Editorial direction of GP Rejects

[Ciaran]

Sorry if I'm being off-topic, but I noticed that this site never did a profile on Spirit Racing. I feel like that's a rather glaring omission, seeing as they're the team which brought in the eventually-all-conquering Honda turbo V6.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

Sorry if I'm being off-topic, but I noticed that this site never did a profile on Spirit Racing. I feel like that's a rather glaring omission, seeing as they're the team which brought in the eventually-all-conquering Honda turbo V6.

Well, we won't stop you from writing one if you so intend, some of us are currently engaged in the writing of profiles for the site at present. The Claes profile is obviously finished (and only just in time too!), but there is more to come, as we expect to have four more profiles between three authors ready for publication in the next month or so, only one of which is finished. The suggestion is appreciated, but we'd rather see volunteers than suggestions. Profile writing is asking a lot from people who are otherwise doing this on a purely voluntary basis.

[Nessafox]

It's easy indeed to suggest profiles. But it's a hard task writing them, so kudos to the long pieces about Johnny Claes and Super Aguri and the shorter profiles and their writers.

I'm only missing a music link of Johnny Claes and his Clay Pigeons
That got me thinking, does anyone want me to do a music review of Jacques Villeneuves album, considering i've had some experience in music journalism?

[tommykl]

I'm only missing a music link of Johnny Claes and his Clay Pigeons

I believe you'll find a link to "I Heard" in the first part of the article

[Nessafox]

I'm only missing a music link of Johnny Claes and his Clay Pigeons

I believe you'll find a link to "I Heard" in the first part of the article

Edit: aha, i only read your independent version, not the GP Rejects version. And i couldn't find it there.

[dr-baker]

That got me thinking, does anyone want me to do a music review of Jacques Villeneuves album, considering i've had some experience in music journalism?

I've read many references to this album, but never heard it or read a proper review of it, so if you're willing to do it, go ahead! (Although I suppose I ought to go and listen to it first!)

It's easy indeed to suggest profiles. But it's a hard task writing them, so kudos to the long pieces about Johnny Claes and Super Aguri and the shorter profiles and their writers.

Indeed. I've been meaning to finish my profile of MasterCard Lola for a year now, but have still failed to do so.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

(Although I suppose I ought to go and listen to it first!)

Don't. It's not worth it. Believe me.

[dr-baker]

(Although I suppose I ought to go and listen to it first!)

Don't. It's not worth it. Believe me.

Erm, OK then...

[Ciaran]

Sorry if I'm being off-topic, but I noticed that this site never did a profile on Spirit Racing. I feel like that's a rather glaring omission, seeing as they're the team which brought in the eventually-all-conquering Honda turbo V6.

Well, we won't stop you from writing one if you so intend, some of us are currently engaged in the writing of profiles for the site at present. The Claes profile is obviously finished (and only just in time too!), but there is more to come, as we expect to have four more profiles between three authors ready for publication in the next month or so, only one of which is finished. The suggestion is appreciated, but we'd rather see volunteers than suggestions. Profile writing is asking a lot from people who are otherwise doing this on a purely voluntary basis.

I'll have a think about writing up some sort of outline for a profile on Spirit. I found a Motorsport Magazine article which gives a decent amount of detail on the team.

[tommykl]

(Although I suppose I ought to go and listen to it first!)

Don't. It's not worth it. Believe me.

Erm, OK then...

He's right. I guess I shouldn't delve too deeply into it, but to be short about it, it's bad. It's not even an entertaining or interesting kind of bad, it's just bland, boring and bad.

[Rob Dylan]

That got me thinking, does anyone want me to do a music review of Jacques Villeneuves album, considering i've had some experience in music journalism?

I'm happy to do a round-table review with you and anyone else who volunteers if you like intricate song-by-song analysis along with the possible interpretations of the lyrics as well as notes on the subtlety of the production.

[girry]

I fear I am the only person not Jacques Villeneuve who actually likes his album.

[Nessafox]

That got me thinking, does anyone want me to do a music review of Jacques Villeneuves album, considering i've had some experience in music journalism?

I'm happy to do a round-table review with you and anyone else who volunteers if you like intricate song-by-song analysis along with the possible interpretations of the lyrics as well as notes on the subtlety of the production.

Sure why the hell not. But yeah, we have to wait until we have enough serious content to be able to pull that off, as i discussed before. Of course, when the forum seems to be ready to do comical/satirical pieces, i really want to do a 'top 10 formula one drivers in alfabetical order' article.

[Kuwashima]

That got me thinking, does anyone want me to do a music review of Jacques Villeneuves album, considering i've had some experience in music journalism?

I'm happy to do a round-table review with you and anyone else who volunteers if you like intricate song-by-song analysis along with the possible interpretations of the lyrics as well as notes on the subtlety of the production.

For what it is worth, I LOVE this idea!

[DemocalypseNow]

That got me thinking, does anyone want me to do a music review of Jacques Villeneuves album, considering i've had some experience in music journalism?

I'm happy to do a round-table review with you and anyone else who volunteers if you like intricate song-by-song analysis along with the possible interpretations of the lyrics as well as notes on the subtlety of the production.

For what it is worth, I LOVE this idea!

That would make for a hell of a podcast, wouldn't it?

[Ataxia]

Recently, we've been a bit slack with IIDOTR and ROTR threads and posts on the site, and I think we need to get back on top of them for next season. I think that Biscione's Google Forms are the best way forward, because we can collate all of the results nice and easily with the analytics offered.

In order to improve our organisation, the guys who create content for the site have access to a shared Google Drive. I recommend that from next season, we save our ROTR and IIDOTR forms to that folder and that way, anyone with access and a dab of free time can pick up the results and post them into the correct threads. When I or Biscione get a moment, we can then post this on the main site (and hopefully give Biscione a nudge to update the pictures once in a while... ).

If this seems like a decent plan, I can use the last few races as a trial run.

As for the actual "editorial direction", we've got a steady stream of content in the works, so a big thanks to all the guys who are really stepping up to the plate and producing some great stuff. We've not had to resort to "16 Caterpillars Which Look Like Esteban Gutierrez's Eyebrows" yet!

[Bobby Doorknobs]

We've not had to resort to "16 Caterpillars Which Look Like Esteban Gutierrez's Eyebrows" yet!

Why do you say that like it would be a bad thing?

[Ataxia]

After some initial umming and ahhing, we've managed to start producing our own articles for almost a year now and they seem to be reasonably popular. Everyone who's produced articles have been to a very high standard, which makes my job in the edit suite nice and easy! Thanks, everyone.

I'd like us to keep going with this, and over the last few weeks we've slowly started to build up our audiences, which is good. However, I'm sure there's things we can improve or think about implementing into our pieces, and that's where you, the reader, comes in.

If you've got a few moments, we welcome any feedback so that we can perhaps try out new things or continue as we are if there's the interest. Hell, even if there's something you'd desperately like to read about, you can mention that perhaps. I ask this because although we have solid data on views (thus far, Lamy's already been one of our most popular articles, so there's a massive demand for the Reject Spirit™), we don't really know anything past that! I mean, we could chase clicks, but we're not Buzzfeed...

As I said elsewhere, I'm immensely proud of the effort and work that everyone's put into their articles, and we're building a great collection that I hope does our predecessors justice. I also thank you all for reading our stuff, and I hope we're able to grow further over the coming year.

[Nessafox]

Yep, you've done a good work of building a good foundation.

If you want to try out new things, please talk about them. For the moment, i will only say 'continue as you're doing now'. The profiles are a good mix of totally different eras, which is a big plus.

[AndreaModa]

You just knew I'd write something didn't you?

In all seriousness, massive kudos to everyone who has played a part in getting the articles up on the site. All have been well-researched and well-written pieces and that's obviously coming through in the pageviews.

The only suggestion I would make is to have a word limit on the articles. Some of them are very detailed and are a bit too long. I appreciate more detail is good, but some sort of limit would mean that the authors produce pieces that are managed and lean. Just something to consider!

[girry]

re the above: agree partly. As (hopefully!) constructive criticism I'd say that you all - Simtek in particular - produce amazing stuff on everybody and everything from the centuries past, digging up unimaginable quantities of valuable and intriguing tidbits - but I admit to skimming some of the Buemi profile because it was just too detailed.

Of course this happens because from 2000ish on, everything is handily available online so it becomes tempting to write about a driver's performances throughout every weekend they participated in and mention all their results - but too much of it and it becomes tedious to read (again, this is completely understandable, myself I really had to consciously refrain from overdoing it on the Wilson profiletext too and the end product is still a bit too detailed to my own liking).

For example: if we're making a profile on Markus Winkelhock, then we definitely will describe his Nürburgring weekend in as much detail as humanly possible, because what happened is peculiar, funny, memorable and defines his entire career in motorsports. However if we're profiling imaginary driver x who has a 20 year career in motorsport but is on his second season of four in F3000 on the profile, and his performances late in that season are fine but it's not really affecting his career significantly, not bringing anything *new* or specially interesting to the table, nothing that happened was particularly noteworthy, funny or interesting - then you don't have to describe every session and race, you don't have to mention every result because this is not Wikipedia. You can just look at those results from a grander perspective of things (even when you just went through all the effort to read/watch every practise, qualifying and race report in hope to discover a funny event, a random encounter, just something) and simply lump it all together "after events y and z, he ended the season on a decent streak of points, which allowed him to end the season on a positive note and to expect to join the championship battle the following season bla bla".

[watka]

+1 to the above, I've just been too afraid to say it because of the massive amount of effort going into the profiles.

I think the Pedro Lamy was one of the best ones we've had as it had the right balance.

[tommykl]

I feel that a lot of that particular criticism applies to my piece on Johnny Claes, and I certainly agree with it. I tend to get very bogged down in detail when writing, and given enough proofreading and planning, it may not have turned out the way it did. I was aiming for a hard publishing deadline to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth, which meant that I focused on researching and writing rather than making sure the profile was enjoyable. I wasn't completely dissatisfied with the final product, as I felt that it highlighted how racing in the 1950s was done week by week in a series of unconnected events rather than as one single championship. I regret nothing, but had I had more time, it would likely have turned out differently.

In other news, I have already settled on a driver I would like to write about in the future, once I have fewer pressing deadlines for coursework. Stay tuned, folks...

[Nessafox]

I feel that a lot of that particular criticism applies to my piece on Johnny Claes, and I certainly agree with it. I tend to get very bogged down in detail when writing, and given enough proofreading and planning, it may not have turned out the way it did. I was aiming for a hard publishing deadline to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth, which meant that I focused on researching and writing rather than making sure the profile was enjoyable. I wasn't completely dissatisfied with the final product, as I felt that it highlighted how racing in the 1950s was done week by week in a series of unconnected events rather than as one single championship. I regret nothing, but had I had more time, it would likely have turned out differently.

In other news, I have already settled on a driver I would like to write about in the future, once I have fewer pressing deadlines for coursework. Stay tuned, folks...

I don't think so. Too much detail is more of a hindrance with recent drivers, because we still remember a lot of stuff. But this is not the case for relatively obscure drivers from ages long ago, where lot of detail is actually appreciated a lot.

With a profile like Buemi's, lot of readers would be like 'yeah, i know that already' which makes them relatively harder to read. But theres no magical formula to do a recent driver profile much better. As time progresses, such articles will become better and better.

Also i don't expect pieces that are 'easy to read in half an hour to never look at it again'. The old F1 rejects sometimes had profiles that took me a while to finish fully reading too.
But indeed, as been suggested by others, cutting down on 'insignificant results' can work. Maybe add in results tables of whatever you can find as a bonus instead?


Also, i just found out Pedro Lamy has been the only F1 reject to have ever won the 24 hours of Zolder. Yeay!

[Ataxia]

Thanks for your feedback guys! Shorter articles seem to be the most common suggestion, so I think we should probably take that advice and work towards some kind of "loose" word limit.

It's good to see the general direction we're taking seems to be working, and I hope we can keep producing articles and content that you enjoy reading.

If there's any specific things you'd like to read about, feel free to PM me or whatever; I know that Simtek, Londoner and myself have pretty full lists of things we'd like to cover over the next year, but it might be that you suggest something really cool and we're like "yeah, let's do that instead", or alternatively someone else might want to look into it. Any other problems, shoot me a message as well.

Thanks for reading guys, and here's to 2017!

[dr-baker]

Thanks for your feedback guys! Shorter articles seem to be the most common suggestion, so I think we should probably take that advice and work towards some kind of "loose" word limit.

It's good to see the general direction we're taking seems to be working, and I hope we can keep producing articles and content that you enjoy reading.

If there's any specific things you'd like to read about, feel free to PM me or whatever; I know that Simtek, Londoner and myself have pretty full lists of things we'd like to cover over the next year, but it might be that you suggest something really cool and we're like "yeah, let's do that instead", or alternatively someone else might want to look into it. Any other problems, shoot me a message as well.

Thanks for reading guys, and here's to 2017!

I pretty much have my MasterCard Lola profile completed now, but am holding on to it for a little bit so I can re-read it with a fresh pair of eyes, before submitting it in time for the Australian GP! It's 7500+ words, so again it's not short, but then neither is my post on all my research for the team...

[AndreaModa]

Thanks for your feedback guys! Shorter articles seem to be the most common suggestion, so I think we should probably take that advice and work towards some kind of "loose" word limit.

It's good to see the general direction we're taking seems to be working, and I hope we can keep producing articles and content that you enjoy reading.

If there's any specific things you'd like to read about, feel free to PM me or whatever; I know that Simtek, Londoner and myself have pretty full lists of things we'd like to cover over the next year, but it might be that you suggest something really cool and we're like "yeah, let's do that instead", or alternatively someone else might want to look into it. Any other problems, shoot me a message as well.

Thanks for reading guys, and here's to 2017!

I pretty much have my MasterCard Lola profile completed now, but am holding on to it for a little bit so I can re-read it with a fresh pair of eyes, before submitting it in time for the Australian GP! It's 7500+ words, so again it's not short, but then neither is my post on all my research for the team...

My advice: get someone else to read it too before you submit it. Coming at it from a different perspective will help.

[dr-baker]

Thanks for your feedback guys! Shorter articles seem to be the most common suggestion, so I think we should probably take that advice and work towards some kind of "loose" word limit.

It's good to see the general direction we're taking seems to be working, and I hope we can keep producing articles and content that you enjoy reading.

If there's any specific things you'd like to read about, feel free to PM me or whatever; I know that Simtek, Londoner and myself have pretty full lists of things we'd like to cover over the next year, but it might be that you suggest something really cool and we're like "yeah, let's do that instead", or alternatively someone else might want to look into it. Any other problems, shoot me a message as well.

Thanks for reading guys, and here's to 2017!

I pretty much have my MasterCard Lola profile completed now, but am holding on to it for a little bit so I can re-read it with a fresh pair of eyes, before submitting it in time for the Australian GP! It's 7500+ words, so again it's not short, but then neither is my post on all my research for the team...

My advice: get someone else to read it too before you submit it. Coming at it from a different perspective will help.

If someone wants to offer, then that would be grand.

[Ataxia]

I'll be reading it anyway, since I always check the grammar and syntax before each article is uploaded (and obviously to make sure pictures and videos go in the right places).

If you'd prefer someone outside the usual editorial group, I'm sure someone's happy to help.

I can't guarantee a set release date at this point (this is perhaps something to be discussed later once you're 100% finished), as we've got one or two other articles set to be finished around that time, but we'll discuss your preferred time and I'll be as transparent as possible on the matter. I've not missed a promised release date yet!

[Bobby Doorknobs]

I'll be reading it anyway, since I always check the grammar and syntax before each article is uploaded (and obviously to make sure pictures and videos go in the right places).

If you'd prefer someone outside the usual editorial group, I'm sure someone's happy to help.

I can't guarantee a set release date at this point (this is perhaps something to be discussed later once you're 100% finished), as we've got one or two other articles set to be finished around that time, but we'll discuss your preferred time and I'll be as transparent as possible on the matter. I've not missed a promised release date yet!

If it helps, my current already-pretty-much-finished-but-waiting-until-the-time-is-right project has a self-imposed 9th March deadline (the 9th is turning out to my lucky date, seeing as my other three profiles were all published on it).

[dr-baker]

I'll be reading it anyway, since I always check the grammar and syntax before each article is uploaded (and obviously to make sure pictures and videos go in the right places).

If you'd prefer someone outside the usual editorial group, I'm sure someone's happy to help.

I can't guarantee a set release date at this point (this is perhaps something to be discussed later once you're 100% finished), as we've got one or two other articles set to be finished around that time, but we'll discuss your preferred time and I'll be as transparent as possible on the matter. I've not missed a promised release date yet!

I'll be happy with that. As an aside, what is the preferred method of sending articles, and submission of photos to go with the article?

[Ataxia]

I'll be happy with that. As an aside, what is the preferred method of sending articles, and submission of photos to go with the article?

Whatever's easiest for you, really; zip it all up and pop it on Dropbox or something, I'm easy.

[dr-baker]

I'll be happy with that. As an aside, what is the preferred method of sending articles, and submission of photos to go with the article?

Whatever's easiest for you, really; zip it all up and pop it on Dropbox or something, I'm easy.

Cool stuff!

[Bobby Doorknobs]

This October 23rd will be a significant date: Yes, it's the 75th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein.

Okay, that's not relevant to our editorial direction. But the 23rd October will also be the 40th anniversary of the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix and I thought it would be interesting to profile the Japanese drivers from 1976-77 who haven't yet gotten the treatment. They are (according to the list) Noritake Takahara, Masahiro Hasemi and Kazuyoshi Hoshino.

Now, doing all three myself is... it's just not happening, so I would like another volunteer (or two, preferably) to assist in this noble crusade.

Any takers?

[tommykl]

This October 23rd will be a significant date: Yes, it's the 75th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein.

Okay, that's not relevant to our editorial direction. But the 23rd October will also be the 40th anniversary of the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix and I thought it would be interesting to profile the Japanese drivers from 1976-77 who haven't yet gotten the treatment. They are (according to the list) Noritake Takahara, Masahiro Hasemi and Kazuyoshi Hoshino.

Now, doing all three myself is... it's just not happening, so I would like another volunteer (or two, preferably) to assist in this noble crusade.

Any takers?

Given that there are no significant dates surrounding my planned next profile, I'm willing to take on one of them in the meantime

[Ataxia]

More than happy to help out; I've got plans for a profile for another Japanese driver, but the more the merrier right?

This should help with our exposure online since internet-folk love Japanese things, especially when they're printed on pillows.

[Nessafox]

More than happy to help out; I've got plans for a profile for another Japanese driver, but the more the merrier right?

This should help with our exposure online since internet-folk love Japanese things, especially when they're printed on pillows.

Kojima-chan is my waifu!

[dr-baker]

More than happy to help out; I've got plans for a profile for another Japanese driver, but the more the merrier right?

This should help with our exposure online since internet-folk love Japanese things, especially when they're printed on pillows.

We're going to start printing profiles onto pillows now?!?!?!?

[Ataxia]

More than happy to help out; I've got plans for a profile for another Japanese driver, but the more the merrier right?

This should help with our exposure online since internet-folk love Japanese things, especially when they're printed on pillows.

We're going to start printing profiles onto pillows now?!?!?!?

Could work for insomnia; if you're struggling to sleep, simply read the pillow version of my Lucas di Grassi article and doze straight off.

[Bobby Doorknobs]

So, I'm leaning towards Takahara at the moment and it's difficult to find anything beyond results.

I found a magazine that apparently contains an interview with him... but it's in Japanese. Any speakers here?