Sky Sports F1 HD Coverage

Sky Sports have launched their brand new Formula 1 HD channel and this week has announced there F1HD team. Martin Brundle will go back to his previous role of co-commentator/expert from next season after Sky drafted in former BBC Radio 5 Live commentator David Croft. Alongside David Croft for the practice session will be Anthony Davidson again, the pair creating a great bond over the past few seasons. Presenting all 20 of the 2012 season will be Simon Lazenby, formerly presented the Rugby Union coverage on Sky Sports. Ted Kravitz has also been snapped up from the BBC coverage to continue with his pit-lane coverage for the 2012 season. Natalie Pinkham moves from BBC Radio 5 Live along with Croft to continue her duties within the pit-lane. The very lovable Georgie Thompson will be taking on a magazine show on Sky Sports on all F1 weeks. Finally we see the return of Steve Rider to Formula 1 after a stint covering other sports; he will have a channel dedicated to F1 legends. Mark Blundell expected to co-host this with him.

From Left to Right: Davidson, Croft, Pinkham, Brundle,
Lazenby, Thompson, Kravitz

After the announcement I decided to take a couple of days to reflect on it. Many people were left with a very bitter taste in their mouth around Hungaroring 2011 when it was announced that the BBC F1 coverage had not been renewed. It was then also announced that Sky Sports had come in and snapped up the rights and crucially for Mr Ecclestone, Sky were able to pay the costs. Now as some may already know Sky is owned by News Corp, Rupert Murdoch’s group, who have also been enquiring to CVC about potentially buying Formula 1 from them. Is this a coincidence? Quite possibly so, but the one crucial thing to all this is that UK viewers will get the full live coverage of all 20 races of the 2012 season. This is vital to Formula 1 as arguably the UK has the largest following of Formula 1 fans and are highly knowledgeable of the sport.

BBC has half the coverage for the 2012 season with the remaining races in a highlights package on Sunday evenings. The BBC has chosen: China, Spain, Monaco, Europe, Britain, Belgium, Singapore, Korea, Abu Dhabi, and Brazil. When I first saw this I questioned some of them such as China and Korea but then realised BBC are tapping in to a certain time zone and can delay the coverage. Some 30,000 people signed a government petition to get Formula 1 back on to the BBC for the entire season, but this was to no avail as Sky Sports had already made their move.

So with all that said what do we make of the Sky Sports F1HD team? Well I think the first and foremost thing to say here is that Sky have targeted there coverage towards the hard core fan rather than the casual viewer which BBC have tried to tap in to and will continue to do so. I for one am very happy with the Sky line up.

Martin Brundle was the catalyst in making it work; it was crucial that Sky Sports secured him. Not only that but it would appear that the lured him in to quite a lucrative deal. Brundle has often stated just how much he loves F1 and explaining the technology and the workings of the car to help viewers understand what exactly is going on. Sky has essentially said that they are willing to invest in him and his knowledge and will allow him the ability to create and make the technical guides to the sport we have all come to love.

Many people have speculated at who will lead the Sky coverage if Brundle does not. Names such as Ben Edwards, James Allen and even Jonathan Legard were all thrown about; but it was David Croft that got the lead role. Again, I think this was a great signing. ‘Crofty’ has become quite the fan favourite on BBC Radio 5 Live alongside Anthony Davidson who he will continue to do the Practice sessions with. These two as a pairing created great chemistry last year and became very popular. The Peugeot Le Mans driver giving all his technical and driving nouse to the listening and viewing audience.

Simon Lazenby is probably the most unrecognisable name to Formula 1 fans. Lazenby comes from a sport background if not Motorsport. I heard many comments such as “He has no Motorsport or F1 knowledge” well to answer those people, neither did Jake Humphrey. In fact Humphrey came from a Children’s Television background. So Lazenby if anything has a slight advantage over Humphrey even though he has grown in the BBC lead presenting role very well. Jury is still somewhat out on Lazenby though so we will wait to see how his does at the Melbourne Grand Prix in March.

Sky Sports F1 HD Team

Ted Kravitz, there is nothing really much to say. The heart of the pit lane knows everyone and everything about anyone and anything. I regard him these days as Mr Formula 1 always in the know and wanting to tell the public. He provides great depth to the Sky coverage, especially to us ‘hard core’ fans that we all enjoy.

Natalie Pinkham I suspect will take up her pit lane duties, much like she did for BBC but will have a bigger role to play and will be in pit lane during the race asking for drivers comments. Something that many people do not know is that Pinkham and Georgie Thompson are close friends. ‘GT’ will have a magazine styled show which I suspect will be studio based. For those of you that remember A1GP will re-call that she did the presenting for this and did a very good job, in my opinion. And let’s be honest here she is a bit of a “looker” as well.

Finally we have Steve Rider, a man not afraid of controversy and had many run-ins with the BBC before moving across to ITV. All we know at the moment is that he will be running a legends of the sport show on its own dedicated channel also it seems. We are yet to see much more detail on this though.

The only difference or downfall that there may be is that Sky do like a Studio setup so we may see a more ITV styled presenting approach rather than BBC style of walking up and down pit lane grabbing drivers and team members as they go. Yes, Eddie Jordan stays with the BBC.

Overall I think Sky Sports have done a very good. I think they have picked quality and talent and look set to put some good investment in to television coverage. I will just say one thing though, back in early 90’s there was massive uproar when Football moved from free-to-air television to Sky but people got over it and paid for it, same for Cricket. Just because we are Motorsport fans does not make us different from anyone else and therefore should not be “privileged” because of it. What you have to realise is that money has to be made and the television deals are key to that. The BBC just did not have the money for the coverage anymore. Yet they can go to China and Korea so I do somewhat question that, probably gone for marketing reasons. Money is the sole reason why the Premier League is the way it is and why it has the money it does. It all comes from television deals. Think of the prospect this could create for F1, we have already been told that there will be a £10 a weekend service on offer, which is still incredible value. I may be biased to this because I have had Sky since 1999 due to my other love, Football and many other sports. Some of you may even remember when Practice and Qualifying was on Eurosport or when F1 Digital was created. It is no different than that really other than it is now the entire weekend coverage. When I first moved out of home it was the first thing I bought. I love Sky’s coverage of Sport and not only that but dozens of other channels with sport on. 

To all the Sky haters, do not write them off just yet. They may just surprise you…

Follow me on Twitter: @Nico888

Remembering Road Atlanta

September 26^th 2011, Manchester airport departure lounge as I gaze out of the window in to the Terminal 2 runway the reality sets in that I will momentarily be jumping on American Airlines and departing for Chicago.

Being an avid Formula One fan I find myself jetting half way across the world to watch a Sports Car race at Road Atlanta. In the recent past I have found myself looking for pastures new when it comes to Motorsport and for roughly four to five years I have started to closely follow Sports Cars with a few friends and have developed a true love and passion for 24 Heures du Mans (Le Mans).

I am very fortunate to have developed a very close friendship through the powers of Sim-Racing to have a few friends in the States. So I decided to take a holiday to South Illinois but then drive to Atlanta to Braselton to take in Petit Le Mans.

Without question this was the best two weeks of my life. I have never experienced such passionate fans like the Americans are. They are also an extremely knowledge bunch when it comes to cars but that was half to expected when you stand next to what can only be described as a monster truck rather than a track like the Ford F150. Yes I now desperately want one!

Drive through Smoky Mountains

After a few days in South Illinois with my good friend Brandon we set off for Atlanta. We set off in the late hours of Thursday night in anticipation of arriving just in time for qualifying on Friday. Not quite yet appreciating the sheer vastness of the United States it was a six and half hour drive across four states and going over the absolutely stunning Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.  With that said we got to the track just at the start of qualifying and were able to take in the breath taking speed of the LMP1 cars across the top of turn three. It would be the #7 Peugeot 908 of Bourdais/Pagenaud/Davidson that would take pole position, disappointing for an Audi fan here.

It was a hurried entrance but after qualifying was over we were able to stretch our legs and take in the sights of the track itself. I have again never experienced a track quite like it, I thought Oulton Park had a lot of undulation but this was on a whole new level. I do not think anyone can appreciate the run down from turns three in to four and five then back up the other side until you have been there. It is mind blowing just how fast they run down that hill at stunning speeds.

After a very warm and sunny day, dusk started to settle and the temperature dropped. We headed up to the vendors area which was at the top of the hill, a wonderful area with a lot of Motor Racing enthusiasts taking in the entertainment. The Nissan GT5 Academy tent were running there competition to find the next big star much like Lucas Ordoñez. The Mazda tent had iRacing along with a young budding Mazda MX-5 (Miata driver). A lot of merchandise tents where I was able to pick up my Flying Lizards t-shirt that I had always wanted. We headed back to camp and the people next to us were kind enough to invite us over and sit around their fire. The British accent does come in handy sometimes.

A bitterly cold morning broke and the track was just awakening. In a few hours the screaming sounds of high class Sports Cars would try and tame the rollercoaster track. We headed down to the pit-lane and start finish line where fans were allowed to gather around the cars (not something that would happen in Formula One). We walked from the top of pit-lane right to bottom, taking a few pictures and I was lucky enough to shake hands with one Anthony Davidson and also grabbing a photo of Sebastien Bourdais and Alan McNish.

Audi R18

The track cleared and the roar of engines lit up the Atlanta skyline. The thunderous sound of the rolling start as the flag dropped for the start of what would become a highly intense twelve hours.

I have never known so much action, passion and incredible ability to be crammed, and I mean crammed, in to twelve hours. Being an Audi fan I was still shocked to see the pole sitters of Bourdais/Pagenaud/Davidson to be out on lap 78 as I felt that they had the strongest package and looked to be the biggest threat.

We decided to take a short break and we found that we could drive a Mazda MX-5 around Lanier Speedway which was just across the road from the track. Brandon and I took a shuttle bus across to the track and we jumped in the car. Now I have to admit this was my first time sitting on the left side of the car and driving. It was a little weird but once I got my bearings I was in to my flying laps and got very comfortable. We used part of the banking and then the two straights were coned slaloms, it was a lot of fun to drive and gave me the competitive racing bug even more than Sim-Racing previously had done.

From there we were fortunate enough to go to the Microsoft tent where we were able to meet up with some friends from SimCraft who create superb full motion simulators. They had two rigs set up in the tent and we had the opportunity to drive Forza Motorsport 4 with an Audi around Road Atlanta. It has to be said with that rig you can feel every single part of the road. Awesome experience.

Back to the track we went and it did not feel like we were back long before my heart sank seeing Audi #1 of Romain Dumas getting tangled up with one of the GTC Porsche’s and Franck Montagny’s Peugeot 908 with 98 laps to go. It was a very hard call to decide on which driver fault it was but nevertheless I was gutted. Even more so when the Audi #2 car of Capello/Kristensen/McNish went out with mechanical failure just six laps later, that would be the Audi team done for the day.  

The #8 Peugeot of Montagny/Sarrazin/Wurz would come across after the twelve hours to win but my attention quickly turned to the stunning GT battle between Werner in the BMW M3 GT and Bergmeister in the Flying Lizards Porsche 911 RSR. There was a lot a stake as well, the BMW running Dunlop tyres versus the Michelin tyres on the Porsche. This result would confirm the tyre manufacturers’ champion. A late safety car meant the cars were released with just three laps remaining. A titanic scrap between the pair of them ensued with Bergmeister getting past Werner with a remarkable manoeuvre around the outside of turn seven leaving him a run all the way down the back straight. Werner came back but Bergmeister saw him off as the fireworks were set off after an absolutely staggering, fantastic, monumental twelve hours.

Sunset at Turn 10A and 10B

It is hard to put in to words just how I felt at the end of the event. It has to describe my ever growing passion for Motorsport. It felt incredible to have been there, it was quite an emotional feeling and I cannot begin to express the passion and desire I have for Sports Cars now. The people, the fans, the cars, every single aspect of that form of Motor Racing has allowed me to be thoroughly proud to call myself a Motorsport fan. The track side commentators and on MotorsTV of John Hindaugh and Jeremy Shaw were just superb the excitement of Hindaugh made the event even more spectacular.

For my first ever event I was not disappointed and I intend to go to a lot more. I have never had that much enjoyment at any form of event in all my tender 23 years of life. I also want to thank my friend Brandon for even allowing the opportunity to come about.

There may be many F1 fans out there, many NASCAR fans and WRC fans, but I cannot encourage each and every single one of you fans to GO TO A SPORTS CAR EVENT! A manic but tremendous two weeks that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Follow me on Twitter @Nico888

Dusseldorf Delight

The now regular season ending event in early December is the Race of Champions. A rather cold Düsseldorf ESPRIT Arena welcomed the worlds best to their stadium for a very intense event.

Much to the delight of the fans the weekend was kicked off by a glorious fifth title to Team Germany in the Nations Cup headed by Sebastian Vettel with his somewhat “inexperienced” team mate in the form of Michael Schumacher. The pairing did not disappoint the lively German audience and thrilled the millions of TV viewing public from all corners of the globe.

Arguably the biggest story is the real and very true emergence of Sebastian Ogier. A driver that I have become very fond of over the past three to four years and believe has a massive career ahead of him. My earliest memory of the young Frenchman was seeing him blast around the mountains of Monte-Carlo in 2009. At the time driving a Peugeot 207 and thrilling the fans at every pull of the hand break. A quite superb event saw him beat Freddy Loix and the veteran Stephane Sarrazin.

From that point Ogier has gone from strength to strength. He signed for Citroen WRC after stepping up from the Citroen Junior team in 2010 to become team mate to the illustrious Sebastian Loeb. ‘Team Seb’ looked like they would be quite the team to beat over the next few years and Ogier wanted to show that Loeb was beatable. Even though it would be Loeb that would still take the title Ogier gave a fantastic account of himself winning his first event at the Japanese Rally in 2010. He went on to take the Portuguese, Jordan, Acropolis, German and his home event in France racking up 196 points to Loeb’s 222. It is evident to see this was a closely fought fight along with Ford Fiesta driver Mikko Hirvonen in the middle of a ‘Seb sandwich’.

Ogier wins and celebrates with Kristensen

December 2011 at it is time for the race of Champions. Ogier showing very strong in the Nations Cup, but Team France were not to progress through to the final after being knocked out by Team Nordic. It would be the Race of Champions itself where the 27 year old Frenchman would show his ‘Tricolore’ colours. He qualified top of his group ‘B’ and moved on to face Andy Priaulx, a dab hand at the Race of Champions and three times World Touring Car Champion (WTCC). He saw the Manxman off and moved through to the semi-final to meet 2011 DTM Champion Martin Tomczyk. This arguably being Ogier’s toughest challenge yet he took on the former Audi man in an Audi R8 LMS and convincingly beat the German. The final waited where he would be joined by the ‘Great Dane’, the eight time Le Mans winner, Tom Kristensen. TK a phenomenal multiclass driver with years of pedigree to his name was eager to win this competition. The determined eyes of TK saw off Schumacher to make it to this stage and we were not to be disappointed.

Ogier won the best of three races in two races. Winning the first race in the RoC buggy and then would win the Race of Champions in the Audi R8 LMS, a car that he has taken a shine to very much over the event. A new challenge in the future for him?

With Ogier the 2011 Race of Champions, Champion where will this lead the Frenchman now? Well the VAG group have signed him up to help build and develop the brand new VW Polo that will be entering the 2013 World Rally Championship. Pondering what this would mean for 2012 it was recently announced that Ogier would take the wheel of a Skoda Fabia S2000 for the 2012 WRC season. While this may not be ideal or a championship contending car it is certainly a drive that he crucially needs. That said, it is also a further year of experience that will go a long way to what could a very illustrious career.

Being part of the VAG group will do him no harm either. He will go to their winter camp and will meet none other than Tom Kristensen, along with many other Audi drivers as they all prepare for the new World Endurance Championship.

With a potentially glittering career on the horizon, this is a big step for Ogier and I for one will be following his career closely and look forward to many great things from him.

Follow me on Twitter @Nico888

Dreams

My first post is not about Motor Racing, that will come. This is my view on life.

What has caused modern society to become the state we are? We would rather watch other people’s lives than live our own. Let other people dictate our paths rather than have the chance to follow our dreams.

We live in a country where we mock and look down at people to make ourselves look and feel better. We constantly strive to be liked at other people’s expense. A world that then thinks its ok because we put it down to “banter”. This has spread like a plague to the point where we are told what to do rather than think for ourselves.

Common sense and common ground no longer exists, we have to be told by a box of vibrant colours and delusional forms of media.

No matter where you go or who you meet it seems to be consistent. The working world is no longer supporting or having camaraderie for your fellow man but rather living in a blame culture that dictates how far you will go in company. Demine or undermine someone else to boost your own self-esteem.

We have become such a diluted and damaged nation that the abyss gets deeper. We live in a time where family and tradition means nothing. Pride, passion, desire all lost.

Latin American’s have had economic and political issues but yet they fight as one. They are a family, they are a team. We have become so clouded and driven by facets of meaningless drivel that we cannot even support our home nation in a football game. We would rather dissect the lives of what is a high class, top quality footballer just because of misdemeanours.

Do we now live in a society that cannot function with one another? A society that only way of solving problems is to blame the other person? Even our own Prime Minister cannot answer a question before deflecting it on to someone else.

We have lost our sense of culture, faith, belief, even religion all becoming a dying bread thanks to the uprising of mass media. A country that has one of the highest depression rates and will continue to grow. A country that seemingly will help others but never our own.

What does it mean to be British? I do not think anyone could answer that anymore. We are a lost nation of hopeless self-indulgence and negligence. We seemingly pride ourselves on “expressing our personalities” rather than fighting for a common cause. There is no problem in expressing your personality, just do not do it at other peoples expense or make yourself look a fool. You would only be fooling yourself anyway.

We would rather live to work than work to live. Rather live for the weekend and the bottom of a pint class than dream big. This is not a question of being a realist but more an optimist. You are only a pessimist if you choose to be.

We slate other countries, we look at other people and laugh, and we look at other nations in fear. Yet we are the country that has a class system and seemingly cannot bind our divisions of north and south. One has to be right the other wrong.

A time must come where the red tape is pulled down and common sense prevails. But I have the feeling that in this instance that will be later rather than sooner… and our country and our people will pay the highest price for that.

We may have political issues and financial issues but we are in turmoil when it comes to our people and our nation.

Our youth generation of today are turning in to a lost cause of futures to come. Or just blame the next person…

What is the point in having dreams if you are not going to make them happen?

Follow me on Twitter @Nico888