I ghostwrite Educational Email Courses for motorsport brands so they can turn fans into fanatics | Creative Director & photographer

I am the founder of The Commercial Table, where I talk about the commercial world of sports and entertainment. 

We also help commercial executives turn partnerships into revenue through the newsletter and consulting practice.
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My career is far from traditional, almost paying catch-up at times - I spent 10 years as a photographer before transitioning to writing, lived across three countries (with more airport mishaps than I care to count), and somehow found my way into the niche world of motorsport marketing without ever fully stepping into the corporate world.
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My approach to LinkedIn mirrors largely my personality - more listening than speaking, trying to be more authentic than polished. My theory is If you treat LinkedIn like Twitter in 2021, you'll win. I am obsessed with how comedians and TV shows write, have dreams of working on a screenplay someday, and can talk your ear off about tennis.

I have coached 30+ clients globally, earned LinkedIn Top Voice recognition, and built my business by following curiosity and scratching my own itches - and putting ideas into action.

Nirupam Singh

Liberty Media shared its Q4 2025 earnings with one number standing out (at least for me)

Sponsorship now makes up 21.7% of F1's total revenue.

That might not sound dramatic, but there is more in the details.

F1 revenue hit $3.9 billion for the year, up 14%. Sponsorship grew faster than race promotion or media rights. And Liberty specifically called out "growth in digital advertising revenue" as a driver.

This shift reveals a new type of partner coming to the table.

This is the sponsor roster they highlighted: Disney, LEGO, Pepsi, Apple, Standard Chartered.

Consumers' brands have shifted their perception of this sport.

Here are a few reasons why:

1/ Activation expectations are changing
Consumer brands at this are doing more integrated campaigns (or they should be). The partnership teams servicing these deals need to operate more like agencies and as sales teams, perhaps why people are catching up.

2/ Digital becomes a core revenue stream
When Liberty calls out digital advertising growth in an earnings report, it signals that F1's owned channels are becoming monetizable assets. F1 TV, social platforms, the app. The core fans will naturally be upset that this is no longer a sport, and they wouldn’t be wrong.

3/ The bar for new sponsors is higher than ever
If you're a brand trying to enter F1 now, you're competing against companies with massive creative budgets and global reach. The question isn't just "can you afford it?" but "can you activate at the level the sport now expects?"

Kim Hobson wrote a great piece on this exact gap — how most F1 partnerships default to one-off assets rather than a season-long campaign architecture. 

The teams that help partners build that structure will win the next wave of deals, but they will also need strong teams to supply that work.

Helping people master the commercial playbooks in motorsport | Founder @ The Commercial Table

Claude and Williams' F1 partnership proves that not every partnership announcement has to be over-the-top

Earned media will pick it up, so the focus should really shift to: 

What can we say about this partnership without shouting it? 

The bare minimum should be a simple video from the founders at Anthropic announcing: 

1. Why it's happening 
2. Why should people care 
3. What can people expect 

I'm sure this video wasn't easy to execute, but it also doesn't demand your attention like a screaming toddler.

Cool partnership, hope we see some unique activations

Most of the motorsport industry operates out of the UK.

I'm based in Toronto.

For a while, I assumed that was a problem. The events, the teams, the decision-makers — they're all an ocean away. 

I didn't have the budget to fly over regularly, and I wasn't sure how to build relationships with people I might never meet in person.

So I started writing The Commercial Table.

Every Tuesday, I'd send out something about the commercial side of motorsport — how partnership teams actually get structured, what sponsors are thinking that doesn't make it into the press release, and the operational stuff that shapes right-holders behind the scenes.

I was just trying to stay close to an industry I cared about from a distance. 

What I didn't expect was who would start reading:
→ Commercial directors
→ Heads of partnerships
→ People working inside F1 teams and series.

The kind of people I would've spent years trying to get in front of through traditional networking.

And then consulting work started coming in.

From people who had been reading for months and already knew how I approached problems. By the time we got on a call, the trust was already there.

That's the thing about writing consistently in public. You're letting people see how you think over time, and for the right readers, that builds more credibility than any intro meeting could.

I still go to London when I can because the in-person stuff matters (honestly, I will still move there) but the newsletter has become a way to stay present in an industry even when I'm not physically there.

If you're trying to build credibility in a space where you're geographically on the outside, writing might be worth considering. You don't need to be in the room if you're already in their inbox every week.

Still early, still figuring it out — but the doors that have opened so far have made every Tuesday worth it.

P.S. Random run-in with Scott Keeney in London during my time in London

Eight Sleep just partnered with Aston Martin F1 Team this year, and I subscribed to their co-branded landing page.

I'm still waiting for a welcome email.

For context: Eight Sleep just became Aston Martin Aramco's official sleep technology partner.

They make AI-powered pods that regulate temperature and track biometrics while you sleep — research shows up to 34% improvement in deep sleep.

For F1 drivers crossing 15+ time zones a season, recovery is a great performance variable.

The logo appears on the car nose, driver balaclavas, cooling vests, and handheld cooling fans in the garage. Functional placements that reinforce what the product actually does.

So I went to the landing page to see how they're activating beyond the car.

There's a section called "Stay close to the paddock" — promising behind-the-scenes content, performance insights, and future releases from the partnership.'

That's exactly the right instinct. Turn a sponsorship into an owned audience. Capture that initial attention.

The problem is that the email capture is buried at the bottom of the page.

Most visitors will never scroll that far. The headline, product pitch, and stats are all above the fold.

The audience-building part is hidden.

Then I subscribed, hoping to receive a welcome email and what to expect.

These are the small details with digital partnership activations that fall short. The experience after someone opts in is unfinished.

A simple fix:

1. Move the email capture higher — after the first product section

2. Send a welcome email immediately — introduce the partnership, set expectations, deliver one piece of value

3. Build a short sequence — even 2-3 emails keep the subscriber warm

People are afraid of emailing their subscribers, thinking they’re annoying them, but in reality, if you actually give them value, they will welcome it.

Eight Sleep understands the value of building direct relationships with fans. The "Stay close to the paddock" framing is okay.

They just need to finish the job.

For brands activating sponsorships digitally through unsexy channels: the landing page is not the finish line. The email sequence is where the relationship actually starts.

More on this partnership in The Commercial Table tomorrow — https://lnkd.in/gCqNhzqU

credit: Aston Martin Aramco/Eight Sleep

Revolut x Audi F1 already has a head start on its partnership marketing.

To mark the launch of joint accounts: a new feature designed to simplify money management for any 2 people.

The campaign will offer customers the chance to win tickets to the Suzuka F1 Grand Prix, including VIP passes, autographed merchandise, and official merchandise.

It’s a smaller scale than The HEINEKEN Company x Full Time Formula season ticket holder activation, but the logic is the same: attach the activation to something fans already want.

What makes this one worth paying attention to is the sequencing.
Revolut started with a product moment - a joint account and used the partnership as a distribution channel for it, and made Audi F1 the vehicle to deliver the message.

That's a fundamentally different brief than most sponsor activations run off.

It shows in the output because the campaign feels coherent, there's a product, a reason to act, and a reward that's genuinely relevant to the audience receiving it.

Most activations get one of those three right.

For rights holders, there's a direct implication here.

You can’t always wait for sponsors to arrive with the activation ideas. 

The sponsors with creative energy and available budget are usually the ones with something happening on their product roadmap — a feature launch, a market expansion, a rebrand.

If you know what's coming before they've briefed their agency, you can walk in with a concept already framed around their business problem. 

That changes the conversation from media placement to commercial partnership.

One question worth asking every sponsor before the next race window: What product moments do you have in the next 60 days?

For brand managers, the lesson is about sequencing.

Start with what you need customers to do, along with what you have rights to.
Revolut needed people to try joint accounts, and the Audi Revolut F1 Team gave them a reason to pay attention.

Mind you, it’s always a bit easier for a B2C company to build these types of activations, but it still requires work to get it right.

It's easy to be negative about what Formula E is doing to grow their fanbase with events like the EVO sessions 

Most of the takes are negative, but the picture is more complicated than that.

For context: Formula E, in collaboration with Arcade Media, invited eight influential content creators to Jeddah to drive the GEN3 Evo — their current race car — around one of the most challenging street circuits on the calendar.

The internet had thoughts.

Let's start with what the critics are getting right.

The marketing timeline is too short. Announcing your creators a week out makes it tough to get mindshare for the casuals, unless you're closely following it. 

Despite that, the event got 5.8 million views.
 
The Sidemen Charity Match, also run by Arcade, gets promoted months in advance. 

Long-form storytelling ahead of the event is what makes it stick in people's minds. Formula E should be building the narrative weeks before anyone gets near a car.

The GP Explorer comparison is also fair. That event had training camps, coaching sessions, test days, and content at every stage of the journey. 

It drew millions of viewers, and French national TV broadcast it live. The key difference is that  GP Explorer was creator-led. EVO sessions are Formula E-led. 

And yes — the storytelling inside and before the event itself could be much richer. 

Show how difficult these cars actually are to drive ahead of time. Set benchmarks. 

Show the gap between creator lap times and professional lap times, and make that the story. The difficulty is the most compelling part of it.

The concept is right, but the execution will need to catch up.

In tomorrow's issue of The Commercial Table, I also cover:

→ Why the "sim racer" argument misses the point entirely 
→ The accessibility argument nobody is making about events like this
→ What the GP Explorer playbook actually looked like and what Formula E should steal from it 

Link in the comments.

Formula E is back with EVO Sessions 2.0 on February 15th—new format, team competition, live on YouTube. 

With the hopes of reaching new audiences and bringing new fans to the sport.

I love that they're taking these risks and iterating on last year. 

Because the challenge every new right-holder faces is the same: 

How do you build decade-long, geographical, family-level fandom in a sport that's still finding its feet?

Football clubs have decades and generational loyalty. 

This might not be the magic pill, but it's a necessary building block to the whole machine of growing an audience. 

Three things stand out to me about this year's approach:

- The format evolution from experience to competition
- Arcade's involvement
- The creator ecosystem is more connected

More about how Formula E is hoping to use these EVO sessions to build fandom is in my newsletter today: 

Subscriber here: https://lnkd.in/gCqNhzqU

Sports apps don't work like other digital products.

Your users are checking scores seconds before kickoff, reacting to a controversial call, or refreshing for transfer news while walking through a crowded concourse.

Design patterns that work for most apps fall apart under those specific conditions.

humbleteam put together a breakdown of what actually works for sports app UX. A few things stood out:

1/ Navigation for live events has to be built differently.

During a match, fans need instant access to scores, lineups, and highlights. Apps should prioritise matchday content dynamically; what matters right now surfaces first.

2/ One-handed use isn't optional.

Thumb-zone accessibility matters more here than in almost any other app category.

3/ Real-time data needs to be scannable in seconds.

Scores, stats, timelines should all be skimmable. Visual hierarchy, colour logic, and motion cues have to do the heavy lifting.

4/ Offline and low-connection modes are important.

Stadiums have notoriously unstable networks. Frustrating fans at the exact moments they want to engage will lose them.

5/ Push notifications need to respect context.

Goals, transfers, and breaking news are what fans want. But constant noise, and they'll turn notifications off entirely.

What I find interesting is how much of this comes down to understanding fan behaviour under pressure. You're designing for emotionally invested users making split-second decisions.

I spoke to humbleteam, where they shared a case study with me on how they worked with a top European football club on its OTT experience — benchmarking fan platforms, UX recommendations for TV interfaces, and opportunities for AI-powered personalisation.

When the natural instinct is to add more, sometimes the better approach is to remove friction from what already exists.

It's worth getting right.

#ad

Brand partnership • Helping people master the commercial playbooks in motorsport | Founder @ The Commercial Table

💥 LinkedIn Top Voice voice in motorsports 💥

Hit the 🔔 and follow me for insight into the world of motorsports across: 

🏁Sponsorships
🏁Branding 
🏁Licensing
🏁Education 
🏁Mentorship
🏁Industry news
🏁Female representation

I can support you select the best motorsport partnership for your brand.

Motorsports can open you up to an audience of over 1 billion people worldwide. 

🏎️ Formula 1 
🏍️ MotoGP
🔋 Formula E
🏎 WEC

For the last 24 years I've worked with some of the world’s biggest brands, providing: 

-  Exclusive partnership opportunities 
- Negotiation of deals and collaborations 
- KPI setting and measurement of ROI
-  Bespoke brand activations 

How does it work?

- A tailored approach 
- Unbiased data driven roadmap 
- Built around your commercial objectives

7 reasons why motorsport:

1. 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹
Major motorsport events have a global following, attracting fans from diverse backgrounds and cultures

2. 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
High-speed action, intense competition, skilful manoeuvring, providing fans with an adrenaline rush and excitement

𝟯. 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Motorsport serves as a testing ground for cutting-edge automotive technology, driving innovation in vehicle design, aerodynamics, and safety features

𝟰. 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀
Star drivers, such as Hamilton, Leclerc, Norris, Marquez, contribute to the sport’s allure, building a fanbase beyond traditional motorsport enthusiasts

𝟱. 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲
Extensive media coverage, documentaries, series, online content, help reach a broad audience and keeps fans connected

𝟲. 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴
Motorsport provides global platforms for sponsors to showcase their brands, enhance the brand reputation, build B2B opportunities

𝟳. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
(Motorsport fans are a huge community online and offline, ready to be engaged and live the excitement of the sport they love)

Silvia Schweiger

"Ridiculously complex, none of the fans are going to understand it."

That was Lewis’s first reaction to the new F1 regulations. 
And it's a shared sentiment.

F1 2026 is the biggest regulatory overhaul in 75 years.
This reset will change how the sport must communicate.

Smaller cars. Active aero. New hybrid systems. New driver tools. No DRS. 
New concepts:

• Overtake Mode
• Boost Mode
• Active Aero
• Energy recharge and deployment

Fans, both long-time and new ones, won't automatically understand how this all affects the race and team strategy. 
So education must become part of the show.

1. The FIA governing body needs to simplify and standardise the language.
2. Broadcasters need to translate complexity into interesting insights.
3. F1 and Teams need to educate through content, visuals, and storytelling.
4. Sponsors need to create brand narratives that make sense.

If this doesn't happen, we risk a familiar problem: fans watching something technically brilliant, but emotionally disconnected.

You shouldn't need an engineering degree to enjoy a race.

In a fast-evolving sport, explaining WHY things are happening matters just as much as showing WHAT is happening.

P.S. The FIA infographics are clear.
Will it be enough to truly understand the race.

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LinkedIn Fundamentals Course 

🏎️ Putting your brand in front of +2B people via motorsports 🏎️

💥 I'm a leading voice in motorsports marketing for 20+ years 💥

Hit the 🔔 and follow me for insight into the world of motorsports across: 

🏁Sponsorships
🏁Branding 
🏁Licensing
🏁Education 
🏁Mentorship
🏁Industry news
🏁Female representation

I can support you select the best motorsport partnership for your brand.

Motorsports can open you up to an audience of over 1 billion people worldwide. 

🏎️ Formula 1 
🏍️ MotoGP
🔋 Formula E
🏎 WEC

For the last 20 years I've worked with some of the world’s biggest brands, providing: 

-  Exclusive partnership opportunities 
- Negotiation of deals and collaborations 
- KPI setting and measurement of ROI
-  Bespoke brand activations 

How does it work?

- A tailored approach 
- Unbiased data driven roadmap 
- Built around your commercial objectives

7 reasons why motorsport:

1. 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹
Major motorsport events have a global following, attracting fans from diverse backgrounds and cultures

2. 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
High-speed action, intense competition, skilful manoeuvring, providing fans with an adrenaline rush and excitement

𝟯. 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Motorsport serves as a testing ground for cutting-edge automotive technology, driving innovation in vehicle design, aerodynamics, and safety features

𝟰. 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀
Star drivers, such as Hamilton, Leclerc, Norris, Marquez, contribute to the sport’s allure, building a fanbase beyond traditional motorsport enthusiasts

𝟱. 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲
Extensive media coverage, documentaries, series, online content, help reach a broad audience and keeps fans connected

𝟲. 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴
Motorsport provides global platforms for sponsors to showcase their brands, enhance the brand reputation, build B2B opportunities

𝟳. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
(Motorsport fans are a huge community online and offline, ready to be engaged and live the excitement of the sport they love)

Get your brand in front of 2B+ people with motorsport

Cadillac is unveiling its F1 livery at the Super Bowl.

No Formula 1 team has ever done this before.

A livery reveal inside a Super Bowl TV commercial, the most expensive advertising slot in the world, around $8–10M for 30 seconds, is more than a launch tactic.

It’s a statement.

Cadillac is using the biggest US media moment of the year to introduce its F1 project not to hardcore fans, but to a truly mainstream audience.

Tens of millions of American viewers who may not follow Formula 1, but who immediately understand scale, ambition, and confidence.

From a branding perspective, this is a very smart, high-impact move:
• instant, mass reach in the US
• zero noise from the traditional F1 launch cycle
• clear positioning as a proud, unapologetic American team

Choosing the Super Bowl for a livery reveal breaks every traditional F1 playbook, and that’s exactly the point.

As the 11th team on the grid, Cadillac is announcing itself on its own terms and speaking directly to American fans.

For me, they’ve already won the PR moment.
And yes, the US audience will love it.

Big entrance.
Huge visibility.
Very American.

***

Once the livery is unveiled, everything has to be proven on track.
A steep learning curve.
Intense pressure.
A lot to build, technically, operationally, competitively.

A huge challenge.
And precisely what makes this project so compelling.


Will you watch the SuperBowl LX?
If yes, who will you root for?
1. New England Patriots
2. Seattle Seahawks

7 out of 11 F1 teams have a watch sponsor.

That's not a coincidence. Do you know why?

Watch brands are some of the most present sponsors in F1.

The reason is simple.
Time is everything in racing.

It regulates, defines, and ultimately decides the outcome of a race weekend.

Add the shared values:
• precision
• performance 
• engineering excellence
• heritage and legacy
• attention to detail
• exclusivity
• passion

+ consistent global visibility and glamour.

And the alignment becomes obvious.

Here’s how the grid looks today:

⌚ Mercedes – IWC
⌚ Red Bull – TAG Heuer
⌚ Aston Martin – Breitling
⌚ McLaren – Richard Mille
⌚ Scuderia Ferrari – Richard Mille
⌚ Visa Cash App RB – Tudor
⌚ Alpine – H. Moser & Cie.

A big return in 2025 was TAG Heuer as the official F1 timekeeper.
A big return in F1 for Breitling in 2026, together with Aston MArtin.

***

Some of these partnerships are among the longest-running sponsorships in F1 history.

Proving that this association delivers consistent results and impact.

What brand would you love to see with the other teams?

Lewis Hamilton and Kim Kardashian were the second biggest Super Bowl headline, right after the halftime show.

Now imagine Kim Kardashian in the F1 paddock.
Or in the Ferrari garage 🤩

The level of global attention would be immense.
In terms of reach, relevance and cultural gravity.
If that ever happens, it would be massive for F1.

Bringing new audiences in is a strategic priority in motorsport.
And there are very few figures on the planet who can do that at Kim’s scale.

Love it or hate it, that’s also how modern sports get attention.
By intersecting with culture, not staying contained within it.

P.S. I can see a Skims X F1 collection selling out in 1 day, don't you?

I've seen a recent LinkedIn trend claiming F1 sponsors are "wasting money" on brand visibility.

That couldn't be more wrong.

An F1 sponsor's brand reaches millions of fans worldwide, race after race, across TV, digital, social media, live events, and content.

Few global platforms can match this consistent, high-attention exposure 12 months a year.

Fans watch F1 because they're emotionally invested in their favourite teams and drivers. That loyalty and passion changes the business proposition for sponsors. When brands become part of what people genuinely love, they're noticed and remembered.

Traditional advertising struggles to replicate this.

That's why brands keep investing. 
Because when done properly, sponsorship works.

If you need help with this, send me a DM. 

P.S What's your favourite livery so far?

Being a fan is not a job description in motorsport.

(you won’t get through the fist season just with it) 

Motorsport needs prepared professionals.

Passion is a powerful starting point.
But it doesn’t replace competence and skills.

Working in motorsport marketing is far more than watching races.

It’s knowing:

• how to secure partners
• how to structure and manage a sponsorship program
• how to activate partnerships effectively
• how to measure impact
• how to generate real return

And much more.

Whether you work for a team, a brand, a series, a driver or a circuit, strategy must always come first.

It requires:

• strategic thinking
• commercial awareness
• data literacy
• brand understanding
• long-term vision

And above all: objectivity.

When I teach, my goal isn’t to create more fans.
It’s to shape professionals who understand the business behind the emotion and can navigate it with clarity and confidence.

That’s what we worked on with the 2025–26 Motorsport Marketing Master class.

An intense and stimulating journey.

I appreciated every minute of it.

See you soon.
Ciao!

Anthropic. Gemini. Perplexity. 

And now TWG with Cadillac: AI is officially everywhere in Formula 1.

And honestly, what better place than F1 right now?

This is a sport where data decide races.
Millions of data points, in real time.
Clear performance metrics.
Immediate feedback.
No room for guesswork.

Formula 1 is almost the perfect proof-of-concept lab for AI.
If your technology can optimise decisions here, under pressure, at 300 km/h, it’s credible everywhere else.

That’s why AI works in F1 without feeling gimmicky.
“Faster decisions. Smarter strategy. Better outcomes” is not a slogan here.
It’s the reality of the sport.

From a commercial perspective, it also makes total sense.
AI companies are high-value, future-facing partners that fit naturally with F1’s data-driven DNA.
And in the cost-cap era, they are exactly the kind of strategic sponsors teams want on board.

Is this a trend?
No, it’s a structural shift.

F1 has always been a technology showcase.
AI is simply the next layer.

And we’re only at the beginning.

P.S. do you like Williams defining Claude their "official thinking partner"

The first MotoGP race ever in a city centre.

Adelaide, Australia, is set to host a MotoGP race on a street circuit.

Until now, a city layout for MotoGP has always been considered unrealistic, mainly for safety reasons.

MotoGP bikes have very different safety requirements compared to cars: run-off areas, impact zones, barriers. That’s why street racing has never really been on the table.

Adelaide, of course, has history. 
It was a former F1 city circuit (a purpose-built street venue in the heart of the city) and organisers are expressing full confidence in meeting MotoGP’s safety standards.

From a commercial and marketing perspective, this is a significant shift.

A city-centre race means:
 • easier access for fans
 • higher local engagement
 • stronger hospitality opportunities
 • a platform for large-scale brand activations
 • greater integration with the city itself

Compared to Phillip Island, legendary, spectacular, iconic, but not that easy to reach, a city venue offers a very different commercial model.

This feels like the first real step into a new era for MotoGP.
And it’s a big one.

What do you think? Yes or no to a MotoGP race in a city centre?

The female fan economy is not a trend.

It’s the biggest growth lever in motorsport right now.

It was my prediction in 2024.
I said it again in 2025.
And it’s still true in 2026.

The data now confirms it clearly: women represent around 41–42% of the global Formula 1 fanbase, with similar dynamics emerging across motorsport.

And yet, strategies, products, and narratives are still lagging behind this reality.

One of the biggest misconceptions I’ve challenged since the very beginning of my career is the idea that women, and female brands, don’t belong in motorsport.

They do.
And they always have.

Women have been part of this sport all along.
Yes, we were fewer.
Quieter. 
In the same roles.

What’s changed today is presence, but also visibility and voice.

Women are now more confident as fans.
More vocal as professionals.
More active as decision-makers, consumers, and community builders.

And this has very real commercial implications.

Women are highly engaged fans.
They buy merchandise.
They plan experiences.
They influence the majority of purchasing decisions.
They convert and multiply value.

This is why the opportunity ahead is so significant, especially for sectors like fashion, beauty, and lifestyle, which are only just beginning to understand the scale and depth of the motorsport audience.

Motorsport offers something few platforms can:
global reach, cultural relevance, emotional attachment, and year-round storytelling.

As Oana Leonte rightly says in her article "Motorsport is no longer a niche.
It’s a cultural system with fashion, fandom, and IP at its core."

See the link for the full article in comments.

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The first Turkish rider ever.
The first Brazilian rider in 22 years.

The 2026 MotoGP rookie class is more interesting than ever.

This season brings 2 very different rookies, two new markets, and a level of anticipation that goes well beyond lap times.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu becomes the first Turkish rider to ever race in MotoGP.
Three-time WorldSBK Champion.
One of the most spectacular riders of his generation.
Charisma, personality, and a riding style that stands out immediately.

At 29, he arrives as a MotoGP rookie despite multiple world titles elsewhere.
Different bike.
Different tyres.
Different race dynamics.
A steep learning curve, with no guarantees.

That takes courage. And it deserves respect.

Then there’s Diogo Moreira.
One of the brightest talents to come out of Moto2.
Among the youngest riders on the grid.
A young athlete with a remarkably mature approach.

His arrival carries huge expectations from Brazilian fans, and with Brazil back on the calendar, the timing couldn’t be better. 

A historic market returning to the spotlight, fully behind one of its own.

From a sporting perspective, this is refreshing.
From a commercial and sponsorship perspective, it’s extremely powerful.

New audiences.
New narratives.
New energy.

MotoGP feels broader, richer, and more global this year.

So the obvious question is:
who will be Rookie of the Year?

One thing is certain: this grid is already winning.

The first MotoGP race of the season is this weekend in Thailand: are you ready?

A fan-centred week to launch the MotoGP 2026 season.

Is this the first sign of a new era?

I’ve been working in MotoGP for 20+ years.
I was there before Ducati joined the championship.
I’ve seen MotoGP grow, reach its peak, suffer after Valentino’s exit, and now reposition itself as it enters the Liberty Media phase.

So when I see a launch like this, I don’t look at it as a one-off event.
I look at it as a signal.

Bringing the season launch to Kuala Lumpur, and turning it into a city-based, fan-first, week-long experience, feels like a very clear direction of travel.

From 2 to 7 February, a dedicated Fan Zone inside KLCC Shopping Mall allows fans to experience MotoGP up close.
Bikes, technology, interactive displays, activations.
The sport made accessible beyond the paddock.

On launch day, the Pit Box-style bike display offers a first look at the 2026 bikes.
Then MotoGP moves outdoors, beneath the Petronas Twin Towers, with an urban bike run, rider presentations and live music, sport meeting culture and city life.

This isn’t diluting MotoGP.
It’s bringing more people into a great show.

***

I know there’s scepticism in the paddock.
There always is when a sport evolves.
New fans, new markets, new formats can feel uncomfortable, especially to those who have been here a long time.

But growth doesn’t mean losing identity.
It means giving more people the chance to understand, experience, and fall in love with the sport.

And I’m glad to be here to witness it, with both new and long-standing partners choosing to invest in MotoGP’s future.

taplio

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Nirupam Singh's LinkedIn Performance

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