Louise Goodman
Louise Goodman | |
|---|---|
 Goodman in 2013. | |
| Born | 1963 |
| Nationality | British |
| Employers | |
Louise Goodman (born 1963) is a British motorsport reporter and presenter. She began working in the media as an editorial assistant for the Powerboat and Waterskiing Magazine and worked for the press officer Tony Jardine. Goodman was the head of communications of Leyton House's Formula One team for three years and then became press officer of Jordan Grand Prix until 1996. From 1997 to 2008, she was pit lane reporter for ITV's coverage of Formula One and has covered the British Touring Car Championship on ITV4 since 2009. Goodman has also taken part in rallies either as a driver or navigator.
Biography
[edit]Goodman was born in 1963 in Derbyshire.[1] She grew up in Alresford, Hampshire,[2] and has a sister.[3] When she was a child, Goodman wanted to become a doctor but studying chemistry and physics made her decide not to go down their career route.[4] She moved to London and worked at an architect's firm but she soon became tired of the job and made the decision to travel across the United States. It was during the travelling she met the editor of Powerboat and Waterskiing Magazine in Florida.[5]
She thus began her career in the media as an editorial assistant for the magazine for a brief period of time.[4][6][7] Goodman reported on major international powerboating competitions,[5] before working with the public relations officer Tony Jardine as a press officer on his BP account after meeting Jardine during her time working for the magazine.[6][8] Although she was not a fan of Formula One growing up,[2] she was appointed head of communications of Leyton House's Formula One team for three years starting in 1988.[9][10] She was helped by the Williams press officer Ann Bradshaw.[11] Goodman became the press officer for the Jordan racing team in Formula 3000 and Formula One after being offered the job by the team owner Eddie Jordan and remained in the role until the end of the 1996 season.[2][6] She provided the South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC),[12] Irish broadcaster RTÉ,[8] and several local radio stations with live race reports.[7]
She was approached by Kevin Piper, the head of sport for Anglia Television, and the journalist James Allen for an interest to work in television in mid-1996 as various production companies were bidding to produce programmes for ITV.[6][11][13] Goodman became one of the two roving pit lane reporters for ITV's coverage of Formula One in January 1997.[5][14] She initially worked alongside Allen and later Ted Kravitz. Other than occasional pre-race segments by Beverley Turner, Goodman was the only woman in the team. Her first race was the 1997 Australian Grand Prix,[13] and she was the first woman in the United Kingdom to report on the male-dominated arena of motorsport on television.[3][14] Goodman was part of ITV's broadcast team across the twelve years of the broadcaster's coverage until it relinquished the rights after 2008.[8] She missed the 2004 British Grand Prix due to the death of her partner John Walton, the Minardi team manager.[15] She became the first female to be part of a pit stop when she removed the left rear tyre in a Midland pit stop for Tiago Monteiro at the 2006 British Grand Prix.[1][16]
Starting in 1991,[17] she also took part in multiple rallies driving either a Ford Ka,[6] a Peugeot 205 or a Vauxhall Corsa or acting as a navigator in both championship and non-championship events after persuading Jardine for a long time to let her try the sport out.[18][19][20] In 2007 she became the presenter of ITV's coverage of the British Touring Car Championship alongside Kravitz. In 2008 she joined HondaRacingF1.com as guest presenter for Formula One's first online TV channel.[21] The following year, Goodman became an ambassador of the Motor Sport Association UK's (MSA) Go Motorsport initiative to help people get into motor racing.[9]
After the BBC regained the television rights to broadcast Formula One, she rejoined ITV4's coverage of the British Touring Car Championship alongside Steve Rider as reporter in 2009.[22] Goodman provided cover for Channel 4's coverage of the 2017 British Grand Prix, for Lee McKenzie who was presenting coverage of the 2017 World Para Athletics Championship. For the 2018 Formula One World Championship, Goodman stood in for McKenzie as reporter for certain races.[4] She runs the media training consultancy Goodman Media,[4] and has authored pieces for magazines and newspapers such as The Observer, The Sun and The Times.[10] Goodman has also covered the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Channel 4 and Quest, Car of the Year for UKTV and other programmes for ITV4 and the Audi Channel.[10] She published the book Beyond the Pit Lane in 2000.[10] Goodman is an ambassador for Girls on Track UK,[23] promoting women in motorsport.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Louise Goodman". 100 First Women Portraits. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b c "The new woman in Murray's life". The Times. No. 65821. 24 February 1997. p. 12S. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ a b Edworthy, Sarah (23 February 1998). "Goodman presenting the art of finding a winning formula". The Daily Telegraph. p. S8. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Hassan, Umar (30 September 2019). "A Day In The Life Of… Louise Goodman, ITV's Pit-Lane Reporter". Journo Resources. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
- ^ a b c "Louise Goodman". ITV-F1. Archived from the original on 2 October 2003. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Sampson, Phil (6 March 1999). "Dreaming of a pit-lane exit". The Daily Telegraph. p. C7. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Turner, Jill (4 March 1997). "ITV's woman with a track record ready for the start". The Guardian. p. 25. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Hicks, Helena (24 June 2020). "Louise Goodman: "Motorsport is not just for blokes, it is for everybody"". Motorsport News (MJ3237): 12–15 – via PressReader.
- ^ a b "Louise Goodman Joins Go Motorsport". Racecar. 13 February 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Louise's Career". Louise Goodman. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
- ^ a b Nelson, David (14 January 2017). "In conversation with Louise Goodman (part one)". Motorsport Broadcasting. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
- ^ "Walker the Talker and a new supporting cast". The Observer. 2 March 1997. p. S8. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Baker, Andrew (23 February 1997). "Louise is up to speed". The Independent. p. S15. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b O'Carolll, Lisa (27 January 1997). "ITV puts a woman in F1 driving seat". Evening Standard. p. 4. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Eason, Kevin (10 July 2004). "Jenson reveals all while he unbuttons his private world". The Times. p. 36. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ Noble, Jonathan (11 June 2006). "Grapevine: Paddock Life - Silverstone edition". Autosport. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
- ^ "Tony revs up for a new rally challenge". Bracknell and Ascot Times. 20 February 1997. p. 33. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "TV girl gets behind wheel". Sunday Mercury. 14 November 1999. p. 91. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Adamson, Chris (30 January 2004). "All girls' team make history". Bournemouth Daily Echo. p. 88. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Riley, Catherine (27 September 1999). "Woman driver proves no joke". The Times. No. 66630. p. 54. Retrieved 22 January 2025 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ "Honda sign ITV's Louise Goodman for HRTV role". f1network.net. 19 May 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ "Grapevine: Rider, Goodman to cover BTCC". Autosport. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
- ^ "Girls on Track UK Ambassadors". Motorsport UK. Retrieved 21 January 2025.