Castle Combe FF1600 - undersold?

[alfaman]

Having spent an enjoyable day at Castle Combe (May 31) I was just thinking if the circuit is making the most of its booming FF1600 championship?

I think it's one of the strongest & best single seater championships in the country. 30+ entries, great racing, well turned out cars and teams/drivers trying out new ideas - eg the Mygale conversion.

But it just seems to be so undersold. Yesterday for example - 30 cars on the grid, a fantastic race in prospect what were the commentators talking about? The Monaco Grand Prix! In front of their noses they've got a series which, in one lap, is far more exciting than a "typical" grand prix but no they insist on rabbiting on about a past race which has no relevance to the meeting. We barely got the grid read out before the race started.

And why do the FF1600 guys get 10 laps when the woeful GTs get 12?

And the GTs always have a much better build up - "Mike Roberts, Jade, Bob Light, bla bla...." Every meeting!

It seems the circuit and the BRSCC SW are pushing the GTs whilst its the FF1600 which consistently produces action aplenty is left to get on with it....

And what do the FF1600 racers have to do to get some attention - the only driver mentioned before the race was Bob Higgins - multiple circuit champion...There are stories about all the drivers. Perhaps the commentary team should put down the F1 pages of Autosport and look at www.clubff1600.co.uk for a moment - they might learn something!

No mention of the King of Kents just some vague reference to "the national championship at Silverstone at the weekend...."

Castle Combe should crow about its FF1600 championship and promote it. Just imagine if it went the way of SFFC?

Rant over - opinions anyone??

[Ian Sowman]

I agree with all of that. What puzzles me is why Combe had 10-lap FF1600 races (which the get red-flagged) when other regions often have 20-minute thrashes. This should be built up as the main event of the day, and at the moment it just isn't!

[ooo-arr27]

Spot on alfaman. as far as I am concerned, the GT's should be pulled altogether - GT racing at Combe was great in the days of Jensen and Lomas et al - but has been failing to attract decent grids for more than a year now. FF1600 double headers at every round - thats what I say!

[mattsdad]

spot on alfaman..I remember waiting in the collecting area last year whilst some debris was being cleared from the track before the FF1600's went out,the commentators obviously had trouble filling the gap and instead of building up the FF1600 race even had trouble remembering who the champion was the previous year (Hutch). We were seriously unimpressed!

[darcym]

the commentators at combe are a joke.

1 in particualr.

Watching the racing on Monday, I heard a delightful tail of how one of them used to race motorbikes, how one of them was delighted with Manchester Uniteds FA cup win, and then a delightful tail of how nice the Castlecombe local Crafts fair was. In the mean time a radical race was going on in the background and I had no idea of who was in what position how long was left to go, what lap we where on, the lap times.....nothing. This was a visiting championship but still didn't excuse the lack of interest from the commentry box. Then it comes to the local championship, the GT race had 10 cars in it, not hard to follow and yet the race was spent talking about a guy who raced in GT's 20 years ago, who used to build he own engines ????? not 1 mention of the guys on the grid, and for some reason they seem to spend more time with "banter" with each other "ho ho, hope your not wearing your bright shirt again" "oooh I'll get you for that later in the bar".....chaps, theres a race going on, try watching it ! perhaps passing comment on it once in a while !

[RMR]

you didnt have a good day on monday did you Matt

[neil_davidson2]

Completely agree with Matt's comments re the commentators - they were exceptionally bad on Monday. The radical enduro races included pitstops and those of us not in the vicinity of the pits didn't have a clue as to what was going on with regards who was in, who was out, and who was leading.

[darcym]

not a good day, not a good season, when your in that sort of rut the stuff I'm ranting about just seems to tip you over the edge.

Neil_davidson2 I watched the Radicals from Camp corner and could see the pits, however I still couldn't figure out who had pitted (3 blue cars, one 4 red etc) and when they came out who was in the lead.

Not only are they rubbish at following the race but they seem to just enjoy having "a chat together" about what they did durning the week.


Much anger !

[Barny]

Totaly agree with all comments particularly about the commentators. At last years carnival thy chatted about totally unrelated subjects throughout and on one of the few accassions they mentioned the racing ging on in front they missed several overtaking manouvres and mis identified two drivers totaly. If we think they are bad what do the paying spectator make of it?

[darcym]

Heres a thought, instead of having 2 people who just jabber rubbish, why not have some of the regular fans or journo's who follow regular series into the commentators box, to break up the happy chatter and concentrate on the race.

I know of some jounro's / spectators that follow the local championships with a close eye and would really give value for money

[Ian Sowman]

I expect David Addison will be around for the next round at the F3/GT meeting and commentators don't come much better than him. As some of you will know, I've joined the regulars in the box for the recent SOM races and I think (hope) that it has added something for the spectators. We'll have to see if we can come to a similar arrangement for Castle Combe.

[jminsh]

Were alright at the NW with Sprocket he always spouts jibberish but usualy it's related jibberish and has a great love of all things FF1600 thank god (he's not to keen on focus's though).

[alfaman]

I don't know who books the commentators but these guys are wasting such an opportunity.

I remember at Brands Hatch a couple of years ago when the Southern FF1600 race had 10 or 12 starters. Brian Jones was saying "look at the quality, don't worry about the small grid etc..." Basically talking it up. He uses the driver info sheets he's given and generally doesn't go off on a tangent.

At Combe they've got a massive entry of FF1600s but apart from their mates, Bob Higgins, and 'smiling'Pete Diccox we don't hear about any of the other drivers. Ed Moore is lucky if he gets a mention before the race & he's leading the championship!

I think I can honestly say darcym that in the run-up to the race I've never heard them mention you....how bad is that? What do you have to do to get any attention?

Does Howard Strawford actually listen to them or is it simply the case that no-one else has asked to have a go?

So we'll have David Addison for the June meeting, Neville Hay & hopefully Marcus Pye for early August but sadly we'll still have the old boys for the Carnival....couldn't they borrow Brian Jones for the day? He could bring a bit of "Festival magic" to the proceedings....

[darcym]

Its funny the program always says "and Bob Higgins will run the leader close" even when he's not entered !