Dr Paul Trafford is in a jovial mood - he's rarely anything else - and his cheery tone belies the serious nature of his words. AUTOSPORT has a request, and he's happy to help. The topic is concussion, a grey area (at best) for the majority and a serious one for TOCA medical officer 'Traff' and his fellow professionals.
"Really we didn't used to see it a lot," he admits. "I don't know if it's because we didn't look for it, or that people were getting other injuries they were hospitalised from. But it's better understood now."
We're together to talk about concussion in motorsport, a topic brought into the limelight earlier this year when Fernando Alonso missed Formula 1's season-opening Australian Grand Prix due to a concussion suffered in a Barcelona testing crash. Misinformation was rife, with a big part of that down to a lack of understanding from team personnel to the media to the fans.