportunities to brands, while maximizing audience reach across multiple sports, industries, and platforms. INIT eSports is a woman-led company where Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility is in their DNA, and their platform aims to combat bullying and cheating to help make the eSports world as safe and fair as possible. To learn more, be sure to logon to www.initesports.gg today or follow them on social media @initesports, join their discord, check out their YouTube Channel, or follow their live content via Twitch.
Copyright INIT eSports. This content originally aired on the INIT Talks livestreams via Twitch. This episode is part of the Motoring Podcast Network and has been republished with permission.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Screen to Speed,powered by Init eSports.
In this podcast, we dive into thejourneys of remarkable individuals
making waves in sim racing andbridging the virtual with the real.
From the thrill of digital circuits to theroar of real life racetracks, we explore
the passion, dedication, and innovationthat drives the world of motor sports.
(00:20):
We'll hear from athletes, creators,and pioneers sharing their stories,
insights, and the powerful ways simracing is connecting communities and
creating pathways into motor sports.
So buckle up screen to speed starts now.
(00:49):
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to any talks.
Uh, happy see everybody here.
We didn't, uh, have any talks long time.
Uh, first of all, want to, uh, say that wegot Alex, uh, Goldschmidt with us today.
Welcome, Alex.
Hi, Lou.
Hi everybody.
Uh, good to be on.
Thanks for the invitation and reallylooking forward to a good chat over
(01:10):
the, the next few minutes or so.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for being here with us.
Uh, guys, want to remind you that,uh, for screen to speed, we're going
to have upcoming event on April 19th,uh, with Sned and informal one 600.
So if you're interested towatch this race, uh, with us.
So please, uh, follow the channeland, uh, let's start Alex.
Uh, so how did your lovefor racing first start?
(01:33):
Like was it car or like you watchedsome races or something else?
Um, I go back to, I'm, I'm gonnareally show my age here, Lou.
Uh, I go back to the mid 1980s.
Um, my dad and a few of his friends werebig petrolhead and we got the opportu,
well, myself and my best friend atschool at the time, we ended up going to
(01:54):
Brands Hatch, and this was back in theday when Formula One had pre-qualifying.
We missed pre-qualifying by 20 minutes.
Ended up watching Formulaforward, uh, from then.
Dad made it a usual thing.
I think the first Grand Prix we watchedtogether was the iconic 1988 Monte
Carno Grand Prix when Sena was tryingto lap frost, put it in the, uh, in
(02:15):
the barriers just before the tunnel.
But it was that sense of,um, how Aton drove the car.
Like he, it was like it was histango partner on the dance floor.
It just captivated me, thesound, the noise, the, just the
visceral nature of motorsport.
And then I became areally, really big fan.
We, we were watching as manyGrand Prix as we could, depending
(02:37):
on what the family was doing.
And, uh, it just went on from there.
Uh, after every single, you know,like four one was part of my life,
uh, the best part of two decades.
And then I. Startedenjoying other motor sports.
So like sports cars, feeders,single seaters, uh, single seaters.
Uh, DTM was another one.
Um.
(02:58):
That I really got into.
And then most recently, in the lastdecade, you know, ims, a world sports, uh,
you know, the World Endurance Championshipand, and there's so much more motor
sport out there to, to really enjoy.
And I've become a lover of all, all thingsthat's got an engine note and burns tires,
burns fuel, and provides great racing.
(03:20):
So you're really passionate aboutracing all the noises and all
the stuff that's really cool.
So I think we all, uh, we hear, uh,all really like, uh, that in racing.
Definitely.
Uh, do you remember the firsttime you realized like that.
Really your thing.
So not like you like watchingraces and, uh mm-hmm.
(03:41):
You know, go for events.
Uh, you realize that you, uh, canjump into industry and be in it.
Um, I sort of got an itch that Iwanted to scratch back in the late
two thousands, so like 2008, 2009.
And I wanted to be like the best F1reporter going, you know, formula One
was what I really, really loved, andit was, it was like at that level a
(04:03):
little bit higher than everything else.
Um, so I got in touch with some people.
Um, I didn't really have anyexperience, uh, but my mom always told
me that when I was younger, she said.
You found it, uh, that I wouldfind it better to communicate on,
uh, a pen and a piece of paperrather than speaking to people.
(04:24):
And through that I made some connectionswith, say, a pop culture website that
needed a, uh, a motor sports writer.
I then ended up going through multipledifferent websites, um, whereby it
was voluntary work so you weren'tgetting paid for what you loved doing.
Uh, and it was then when I got to like2015 where commentary became on my radar.
(04:47):
Mm-hmm.
And I got the opportunity to do somevoluntary work on, uh, downforce radio.
Uh, a channel that was foundedby a good friend who was still
a good friend to this stage.
Jake Sanson and I ended up doing thefour hours of funk up, ran Hatch indie.
We had every single chaotic situation.
We had multiple safety cars.
We had.
(05:09):
Slippery surface flags.
The weather came in 30 minutes beforethe end of the race and we were
red flagged with 90 seconds to go.
'cause the Rangers wentcompletely ballistic.
And then I thought after thatI just went, you know what?
I'd rather do the commentarybecause you're able to provide
your personality, but also.
(05:29):
Tell the story the waythat you see it mm-hmm.
To the general viewersor listeners out there.
And so I got bitten by the bug andcommentary is now my livelihood.
I I, I travel around so many places I.I think I did 80,000 kilometers worth
of travel last year, 43 flights, andthat's every single kilometer measure.
(05:50):
So from like driving to the airport,flying in the plane to a location, I
think my longest trip last year was LondonHeathrow to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to
commentate at the Sang karting circuit.
And that was about a good 18,000kilometers travel there and
back with a stop off in Doha.
(06:10):
On each journey, so, mm-hmm.
It was, um, it's crazy how chaoticmy life has been at weekends.
But the good thing is I've got a very,very close family and it's always nice
to come back home and sleep in your ownbed when you've been away for three to
four days and you're just like that.
I just need the comforts of home.
(06:31):
Mm-hmm.
Uh, let's talk a littlebit about your travels.
Uh, do you remember any.
Pan things, uh, which happened also.
Uh, good to know thatyou visited, uh, Sipan.
I race here a lot of times, uh, withformal BMW, then with formal war,
um, just in love with the circuits.
Uh, conditions are tough, but, uh mm-hmm.
(06:52):
Sipan is, is great one.
Um.
Yeah.
Um, funny travel stories.
Actually, most recently, uh, we'retalking probably within the last
month, if anyone might rememberthat London Heathrow was shut down
due to the, the sub power station.
Three miles south bursting into flames.
Uh, well I was due to, I was dueto fly to Brussels to go to Kati
(07:16):
Dian in southern Belgium, rightoff the Franco Belgian border.
So there's been no notificationson my smartphone, no notifications
on the N 25 leading to e throw.
And I rock up to the car park andthey go, uh, the barrier's up.
So like, instantly youthink, what's going on here?
And they said, um, hethrows clothes today.
(07:40):
Like this.
And I go, what are, are you kidding me?
I, I've got a business trip.
And like, he looked me up and down.
He said, you didn't like look,look like you're going on business.
I said, am a motor sports commentator?
Come on.
I said, don't judge appearancesby, by the, by the cover.
You know?
Um, and so I said, well,what's the situation?
(08:00):
Oh, well, the.
The, the, the parking providerwill get in touch with you.
Obviously your flight provider willget in touch with you, which I have
to give shout out to British Airways.
They were absolutely spot on.
Um, flight was canceled and I was ableto reboot my flights for another time.
So.
The good thing is being in the southeastof the United Kingdom, you are not
(08:23):
that far away from the Euro tunnel.
Mm-hmm.
So, and this is like 20 past five inthe morning, Luke, and I've just gone.
Right.
The only way I, so I looked on flightsfor Gatwick direct to Brussels.
None.
Lutin none.
Stan Stanzi, no.
Uh, London City Airport.
No.
And I went, okay.
(08:43):
Right.
The only way I can do this is, uh.
I've gotta book the Euro tunnel andrebook the flights for another time.
So, which luckily enough,I had an event mm-hmm.
To the same location two weeks later.
So there I was at seven o'clock inthe morning booking euro tunnel, uh,
Euro tunnel, uh, crossings to andfrom Bruss, uh, to and from Cali.
(09:05):
And I was communicating with my assistant.
She'd gotten up early because my.
Um, my nephew Austin, who's the appleof our eye here, um, he's five years
old, he's turning six in August.
He's fully autistic, nonverbal, um,and is very, very sensory sensitive.
So like, say noise, light, um, suddensounds, um, sudden movement even.
(09:31):
Um, she'd kept my sister up a littlebit during the night from about
three until five that morning,and I said, right, okay, I need
to book the Euro tunnel ticket.
She said, well, you've gotta do the work.
You've gotta do it, so just get it done.
I then had to stop off at thelocal, local, um, cast spares
place to pick up a first aid kit.
'cause that was the onlything I was missing.
So I had the, the high visibility vest,the hazard triangle, the bulb kit.
(09:56):
Um, and then the first aid kit wasthe only thing I needed, and I think
I drove about 1400 kilometers in totalthere and back and all these, mm-hmm.
Surrounding mileage.
Um, so that was, um, that was a, mymost recent, uh, funny experience.
Other things that have happened tome, um, I've had higher car companies,
(10:20):
major higher car companies actuallysay we've run out of vehicles.
Like literally you are having, thenyou have to find another provider
and then you find that provider'smore expensive, yada, yada, yada.
So it's like minor things, butit, when I got to Marburg, um, I
spoke with a couple of the team.
They said, how are you feeling?
And I just started laughingand they said, why?
(10:43):
What's happened?
And I went.
If I tell you the journey that I'vehad just now, you'd probably tell
me to go away and just say, shut up.
That's not true.
Um, and we just all had a laugh,uh, over dinner and a drink over it.
So that has been, I think, the most,um, in terms of funny travel stories.
(11:05):
Uh, the, there was also one in 2020.
I'm just trying to think now.
Uh, 2023, I was due to go over to theBahrain International Carting circuit,
uh, for work for Rotax, and I get a phonecall the week before I'm due to fly.
Oh, uh, what's your availability like?
(11:25):
And it was the dates for theweek after and I said, well,
you realize I'm in Bahrain.
Um, so then.
Uh, the deal, the, the agreement wasmade pretty, pretty quickly within
48 hours of the initial discussion.
And then I remember having to waitthree hours because the flight
for, for British Airways to London,Heathrow from Bahrain was delayed.
(11:47):
So there I was on my smartphone watchingMotorsport TV for about three hours
waiting until I could check my bag in.
But the, the, the recent travelto, to Belgium, I think is
the worst sort of problematic.
Journey, but you just have to,it's, it comes with the territory.
It's first world problemsas the hashtag suggests.
(12:09):
Um, and it is what it is.
It's just part and parcel of it.
You just have to roll with punches.
And if you're gonna be running a littlebit behind you just tell the organizers
saying, look, this is the situation.
I'll be with you soon as I can.
Mm-hmm.
Well, we got a really, uh, busylife and a lot of adventures in it.
Definitely.
Yes, that's, that.
(12:30):
That's very, very true, Lou.
I mean, um, yeah, it's 43 flightslast year, I think already we're,
we're now what coming up to.
I've got three.
Oh, well, um, just for you folks outthere that do follow me on socials,
I've got Super GT Motorsport TV forSaturday and Sunday, Porsche Switzerland,
(12:52):
Saturday all day Dutch, uh, Dutch kartingchampionship season over the in Bergham.
So I think probably by the time I gethome at about midnight on Monday morning,
I'll have done just 5,000 kilometersworth of traveling alone that weekend.
So, yeah, it's really hard to be acommentator for motor sports events.
(13:16):
Definitely.
Yeah.
It, it, it is, especially when you are,you are one person that's, uh, in demand.
I mean, especially with the,uh, the carting because the week
next weekend I do the first roundof the German car championship.
Fun enough, inbo, which means I'vegot flights of Brussels again.
Mm-hmm.
Heath.
Don't let me down.
Please don't let me down.
So it's, it's the case.
(13:37):
You have to be on a bitof a wing and a prayer.
Like I say, Lou, it's just, um, you rollwith the punches, but there's, apart
from the travel, there's just so muchmore involved in, in being a commentator.
You are, you are constantlyresearching and like, like for
instance, this is my Bible.
This goes everywhere with me and it's gotall my notes that I've spent the last.
(13:59):
Like literally entry.
Well, from, from what people cansee, there's like entry lists.
I've got notes underneath.
Mm-hmm.
I've got track maps, um,championship standings.
Like literally that has taken me multipleconversations to sort out, because people
might say, oh yeah, well, you know,all this information as a commentator.
(14:21):
Yes, but you've got to be fully prepared.
And if you can't get the informationbefore the event, if you are there
the day before or two days before,you can try and find the drivers,
um, and speak to them and say, right.
Okay.
I dunno much about your past history.
Can you tell me a little bit aboutyourself in the next couple of minutes?
And then what you also need.
(14:46):
A good old note because,well, just in case with a pen.
I mean, I never go, I never leavehome with any, without any of that.
It's just, um, part and parcelof of, of being in this industry.
You know, definitely if you got differentevents, like you said, you got Porsche,
you got carting and, uh, differentdrivers completely in this series.
(15:09):
Uh, so you need to be up to dateevery time and yeah, that's good
that you got this folder andyou're well prepared every time.
That's great.
Uh, can you tell me what's yourfavorite, uh, part about, uh, mentating
outside of, uh, travels, some funny,uh, situations which happened with you?
Um, to be honest with you, I think the,one of the biggest things for me is.
(15:35):
When you travel, uh, this isaligned with the travel side of it.
When you meet people in the paddockand you get to know not just the
driver, but you get to meet thepeople that work with the driver, like
the engineer, the mechanic mm-hmm.
The team boss.
You get to, you get tospend time with people.
And uh, that's the thing, as acommentator, you are the person
(15:57):
that is the voice of that.
Championship or one of thevoices of that championship.
So you've got to be alittle bit, uh, on the mic.
You could be a bit more of an extrovert,a bit more outgoing with your personality.
Uh, but you've got tobe that people person.
You've gotta be that, you know,professional, but you still have
that positive mental attitude.
(16:19):
And, and that's one of the biggest thingsthat I love about real life motor sport.
Um.
Is the, the, the, the peoplethat you work with as part of the
organization, the people that you meet.
And it's not just the teams and thedrivers, it's also the families.
Mm-hmm.
You know, let's say younger sister,younger brother, elder sister, elder
brother, mum, dad, grandparents.
(16:42):
Um, I've, I've had it wherefour generations were in the
same paddock at one time.
So you had daughter mm-hmm.
Racing driver, mom.
Grandmother.
And then because of the, well,because of the, the genetics in the
family, from what I was told, thegreat grandmother was there as well.
(17:03):
Wow.
Uh, which was, which was mind blowing.
Um, but it's, it's more the case of itis about the people and it is about the,
you know, when everything's calmed downon the track loop, it's more the case of,
it's the, the ambiance, the atmosphere.
Like everyone has just gone.
Right, the racing's done.
(17:26):
Time to chill out, get to know people.
Uh, and there's been times when familiesor teams have invited me out for
dinner and I've accepted because I.
You wanna make sure that, okay,yes, people might say, well, you
are, you might just be freeloading.
No, it's, it's about thespirits of community.
(17:46):
And it doesn't matter whether it'ssim racing or real life, there is a
big community aspect about what we do.
And you cannot, you cannotdeny that because we're all
part of the human condition.
Yeah, that's really true.
So this is exactly what I reallylike about sim racing and, uh,
(18:07):
doing my streams on Twitch, uh,and I racing community as well.
That's all about people who into thisindustry and, uh, all my streams also,
I'm all the time happy to see them and,uh, they all got, uh, different stories
in their lives, but we connect here,uh, with some racing with, uh, streams
and, and that's a really good thing.
(18:28):
Definitely.
Um.
Do you have a race, uh, which, uh,you've called that you will never
forget in your, uh, commentary career?
Um, well, as the surname suggests,ladies and gentlemen, I act, I'm
actually, uh, I'm part German by descent.
Uh, my grandfather was born in the suburbsof Bergen, Berlin, uh, not too far away
(18:51):
from the Alexander Platz and the BellingTemple Health Airport, which is now,
uh, used predominantly for Formula E.
Uh, 2023, uh, I was the circuitcommentator for the circuit experience
for Formula E for that round of thechampionship and completely in German.
I was commentating the whole weekend onevery free practice session, qualifying
(19:13):
and both races, and just to think that,um, I was only 25 minutes away by taxi.
From the place where my grandfatherwas born was quite a seminal
and quite an emotional moment.
Luke and I remember our broadcastdirector, uh, Del Brown, he
said, Alex, for the finaltime this weekend, well done.
(19:36):
You may stand down.
So, um, I, uh, I, I basically,I cried by I, my tear ducks
dry for about five minutes.
Mm-hmm.
Just because of the realization of how.
From my grandfather Habb, whopassed away when I was five.
(19:57):
He legally immigrated to the UnitedKingdom before the Second World War and
had to go to the local constabulary inLondon every six months with a document
called the Aliens Order, where theywould interview him, ask him where he
is been, what he is been doing, and thenthey would stamp the book and say, okay,
you're good for another six months.
And to have that.
(20:19):
Where you've got grandfatherto father to son, uh, to son.
Mm-hmm.
And having that sort of full circle, I,I got really emotional and like people
could see that my eyes were like red.
Mm-hmm.
Not, not on the pupils or anything,but like the, like my tear ducts
were dry, my face was bright redand they, they, they wondered why.
(20:39):
And so I told them and they went,that's just really, really awesome.
And it, and it was quitenice because, um, I. Oh God.
Yeah.
Now, now I've reminded myself of anotherbad journey home and it was funny enough,
it was that weekend, but, uh, I'll giveyou the version of that in a second.
But it was, it was just like.
People connected on that emotional level.
(20:59):
Mm-hmm.
And, and that again, goes tothat community side of things.
But that weekend, Berlin hadan air, uh, had a airport
strike at Berlin Brandenburg.
So I had to take the train to Hamburg,got delayed by an hour and half,
leaving Ha Hamburg hub, bun Hor, gotto the hotel at one in the morning,
thought okay, his flight's at six 30.
(21:20):
I'll get up at, I'll get up atlike four 30 and have a shower.
My alarm woke me up at fiveo'clock and I just went.
Ah, I've gotta get through securityand I made it by last call.
Uh, and then I was quite happy toget back to home, uh, to UK soil at
London Gatwick, even though I'd flownfrom E. But yeah, it, it that, that to
me, um, is the most emotional moment.
(21:43):
I will, I. Never forget at all.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I think it, it's really good to,you know, return back to places, uh,
would give you some emotions and youshare this emotions with other people.
And also that makes, uh, like easiersituation by the end, uh, for you.
So it's really cool.
Mm-hmm.
Definitely.
Um, let's pick about, uh, formalEA little bit so I know that you're
(22:08):
doing some commentary on them.
Um, so tell me more about this.
Well, it was, um, I. It was, uh, I'm, I'mpart of the Loudspeaker Agency, which is
run by Gemma Scott and Louise Beckett.
Two women that have made their careersas presenters and pit lane reporters
in Motorsport most nightly GT WorldChallenge, powered by AWS for Gemma.
(22:29):
And Louise Beckett was the Pit Lanereport and for the World Endurance
Championship, uh, for the WorldFeed, um, for many, many years.
And, um, about five years ago, uh, theyset up a loudspeaker agency, which is to
help other talent get the opportunity.
To, uh, commentate or presentor be involved within, not just
(22:51):
Motorsport, but other sports beside it.
'cause some of the commentatorsthat I know, such as Chris McCarthy,
who's just become the, uh, worldFeed commentator for FIA Formula two,
following in the footsteps of Alex Jakes.
Um, Chris was their first ever client,and I've known Chris since 2017.
He was the one that gave me my startin this business as a commentator.
(23:13):
Um.
Ha records racing sayingthat's convenient.
I'm heading to Miami.
Yeah.
Miami on Saturday for Formula E.Have to give a shout out to my
good buddy who's now the WorldFeed commentator, Tom Brooks.
Um, it's quite funny how a lot ofpeople that I know in the industry
that are going, you know, that aremaking these stride strides forward,
(23:33):
are now getting that recognition.
Um, so for me, I, I just was,uh, I got contacted by Gemma,
I think it was late 2020.
Two or early 2023 and she said,you, you are being shortlisted
for the Formula E gig in Berlin.
Two weeks before the event I got the call,I was, uh, sitting down having dinner
with my family and I've seen her numberand I've gone, I need to answer this.
(23:56):
And they said, is it what we think it is?
I said, now we find out.
So I walked away from the table andshe said, yeah, you got the gig.
Mm-hmm.
It's the only time I've done forme to read commentary, but um.
One of the funniest things, one ofthe funniest stories there, I got
the brightest, um, you know, likewhere you get these mo, you know,
these really, really brightly coloredlike, uh, Caribbean style hoodies.
(24:20):
Well, I had the one that maybelooked like I'd come from Barbados
only and needed a tan on my face andit had formulary and pink letters.
And one of the things that was happeningwas that after qualifying one of the
presenters, either Toby or Kayanawould come into the, the Porter cabin.
Which is literally just off thestart, finish rate and asked me, well,
(24:41):
you know, what a great qualifying,and then I was getting, I was, I'd
like, I'd become a mini celebrity.
I was like, thinking why are, whyaren't people in, uh, interested in,
you know, like say Nico Miller ormaybe even Daniel Apt, who is mm-hmm
testing the new Gen three car I said.
Why am I getting, uh, and then I endup on someone's Instagram story and
(25:01):
my picture with them is above Daniel,uh, Danny Fiat of all people mm-hmm.
Who was doing the young drivertest the following week in Berlin.
And I was like, thinking.
This is really, really crazy.
And then the amount of comments for peoplethat had actually been there either on
the Saturday or the Sunday, they eithermessaged me personally and said, thanks
for, thanks for doing such a great job.
(25:22):
Really enjoyed your commentary.
Hopefully you're back next year.
Unfortunately it didn't happen.
Um, but you know, you have to take theseopportunities whilst you get the chance.
Yeah, sure.
I, I think that was greatexperience for you anyway.
And, uh, would like to ask you, becauseyou mentioned, uh, before that you
like about racing and motorsport, thesound of engine and all this stuff.
(25:46):
So what do you think overall about,uh, electric racing and, uh, we
would have a future and maybe we'llgo on to see like more serious, uh.
Like this.
Well, based on 25 years of automotiveexperience, I was in the auto
industry until September 1st, 2020.
I think electric is part of the future.
(26:07):
It is not the complete solution.
Uh, you're seeing championshipslike DTM, uh, super, GT over in
Japan, rot on sustainable fuels, youknow, so they're using these CNFs,
which are carbon neutral fuels.
You are seeing total energies.
For instance, for the crowd, for, forthe 24 hours of spa and for the world,
you know, like part fuel partners are nowgoing into sustainable fuels, like say
(26:33):
Total energies for the 24 hours of Lamar.
The, they, they did, they, theydid something which I thought
was quite quirky, but actuallywas a quite good marketing ploy.
They did the total energiesbased their sustainable fuel
on, uh, wine grape residues.
Mm-hmm.
And then they did, uh, then they hadthe 24 hours of Lamar Virtual powered
(26:55):
by Total Energy Energies energy bars,which were made from the same residues.
Mm-hmm.
So you can see that how, uh, the, thetechnological advances we are, we.
Uh, I'm looking at electric asa, as as a partial solution.
Fuel cell technology is so underrated.
(27:18):
It is obscene, uh, I mean likeHyundai with the IX 35 fuel cell
vehicle back in late 2000 tens.
Then they came out with the, the nexo,which was the second generation of it,
BMW with the ix, uh, with the X five.
They've had like multiple.
Uh, hydrogen fuel cell carsbeing trialed by companies.
(27:40):
Um, carbon neutral fuelsdefinitely the way to go.
If Porsche can set, spendover 150 million Euros mm-hmm.
On a planted Chile to keep thenine 11 they halo car alive.
Well, you could be damn surethat other fuel partners like,
say, shell, like, say total.
Um, so, you know, all thebig brands I think have.
(28:03):
You know, yes, they've drilled forso many years, but it's now, it's
their time to help keep internalcombustion engine cars on the road.
We, it is.
I think it's just that they'refrom when, like say people were
saying we are gonna be net zero by.
Formula.
Formula One is a perfect example.
(28:25):
They wanna be carbon neutral by 2030.
Mm-hmm.
Not all of their productionteam is on site at the circuits.
They're located at FOMheadquarters in Biggin Hill.
Like say Chris McCarthy, Alex Brandle,some of the other commentators,
they will go to Biggin Hill.
They will not be flown on sitebecause that CO2 being pumped into
(28:46):
the air by more people flying.
And it's easier on the environment.
You know, a hundred percent sustainablefuels will be coming in I think for 2026.
And now you are seeing a lotmore motorsports are doing it.
So if the motorsport industry can do it,why can't the automotive industry mm-hmm.
See behind, see past the end of their,is my honest opinion as a, having been a
(29:11):
professional, I saw so much technology.
Like say when, if anyone mightremember the old Mark four golf GT
TDIs with, what was the Pomper DoerDirect injection diesel technology,
which revolutionized the market.
Um, that, that was, that wasa, a fantastic technology.
It's only Euro six emissionsthat basically said Volkswagen
(29:33):
you can't do, or Euro fiveVolkswagen couldn't do it anymore.
But I think it's, it's morethe case of motorsport can
lead the way for automotive.
Mm-hmm.
And we see that with thetechnological advances at the mall.
Especially with the the LMDH cars, we nowsee there's a varying amount of solutions,
different power plants, like a twin turboV eight, and the Lamborghini squatter.
(29:53):
Across the 63, you've got the four liter.
Uh, now this is an interestingbit of information.
I didn't know this until I foundout about the spec of the car,
the B-M-W-M-V eight hybrid.
The engine that's in it is the originalfour liter V eight that's now got two
turbo chargers on it, and it's the enginethat powered the original returning
(30:15):
BMWM three when BMW made its returnto the DTM in the early 2000 and tens.
So there are solutions to every problemand I, I think that these, you know,
the governments in some respects have.
Try to, try to look into their crystalball that's obviously broken and go,
(30:38):
well, okay, we, we need to make sure allcars are, you know, uh, all new cars are
electrified, fully electrified by 2035.
That will never happen.
Mm-hmm.
Because the amount of r and d, theamount of development, the time crunch
that the, the manufacturers are under.
You know, and that's why you areseeing Mercedes going away from the two
(31:00):
liter four cylinder turbo charge C 63.
They're bringing back the V eights.
So you are now seeing that government,government forcing restrictions
on manufacturers are hurting thereputations of said manufacturers.
I don't, and.
I'm glad that they arebringing back the v eights.
It's what Falta bark is known for.
(31:22):
So I think t the automotive industry withthe help of their motorsport arms can
really progress the technologies further.
And if Motorsport can develop tech, uh,get like say l and DH cars on the road in
a couple of years, who's not to say theycan help accelerate the r and d programs.
Of their automotive cousins,like say at Munich for BMW.
(31:45):
Stu Guard for Mercedes-Benz.
English stuff.
For Audi and so on and so forth.
There is a i I think that if you let themotor sport arms help the development
race, we'd be along a lot betterthan we would be now at this point.
Yeah, I think I agree with you because,uh, all the best technologies we can
test like in motor sports and then applythem to, um, like normal cars and, uh,
(32:11):
I kind of agree that uh, electric carsnot only one solution so we can, um.
Use different options, uh,for this to make mm-hmm.
Environment better.
And it's also to have, uh, likeopportunity for people to choose,
uh, what the best for them.
Uh, because not, not really, uh,all people are crazy about all
(32:32):
electric cars and, uh, they can bea little bit hard to travel, uh, by.
Long distance.
Uh, that's still a problem, I think.
Uh, so yeah, I think that you,that you're on point with this.
Definitely.
I, I think also coming on to, youknow, in some respects trying to,
(32:54):
I. Look at my own carbon footprint.
You know, I do.
I uh, I do drive a lot.
I do fly a lot, but most recently,um, I've actually been embracing using
electric vehicles as higher cars.
Um, when you've got, like, say thePolestar two, the Polestar three, you look
at what BMW's now doing with the I five.
(33:14):
Um, I, um.
I think it was January, late Januaryof this year, I was going to a
carting event, and six actually alsoupgraded me for no additional cost.
So I like books.
Uh, I think it was the IX one, which istheir entry level SUV electric vehicle.
Mm-hmm.
And then I'm waiting for, 'causethis, I think this is, yeah, this is
(33:35):
another thing that happened this year.
We had a problem where Belgian airtraffic control was, uh, the compute,
the main mainframe computer had, um.
Bone gasket and shut down.
So, uh, I looked and I endedup in A-B-M-W-I five E Drive 40
M Sport Touring, which had 340brake horsepower rear wheel drive.
(33:58):
I. But it had a rangeof about 480 kilometers.
Mm-hmm.
Which, for a car that weighsnearly two tons is pretty good.
I think it's just that when cars, likethe Nissan Leaf came back, came out
when Carlos go, was in charge of rentalin Nissan and, and tried to spearhead
the electric rev vehicle revolution.
(34:18):
The technology wasn't at that point wherewe could say, yes, you can do 10 to 80%.
In 20 minutes, and that will giveyou 300 kilometers of range, meaning
that if you are 210 kilometers away,you know you've got that window.
Mm-hmm.
Back then, electric vehicles wereprobably, if you were lucky, getting
(34:41):
a hundred, 110 kilometers from a fullchoice, full state of charge, which
in my money is about 7 62 to 72 miles.
Per, per full charge.
But now the technology is acceleratingto the point where Tesla is not
gonna be the big power player.
The, the automotive bigbrands are catching up.
(35:02):
Mm-hmm.
And it's just about findingall these alternatives.
I think it's just, but I, and Iactually enjoy, I'll be honest with
you, I love any kind of motor sport.
Even Formula E, when they went gen, nowthey've gone Gen four, four wheel drive.
Can do nearly 200 plus milesan hour on a city street.
Mm-hmm.
(35:22):
Now you've captured my attention, butnow I'm worried as sort like thinking.
Does Formula E have to moveaway from city circuits?
Uh, from City Streetcircuits to actual tracks?
Um.
That's the big hurdle that, that Ithink they've, they've gotta overcome
extreme E the rally cross series has nowbecome extreme HH standing for hydrogen.
(35:44):
So there are people that arewilling, like, uh, Alejandro a gag.
He is the biggest catalyst.
For this revolutionarychange in motor sport.
Mm-hmm.
And when Lucas Degrassi was the firsttest, you know, Lucas Degrassi has
been a part of Formula E from day one.
He was the first employee thata gag wanted him on board.
(36:04):
They knew each other very well,and people laughed at formulary.
I don't see people laughing now.
And now we're in, I think it'sseason 11 and they're off to Miami.
It's, it's always about thedoubt, the naysayers, and
just carry on your own path.
And that's exactly what Alejandro gagand so many other people have done.
(36:26):
Yeah, definitely world, uh, changingand, uh, good alternatives to have.
Uh, that's a great thing.
Definitely.
I also noticed that I, we,we got a lot of, uh, electric
cars, uh, outside, uh, and um.
It's, it's great.
It's great.
And, uh, good to see that formale finally, um, you know, taken the
(36:47):
reputation from people and people reallyenjoy, uh, racing this cars and that.
That's great.
Um, I really like about formal E. That's,uh, I think they running the same chassis.
I really like series like this,uh, like IndyCar for example.
Uh, because I think that driverscan show their skills, uh, here.
Of course, formula One is good in itsown way, uh, with all this, um, you know,
(37:13):
fights between teams and, uh, engineers.
It's really cool also.
But, uh, as a driver, I reallylike Sirius, where you can
show your driving skills.
I, I, I think that's alsoanother thing that, um, is very
much overlooked these days.
Um.
It's just a case of, um, showcasingtalent rather than needing a budget.
(37:39):
Mm-hmm.
Um, so it's, uh, it's justone of those things where I.
You just have to sort of like, say backin the seventies, back in the eighties,
drivers got drives because they, theyearned it or they were picked up.
Now it's all about academies.
(37:59):
And I can understandmotor sport is a business.
We're in a very, very different time.
Things have evolved so quickly.
Um.
And now I would rather see drivers giventhe benefit of the doubt through what
they've achieved, rather than how muchmoney they have to bring to the table.
Yeah, absolutely Agree with you in this.
(38:20):
And, uh, let's move on andspeak about your own podcast.
I know that you're doing it.
Uh, so tell me more about, uh, howyou want to start your own podcast.
What actually lead you to this?
Um, well, my podcast, uh, whichis on my own YouTube channel,
is called Commentators Corner.
Uh, it's to give an insight of thepersonalities behind the people who
(38:43):
have certain roles within the industry.
So from commentators, presenters,uh, driver, coaches, drivers,
uh, personalities, let's say.
And it's more to, you know,uh, it's a bit of a, more of an
anecdotal podcast, if you will.
Um.
And it's, it's about finding aboutcharacters, about people, um, talking
(39:07):
about the community and talkingfunny stories going off on tangents.
And I think the longest episode waswith my good friend Adam Weller,
which was about the best part ofnearly two hours we were talking for.
But it was one of those conversationswhere you just had to let it flow.
Um, it is available on YouTube, so ifyou go to youtube.com at Alex Gold.
(39:31):
You should find me.
Um, and then it's available on, I'mnow doing, uh, the vid, well, the video
version is not only on YouTube, but nowon Spotify, uh, it's on Apple Podcasts.
And, um, I'm really enjoying doingsomething whereby I get to speak to
people that I know or people who, I dunnoin the industry, find out about them.
(39:51):
A bit like what you people dohere at, at eSports with the unit
talks, it's really, really good to.
Find out about, um, differentpersonalities, different individuals.
Yeah.
That's, uh, why we got this,uh, podcast to show people who's
in motor sports, uh, who can.
(40:12):
Inspire people to jump into thisindustry and be a part of it.
Definitely.
Um, can you tell me what'sdifferent, uh, for you and
what's the preparation for you?
Um, like, uh, what's different, uh,with commentary and, uh, with podcasts?
So, uh, what are you doing differently forthis one podcast is basically let it flow.
(40:34):
Just get the guest I, I, I think you can.
You can have a set line ofquestioning, but it doesn't
make the podcast feel natural.
Mm-hmm.
In my, in my eyes, I, I look at itrather than, rather than quantity.
I look at qua quality and you're talkingabout the personality of the individual?
Individual, sorry, tryingto get my words out right.
(40:56):
Sorry.
I, I know, I know we're gonna be shorton time in a second because I've got a
sim racing broadcast to do very shortly.
Um, but it's basically letthe conversation flow, but
with the commentary is.
Have so much information that yourmind is, uh, is swamped by it, but
it helps you to do your job right.
(41:17):
And it's a famous saying here inthe United Kingdom, and I know
quite a few people will, uh.
Will, will definitely be on the, the, thesame wavelength as me, which is called
the seven Ps. Piss pull preparationpromotes piss pull performance.
And I stand by that mantra everysingle time because if I don't
(41:37):
prepare, I don't feel I've done enoughto make sure that my job is safe.
Mm-hmm.
Um, commentary is a cutthroat business.
Um, a lot of us are, are good friends,but we are all out for a specific goal.
Um, I look at my, my commentary careerso far that I've, I, I've been very, very
(42:01):
fortunate to work with some great people.
I continue to work with some great people,and there's other people that I've, I've
worked, I mean, I've got to know SteffiBow really, really well, and I love her.
You know, let's just roll with it.
Um, and, and that's how my podcast is.
It is basically on, it's now based moreon her mantra of what she said to me,
(42:24):
uh mm-hmm When we finally met in person.
Hopefully, uh, uh, Steffi, weget to catch up very, very soon.
So chow, uh, over to California.
Um, it's more, it's more thecase of the podcast needs to
be a living, breathing entity.
And if you strangle that with.
Predetermined questions, which I did forthe first 15 episodes, and I just went,
(42:46):
it doesn't feel, you know, when you justget that, that, that feeling of the pit of
your stomach where it doesn't feel right.
Mm-hmm.
And that's exactly what I felt.
Um, there is one person thateveryone will know in the sim racing
commentary space, uh, George Morgan.
Um, he's the only guest that I'veinterviewed twice, and it was mainly I
(43:09):
wanted to, uh, I had a rebrand of theshow, so new graphics, new look, and
I thought, right, who can I bring on?
That was one of my original guests,and we talk about what's changed
since that interview and now mm-hmm.
And George.
Wonderful, wonderful guy.
(43:32):
Absolutely passionate.
Um, and he, he was up for it.
And it was, it was, I mean, I lookedback between after I'd recorded that
episode, uploaded it, premiered it.
I looked at the firstepisode and I just went, I.
Just look how far you,Alex, not anybody else.
You, through passion, through grit,determination, have managed to get
(43:54):
this podcast to where it is now.
Mm-hmm.
And now I'm looking at thinking,okay, so I've done another further
revision of the graphics thatwhere I'm talking to my guests.
Um, it just makes so much more sense.
And I'm looking at otherways in which, okay.
How can I, how can I change it up?
And I'm, I love the format because itjust means it's completely 100% natural.
(44:19):
It's not forced, and it's my podcast.
Mm-hmm.
And no one can take that awayfrom me, which is, which is
one of the wonderful things.
Yeah, that's, uh, good that you mentioned.
You can have a look on yourself, uh, likeon four first, uh, videos, which you made.
And it's really cool opportunity actuallyto have, uh, because, uh, sometimes I
(44:40):
watch my first dreams and also like,oh, you've come really long way to
where you are now, so it's really cool.
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
Uh, I, I couldn't agree more.
And, um, yeah, I'm still, uh,still commentating on sim racing.
Like I said, uh, in about 10 minutestime, I've got a bit, we're going
live with the radicals at Suzuka.
(45:03):
Mm-hmm.
Um, as much as I'd love to continue thisconversation, Lou, I think, uh, I need
to skid out because, uh, my producer'scall, uh, trying to call me as we speak.
Bless him.
Okay.
But it's.
I've got one bit of advice for you peopleout there that want to do commentary.
Um, from my perspective, make surethat you work hard, but you enjoy every
(45:27):
single step of the journey because ifyou don't enjoy it, you're gonna be
basically falling flat on your face.
If you don't have, you know, the,if you don't have the relevant.
Know how, in how toget into this industry.
Find one of us, talk to oneof us, see how we can help.
(45:51):
I've given, um, I mean as ofyou'll, you'll know this lady
as well, Lou Ash, van Deley.
She came to me and asked me foradvice, which then led onto the
SRO job in the United States.
She came to me for a,for, and I said, Ash.
(46:12):
If you know what you're worth,go and get what you're worth.
It's like a famoussaying from Rocky Balbo.
From Rocky Balbo in one of his movies.
And when you have to lookat these monologues, they're
actually quite powerful.
But there's also a very, veryinteresting answer that David Croft
lead commentator for Skyport F1,said to me when I interviewed him at
(46:33):
the Autosport Show, which is nevergive anyone a reason to tell you no.
He started from hospital radio,and now he's been in Formula One
as the lead commentator for SkySports for the best part of over
two decades alongside Martin Brule.
And if that's not, uh, a way ofsaying, don't let people tell you no.
(46:54):
Mm-hmm.
David Croft is the epitome of that.
Yeah, I think main thing, just to bepassionate to what you're doing and uh,
this is what will lead you and motivateyou to go forward and improve, uh,
like step by step and go to the future.
Uh, so yeah.
Yeah, ex exactly.
(47:16):
Um, so really I have to say, Lou,it's been an absolute pleasure.
Uh, Johnny you here on, onInit talks and, uh, yeah.
Um, I'm.
I'm just looking forward to what, not justin eSports, but also uh, screen to speed.
Uh, it's gonna be doing obviously alot coming up, uh, so I'll be keeping
my eyes on it and, uh, don't worry,you've definitely got a cheerleader in
(47:37):
this corner here in the United Kingdom.
Okay, I'll thank youso much for being here.
It was a pleasure to talk with you and,uh, also get a lot of, uh, new things.
Uh, for myself.
Uh, guys, thank you so muchfor watching any talks.
Uh, don't forget the 19th of April.
We'll have events on Init eSportchannel and we'll see you next time.
Thank you so much.
(47:58):
Bye.
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(49:26):
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Welcome to Screen to Speed,powered by Init eSports.
In this podcast, we dive into thejourneys of remarkable individuals
making waves in sim racing andbridging the virtual with the real.
From the thrill of digital circuits to theroar of real life racetracks, we explore
the passion, dedication, and innovationthat drives the world of motor sports.
(00:20):
We'll hear from athletes, creators,and pioneers sharing their stories,
insights, and the powerful ways simracing is connecting communities and
creating pathways into motor sports.
So buckle up screen to speed starts now.
(00:49):
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to any talks.
Uh, happy see everybody here.
We didn't, uh, have any talks long time.
Uh, first of all, want to, uh, say that wegot Alex, uh, Goldschmidt with us today.
Welcome, Alex.
Hi, Lou.
Hi everybody.
Uh, good to be on.
Thanks for the invitation and reallylooking forward to a good chat over
(01:10):
the, the next few minutes or so.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for being here with us.
Uh, guys, want to remind you that,uh, for screen to speed, we're going
to have upcoming event on April 19th,uh, with Sned and informal one 600.
So if you're interested towatch this race, uh, with us.
So please, uh, follow the channeland, uh, let's start Alex.
Uh, so how did your lovefor racing first start?
(01:33):
Like was it car or like you watchedsome races or something else?
Um, I go back to, I'm, I'm gonnareally show my age here, Lou.
Uh, I go back to the mid 1980s.
Um, my dad and a few of his friends werebig petrolhead and we got the opportu,
well, myself and my best friend atschool at the time, we ended up going to
(01:54):
Brands Hatch, and this was back in theday when Formula One had pre-qualifying.
We missed pre-qualifying by 20 minutes.
Ended up watching Formulaforward, uh, from then.
Dad made it a usual thing.
I think the first Grand Prix we watchedtogether was the iconic 1988 Monte
Carno Grand Prix when Sena was tryingto lap frost, put it in the, uh, in
(02:15):
the barriers just before the tunnel.
But it was that sense of,um, how Aton drove the car.
Like he, it was like it was histango partner on the dance floor.
It just captivated me, thesound, the noise, the, just the
visceral nature of motorsport.
And then I became areally, really big fan.
We, we were watching as manyGrand Prix as we could, depending
(02:37):
on what the family was doing.
And, uh, it just went on from there.
Uh, after every single, you know,like four one was part of my life,
uh, the best part of two decades.
And then I. Startedenjoying other motor sports.
So like sports cars, feeders,single seaters, uh, single seaters.
Uh, DTM was another one.
Um.
(02:58):
That I really got into.
And then most recently, in the lastdecade, you know, ims, a world sports, uh,
you know, the World Endurance Championshipand, and there's so much more motor
sport out there to, to really enjoy.
And I've become a lover of all, all thingsthat's got an engine note and burns tires,
burns fuel, and provides great racing.
(03:20):
So you're really passionate aboutracing all the noises and all
the stuff that's really cool.
So I think we all, uh, we hear, uh,all really like, uh, that in racing.
Definitely.
Uh, do you remember the firsttime you realized like that.
Really your thing.
So not like you like watchingraces and, uh mm-hmm.
(03:41):
You know, go for events.
Uh, you realize that you, uh, canjump into industry and be in it.
Um, I sort of got an itch that Iwanted to scratch back in the late
two thousands, so like 2008, 2009.
And I wanted to be like the best F1reporter going, you know, formula One
was what I really, really loved, andit was, it was like at that level a
(04:03):
little bit higher than everything else.
Um, so I got in touch with some people.
Um, I didn't really have anyexperience, uh, but my mom always told
me that when I was younger, she said.
You found it, uh, that I wouldfind it better to communicate on,
uh, a pen and a piece of paperrather than speaking to people.
(04:24):
And through that I made some connectionswith, say, a pop culture website that
needed a, uh, a motor sports writer.
I then ended up going through multipledifferent websites, um, whereby it
was voluntary work so you weren'tgetting paid for what you loved doing.
Uh, and it was then when I got to like2015 where commentary became on my radar.
(04:47):
Mm-hmm.
And I got the opportunity to do somevoluntary work on, uh, downforce radio.
Uh, a channel that was foundedby a good friend who was still
a good friend to this stage.
Jake Sanson and I ended up doing thefour hours of funk up, ran Hatch indie.
We had every single chaotic situation.
We had multiple safety cars.
We had.
(05:09):
Slippery surface flags.
The weather came in 30 minutes beforethe end of the race and we were
red flagged with 90 seconds to go.
'cause the Rangers wentcompletely ballistic.
And then I thought after thatI just went, you know what?
I'd rather do the commentarybecause you're able to provide
your personality, but also.
(05:29):
Tell the story the waythat you see it mm-hmm.
To the general viewersor listeners out there.
And so I got bitten by the bug andcommentary is now my livelihood.
I I, I travel around so many places I.I think I did 80,000 kilometers worth
of travel last year, 43 flights, andthat's every single kilometer measure.
(05:50):
So from like driving to the airport,flying in the plane to a location, I
think my longest trip last year was LondonHeathrow to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to
commentate at the Sang karting circuit.
And that was about a good 18,000kilometers travel there and
back with a stop off in Doha.
(06:10):
On each journey, so, mm-hmm.
It was, um, it's crazy how chaoticmy life has been at weekends.
But the good thing is I've got a very,very close family and it's always nice
to come back home and sleep in your ownbed when you've been away for three to
four days and you're just like that.
I just need the comforts of home.
(06:31):
Mm-hmm.
Uh, let's talk a littlebit about your travels.
Uh, do you remember any.
Pan things, uh, which happened also.
Uh, good to know thatyou visited, uh, Sipan.
I race here a lot of times, uh, withformal BMW, then with formal war,
um, just in love with the circuits.
Uh, conditions are tough, but, uh mm-hmm.
(06:52):
Sipan is, is great one.
Um.
Yeah.
Um, funny travel stories.
Actually, most recently, uh, we'retalking probably within the last
month, if anyone might rememberthat London Heathrow was shut down
due to the, the sub power station.
Three miles south bursting into flames.
Uh, well I was due to, I was dueto fly to Brussels to go to Kati
(07:16):
Dian in southern Belgium, rightoff the Franco Belgian border.
So there's been no notificationson my smartphone, no notifications
on the N 25 leading to e throw.
And I rock up to the car park andthey go, uh, the barrier's up.
So like, instantly youthink, what's going on here?
And they said, um, hethrows clothes today.
(07:40):
Like this.
And I go, what are, are you kidding me?
I, I've got a business trip.
And like, he looked me up and down.
He said, you didn't like look,look like you're going on business.
I said, am a motor sports commentator?
Come on.
I said, don't judge appearancesby, by the, by the cover.
You know?
Um, and so I said, well,what's the situation?
(08:00):
Oh, well, the.
The, the, the parking providerwill get in touch with you.
Obviously your flight provider willget in touch with you, which I have
to give shout out to British Airways.
They were absolutely spot on.
Um, flight was canceled and I was ableto reboot my flights for another time.
So.
The good thing is being in the southeastof the United Kingdom, you are not
(08:23):
that far away from the Euro tunnel.
Mm-hmm.
So, and this is like 20 past five inthe morning, Luke, and I've just gone.
Right.
The only way I, so I looked on flightsfor Gatwick direct to Brussels.
None.
Lutin none.
Stan Stanzi, no.
Uh, London City Airport.
No.
And I went, okay.
(08:43):
Right.
The only way I can do this is, uh.
I've gotta book the Euro tunnel andrebook the flights for another time.
So, which luckily enough,I had an event mm-hmm.
To the same location two weeks later.
So there I was at seven o'clock inthe morning booking euro tunnel, uh,
Euro tunnel, uh, crossings to andfrom Bruss, uh, to and from Cali.
(09:05):
And I was communicating with my assistant.
She'd gotten up early because my.
Um, my nephew Austin, who's the appleof our eye here, um, he's five years
old, he's turning six in August.
He's fully autistic, nonverbal, um,and is very, very sensory sensitive.
So like, say noise, light, um, suddensounds, um, sudden movement even.
(09:31):
Um, she'd kept my sister up a littlebit during the night from about
three until five that morning,and I said, right, okay, I need
to book the Euro tunnel ticket.
She said, well, you've gotta do the work.
You've gotta do it, so just get it done.
I then had to stop off at thelocal, local, um, cast spares
place to pick up a first aid kit.
'cause that was the onlything I was missing.
So I had the, the high visibility vest,the hazard triangle, the bulb kit.
(09:56):
Um, and then the first aid kit wasthe only thing I needed, and I think
I drove about 1400 kilometers in totalthere and back and all these, mm-hmm.
Surrounding mileage.
Um, so that was, um, that was a, mymost recent, uh, funny experience.
Other things that have happened tome, um, I've had higher car companies,
(10:20):
major higher car companies actuallysay we've run out of vehicles.
Like literally you are having, thenyou have to find another provider
and then you find that provider'smore expensive, yada, yada, yada.
So it's like minor things, butit, when I got to Marburg, um, I
spoke with a couple of the team.
They said, how are you feeling?
And I just started laughingand they said, why?
(10:43):
What's happened?
And I went.
If I tell you the journey that I'vehad just now, you'd probably tell
me to go away and just say, shut up.
That's not true.
Um, and we just all had a laugh,uh, over dinner and a drink over it.
So that has been, I think, the most,um, in terms of funny travel stories.
(11:05):
Uh, the, there was also one in 2020.
I'm just trying to think now.
Uh, 2023, I was due to go over to theBahrain International Carting circuit,
uh, for work for Rotax, and I get a phonecall the week before I'm due to fly.
Oh, uh, what's your availability like?
(11:25):
And it was the dates for theweek after and I said, well,
you realize I'm in Bahrain.
Um, so then.
Uh, the deal, the, the agreement wasmade pretty, pretty quickly within
48 hours of the initial discussion.
And then I remember having to waitthree hours because the flight
for, for British Airways to London,Heathrow from Bahrain was delayed.
(11:47):
So there I was on my smartphone watchingMotorsport TV for about three hours
waiting until I could check my bag in.
But the, the, the recent travelto, to Belgium, I think is
the worst sort of problematic.
Journey, but you just have to,it's, it comes with the territory.
It's first world problemsas the hashtag suggests.
(12:09):
Um, and it is what it is.
It's just part and parcel of it.
You just have to roll with punches.
And if you're gonna be running a littlebit behind you just tell the organizers
saying, look, this is the situation.
I'll be with you soon as I can.
Mm-hmm.
Well, we got a really, uh, busylife and a lot of adventures in it.
Definitely.
Yes, that's, that.
(12:30):
That's very, very true, Lou.
I mean, um, yeah, it's 43 flightslast year, I think already we're,
we're now what coming up to.
I've got three.
Oh, well, um, just for you folks outthere that do follow me on socials,
I've got Super GT Motorsport TV forSaturday and Sunday, Porsche Switzerland,
(12:52):
Saturday all day Dutch, uh, Dutch kartingchampionship season over the in Bergham.
So I think probably by the time I gethome at about midnight on Monday morning,
I'll have done just 5,000 kilometersworth of traveling alone that weekend.
So, yeah, it's really hard to be acommentator for motor sports events.
(13:16):
Definitely.
Yeah.
It, it, it is, especially when you are,you are one person that's, uh, in demand.
I mean, especially with the,uh, the carting because the week
next weekend I do the first roundof the German car championship.
Fun enough, inbo, which means I'vegot flights of Brussels again.
Mm-hmm.
Heath.
Don't let me down.
Please don't let me down.
So it's, it's the case.
(13:37):
You have to be on a bitof a wing and a prayer.
Like I say, Lou, it's just, um, you rollwith the punches, but there's, apart
from the travel, there's just so muchmore involved in, in being a commentator.
You are, you are constantlyresearching and like, like for
instance, this is my Bible.
This goes everywhere with me and it's gotall my notes that I've spent the last.
(13:59):
Like literally entry.
Well, from, from what people cansee, there's like entry lists.
I've got notes underneath.
Mm-hmm.
I've got track maps, um,championship standings.
Like literally that has taken me multipleconversations to sort out, because people
might say, oh yeah, well, you know,all this information as a commentator.
(14:21):
Yes, but you've got to be fully prepared.
And if you can't get the informationbefore the event, if you are there
the day before or two days before,you can try and find the drivers,
um, and speak to them and say, right.
Okay.
I dunno much about your past history.
Can you tell me a little bit aboutyourself in the next couple of minutes?
And then what you also need.
(14:46):
A good old note because,well, just in case with a pen.
I mean, I never go, I never leavehome with any, without any of that.
It's just, um, part and parcelof of, of being in this industry.
You know, definitely if you got differentevents, like you said, you got Porsche,
you got carting and, uh, differentdrivers completely in this series.
(15:09):
Uh, so you need to be up to dateevery time and yeah, that's good
that you got this folder andyou're well prepared every time.
That's great.
Uh, can you tell me what's yourfavorite, uh, part about, uh, mentating
outside of, uh, travels, some funny,uh, situations which happened with you?
Um, to be honest with you, I think the,one of the biggest things for me is.
(15:35):
When you travel, uh, this isaligned with the travel side of it.
When you meet people in the paddockand you get to know not just the
driver, but you get to meet thepeople that work with the driver, like
the engineer, the mechanic mm-hmm.
The team boss.
You get to, you get tospend time with people.
And uh, that's the thing, as acommentator, you are the person
(15:57):
that is the voice of that.
Championship or one of thevoices of that championship.
So you've got to be alittle bit, uh, on the mic.
You could be a bit more of an extrovert,a bit more outgoing with your personality.
Uh, but you've got tobe that people person.
You've gotta be that, you know,professional, but you still have
that positive mental attitude.
(16:19):
And, and that's one of the biggest thingsthat I love about real life motor sport.
Um.
Is the, the, the, the peoplethat you work with as part of the
organization, the people that you meet.
And it's not just the teams and thedrivers, it's also the families.
Mm-hmm.
You know, let's say younger sister,younger brother, elder sister, elder
brother, mum, dad, grandparents.
(16:42):
Um, I've, I've had it wherefour generations were in the
same paddock at one time.
So you had daughter mm-hmm.
Racing driver, mom.
Grandmother.
And then because of the, well,because of the, the genetics in the
family, from what I was told, thegreat grandmother was there as well.
(17:03):
Wow.
Uh, which was, which was mind blowing.
Um, but it's, it's more the case of itis about the people and it is about the,
you know, when everything's calmed downon the track loop, it's more the case of,
it's the, the ambiance, the atmosphere.
Like everyone has just gone.
Right, the racing's done.
(17:26):
Time to chill out, get to know people.
Uh, and there's been times when familiesor teams have invited me out for
dinner and I've accepted because I.
You wanna make sure that, okay,yes, people might say, well, you
are, you might just be freeloading.
No, it's, it's about thespirits of community.
(17:46):
And it doesn't matter whether it'ssim racing or real life, there is a
big community aspect about what we do.
And you cannot, you cannotdeny that because we're all
part of the human condition.
Yeah, that's really true.
So this is exactly what I reallylike about sim racing and, uh,
(18:07):
doing my streams on Twitch, uh,and I racing community as well.
That's all about people who into thisindustry and, uh, all my streams also,
I'm all the time happy to see them and,uh, they all got, uh, different stories
in their lives, but we connect here,uh, with some racing with, uh, streams
and, and that's a really good thing.
(18:28):
Definitely.
Um.
Do you have a race, uh, which, uh,you've called that you will never
forget in your, uh, commentary career?
Um, well, as the surname suggests,ladies and gentlemen, I act, I'm
actually, uh, I'm part German by descent.
Uh, my grandfather was born in the suburbsof Bergen, Berlin, uh, not too far away
(18:51):
from the Alexander Platz and the BellingTemple Health Airport, which is now,
uh, used predominantly for Formula E.
Uh, 2023, uh, I was the circuitcommentator for the circuit experience
for Formula E for that round of thechampionship and completely in German.
I was commentating the whole weekend onevery free practice session, qualifying
(19:13):
and both races, and just to think that,um, I was only 25 minutes away by taxi.
From the place where my grandfatherwas born was quite a seminal
and quite an emotional moment.
Luke and I remember our broadcastdirector, uh, Del Brown, he
said, Alex, for the finaltime this weekend, well done.
(19:36):
You may stand down.
So, um, I, uh, I, I basically,I cried by I, my tear ducks
dry for about five minutes.
Mm-hmm.
Just because of the realization of how.
From my grandfather Habb, whopassed away when I was five.
(19:57):
He legally immigrated to the UnitedKingdom before the Second World War and
had to go to the local constabulary inLondon every six months with a document
called the Aliens Order, where theywould interview him, ask him where he
is been, what he is been doing, and thenthey would stamp the book and say, okay,
you're good for another six months.
And to have that.
(20:19):
Where you've got grandfatherto father to son, uh, to son.
Mm-hmm.
And having that sort of full circle, I,I got really emotional and like people
could see that my eyes were like red.
Mm-hmm.
Not, not on the pupils or anything,but like the, like my tear ducts
were dry, my face was bright redand they, they, they wondered why.
(20:39):
And so I told them and they went,that's just really, really awesome.
And it, and it was quitenice because, um, I. Oh God.
Yeah.
Now, now I've reminded myself of anotherbad journey home and it was funny enough,
it was that weekend, but, uh, I'll giveyou the version of that in a second.
But it was, it was just like.
People connected on that emotional level.
(20:59):
Mm-hmm.
And, and that again, goes tothat community side of things.
But that weekend, Berlin hadan air, uh, had a airport
strike at Berlin Brandenburg.
So I had to take the train to Hamburg,got delayed by an hour and half,
leaving Ha Hamburg hub, bun Hor, gotto the hotel at one in the morning,
thought okay, his flight's at six 30.
(21:20):
I'll get up at, I'll get up atlike four 30 and have a shower.
My alarm woke me up at fiveo'clock and I just went.
Ah, I've gotta get through securityand I made it by last call.
Uh, and then I was quite happy toget back to home, uh, to UK soil at
London Gatwick, even though I'd flownfrom E. But yeah, it, it that, that to
me, um, is the most emotional moment.
(21:43):
I will, I. Never forget at all.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I think it, it's really good to,you know, return back to places, uh,
would give you some emotions and youshare this emotions with other people.
And also that makes, uh, like easiersituation by the end, uh, for you.
So it's really cool.
Mm-hmm.
Definitely.
Um, let's pick about, uh, formalEA little bit so I know that you're
(22:08):
doing some commentary on them.
Um, so tell me more about this.
Well, it was, um, I. It was, uh, I'm, I'mpart of the Loudspeaker Agency, which is
run by Gemma Scott and Louise Beckett.
Two women that have made their careersas presenters and pit lane reporters
in Motorsport most nightly GT WorldChallenge, powered by AWS for Gemma.
(22:29):
And Louise Beckett was the Pit Lanereport and for the World Endurance
Championship, uh, for the WorldFeed, um, for many, many years.
And, um, about five years ago, uh, theyset up a loudspeaker agency, which is to
help other talent get the opportunity.
To, uh, commentate or presentor be involved within, not just
(22:51):
Motorsport, but other sports beside it.
'cause some of the commentatorsthat I know, such as Chris McCarthy,
who's just become the, uh, worldFeed commentator for FIA Formula two,
following in the footsteps of Alex Jakes.
Um, Chris was their first ever client,and I've known Chris since 2017.
He was the one that gave me my startin this business as a commentator.
(23:13):
Um.
Ha records racing sayingthat's convenient.
I'm heading to Miami.
Yeah.
Miami on Saturday for Formula E.Have to give a shout out to my
good buddy who's now the WorldFeed commentator, Tom Brooks.
Um, it's quite funny how a lot ofpeople that I know in the industry
that are going, you know, that aremaking these stride strides forward,
(23:33):
are now getting that recognition.
Um, so for me, I, I just was,uh, I got contacted by Gemma,
I think it was late 2020.
Two or early 2023 and she said,you, you are being shortlisted
for the Formula E gig in Berlin.
Two weeks before the event I got the call,I was, uh, sitting down having dinner
with my family and I've seen her numberand I've gone, I need to answer this.
(23:56):
And they said, is it what we think it is?
I said, now we find out.
So I walked away from the table andshe said, yeah, you got the gig.
Mm-hmm.
It's the only time I've done forme to read commentary, but um.
One of the funniest things, one ofthe funniest stories there, I got
the brightest, um, you know, likewhere you get these mo, you know,
these really, really brightly coloredlike, uh, Caribbean style hoodies.
(24:20):
Well, I had the one that maybelooked like I'd come from Barbados
only and needed a tan on my face andit had formulary and pink letters.
And one of the things that was happeningwas that after qualifying one of the
presenters, either Toby or Kayanawould come into the, the Porter cabin.
Which is literally just off thestart, finish rate and asked me, well,
(24:41):
you know, what a great qualifying,and then I was getting, I was, I'd
like, I'd become a mini celebrity.
I was like, thinking why are, whyaren't people in, uh, interested in,
you know, like say Nico Miller ormaybe even Daniel Apt, who is mm-hmm
testing the new Gen three car I said.
Why am I getting, uh, and then I endup on someone's Instagram story and
(25:01):
my picture with them is above Daniel,uh, Danny Fiat of all people mm-hmm.
Who was doing the young drivertest the following week in Berlin.
And I was like, thinking.
This is really, really crazy.
And then the amount of comments for peoplethat had actually been there either on
the Saturday or the Sunday, they eithermessaged me personally and said, thanks
for, thanks for doing such a great job.
(25:22):
Really enjoyed your commentary.
Hopefully you're back next year.
Unfortunately it didn't happen.
Um, but you know, you have to take theseopportunities whilst you get the chance.
Yeah, sure.
I, I think that was greatexperience for you anyway.
And, uh, would like to ask you, becauseyou mentioned, uh, before that you
like about racing and motorsport, thesound of engine and all this stuff.
(25:46):
So what do you think overall about,uh, electric racing and, uh, we
would have a future and maybe we'llgo on to see like more serious, uh.
Like this.
Well, based on 25 years of automotiveexperience, I was in the auto
industry until September 1st, 2020.
I think electric is part of the future.
(26:07):
It is not the complete solution.
Uh, you're seeing championshipslike DTM, uh, super, GT over in
Japan, rot on sustainable fuels, youknow, so they're using these CNFs,
which are carbon neutral fuels.
You are seeing total energies.
For instance, for the crowd, for, forthe 24 hours of spa and for the world,
you know, like part fuel partners are nowgoing into sustainable fuels, like say
(26:33):
Total energies for the 24 hours of Lamar.
The, they, they did, they, theydid something which I thought
was quite quirky, but actuallywas a quite good marketing ploy.
They did the total energiesbased their sustainable fuel
on, uh, wine grape residues.
Mm-hmm.
And then they did, uh, then they hadthe 24 hours of Lamar Virtual powered
(26:55):
by Total Energy Energies energy bars,which were made from the same residues.
Mm-hmm.
So you can see that how, uh, the, thetechnological advances we are, we.
Uh, I'm looking at electric asa, as as a partial solution.
Fuel cell technology is so underrated.
(27:18):
It is obscene, uh, I mean likeHyundai with the IX 35 fuel cell
vehicle back in late 2000 tens.
Then they came out with the, the nexo,which was the second generation of it,
BMW with the ix, uh, with the X five.
They've had like multiple.
Uh, hydrogen fuel cell carsbeing trialed by companies.
(27:40):
Um, carbon neutral fuelsdefinitely the way to go.
If Porsche can set, spendover 150 million Euros mm-hmm.
On a planted Chile to keep thenine 11 they halo car alive.
Well, you could be damn surethat other fuel partners like,
say, shell, like, say total.
Um, so, you know, all thebig brands I think have.
(28:03):
You know, yes, they've drilled forso many years, but it's now, it's
their time to help keep internalcombustion engine cars on the road.
We, it is.
I think it's just that they'refrom when, like say people were
saying we are gonna be net zero by.
Formula.
Formula One is a perfect example.
(28:25):
They wanna be carbon neutral by 2030.
Mm-hmm.
Not all of their productionteam is on site at the circuits.
They're located at FOMheadquarters in Biggin Hill.
Like say Chris McCarthy, Alex Brandle,some of the other commentators,
they will go to Biggin Hill.
They will not be flown on sitebecause that CO2 being pumped into
(28:46):
the air by more people flying.
And it's easier on the environment.
You know, a hundred percent sustainablefuels will be coming in I think for 2026.
And now you are seeing a lotmore motorsports are doing it.
So if the motorsport industry can do it,why can't the automotive industry mm-hmm.
See behind, see past the end of their,is my honest opinion as a, having been a
(29:11):
professional, I saw so much technology.
Like say when, if anyone mightremember the old Mark four golf GT
TDIs with, what was the Pomper DoerDirect injection diesel technology,
which revolutionized the market.
Um, that, that was, that wasa, a fantastic technology.
It's only Euro six emissionsthat basically said Volkswagen
(29:33):
you can't do, or Euro fiveVolkswagen couldn't do it anymore.
But I think it's, it's morethe case of motorsport can
lead the way for automotive.
Mm-hmm.
And we see that with thetechnological advances at the mall.
Especially with the the LMDH cars, we nowsee there's a varying amount of solutions,
different power plants, like a twin turboV eight, and the Lamborghini squatter.
(29:53):
Across the 63, you've got the four liter.
Uh, now this is an interestingbit of information.
I didn't know this until I foundout about the spec of the car,
the B-M-W-M-V eight hybrid.
The engine that's in it is the originalfour liter V eight that's now got two
turbo chargers on it, and it's the enginethat powered the original returning
(30:15):
BMWM three when BMW made its returnto the DTM in the early 2000 and tens.
So there are solutions to every problemand I, I think that these, you know,
the governments in some respects have.
Try to, try to look into their crystalball that's obviously broken and go,
(30:38):
well, okay, we, we need to make sure allcars are, you know, uh, all new cars are
electrified, fully electrified by 2035.
That will never happen.
Mm-hmm.
Because the amount of r and d, theamount of development, the time crunch
that the, the manufacturers are under.
You know, and that's why you areseeing Mercedes going away from the two
(31:00):
liter four cylinder turbo charge C 63.
They're bringing back the V eights.
So you are now seeing that government,government forcing restrictions
on manufacturers are hurting thereputations of said manufacturers.
I don't, and.
I'm glad that they arebringing back the v eights.
It's what Falta bark is known for.
(31:22):
So I think t the automotive industry withthe help of their motorsport arms can
really progress the technologies further.
And if Motorsport can develop tech, uh,get like say l and DH cars on the road in
a couple of years, who's not to say theycan help accelerate the r and d programs.
Of their automotive cousins,like say at Munich for BMW.
(31:45):
Stu Guard for Mercedes-Benz.
English stuff.
For Audi and so on and so forth.
There is a i I think that if you let themotor sport arms help the development
race, we'd be along a lot betterthan we would be now at this point.
Yeah, I think I agree with you because,uh, all the best technologies we can
test like in motor sports and then applythem to, um, like normal cars and, uh,
(32:11):
I kind of agree that uh, electric carsnot only one solution so we can, um.
Use different options, uh,for this to make mm-hmm.
Environment better.
And it's also to have, uh, likeopportunity for people to choose,
uh, what the best for them.
Uh, because not, not really, uh,all people are crazy about all
(32:32):
electric cars and, uh, they can bea little bit hard to travel, uh, by.
Long distance.
Uh, that's still a problem, I think.
Uh, so yeah, I think that you,that you're on point with this.
Definitely.
I, I think also coming on to, youknow, in some respects trying to,
(32:54):
I. Look at my own carbon footprint.
You know, I do.
I uh, I do drive a lot.
I do fly a lot, but most recently,um, I've actually been embracing using
electric vehicles as higher cars.
Um, when you've got, like, say thePolestar two, the Polestar three, you look
at what BMW's now doing with the I five.
(33:14):
Um, I, um.
I think it was January, late Januaryof this year, I was going to a
carting event, and six actually alsoupgraded me for no additional cost.
So I like books.
Uh, I think it was the IX one, which istheir entry level SUV electric vehicle.
Mm-hmm.
And then I'm waiting for, 'causethis, I think this is, yeah, this is
(33:35):
another thing that happened this year.
We had a problem where Belgian airtraffic control was, uh, the compute,
the main mainframe computer had, um.
Bone gasket and shut down.
So, uh, I looked and I endedup in A-B-M-W-I five E Drive 40
M Sport Touring, which had 340brake horsepower rear wheel drive.
(33:58):
I. But it had a rangeof about 480 kilometers.
Mm-hmm.
Which, for a car that weighsnearly two tons is pretty good.
I think it's just that when cars, likethe Nissan Leaf came back, came out
when Carlos go, was in charge of rentalin Nissan and, and tried to spearhead
the electric rev vehicle revolution.
(34:18):
The technology wasn't at that point wherewe could say, yes, you can do 10 to 80%.
In 20 minutes, and that will giveyou 300 kilometers of range, meaning
that if you are 210 kilometers away,you know you've got that window.
Mm-hmm.
Back then, electric vehicles wereprobably, if you were lucky, getting
(34:41):
a hundred, 110 kilometers from a fullchoice, full state of charge, which
in my money is about 7 62 to 72 miles.
Per, per full charge.
But now the technology is acceleratingto the point where Tesla is not
gonna be the big power player.
The, the automotive bigbrands are catching up.
(35:02):
Mm-hmm.
And it's just about findingall these alternatives.
I think it's just, but I, and Iactually enjoy, I'll be honest with
you, I love any kind of motor sport.
Even Formula E, when they went gen, nowthey've gone Gen four, four wheel drive.
Can do nearly 200 plus milesan hour on a city street.
Mm-hmm.
(35:22):
Now you've captured my attention, butnow I'm worried as sort like thinking.
Does Formula E have to moveaway from city circuits?
Uh, from City Streetcircuits to actual tracks?
Um.
That's the big hurdle that, that Ithink they've, they've gotta overcome
extreme E the rally cross series has nowbecome extreme HH standing for hydrogen.
(35:44):
So there are people that arewilling, like, uh, Alejandro a gag.
He is the biggest catalyst.
For this revolutionarychange in motor sport.
Mm-hmm.
And when Lucas Degrassi was the firsttest, you know, Lucas Degrassi has
been a part of Formula E from day one.
He was the first employee thata gag wanted him on board.
(36:04):
They knew each other very well,and people laughed at formulary.
I don't see people laughing now.
And now we're in, I think it'sseason 11 and they're off to Miami.
It's, it's always about thedoubt, the naysayers, and
just carry on your own path.
And that's exactly what Alejandro gagand so many other people have done.
(36:26):
Yeah, definitely world, uh, changingand, uh, good alternatives to have.
Uh, that's a great thing.
Definitely.
I also noticed that I, we,we got a lot of, uh, electric
cars, uh, outside, uh, and um.
It's, it's great.
It's great.
And, uh, good to see that formale finally, um, you know, taken the
(36:47):
reputation from people and people reallyenjoy, uh, racing this cars and that.
That's great.
Um, I really like about formal E. That's,uh, I think they running the same chassis.
I really like series like this,uh, like IndyCar for example.
Uh, because I think that driverscan show their skills, uh, here.
Of course, formula One is good in itsown way, uh, with all this, um, you know,
(37:13):
fights between teams and, uh, engineers.
It's really cool also.
But, uh, as a driver, I reallylike Sirius, where you can
show your driving skills.
I, I, I think that's alsoanother thing that, um, is very
much overlooked these days.
Um.
It's just a case of, um, showcasingtalent rather than needing a budget.
(37:39):
Mm-hmm.
Um, so it's, uh, it's justone of those things where I.
You just have to sort of like, say backin the seventies, back in the eighties,
drivers got drives because they, theyearned it or they were picked up.
Now it's all about academies.
(37:59):
And I can understandmotor sport is a business.
We're in a very, very different time.
Things have evolved so quickly.
Um.
And now I would rather see drivers giventhe benefit of the doubt through what
they've achieved, rather than how muchmoney they have to bring to the table.
Yeah, absolutely Agree with you in this.
(38:20):
And, uh, let's move on andspeak about your own podcast.
I know that you're doing it.
Uh, so tell me more about, uh, howyou want to start your own podcast.
What actually lead you to this?
Um, well, my podcast, uh, whichis on my own YouTube channel,
is called Commentators Corner.
Uh, it's to give an insight of thepersonalities behind the people who
(38:43):
have certain roles within the industry.
So from commentators, presenters,uh, driver, coaches, drivers,
uh, personalities, let's say.
And it's more to, you know,uh, it's a bit of a, more of an
anecdotal podcast, if you will.
Um.
And it's, it's about finding aboutcharacters, about people, um, talking
(39:07):
about the community and talkingfunny stories going off on tangents.
And I think the longest episode waswith my good friend Adam Weller,
which was about the best part ofnearly two hours we were talking for.
But it was one of those conversationswhere you just had to let it flow.
Um, it is available on YouTube, so ifyou go to youtube.com at Alex Gold.
(39:31):
You should find me.
Um, and then it's available on, I'mnow doing, uh, the vid, well, the video
version is not only on YouTube, but nowon Spotify, uh, it's on Apple Podcasts.
And, um, I'm really enjoying doingsomething whereby I get to speak to
people that I know or people who, I dunnoin the industry, find out about them.
(39:51):
A bit like what you people dohere at, at eSports with the unit
talks, it's really, really good to.
Find out about, um, differentpersonalities, different individuals.
Yeah.
That's, uh, why we got this,uh, podcast to show people who's
in motor sports, uh, who can.
(40:12):
Inspire people to jump into thisindustry and be a part of it.
Definitely.
Um, can you tell me what'sdifferent, uh, for you and
what's the preparation for you?
Um, like, uh, what's different, uh,with commentary and, uh, with podcasts?
So, uh, what are you doing differently forthis one podcast is basically let it flow.
(40:34):
Just get the guest I, I, I think you can.
You can have a set line ofquestioning, but it doesn't
make the podcast feel natural.
Mm-hmm.
In my, in my eyes, I, I look at itrather than, rather than quantity.
I look at qua quality and you're talkingabout the personality of the individual?
Individual, sorry, tryingto get my words out right.
(40:56):
Sorry.
I, I know, I know we're gonna be shorton time in a second because I've got a
sim racing broadcast to do very shortly.
Um, but it's basically letthe conversation flow, but
with the commentary is.
Have so much information that yourmind is, uh, is swamped by it, but
it helps you to do your job right.
(41:17):
And it's a famous saying here inthe United Kingdom, and I know
quite a few people will, uh.
Will, will definitely be on the, the, thesame wavelength as me, which is called
the seven Ps. Piss pull preparationpromotes piss pull performance.
And I stand by that mantra everysingle time because if I don't
(41:37):
prepare, I don't feel I've done enoughto make sure that my job is safe.
Mm-hmm.
Um, commentary is a cutthroat business.
Um, a lot of us are, are good friends,but we are all out for a specific goal.
Um, I look at my, my commentary careerso far that I've, I, I've been very, very
(42:01):
fortunate to work with some great people.
I continue to work with some great people,and there's other people that I've, I've
worked, I mean, I've got to know SteffiBow really, really well, and I love her.
You know, let's just roll with it.
Um, and, and that's how my podcast is.
It is basically on, it's now based moreon her mantra of what she said to me,
(42:24):
uh mm-hmm When we finally met in person.
Hopefully, uh, uh, Steffi, weget to catch up very, very soon.
So chow, uh, over to California.
Um, it's more, it's more thecase of the podcast needs to
be a living, breathing entity.
And if you strangle that with.
Predetermined questions, which I did forthe first 15 episodes, and I just went,
(42:46):
it doesn't feel, you know, when you justget that, that, that feeling of the pit of
your stomach where it doesn't feel right.
Mm-hmm.
And that's exactly what I felt.
Um, there is one person thateveryone will know in the sim racing
commentary space, uh, George Morgan.
Um, he's the only guest that I'veinterviewed twice, and it was mainly I
(43:09):
wanted to, uh, I had a rebrand of theshow, so new graphics, new look, and
I thought, right, who can I bring on?
That was one of my original guests,and we talk about what's changed
since that interview and now mm-hmm.
And George.
Wonderful, wonderful guy.
(43:32):
Absolutely passionate.
Um, and he, he was up for it.
And it was, it was, I mean, I lookedback between after I'd recorded that
episode, uploaded it, premiered it.
I looked at the firstepisode and I just went, I.
Just look how far you,Alex, not anybody else.
You, through passion, through grit,determination, have managed to get
(43:54):
this podcast to where it is now.
Mm-hmm.
And now I'm looking at thinking,okay, so I've done another further
revision of the graphics thatwhere I'm talking to my guests.
Um, it just makes so much more sense.
And I'm looking at otherways in which, okay.
How can I, how can I change it up?
And I'm, I love the format because itjust means it's completely 100% natural.
(44:19):
It's not forced, and it's my podcast.
Mm-hmm.
And no one can take that awayfrom me, which is, which is
one of the wonderful things.
Yeah, that's, uh, good that you mentioned.
You can have a look on yourself, uh, likeon four first, uh, videos, which you made.
And it's really cool opportunity actuallyto have, uh, because, uh, sometimes I
(44:40):
watch my first dreams and also like,oh, you've come really long way to
where you are now, so it's really cool.
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
Uh, I, I couldn't agree more.
And, um, yeah, I'm still, uh,still commentating on sim racing.
Like I said, uh, in about 10 minutestime, I've got a bit, we're going
live with the radicals at Suzuka.
(45:03):
Mm-hmm.
Um, as much as I'd love to continue thisconversation, Lou, I think, uh, I need
to skid out because, uh, my producer'scall, uh, trying to call me as we speak.
Bless him.
Okay.
But it's.
I've got one bit of advice for you peopleout there that want to do commentary.
Um, from my perspective, make surethat you work hard, but you enjoy every
(45:27):
single step of the journey because ifyou don't enjoy it, you're gonna be
basically falling flat on your face.
If you don't have, you know, the,if you don't have the relevant.
Know how, in how toget into this industry.
Find one of us, talk to oneof us, see how we can help.
(45:51):
I've given, um, I mean as ofyou'll, you'll know this lady
as well, Lou Ash, van Deley.
She came to me and asked me foradvice, which then led onto the
SRO job in the United States.
She came to me for a,for, and I said, Ash.
(46:12):
If you know what you're worth,go and get what you're worth.
It's like a famoussaying from Rocky Balbo.
From Rocky Balbo in one of his movies.
And when you have to lookat these monologues, they're
actually quite powerful.
But there's also a very, veryinteresting answer that David Croft
lead commentator for Skyport F1,said to me when I interviewed him at
(46:33):
the Autosport Show, which is nevergive anyone a reason to tell you no.
He started from hospital radio,and now he's been in Formula One
as the lead commentator for SkySports for the best part of over
two decades alongside Martin Brule.
And if that's not, uh, a way ofsaying, don't let people tell you no.
(46:54):
Mm-hmm.
David Croft is the epitome of that.
Yeah, I think main thing, just to bepassionate to what you're doing and uh,
this is what will lead you and motivateyou to go forward and improve, uh,
like step by step and go to the future.
Uh, so yeah.
Yeah, ex exactly.
(47:16):
Um, so really I have to say, Lou,it's been an absolute pleasure.
Uh, Johnny you here on, onInit talks and, uh, yeah.
Um, I'm.
I'm just looking forward to what, not justin eSports, but also uh, screen to speed.
Uh, it's gonna be doing obviously alot coming up, uh, so I'll be keeping
my eyes on it and, uh, don't worry,you've definitely got a cheerleader in
(47:37):
this corner here in the United Kingdom.
Okay, I'll thank youso much for being here.
It was a pleasure to talk with you and,uh, also get a lot of, uh, new things.
Uh, for myself.
Uh, guys, thank you so muchfor watching any talks.
Uh, don't forget the 19th of April.
We'll have events on Init eSportchannel and we'll see you next time.
Thank you so much.
(47:58):
Bye.
Innate eSports focuses on sim racingevents in digital tournaments.
They bring eSports content to fans andsponsorship opportunities to brands
while maximizing audience reach acrossmultiple sports industries and platforms.
(48:22):
Innate eSports is a woman-led companywhere diversity, equity, inclusion, and
accessibility is in their DNA and theirplatform aims to combat bullying and
cheating to help make the eSports world assafe and fair as possible to learn more.
Be sure to log on towww.initesports.gg or follow them
on social media at init eSports.
(48:43):
Join their discord, check outtheir YouTube channel or follow
their live content via switch.
This episode has been brought to youby Grand Touring Motorsports as part
of our Motoring Podcast network.
For more episodes like this, tune in eachweek for more exciting and educational
content from organizations like TheExotic Car Marketplace, the Motoring
Historian, break Fixx, and many others.
(49:03):
If you'd like to support GrandTouring Motor Sports and the Motoring
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Please note that the content,opinions and materials presented and
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If you have any inquiries about thisprogram, please contact the creators
(49:26):
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