Background
His father Bill raced for Lotus at Le Mans in the early 1960s and was in the sport"s administration, on the Royal Automobile Club motor sports council.
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James Allen
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James Allen, is a British radio/television commentator and journalist, who worked as Formula One commentator for Independent Television from 2000 to 2008, and subsequently as British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 5 Live F1 commentator, British Broadcasting Corporation News F1 Correspondent and reporter for Ten Sport in Australia.
Education
Lady Margaret Hall.
Career
Allen was a pupil at Merchant Taylors" School, Crosby, and student of English and Modern Languages at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Early career He was news editor at Autosport magazine from 1992 to 1994 and in parallel worked as F1 pit lane reporter for American network Entertainment and Sports Programming Network from 1993 to 1996. Independent Television With Nigel Mansell"s move to IndyCar in 1993, Allen was hired by Independent Television in 1994 to help present coverage of the season.
When Independent Television gained the rights to broadcast the Formula One championship in 1997, he joined the team as pit lane reporter.
With Murray Walker unable to commentate at the 2000 French Grand Prix, Allen took over as one of the main commentators alongside Martin Brundle. Walker wound down his career the next year, missing five races, all of which Allen covered.
Independent Television had considered trying a number of guest commentators to decide who would be best suited to replace Walker, but instead opted to keep Allen on board full-time. He took over permanently after the 2001 United States Grand Prix and commentated on every subsequent Grand Prix while the sport was broadcast on Independent Television. The 2007 Canadian Grand Prix was Allen"s 100th as a commentator.
Allen also wrote a "James Allen"s Analysis" for the Independent Television website.
His last commentary for Independent Television was the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix when Independent Television"s F1 broadcast contract ended. British Broadcasting Corporation Allen is the British Broadcasting Corporation Formula 1 Correspondent and lead commentator for British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 5 Live F1 broadcast as of 2012 and also edits his own F1 web site He made an appearance on Celebrity Mastermind, answering questions on Roald Dahl books Formula One Management Allen is one of the official Formula One Management World Feed interviewers for post-qualifying and post-race, beginning this role at the 2009 British Grand Prix.
He also moderates the official FIA press conference sessions with drivers and team principals during F1 race weekends.
Achievements
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Along with former co-commentator Martin Brundle, Allen picked up the Autosport award for best moment of the year which recognised the pair"s commentary in the closing moments of the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix. The Brazil coverage also won a third consecutive British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for Independent Television. Allen"s website James Allen on F1.com was voted "Best F1 Blog" by fans in the annual Silverstone Media in 2012 and 2013.
Connections
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Born
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Nationality
United Kingdom