Motorsport PR Agency: A UK Guide to Choosing a Growth Partner

Let me tell you something that might sting a bit. Most motorsport PR is a waste of money. Not because PR doesn't work - it absolutely does when done properly - but because most drivers and teams have no idea what they're actually buying. They sign up with an agency, pay a monthly retainer, get a few press releases sent out, and then wonder why nothing's changed six months later.

I've been on both sides of this. I've hired PR agencies. I've fired PR agencies. I've watched talented drivers throw money at communications support that did precisely nothing for their careers. And I've seen the ones who got it right - who used PR strategically as part of a proper commercial operation - and watched them accelerate past people with more talent but less nous.

Here's the first problem. People think PR means press releases. It doesn't. Or rather, press releases are about 10% of what good PR actually involves. The rest is relationship building, story development, media positioning, crisis management, and strategic communications that support your commercial objectives.

A press release saying "Driver X finished third at Brands Hatch" is not PR. It's administration. Nobody cares. The motorsport media already know the results - they were there. What they want is the story behind the story. The human angle. The insight that makes their readers engage.

Good motorsport PR is about controlling the narrative around you or your team. It's about being the driver journalists want to interview, the team that gets featured in the season preview, the story that editors choose to run when they've got space to fill. That doesn't happen by accident. It happens through sustained, strategic effort to build relationships and feed the media what they need.

Right, let's get uncomfortable. The reason most motorsport PR fails is because there's no story worth telling. And that's not the agency's fault - it's yours.

If you're a mid-pack driver in a mid-level championship with nothing particularly interesting to say, no unique angle, no compelling backstory, and no commercial ambition beyond "I'd like more sponsors please" - then no amount of PR spend is going to help you. You're asking an agency to polish something that doesn't shine.

The drivers who get good coverage have something to say. They have opinions. They have personality. They're willing to be interesting, even if that means being slightly controversial occasionally. The media don't want robots who speak in sponsor-friendly soundbites. They want characters. They want stories. They want content that makes their readers engage.

So before you even think about hiring a PR agency, ask yourself honestly: what's my story? Why should anyone care? If you can't answer that in one sentence, you've got work to do before PR becomes relevant.

This is where people get confused, and it costs them money.

Marketing is paid. PR is earned. When you buy an advert, you control exactly what it says and where it appears. When you get editorial coverage, you don't. A journalist might take your story and run it in a direction you didn't expect. That's the trade-off for credibility - earned media carries weight precisely because it's not bought.

The thing is, they work best together. Strong PR supports your marketing by building credibility and awareness. Good marketing gives PR something to work with - campaigns, launches, moments worth talking about. If you're doing one without thinking about the other, you're leaving value on the table.

What you actually need depends on where you are in your career. Early on, you probably need marketing support more than PR - building your digital presence, creating content, establishing your brand. As you progress and start attracting attention, PR becomes more valuable because you've got something worth amplifying.

If you've decided you need PR support, here's what actually matters:

They need to understand motorsport. This sounds obvious but it's astonishing how many drivers hire generic sports PR agencies who couldn't tell you the difference between GT3 and BTCC. If your agency doesn't understand the championship structure, the media landscape, and the commercial dynamics of the sport, they're going to waste your money learning on your dime.

They need real relationships with motorsport media. Anyone can find a list of journalists and send emails. That's not PR, that's spam. The value comes from actual relationships - knowing who covers what, understanding what they need, being able to pick up the phone and pitch a story properly. Ask who they know. Ask for examples of coverage they've secured. If they can't name specific journalists they work with regularly, walk away.

They need to think strategically, not just tactically. A bad PR agency sends out press releases when you tell them to. A good PR agency develops a communications strategy that supports your commercial objectives and then executes against it. They should be asking what you're trying to achieve, not just waiting for instructions.

They need to be honest with you. If your story isn't interesting, they should tell you. If your expectations are unrealistic, they should push back. The best PR relationships are partnerships where both sides are working toward the same goal, not client-vendor arrangements where the agency just does what they're told and cashes the cheque.

One of the reasons motorsport PR has a bad reputation is because it's hard to measure. Unlike digital marketing where you can track clicks and conversions, PR outcomes are fuzzier. But that doesn't mean you can't measure success - you just need to be smart about what you're measuring.

Forget vanity metrics like "media impressions" or "advertising value equivalent." Those numbers are largely made up and don't correlate with any real-world outcome. What matters is:

Coverage quality: Are you getting featured in the publications that matter? A profile piece in Autosport is worth more than twenty mentions in regional news aggregators. Quality over quantity, always.

Message consistency: Is the coverage saying what you want it to say? Are journalists picking up on the angles you're trying to push? If every article describes you differently, your PR isn't working.

Commercial impact: Is your PR supporting your sponsorship efforts? Can you show prospective sponsors a portfolio of coverage that demonstrates your profile? Are existing sponsors happy with the visibility they're getting? This is the metric that actually matters because it connects to revenue.

Relationship strength: Are journalists coming to you proactively? Are you getting opportunities you didn't pitch for? That's a sign your PR is working - you've become someone the media want to cover, not someone they have to be persuaded to notice.

I need to talk about crisis management because this is where good PR really earns its money.

Motorsport is unpredictable. Crashes happen. Controversies happen. Sponsors get cold feet. Teammates fall out. Social media pile-ons occur. If you've got decent profile, something will go wrong eventually. The question is whether you're prepared for it.

A good PR agency should have a crisis protocol in place before anything happens. They should know how to respond quickly, how to control the narrative, how to protect your reputation when things go sideways. This is not something you want to figure out in real-time while your phone is blowing up and journalists are asking for comment.

The drivers who handle crises well are the ones who had support in place before the crisis hit. The ones who handle them badly are usually trying to manage it themselves, making it up as they go, and digging deeper holes with every panicked statement.

You knew this bit was coming. Yes, we do motorsport PR. Yes, I think we're good at it. Here's why.

We don't separate PR from the rest of your commercial operation. Communications is part of a bigger picture that includes sponsorship, content, and brand building. Your PR should support your sponsorship efforts. Your content should give PR something to amplify. Your brand positioning should be consistent across everything. We think about all of it together because that's how it actually works in the real world.

The leadership team here has raised over £30 million in sponsorship and funding across our careers. We understand that PR isn't about vanity - it's about commercial outcomes. Getting your name in Autosport is nice. Getting your name in Autosport in a way that makes sponsors want to call you is the actual goal.

We work with motorsport clients across various championships, from single-seaters to touring cars to GT racing. We know the UK motorsport media landscape because we've been navigating it for decades. We know which stories land and which ones don't. We know how to position you as someone worth paying attention to.

And we'll be honest with you. If your story isn't ready for PR, we'll tell you. If your expectations are unrealistic, we'll push back. We'd rather have a difficult conversation upfront than take your money for six months and deliver nothing.

Here's the honest answer: maybe not.

If you're early in your career, racing in junior formulae, building your profile from scratch - you probably don't need a PR agency yet. What you need is good content, an active social media presence, and maybe some help building relationships directly. PR amplifies what's already there. If there's nothing there yet, it's premature.

If you're further along - racing in a national championship, building commercial partnerships, trying to step up to the next level - then proper PR support starts making sense. You've got a story worth telling. You need help telling it to the right people in the right way.

And if you're at the sharp end - factory drives, international championships, serious commercial operations - then PR isn't optional. It's part of your professional infrastructure. The question isn't whether to do it, but how to do it well.

If you're thinking about motorsport PR, here's my advice:

Start by defining what success looks like. Not in vague terms like "more coverage" but specific outcomes. Which publications do you want to be featured in? What do you want journalists to say about you? How does PR support your commercial objectives? Without clear goals, you can't measure success.

Then look at what you've already got. What's your story? What makes you interesting? What content do you have that's worth amplifying? If the answers are thin, work on that first before spending money on PR.

When you're ready to talk to agencies, ask the right questions. Who specifically will work on your account? What motorsport media relationships do they have? What results have they delivered for similar clients? How do they measure success? What happens if it's not working?

And if you want to have that conversation with us, the door's open. We'll tell you honestly whether we think we can help - and if we can't, we'll point you toward someone who can.

For the complete playbook on building a commercial motorsport career - including how PR fits into the bigger picture of sponsorship and brand building - grab a copy of Race Funded on Amazon. Sixty thousand words covering everything I've learned over three decades in this sport. This article scratches the surface. That goes deep.