MotorSport Vision – Crisis Comms

When Performance was working for MotorSport Vision, owns five of the UK’s biggest and most iconic motor racing tracks, a robust crisis communications plan was a must, given the innately dangerous nature of the sport.

A solid plan was constructed which, in the event of a serious incident in which a driver was seriously injured or killed, could be rolled out to maintain control of communications on the ground and avoid rumour or erroneous information being reported.

The plan involved the creation of a stringent chain of communication which limited any and all external comms to a select team of senior personnel and agreed processes in the case of a major accident.

The process by which an official statement would be drafted, approved and finally communicated to the press and public was established, as well as ensuring that the family of the involved driver was at the heart of the process, along with the relevant emergency services.

Thankfully, it was not necessary to press the plan into action very often but it was deployed, successfully, on several unfortunate occasions when the worst happened.

All official social media channels went silent and the communication process, especially in the busy media centre, was controlled, with no speculation or hearsay fuelling potentially damaging and upsetting reports leaking out before official confirmation of the details was delivered.