Amy Reynolds is a face that MotoGP™ enthusiasts will know well. Constantly armed with a microphone, she is on hand in pitlane for both motogp.com and FOX Asia, as well as being the presenter of 'Piece of the Week', one of the columns dedicated to the Championship available on MotoGP™’s Facebook page. During the Grand Prix, she is busy finding stories in the paddock, grasping the changes that take place inside the pit boxes and then interviewing riders and team managers to get the lowdown on the day’s events.
Her unfailing smile hides the failures she experienced before becoming one of the iconic cultists of the most prestigious two-wheeled Championship in the world. But let's start from the beginning, from when Amy approached the idea of becoming a broadcaster: "My father was a great fan of Formula 1 but it was only as a teenager that I became interested in motorsport". In those same years in which she had to decide on his future, she began to evaluate the possibility of combining passion and study.
“I've always admired Suzi Perry. I enjoyed her interviews and so I thought it would be a good job. So I decided to study Broadcast Journalism, choosing Sports Journalism as my specialty.” In the same years that Amy was working at university, she worked as a promotional model, having the opportunity to get to know the paddocks of various sports disciplines.
After graduation, she was engaged as a Monster Energy Girl in MXGP. At the end of the season she was offered for the first time the opportunity to present one of the most important four wheel events in the United Kingdom, but less than a month after her great debut as a presenter there was a twist:
“It was my first time riding a motorcycle and probably in little more than an hour, I had broken my leg and dislocated my ankle. When the date of the event got closer, I went to the hospital and asked them to remove the cast. I had 10 days to start walking again and, despite everything, I managed to make my debut as a presenter.”
For the following season, Amy returned to the dirt roads of MXGP, but as a broadcaster. "The pit reporter had taken another route so they offered me the job. I learned many things in the field and not at university but having a degree in journalism allowed me to reiterate that I really deserved that job. Furthermore, motocross is a sport that I love because it represents everything I love most about motorsport and takes place in a more casual, smaller paddock where it is very easy to relate and make friends with the people involved. But after one year as a Monster Energy Girl and three more as a pitlane reporter I felt the need to take a step forward.” And the opportunity presented itself in her mailbox.
“The Communications Director of Dorna Sports contacted me. He said he had observed what I was doing in MXGP and having liked it, he proposed me a project where I would have an important role in the MotoGP paddock. After talking about the details, I did a test at the Valencia GP, the last round of the season, and the next day it was my job." And so, since the beginning of the 2015 season, Amy has been committed to telling all the stories from the MotoGP™ World Championship.
"The funniest memories I have are from the first year, it was all new to me, the working method, the circuits, the protocols... I was shocked by the amount of people employed in this Championship compared to the motocross paddock where I was there.” But, to accompany her to discover the characteristics of this world, Amy has found two very special travel companions: Nick Harris and Matt Birt. “They are veterans of this Championship, especially the first year, they were happy to show me new places and to share with me the peculiarities of the countries that welcome this sport.”
Sometimes it can be difficult to tell what happens with detachment and professionalism without getting involved in the sympathy that can be had towards a particular rider. Regarding this, Amy confesses that she has never found herself in difficulty: "Many riders are my age, we have grown professionally together so not having had a favourite in the paddock I think it has allowed me to enter more easily.”
Although there was an episode in which it was difficult to maintain control: "In the list of things to do drawn up when I was at university, I had included: interviewing Valentino Rossi before he retires, he is a rider I admire very much, he is a part of the history of this sport. And I succeeded! Although I still remember very well the first time I interviewed him,” she says amused. “I was very nervous and the first thing I was able to say was: Do you know Tony Cairoli? Of course he knew him!"
The interviews with the riders are an important part of Amy's work which, for her part, puts all her effort and passion into obtaining relevant statements. Journalists from other newspapers often capture the quality of their work by talking about it in their reports: "When I finish an interview and I have the feeling that I have done a good job, it is a good feeling and it becomes even more beautiful when I see that other media take up the statements that I got. This means that I have managed to find something exclusive, original and it is very rewarding.”
But not all interviews are satisfying. However, despite this, Amy avoids focusing on what didn't go the way she wanted: “I always think that every day is a new day. Whatever happens, you can't get frustrated thinking about what went wrong so I close that chapter, look at my list and focus on what comes next. I've always had the same attitude to get this far. When people ask me: how did you get to MotoGP? How did you become a presenter? It may seem silly but every time I saw a door close in my face, I carried on until one of them opened. It's all a question of perseverance.”
From the moment she chose her path, Amy observed who was already doing the work she aspired to: "I watched a lot of presenters and it was analysing each of them that I found my style." Today, she herself is observed by thousands of people and is often contacted by young people who ask her for advice.
"I feel embarrassed to give suggestions because even today I still have so much to learn, but I gladly share my experience because I too would have liked to be able to compare myself with those who were already doing my dream job and then I understand that, when you try to do something so prestigious, it seems unattainable, volatile, impossible.” All this until you reach the much sought-after destination. And there is one aspect that Amy welcomes with great enthusiasm: "I am very pleased to see that there is a new generation of girls who are interested in motorsport and who envision it as their future workplace.”
Perseverance and professionalism have allowed Amy to land her dream her job even earlier than she could have imagined: "At 24 I was already in MotoGP, I never thought I could get there so young, now that I'm here I dream to be able to dedicate more and more space to live shows because I love working with my colleagues and I'd like to create even more content together, offering more and more news and insights to viewers."
In these six seasons in MotoGP™, there is a place that has marked some important personal milestones for Amy: Mugello. “Oh, I love this track, I turned 30 and it was the first circuit I went back to after receiving the marriage proposal”. And the organisation of this historic event was upset by the pandemic but, also in this case, Amy found a new solution to say the fateful yes and did so by jumping to England between one GP and another without ever losing her smile.
When not busy tracking exclusive stories in the paddock, Amy spends time with her husband, she’s a personal trainer and participates in other filming projects. But, to combine all these successes in the personal and professional fields, there is an inseparable companion who has allowed Amy to achieve many goals and which will lead her to reach many others in the future: perseverance.