Young journo competition

Seven finalists will be invited to attend a European grand prix to report on a GP2 event, meeting the drivers and personalities behind the championship as well as sampling the exclusive Formula 1 paddock and mixing with the international media corps.

The articles will be published on the Bridgestone Europe and GP2 websites. The overall winner will win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Tokyo, where they will have the chance to visit Bridgestone's global headquarters and report on a major Bridgestone event. They will also be given a state-of-the-art laptop computer to assist them in their budding career.

The entries will be submitted online at www.bridgestone-eu.com/e-reporter and will be judged by a panel of internationally respected motorsport media and F1 representatives, including autosport.com's grand prix editor Jonathan Noble. The panel will be chaired by ITV F1's studio analyst Tony Jardine.

"Bridgestone e-reporter is an excellent opportunity for all European students who are considering a career in sports journalism," said Jardine. "Formula 1 is arguably the most global and commercially advanced sport in the world and as a result is fiercely competitive and notoriously difficult to break into, be it as a driver, engineer or journalist.

"The GP2 series is designed to offer support to young drivers and engineers striving to make it to the top of their field and Bridgestone e-reporter fits in perfectly with this philosophy.

"Given the uniqueness of the opportunity, we are expecting an extremely high number of entries and these will be judged on the criteria all successful working journalists are expected to fulfil. In addition to the ability to write, we are looking for solid research, an appreciation of the target audience and subject matter, enthusiasm for the sport, initiative and, of course, that extra special something - the flair to stand out from the crowd."

The competition is open to all students aged 18-30 studying full-time in Europe at a high school, college or university.