When is Lydden on TV?

[Hog]

So when is the Rallycross on TV - looked at the M&M website but couldn't see much.

Seems to be confusion in the listings between Rallying and Rallycross.

[Peter S]

This Saturday night at 9pm according to the schedule.

The official attendance according to todays motoring news was 7500. It looked a lot bigger than that.

[Hog]

I looked at the schedule on Sky - some film on at 9pm?

[Peter S]

mmmmm strange......so it does. It is now saying it will be shown at 7.00pm on Sunday night (18th May).

In fact all the showings now look like they are on a sunday night at 7pm not saturday nights any more. Knockhill is being shown Sunday 1st June at 7pm

I hope they sort out that presenter guy cos he is well dodgy. He doesnt have a clue about Rallycross. The lines "and there is somebody upside down in the tyre wall" and follows it up by saying Bellerby benefits from somones accident. That someone happened to be Mike Dresser but he didnt have clue. Then he said the advantage of being in the lead is that you get to throw up loads of dirt in peoples winscreens.......i mean come on men and motors, get it sorted.

It took the buiscuit when they said Lawrence Gibson had won it.....but in fact was excluded so didnt win it. The coverage made it look a bit like a Friday night Jaunt at Tescos carpark. Hopefully they will get this sorted out.........or just give Arthur Debonham the job so it can have a more professional image.

[Hog]

So what is the Rally/Rallycross coverage being shown on Thursday night at 9pm? It says British Rally....then goes on to mention the Pirelli championship and the rallycross when you hit the "i" button on the keypad.

Nothing much on the website either.

[Peter S]

It will be the rallying. They have done this a lot before. I have thought oh some rallycross is on and then switched it only for Rallying to appear. The people who do the sky listings are independent of the station which is probably why the listings are sometimes are incorrect....some may not know the difference between the two.

[Hog]

Thought as much. Just hope I'm back in time on Sunday from banger racing to watch it!

[Peter S]

It is repeated a couple of times (4 i think) during the week at both night and and around 1pm ish.

[Hog]

Well that was a waste of time eh? A whole days racing (59 heats and 2 re-runs) compressed into half an hour. And that was including interviews and adverts. What did we get? 4 races and a close up of my arse. My God - if that's the best M&M can make of a cracking meeting then rallycross has no chance.

[Peter S]

Couldnt agree more, Hog.

It is a complete disgrace and does the championship no justice. The coverage on Sky Sports last year was much better. And there was more action on Robin Plummers videos than there was in the half an hour on M&M.

Perhaps they should stop showing that dodgy presenter and recaps which are needed to make up for mistakes in previous broadcasts, like not informing people that it was Pat Doran not Lawrence Gibson who won the Mondello Park round.

[Hog]

Glad you agree Peter. And will someone please tell that commentator that it's pronounced Dor-An not Doorun. Nothing worse than attempting to make a TV program using ill informed presenters with no knowledge of sport.

I feel really sorry for the cameraman who kept sprinting between paddock and the startline - they barely used any of his footage poor chap.

M&M will do more damage than good if this is the best they can do. I told people I work with to catch it on Sunday evening in the hope that the bug would bite. Their response on Monday? Do you only have 4 short races all day? There looked to be more cars in the pits but we didn't see them.

Don't think on the strength of this that they will be coming on August Bank Holiday somehow.

When oh when are we going to get decent coverage in the UK? Why are the TV companies so blinkered that they can't see a real opportunity. It appeals because it's quickfire racing, with accidents, incidents, and REAL overtaking.

And PLEASE don't ever do a flying lap of Lydden again with Will Gollop pointing out where he's changing gear - I nearly fell asleep.

[Peter S]

Yeap i agree with every point you have made there. Media is the key to making a championship a success.

I am afriad it comes back to the people running the championship and those in charge of the media setup. They give off the image and have to make it attractive for the big tv. At the minute the infastructure isnt right at all. What the tv needs is Arthur Debonham or someone else witha great deal of rallycross knowledge to present the coverage. The coverage on Max power and Sky SPorts last year was much better, meaning that the championship has taken a big step back.

Other things that need questioning is the requirement to show the minicross and Stock Hatch racing on tv because it is not the most exciting racing to watch. If they concentrated on the modified and supercar categorys and cut out the look back and dodgy circuit maps then maybe, just maybe the coverage would be a lot better, with a proper commentator.

Just look how good and professional the channel 4 coverage was for the British Rallycross Grand Prix last year. That was just 30minutes long to, but they gave you full action from the Internations cup, heats from the Gp both a and b finals as well as plenty of driver interviews and a lap of the track with Kenenth Hansen which was the best in car lap of rallycross i have ever seen.

[Hog]

I would agree with you apart from one point - the Stock Hatch and Minicross boys (and girls) deserve air time as much as the other categorys. they may not be as fast but the racing is just as close.

Consider the fact that they are also trying to secure sponsorship - sponsors need to know that they will possibly get air time - regardless of which car it comes from. A sponsor may be tempted to back a Stock Hatch driver knowing that the budget requirement is far less than that of a Modified car. In future though this will probably allow more stock hatch drivers to move up a class.

I know that the Supercars are pure entertainment, and are visually what makes great TV, but the "grass roots" categories must be fully supported as well or they will go to the wall. Remember the production rallycross class of a few years ago - how many drivers who competed in that are still rallycrossing? That situation cannot be allowed to happen or else new blood coming into the sport will dry up.

My opinion is that drivers need to come up through the ranks to learn their craft. If that does not happen all you are left with are rich drivers with powerful cars who cannot handle the car and make it perform. The end result is a lack of spectacle for TV as there is too much of an ability discrepancy between the top drivers.

[Peter S]

I fully accept that they need tv to. But basically they get limited coverage as it is, so maybe the best thing would be to show it for an hour to do it justice.

This maybe also were the championship structure comes in, for instance in sweden they have a premier national championship for the main classes and then a seperate championship for the Grass roots of rallycross, like the BRDA but this itself could create new tv opportunties for a seperate championship with the stock hatch category being the star class, which may appeal more to some drivers rather than being alongside the modified and supercar class. ALthough this wont be able to happen at the minute as the championship needs 40 -50 cars in total from the supercar and modified class to do instead of the 24/25 that they are getting now. The Stock hatch and minicross classes are masking the true problem with british rallycross which is the class structure in the top divisions.

24/25 proper cars makes it one of the worst championships in europe, not the best like many say. This is the main problem as more people are needed to step up from the stock hatch class to fill the void, but the cost of building fully fledged modified racers are to expensive if they want to win. It would be much cheaper for a up and coming driver to go into the division 1a or 2 class as than it would modified. It would also provide them with the oppiortunity to race in Europe, which in turn would attract more sponsorshihp.

Sweden only allow 12 cars into the division 1 and division 2 classes with the top 10 drivers from the year before qualifying automatically. If you then had say division 1, division 1a and division 2 as well as a modified class in england with 12 drivers in each then it would be perfect as the championship would be more marketable with recognized drivers and grids that could be predetermined to ensure an equal compeititveness throughout the qualifying heats.

That is why Swedish rallycross is so successfull and very popular with the spectators and drivers.

The likes of hansen and Jernberg are some what national heros. You may say they dont have much more motorsport but when you look at it neither does GB as our Formula 3 championship, GT series and British rally championship is dying. That leaves just the touring car series as the premier championship so British Rallycross has every chance of being the second best championship in the country with the right promotion, tv and media profile. That is so frustrating as it always seems to come back to the very same point.

Anyway i will be at Knockhill for www.rallycross.nl on sunday so results will be online around 9/10pm on sunday night.

Ps......the circuit wont use the final hairpin it will use the inner tarmac section before it meaning the straight will be about 5/8ths of the full length.

[Hog]

I bow down to your superior European knowledge.

Can we leave it in your capable hands then to get the organisers and TV companies talking?

The very best of luck.

[Peter S]

The only problem is when ever i contact anyone in rallycross i always get a more positive reply from European drivers and promoters. Trying to talk to anyone in the British series apart from Will gollop is very very difficult to say the least, as most of the time no one provides solutions as they seem very happy to continue on as it is.

Hopefully through rallycross.nl the awarness and populairty for british people will come back, and the British Rallycross Grand Prix on october maybe just when rallycross reaches a point that the interest level will be back from both spectators and tv companys.

The bad news is that according to some sources the amount of rounds in the European championship may be reduced at the end of the year to around 8 races, meaning that it is less likely that the European championship will return to England in the forseeable future, unless the geogrpahical position as well as increased willingless can displace one or two of the lesser rounds in the ERC.

Does anyone know if you can recieve NRK (Norwegian tv) or svt on the old Astra SKy network (before digital came along)? If so then The european series is being shown on NRK2 tonight and SVT24 at the weekend.

[Hog]

Just watched the 1/2 hour show again.

Can I just edit something? At the start of the Supercar A final, you can catch a glimpse of me out of the front window of Gollops car, winding up the heat with my flag and then sprinting off to the (relative) safety of the sideline. Being in car you can't hear all the sound effects so next time you watch the clip, just add the following sound effect when I start running:

"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..............."

[Peter S]

hehe! Nice one hog!!

[Gnomex]

Hog - thats what we call a "Sketchley" moment I believe (work it out for yourselves...)

[Hog]

Nope - you've lost me on that one.

Perhaps it's too early for my brain to be functioning.