RAFA Media has appointed a new advisory board of diverse and heavyweight industry leaders including a former Formula 1 team principal and a former FIA CEO.
The newly-formed media group, which includes The Race among its portfolio, has brought in ex-F1 team boss Otmar Szafnauer, ex-FIA CEO Natalie Robyn and Axios co-founder and president Roy Schwartz as Advisory Board members and appointed Darren Cox as president.
Rafael Martinez, founder of the RAFA Family of Companies, said: “The RAFA Group has a wide strategic vision for its Motorsport portfolio and having brought together the leading media business in the space so quickly is a statement of how we will approach the whitespaces we see in the industry.
“To have Natalie, Roy, Otmar and Darren commit to this journey is a real honour for me and their collective experiences and enthusiasm to help us build this business will accelerate our growth beyond even our initial plans.”
RAFA Media is building a motorsport media ecosystem that encompasses content production and publishing, influencer marketing and gaming platforms as a key part of the wider RAFA family of companies. RAFA’s Group efforts are headlined by the soon to be launched RAFA Racing Club concept, which aims to become the leading private members club for motorsport enthusiasts globally.
A key strategic target of the newly formed RAFA Media group is to service the growing fan base and F1 sponsors in the USA. With the wider RAFA Group housing key assets and its global head office in Houston, Texas that plan is already in motion. These new appointments reflect that ambition with the advisory board having a strong network and affinity with the USA in media, motorsport and automotive.
Szafnauer brings a wealth of industry knowledge after a long career in F1, ultimately as Alpine F1 team principal.
“Of the many opportunities I’ve been invited to be involved in recently, the RAFA Media advisory role stood out because of the passion and vision of Rafael and the people he has brought in around him,” he said.
“This group has the opportunity to redefine motorsport media, especially in the USA, and I’m excited to help them reach their ambitious targets.”
Robyn joins the RAFA Media advisory board on December 1. In 2022 she became the first CEO of the FIA (Federation Internationale De L’Automobile) where she led the organisation back to financial sustainability. Robyn has a storied career in the automotive industry and brings experience and skill in corporate restructuring and growth management at a critical time for the new group.
“Joining such an exciting project with an interesting group of people at this stage of growth in the motorsport media industries is an opportunity too good to pass up,” she said.
“Having worked with Darren at Nissan, I know that the new group will be built on passion and innovation shared within the whole RAFA family of companies.”
Schwartz is the co-founder and President of Axios that in just five years became a powerhouse media property, leading to a $525million acquisition by Cox Enterprises. He is also the former chief revenue officer for Politico, the digital media company that upended and forever changed political and policy journalism in Washington, New York, and Europe. Schwartz will bring unrivalled insight into the American digital media space as F1 grows in the world’s biggest economy.
“I am excited to help grow RAFA Media and join such a great group of advisors,” he said.
“This could not be a better time for motorsports, especially in the US. I want to share what I learned from building Axios and Politico with what will become the premier media company covering motorsports.”
Cox has had a colourful career in the automotive, motorsport and associated media industries. Known as an innovator and pioneer for his work in a number of areas, he is recently best known for being played by Orlando Bloom in the Hollywood movie Gran Turismo, a film that charts his GT Academy project in his time at Nissan.
RAFA Media now boasts the biggest independent producer of F1 content (via The Race and WTF1), the motorsport industry reference results database (Driver Database), the first and biggest motorsport focused influencer agency (WTF Talent), a leading sim racing tech platform (Grid Finder) and the preeminent Sim racing content hub (Traxion.gg).
With over 20 million fans engaging with its content each month, as well as a large team of content creators and influencers, RAFA Media is becoming the go-to group for brands activating their F1 investments and businesses wanting to reach the rapidly growing F1 audience specifically in the USA.
