Behind The Scenes is all about the people behind the visors. What are they doing and what do they like or dislike are the main questions for this section. For the first issue we sat down on the paddock in Malaysia with Stuart Fields, one of GPO’s multitasking men with some questions. In this article we get to know a little about the man Stuart Fields and his views on certain matters withing his GPO staff role, his team principle role and as a driver.

Q: Thank you Stuart for providing us some time from your busy life, how did you get involved in the staff of GrandPrix-Online?

SF: I ran a couple of quite successful and fun seasons over at FSR but in 2010 the league went in a direction I was neither happy with, could afford or fit into the race schedule because of my position over here in New Zealand. So I sadly departed from there and found myself chatting to a lot of drivers that had found themselves in the same position and without a place to drive F1 cars. I spoke to Roy, Dave, Simon and Michael and we joked around about the idea of a breakaway series just like the much discussed one in real Formula one. We joked about it long enough that it became a reality. We realised that we had a great team of skilled, dedicated individuals just waiting to sink their teeth into such a challenge and therefore GPO was born. I always had roles within FSR that saw me creating numerous graphics and presentations for the league so naturally I transferred my skills over to GPO and then started to push the envelope slightly to see just how good we could make this new league. We are still pushing and still looking for ways to improve GPO so I think my involvement will be a very long and happy one.

Q: What are your main roles within GPO? And what do you like the most to do?

SF: I am listed as the creative director or art director so my role involves creating most of the graphical and visual media for the league. Race flyers, track adverts, car and helmet liveries, mod visuals, promotional and race highlight videos (coming soon, don’t worry ) and anything else that may be of a visual nature. I love all of this type of work and I just wish I had the spare time in my real life to focus more on it and see what I can produce. Ultimately one of my favourite things is creating car liveries. I love the challenge of starting with a completely blank slate and then seeing a car design slowly form out of a few ideas, it’s surprising just how much a livery can form from almost nothing. Such as the GPO league car, I painted a few stripes in one of the GPO visuals and that idea then spread to the league car and ended up with a livery I am very proud of. I am very happy to be at the stage in life that I am and still have access to my imagination, a lot of people lose that as they get involved with work and don’t get the chance to indulge their creative side, GPO is perfect for me in that regard. I also love video work but my satisfaction comes from the finished product, sadly that product takes 20+ hours to reach and for a long time it is hard to see the quality of the end video, you have to wait so long and do so much work before you start to see it take shape that it can be quite laborious. Still, when that final render is complete and it looks cool then I am very happy.

Q: Looking back at the initial start of the league, what are you the most proud of?

SF: Simply the fact that we got the league running and we hit all of our deadlines, that is something that I am incredibly proud of. We gave ourselves a huge undertaking to get a new league up and running from absolutely nothing and we had 2 months to do this in. At the end of those two months we had already surpassed our initial goals and we found ourselves with a community of almost 100 people, 2 league events, a broadcast, website, forum, a great mod etc etc, the list goes on. It was a lot of very hard work and very late nights and I am so proud of what we managed to put together. The fact that the community seem to like what we have created gives me a great feeling and also spurs me on to making things even better and to give the community some very deserved surprises.

Stuart Fields, the driver

Q: The first two races of this year have been good for you, decent finishes in Bahrain as well as Australia. How do you look back on those two races?

SF: I look back on those races and I see how much we need to improve things within GPO. I had two quite good races but I always look for ways to improve. The car doesn’t currently feel right and we need to address this as soon as we are able. After watching the first two F1 races I realised that the GPO car is behaving like a real F1 car does in wet conditions and not dry ones so we have some improvements to make there. Also, because of this being our first year we must make some sacrifices to find a balance with the car and the mod so the majority of our community can enjoy it and can be competitive. If this means simplifying the mod and making the car a lot easier and safer to drive then that’s what we must do. We have to show the world that we are accessible and that drivers of all ability can come into GPO and at the very least be able to handle the car, from there they can ask for help and we can assist them in driving faster and safer.

Q: How do you prepare for a race?

SF: The way I prepare for a race is to try all week to get some testing in while holding and helping my new baby, then at the end of the week I give up and get into my racing rig with the baby on my lap and drive a few laps, then later I begin to stay up very late at night when everyone is asleep and get some laps in and then the race comes and I panic a lot because I know I am not as fast as I would like to be haha. Other than that I don’t really have any other type of preparations, I just enjoy the drive time I manage to get and then try to do my best in the race. At the moment though whenever I am driving I am sat thinking about what needs doing in GPO, my mind is elsewhere because GPO is my first and driving is my second. If I can do both then great and I hope it stays that way.

Q: Are you superstitious and have to do certain things before the green light falls?

SF: Haha, no I am not superstitious, you won’t find me donning my special pair of underpants like Coulthard. The only thing I do before the green light is to try and calm down, I get so nervous.

Q: As a driver, what are your goals this season?

SF: None, I am very aware that we are so new and that I have no idea about how fast the guys around me are. I give myself no expectations or goals this year other than to make sure I do my best and remain friendly and helpful to all of the drivers in GPO. This is a year of establishment and working out the problems within GPO, next year we can use this experience and create a more refined league with a better spread of skill level, then I can find the right place and begin competing again.

Q: Now we are here on the paddock in Malaysia, do you like this track?

SF: This is where I start to confuse people in racing, I always seem to enjoy the new Tilke tracks and this really baffles people haha. I love Sepang just like I love China and Turkey. There is a flow and challenge to Sepang that I really like. The only part I do not enjoy is the first few turns in the opening chicane, that is a little too clunky and it makes you feel like you are driving a bus rather than an F1 car. Apart from that there are some amazing fast, sweeping turns here that really test your hand eye co-ordination and reflexes. You really need to be on it to get the lines right each lap as there is a lot of time to be lost if you run slightly wide. Then we get the added bonus of the two amazingly long and fast straights with passing places at the ends, they always make for exciting racing and it is not uncommon to get 3 cars side by side down there – great stuff.

Stuart Fields, Team Manager of GRIDline Racing

Q: You are principal of GRIDline racing, which entered both the championships with two teams. Can you tell our readers how the team was born?

SF: I really created GRIDline racing just so I could create more car liveries! I raced for the last two years with Malcolm Rice in Rice Racing and had a great time there and also had fun creating their cars. I always said last year that in 2010 I would create my own team in FSR but I expected to just manage it and to continue racing in Rice Racing. Then the costs of FSR went up too high and I couldn’t even afford to race there let alone start a team with additional expense. GPO came along and I jumped at the chance to start my own team and to get to know some new drivers. It was tricky for a while to find guys to race in the team as everything was so new but now I have a full compliment in my GRIDline cars in both series as well as drivers in my new UK liveried team and the even newer GRIDline Double R racing team. The future looks bright and we will hopefully go from strength to strength and provide quality racing in GPO.

Q: How do you try to keep everyone motivated in the team, having two teams in each series, meaning more than a few drivers, managing them can be hard.

SF: To be honest I haven’t even tried yet, things are so new and I am personally so busy with GPO work as well as GRIDline and my own life that I haven’t had the time to really chat to all of the drivers and schedule in team tests and such like. I really want to create a team website soon so we can give the drivers the exposure they deserve and to put the teams results out there. I strongly believe in a team and its drivers having a strong personality and I will be striving to keep this within GRIDline. The main team will be a very different entity to the UK and Double R teams and its drivers will very much be on track rivals. As long as we all remain professional and friendly then the guys can battle as hard as they like out on track, I want them to go wheel to wheel just as long as there is no unfair driving or unnecessary collisions. Even if this is the case we will work hard as a team to keep relationships strong and healthy and make sure that none of the guys stay angry at each other. As they always say, we win as a team and we loose as a team and that’s the only way to approach it.

Q: Do your drivers have multiple year contracts? Or are you looking to extend contracts with a season, hoping to gather other, good performing drivers early on for next year?

Nope, my guys are happy to do as they please. It’s my job to create an atmosphere and a team that they will wish to stay with and that is satisfying for them to race for. If you manage to keep your drivers happy and provide them with an environment where they can learn and do well as a group then I don’t think there is a need to worry. We must enjoy what we are a part of first of all and then move forward from that. Originally I started the team so me and my long standing teammate Jack Nicholls could take to the track once more as a driver pairing, the fact that I have achieved that and also have the added bonus of attracting more great drivers is really satisfying. My goals have already been achieved and it’s only welcomed and very happy extras that come from now on.

Q: GRIDline performed well overall in the first two races. Scoring race wins and podiums, how do you look back on the races from a principal point of view?

SF: It is a little tricky to place at the moment as we are all just finding our feet and learning not only the team dynamics but the car, the mod, tracks and the structure of GPO. It was amazing to see David win in Melbourne for GRIDline UK as I have known David or a while now and he is a good guy and a blisteringly fast driver but a concern was raised about how easy the win seemed to be. It is my main concern that we do the best we can in GPO and not just GRIDline to ensure that we do not have any unhappy drivers. Sure guys will have bad races but it’s critical that we don’t have races where drivers feel it is useless to compete as they will never get a podium, points, win or even finish. We must analyse everything about each race and work harder to create a great environment for all. If it’s my drivers that are getting the good results and good points then of course I will be really happy for them. You don’t achieve these things by accident but its better if they get the results by fighting hard for them. I was really happy to see Nick and Malcolm Rice battling hard in the Melbourne Sprint race, Nick achieved a superb 2nd place there but even if he had not got that result the fact that both him and Malcolm came away from Melbourne with a smile on their faces because they knew they had given their all and they had what they signed up for – a great, fun but challenging race. That’s ultimately what it’s all about, not just for my team but that’s the primary goal for GPO and it is what we should be known for.

Q: Have you set goals for your drivers to reach?

SF: In a word, no. If I was to ask anything of my drivers it would simply to be respectful on track. If they lose a win by ensuring they drive fairly, do not cause any crashes, collisions or incidents that are outside of the normal etiquette of grand prix racing that’s fine with me. I would rather we take a respectful and clean 10th place than an unfair or dirty win. I have trust that my drivers are good, clean racers anyway but it has always been my own approach to never block unfairly, never hit other drivers unless it is totally unavoidable or an accident, always give my best but with respect to those around me and I expect the same from not just the guys in my team but anyone I am sharing a racetrack with. This sounds a little preachy but it’s the fundamentals of racing and that’s what we are here for. A league with wreckless drivers has no future and that’s what every driver, team and admin need to focus on. I have faith that the guys of GRIDline racing will give their all each race despite their individual ability.

With those closing words, Stuart excused himself, as he had to go back to the team and prepare for Malaysia.

Stay tuned for another Behind The Scenes, with another personality within GPO!