MARK PRESTON | MOTORSPORT CAREER

Mark Preston’s interest in vehicles and motorsport came quite early, and he actually graduated from the Monash University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, where he designed and built the 05 Spectrum Formula Ford.

Since leaving University, Mark has worked as an engineer for a range of vehicle-related companies, including Tieman Industries, General Motors Holden, Holden Special Vehicles, and Formtech Composites.

He has been involved with Formula 1 and Formula E for many years. He moved from his native Australia to the UK in 1996, and began working with the Arrows F1 team. He stayed here for six years as their Stress Analysis Engineer, Senior Vehicle Performance Analyst, and Head of Research and Development.

When the Arrows team collapsed in 2002, he joined the McLaren F1 team as their Principal Designer, before becoming their Head of Vehicle Technology Laboratories.

In 2004, he established Preston Racing, with the aim of starting his own F1 team; tother with other industry experts, he created the Super Aguri F1 team. He stayed with the team until their withdrawal from F1 in 2008.

But that wasn’t the end of the team, and in 2014 Mark Preston founded the Super Aguri Formula E team; the team became one of ten participants to race in the inaugural FIA Formula E Championships.

He then began working for the Techeetah Formula E Team in 2016, going on to win the 2017/18 Drivers Title, and became the first team in Formula E history to win back-to-back titles.

His latest foray into motorsports is with Lola Cars, where he is the Motorsport Director, exploring the future of electrification, hydrogen, and sustainable materials and fuels, and their applications to motorsports.

MARK PRESTON | MEDIA CAREER

Mark Preston’s expertise has seen him become a very popular guest on industry podcasts, including:

– Motormouth

– PJ Tips Podcast

– Airspeeder

– The Monkey Seat Podcast

– The Passions Podcast

He has also appeared in publications such as The Race and The Paddock Magazine.

MARK PRESTON | CORPORATE WORK

Mark’s experience means he is uniquely positioned to deliver business planning and execution advice, including technical due diligence, operations, and management. He provides speaking services to private company events and public conferences.

He has appeared as an expert guest and speaker at the Oxford Platinum Lectures, Credit Suisse Paris Auto Show Investor Conference, Lisbon Mobi Summit, Warwick Energy Conference, and Racetech Symposium.

MARK PRESTON | SPEAKING TOPICS

– Disruptive Innovation

– Formula One

– Formula E

– Autonomous Vehicles

– Motorsports

– Technology Startups

– Clean-Tech

– Technical Due Diligence

– Business Planning

– Design and Engineering

– Vehicle Dynamics

MARK PRESTON | CONSULTING

Business Planning and Strategy: All companies need a plan and strategy, and Mark can add a unique perspective on technology and how to create a sensible technology roadmap.

Execution: Executing a plan is 95% of the problem. Mark’s unique background in motorsports and high tech ventures means he’s perfectly positioned to support and deliver almost any plan using motorsports DNA.

Non-Executive: Given his extensive experience in running businesses up to an annual turnover of £70m, Mark is especially well positioned to support companies throughout their growth in non-executive roles.

MARK PRESTON | THE MOTORSPORTS MBA

Over a 30+ year career in motorsports, Mark found that most of the questions he was asked related to how his experience in motorsports related to business. It was after he completed an MBA at the University of Oxford’s Said Business School that the idea of a “Motorsports MBA” was born. This MBA takes lessons from Arrows, McLaren, and Super Aguri, startups and winning in the world’s first electric motorsport – Formula E.

Call +44 1753 439 289 or email Great British Speakers now to book motorsport and automotive industry speaker Mark Preston for your next live event or corporate video.

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