"Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)" (thejonnyedge)
01/27/2015 at 12:18 • Filed to: None
7
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"Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)" (thejonnyedge)
01/27/2015 at 12:18 • Filed to: None | 7
| 15 |
A little over a year ago I began to write bits and bobs here on Oppo in what I freely admit was a of spur of the moment sort of thing. I was grounded with a nasty injury and so while injured I figured that it might be pretty good fun to write about my love of cars to keep busy. Little did I know where it would lead...
Last week I attended my first international car launch for the new Ford Focus ST on behalf of drivingspirit.com. The launch was situated just outside of Barcelona, in the cava producing region of Catalonia, Spain. Taking place over the course of two days, me and my pal Gav from petrolblog.com shared a couple of new Focus ST's and duly put them to task through the exceptional driving routes of Catalonia. If you're curious (and I'm hoping you are!), my review on the car is just below this paragraph, but I actually wanted to discuss my general experience of the launch in this little blog piece. I'm hoping it'll be a cool little insight into what it was really like to be at a big launch.
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Being really rather new (compared to the other journalists on the launch) to this whole writing thing, I was of course a little worried about how I may be received by the professionals, but they actually couldn't have been more welcoming. Any time I spent with the people who do this rather better than I do was warm, friendly, and bloody good fun. From funny stories about Mika Hakkinen, to top tips on how to avoid trouble on and off road ("don't crash the car", "don't tell your partner how good these events are"), each and every one of the journalists I met were great people to be around, and I hope that I'll get more chances to hang out with them on future events.
So, what was it like driving through mountainous Catalonia? Pretty spectacular to be honest. We weren't so lucky with the weather on the first day, but being British it didn't really put us off much. That first day was spent in the diesel hatch, a torque monster that would wheelspin on the greasy roads right up into 3rd gear. Changes in the concrete at the sides of the Catalan roads nearly caught me out, and for a moment around a right angle corner we were sliding quite dramatically. Thankfully a combination of the electronic safety systems and my steering inputs helped avoid anything embarrassing, but one car was crashed on that first day. Major injuries were avoided thankfully, but it was a timely reminder to take care on these tricky roads.
We were fortunate enough to stay in an absolutely beautiful hotel up at Tibidabo, overlooking the entirety of Barcelona. The views are really hard to do justice to with just words, so here are a couple of snaps I took; one at night, and one from the morning before leaving.
As you can see, it really is a staggeringly beautiful location and I felt very lucky to be there looking at one of my favourite cities in the world. Worth showing you I feel, but anyway, back to the event!
On the launch we were given a set route to follow, taking us through the twisting mountainous roads up into the national park around the multi-pointed mountain of Monserrat. It was up here I got some of the better pictures of the car you'll see attached to my review, and they were absolutely some of the best driving roads I've been on to date. On and off camber, tightening, opening, fast, slow... you name it, the region had the lot and on the second day when the sun emerged we were able to attack the corners with a little more confidence. It was a fantastic day of chasing each other across Catalonia, and just about as much fun I've had in a car since driving the Morgan 3-wheeler near Malvern. I can honestly say it was just like being in your own living, breathing motoring show. Truly superb stuff.
Without a doubt this job is the best 'job' in the world. Throughout the entire experience I was absolutely aware of just how lucky I was to be doing what I was doing. I also remembered where I started. Because you guys read, commented, shared my articles, etc etc, I was able to grow as a writer, getting better (hopefully!) and becoming somebody worth inviting to one of these important events. We haven't always agreed on things, but we've always had good natured and entertaining discussions on the matters!
I really hope that I can provide a bit of insight as to what it is like doing this as I (again hopefully!) do more events. If you have any questions about the whole thing I'll do my best to answer them!
Hope you enjoyed this little piece anyway... if you rate it as being alright I might try and do one after each event? What do you think? You guys let me know, I'll leave it up to you.
HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
> Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
01/27/2015 at 13:34 |
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this picture gets me all kinds of jealous
davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
01/27/2015 at 13:54 |
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You're living the dream, man.
Matt Kirsch
> Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
01/27/2015 at 18:41 |
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I'd love to see you write a piece on your progression from oppo writer to "real" writer… including what you learned along the way, which pieces you wrote that specifically helped you break out, and anything else you care to share.
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Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
> HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
01/28/2015 at 14:29 |
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I really love that 'Stealth Grey' it looks brilliant. If it was me, I'd have a petrol hatchback in the grey and take the ST badge off the rear. It would look all special-ops and menacing then!
Those who know about cars would know it was an ST, those who won't know don't matter!
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Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
> davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
01/28/2015 at 14:31 |
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Oh, absolutely. It's really hard for me to put into words just how special it was to have sort of 'made it'. I'm by no means a writer of the standard of Top Gear, Evo, etc, but to be considered decent enough to write for some websites is still pretty special to me.
Still not doing it justice!
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Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
> Matt Kirsch
01/28/2015 at 14:35 |
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It's funny, because I never thought I'd be in a position where people consider me to be a "real" writer. I don't even think I really believe I'm a real writer - yet. Maybe in time...
Meeting the true professionals and listening to their tips and advice was a very valuable and humbling experience. I'm not entirely sure how I'd be able to write a piece on how I broke out just yet as I simply don't feel somebody like me should be telling others how to go about things.
I try my hardest to be the best writer as I can be. Each article (on a specific car) I write is sort of based around the experience of driving said car. So you may notice that my Volkswagen Passat piece was a bit more straightforward than my Focus ST piece.
It's very hard to describe how I go about things! I'll think on it and put something together and if it's good enough to publish, I'll let you know!
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davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
01/28/2015 at 14:39 |
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Fake it 'til you make it - ha!
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Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
> davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
01/28/2015 at 14:42 |
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Better not put that in my biography! ;)
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davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
01/28/2015 at 14:46 |
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Ha! Honestly, I'm guessing 95% of automotive journalists feel incredibly lucky to be doing what they're doing, and that they're "not worthy" in some regard or another. As long as you're working hard and getting better along the way, you're definitely "doing it justice".
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Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
> davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
01/28/2015 at 14:53 |
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Thanks for the support, comments like that make us all (I know the others would agree with me too!) very happy.
Yes, certainly all the guys I've met so far feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do what we do. A common theme spoken over dinner was how the job seems to choose you and not the other way around. A lot of people shared stories about how they kind of ended up doing it, rather than actively pursuing it.
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davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
01/28/2015 at 14:56 |
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Wow. Maybe the career will find me one day, too...
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Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
> davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
01/28/2015 at 14:58 |
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You never know. Just gotta put yourself out there and hope somebody sees potential in you!
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davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
> Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
01/28/2015 at 15:04 |
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Maybe as a second career, once my kids are in college. Too much of a homebody for the travel it requires at this stage in my life.
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Matt Kirsch
> Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
01/29/2015 at 01:15 |
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Sounds good! I'll keep your site on my radar, and if I have any specific questions, I'll fire you an email if that's cool.
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Jonny Edge (@thejonnyedge)
> Matt Kirsch
01/29/2015 at 11:33 |
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Feel free, tweet me or e-mail me at jonny@drivingspirit.com.