Ben Evans Racing

It’s coming to the end of another long, but hugely enjoyable season, with just a couple more meetings to go before the winter break. Once again the summer seems to have passed in a blur of 5.30 starts, motorway coffees and late arrivals home on Sunday night. Along the way I have been lucky enough to see some super racing, meet some great people, and work with some of the best commentators in the UK.

However for myself and much of the motorsports community the season is finishing under a black cloud following the tragic events of the past fortnight. The accidents that claimed the lives of Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli will haunt the sport over the winter. Whilst always a tragedy, there is something especially tough about fatal accidents occurring at the end of the season as it simply not possible to race the pain away.

Likewise, I believe that both accidents will be damaging to Indycar and Moto GP, albeit for different reasons.

Following events in Las Vegas a number of commentators noted that there had been the fear of a similar accident for quite some time. Certainly I have been uncomfortable watching the superspeedway oval races for some time (I know Las Vegas isn’t a superspeedway but it’s a lot quicker than, say, Milwauke) with huge packs of cars running very closely together piloted by drivers of vastly different experience. As any experienced racer will tell you, the problem with a pure slipstreamer on an essentially flat out circuit, is that it flatters the slower drivers and enables them to run far closer to the leaders than would normally be the case. As it was the accident was as bad as motorsport has ever seen, with cars being launched skywards at terrifying speeds. That Dan was the only victim is nothing short of astonishing.

Next year Indycar will have a new car, one with partially enclosed rear wheels, this will supposedly prevent the spate of airborne incidents we have seen in recent seasons. However, Indycar will be without one of its iconic drivers. Maybe Dan Wheldon wasn’t well known to UK race fans, but as a double winner of the Indy 500 he is one of the sport’s legends. His was the perfect American story, overcoming adversity (lack of budget) and using his talent to reach the top of his sport. I sadly never had the chance to meet him, but by all accounts he was great company and over the past couple of years had found true happiness.

I found the incident particularly troubling as during the commentary at the Formula Ford Festival we had mentioned Dan on a couple of occasions. I fully intended to watch the race when I got in from Brands, but feeling under the weather and not wanting to watch loads of adverts, Serie A got the nod instead, with Indycar highlights to follow in the morning.

My reaction to Dan’s accident was one of profound sadness, whereas Sunday’s accident for Marco Simoncelli was a kick in the guts.

Like millions I had been watching the 2011 Moto GP season more closely than for a couple of years because I was rooting for Marco Simoncelli. His fluid all action style was flattering to the otherwise dull 800’s, whilst his robust overtaking took me back to the final days of the 500s when Max and Valentino bashed fairings at Suzuka. Once more Moto GP was where the racing was. The ride through penalty at Le Mans seemed unjust and thereafter I couldn’t wait for him to start racking up the podiums and wins.

As with Valentino Rossi a decade earlier Marco had all the makings of being the future of the sport. Aside from being spectacular on track, he was delightful off it. In an era where the top riders have a demeanour that suggests the team are holding a pistol to their pet puppy back in the pits, Marco genuinely seemed to love what he was doing, and the fans adored him for it.

The accident itself was simply a tragedy, exacerbated by the irony that Marco was hit by surrounding riders in a race that had the lowest number of starters for some time. This was the sort of incident you expect to see in a 40 bike superstock race, not a 16 bike Moto GP race.

For Moto GP this incident is doubly damaging. Firstly the sport has lost a (potential) superstar who was going to spearhead the next generation in the fans affections. Riders with Marco’s exuberance and personality don’t come along every day. Secondly the series now has some serious image issues with regards to the treatment of injured riders.

The last three fatal in race incidents have seen the riders being unceremoniously hauled off the circuit, in two cases with the stretcher being dropped. I don’t know the medical ins and outs of the correct protocol, but as someone who is used to slow and deliberate driver stabilisations in all serious incidents to see the riders being scooped off the track and then dropped is shocking. Maybe there was nothing that could be done, but for the teams and spectators the medical team working in-situ with the ambulance coming onto the circuit is more palatable and reassuring.

Comparing the handling of Marco’s incident on Sunday with the immediate and comprehensive medical support that was on the scene in seconds at Las Vegas a week earlier does not show Moto GP in a very good light.

Both Moto GP and Indycar are moving into a brave new world in 2012, with new regulations, new machinery, but without two of its brightest stars. Fans want to see close racing, with charismatic competitors taking the big risks. The appeal of motorsport has always, partly, been based on the clear and present danger of the speeds, and huge strides have been made to improve safety in recent seasons, but throughout 2011 there have been too many big accidents in Moto GP and Indycar, and finally the luck ran out. Hopefully 2012 will bring a happier end to the season.

As a twenty something who has only just got hold of Sky Sports, the decline of sport on terrestrial TV has been dispiriting, with cricket, big football and rugby matches, and a host of other events becoming effectively unavailable. As a sports nut, I would have got Sky Sports far earlier but due to the vagaries of renting flats in London this was not possible.  Now that my new flat is up and running with the full set of Sky Sports, Eurosport and ESPN it is unlikely I will be seen again in public this summer.

This article is not about the rights and wrongs of the new F1 deal, but rather the long term risk for any sport of turning its back on terrestrial television. Of all the comment of the past few days, one of the lesser made but most potent points is that satellite television, and newer digital channels, attract a comparatively tiny proportion of views in proportion to the principle five analogue channels.

 I was sad child, an anorak at 6 six who preferred to answer to Nigel in deference to my hero.  In 1990 I went to my first GP and new the name of every driver – why? Because I had seen them on Grandstand. But that wasn’t all I had seen on Grandstand, much as I liked/loved F1, I also had a passion for Formula 3 having watched the footage on Grandstand whenever I got the chance. Attending the Friday free practice for the British GP in 1990, I marched my Dad around the support race paddocks not content until I had met my F3 heroes – especially Mika Hakkinen, Derek Higgins and Paul Stewart. These drivers were household names, at least to me, as I had watched them on Grandstand and Sport on Friday.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s F3 and BTCC racing had an explosion in popularity due to its coverage across the BBC channels. This was nothing like the coverage we get today for either series (not every race was filmed for a start), but was still super. Tight editing from the BHP team could make even the dullest race into a thriller, and Murray Walker’s commentary was the icing on the cake. Rob Gravett, Frank Sytner and Andy Rouse are all names my Mum unwittingly came into contact with from an avid race following son.  The videos of these series (much to my wife’s disappointment) are still on fairly regular rotation at home. If nothing else they prove that highlights aren’t necessarily a bad thing.

By the time I reached my teens sport was beginning to head to satellite television, but the Evans household wasn’t. Armed with my TV guide I would set the video in the small hours for ITV’s Best of British Motorsport coverage (top UK club racing) and the International Motorsport show (F3000 and FIA GTs). Again this was great viewing and I used to love listening to Paul Musselle’s commentaries. Once more I am ashamed to say that my F3000 DVD’s still make a fairly regular appearance, alongside my F3 on 4 tapes from 1999 onwards (again some great viewing). If anyone has any copies of the Best of British motorsport programmes, please get in touch J

The point is without being able to watch this action it unlikely that my interest in motorsport would have survived my teens – probably to the delight of racegoers across the country.

Satellite television has done sport a great service, for many sports it has dramatically improved coverage and broadcasting standards and I have no doubt that the F1 shows on Sky next year will be stunning. If you are in doubt dig out some of the British Superbikes coverage from a couple of years ago. But for a sport, or series to really thrive it needs to be available on all platforms. As I said above highlights are no bad thing, they can be more appealing to the casual viewer (ITV4’s Tour de France coverage is a case in point) and can sit well alongside the anorak sating coverage available on the specialist sports channels.

The build up to the Senna movie with its high profile publicity campaign and uniform top reviews meant that I had no option but to go on the opening night last Friday. Having got hooked on F1 during the late 1980’s a film about Ayrton Senna seemed a hugely exciting prospect. Added to this the talk was all of extensive unseen footage, full access to the FOM archives and exclusive interviews. In short my expectations were high.First of all Senna is a very good film, it is interesting  well-paced and the wealth of footage used is startling. For me the highlights are the sequences from the drivers meetings which I didn’t know existed. The exchanges between Senna , Jean-Marie Balestre and the other officials are worth the admission alone. Likewise some of the pitlane footage from the Imola weekend is staggering and really captures the event. However I do have a number of reservations about the film. Firstly there is far too little race footage. In all the interviews with the producers they defend this as being superfluous to the narrative structure of the movie. Whilst I can sympathise with this, the effect is actually to sell-short Senna’s ability as a driver. There are times when you have to take on faith from the interviews the level of Senna’s talent. This is particularly noticeable for the 1991 and 1993 parts of the film where Senna was at the peak of his talent. Not including the Donington first lap from 1993 is inexcusable. For an F1 fan this is fine as we know about his abilities, but if I was watching as a casual observer I may come away questioning just how got Senna was as you don’t get to see much of his talent on track (I personally have the same issue with Gilles Villeneuve as the footage I have seen doesn’t tally with the written accounts of his ability) Secondly the film’s tone is odd. Although much of the film celebrates Senna’s achievements I found the tone throughout very downbeat. This may well be because I know how it ends, but generally the film doesn’t paint F1 racing in the late 1980s/early 1990s as a fun, or particularly exciting, place to be. Of course that’s true and the drivers were under pressure, but watching at home I remember those races as being hugely dramatic, the cars thrilling. and the grid packed full of star drivers. There has been a lot of criticism of the film only focusing on Senna & Prost, and I agree, the F1 landscape of the time is not particularly well painted. Although the film is aimed at a broad audience and achieves this, if I was watching the film as a non-F1 fan I don’t think that there is enough to convert me to the sport, which is a pity. Thirdly this is not a balanced film, the narrative is hugely supportive of Senna. There is no mention of his dark side, although there is a clip of Jackie Stewart challenging Senna about his contact with other drivers no footage of these incidents is included. Likewise Alain Prost is painted as villain which isn’t really the case, both drivers had their strengths and weaknesses and this isn’t reflected. There are times when the film elevates Senna to demi-god status, whereas in reality many of those reporting the sport at the time are still mixed in their views. The key strength of the film is that it stays with you long after the event, but that on reflection I see the film as bit of a missed opportunity. The producers have had a clear vision for the film and kept to it, but as a result the film is a doom-laden account of an exceptional life, rather than a celebration of Senna’s talent and a thrilling era of F1 when the drivers raced on the limit. As more footage became available to the producers I think a shift of focus would have been beneficial.  I appreciate that as an F1 fan I was not the target audience for the film, but after coming home I stuck on the highlights of the 1993 Donington Grand Prix, and that 40 minutes better captured the Senna enigma than the film. Finally my other source of frustration after the film was that a lot of this race and behind the scenes footage is not available on DVD through season reviews. Given the wealth of footage available I am at a loss to understand why new season reviews from these years have not been released. There would clearly be a market for this action and it seems disrespectful to the fans to keep it locked away in the vaults. This is especially the case for the season reviews which have now even been deleted from VHS release. I can only hope that the success of Senna will prompt a re-think and we will start to see some long form season reviews emerging onto the market including some of this footage.

Over the extended Bank Holiday period I had the opportunity to read Derek Daly’s excellent ‘Drive to Win’ which is an excellent examination of the qualities required to make it as a top professional driver. What makes the book particularly interesting is that for much of it Daly takes latent talent behind the wheel as a given, and instead focuses on the factors outside the car that can improve a driver’s performance.  Throughout the book is peppered with analysis of current drivers together with a frank examination of the mistakes Daly feels that he made throughout his career.

It really is a superb book, although strangely as I put it down I came away feeling quite sad. From a personal point of view I really wish that the book had been out in 2004 when I embarked on my first season of racing. As I read I kept coming across the errors that I made during my driving career, in particular that I never had the mental toughness required to win at a competitive level. I always thought about it too much but never in the right areas – as Daly points out throughout the book – I was too concerned with what others were doing rather than focusing on my own performance. There were a number of times I had bad weekends because mentally I was beaten before I went out to qualify. Likewise I was always an instinct driver and was naturally reasonably quick, I never spent much (any) time poring over the data as I should have done.

Having read Drive to Win I could clearly identify the reasons for my best drives. Firstly I won my first car race – a race school race at Silverstone. That week I had received intensive tuition and two of the instructors in particular recognised I was mentally defeating myself and gave me the confidence to perform. On a high I won the race. The second standout performance was at Silverstone in 2006 when I finished 4^th in a Formula Vee race in a superb dice for the lead. The week leading up to the race had been a particularly busy one at work and I had given no thought to the race until I arrived at Silverstone on race morning. With a clear mind I was at the very top of my game that day and drove well. Finally my other standout race was when I won a European Formula Vee race at Varano in 2008. Having had my usual weekend of mental turbulence I had a rubbish qualifying session and then stalled on the grid. So far the story of my career. Then I allowed instinct and my feel for the car to kick in and drove through the field to win on a drying track. Having been soundly beaten all season I drove through the pack when I was at the greatest disadvantage.

Therefore I came away from Drive to Win feeling a bit down as I realise now that had I been brave enough to tackle my performance weaknesses and seek support and assistance I would have achieved far better results behind the wheel. I’m not saying that I would have gone any further during my career but I would certainly have won more races and scored more podiums.

For any aspiring driver Drive to Win is an essential text and I would urge all drivers who want to run at the front of the field to read it. Daly writes extensively about commitment and the financial risks required for some drivers to ‘make it’. This I believe is where the book falls down a little, particularly in relation to the UK racing scene where there is nowhere near the level of outside sponsorship as there is in the US.

At the weekend I saw three outstanding races in the Gaz Shocks Production BMW Championship, which at present is in the happy situation of having a group of outstanding young drivers (plus a couple of very experienced and quick older drivers) at the head of the enormous field. The races at Brands Hatch were superb, particularly the 3^rd which saw a 5 car fight for the lead. Despite running 3 abreast though Paddock Hill Bend and Druids on more than one occasion there was no contact and none of the leading cars spun or retired following an accident. The commitment and racecraft was superb and the racing proof that saloon cars can race closely without making contact.

Yet talking to the drivers after the race it was clear that for many there are significant financial challenges to get on the grid. The commitment and skill of these drivers is without question. However without significant external support it is clear that these drivers are unlikely to move up towards the BTCC where they would, in time, be very competitive. It would be fantastic to see one or more of these drivers given the backing (which initially would not be huge) to develop their careers and move up the professional motorsport ladder.

Sunday saw the start of both the F1 and Indycar seasons, with both races throwing up their share of interest if not out and out excitement.

Within only a few laps I was getting quite bored with the new overtaking ‘aids’ available to the F1 drivers. KERS in its first inception was a bit of a damp squib and served to prevent passes rather than aid them, and its reintroduction has thus far done nothing to convince me otherwise.

However it was DRS which completely baffled me. What is the point of the system if it is only allowed on a tiny portion of the circuit and only when the drivers were within a second of each other? Surely it should either be available totally at the drivers’ discretion (the loss of traction as drivers deployed it in qualifying was entertaining) or outlawed. The halfway house approach just gives the spectator one more thing to consider in amidst pit stop strategy, KERS, tyres etc. I just want to see drivers racing, and don’t care if they are in a DRS window, or have sufficient KERS left on any given lap.

In the event the much vaunted overtaking bonanza didn’t happen, and I would be astonished if the race positions would have differed at all if KERS and DRS had not been available to the drivers.

Over in the US they have certainly hit on an innovation that spices up the race – double file (i.e. side by side) restarts. This was introduced at St Petersberg on Sunday and led to a manic first 20 laps of the race. Indycar races have long had side by side rolling race starts and on Sunday this led to chaos as several drivers lunged up the inside to find there wasn’t much grip off line and on the paint. The end result was Marco Andretti upside down and several drivers out of the race.

This led to a safety car and the first double file restart, which led to another pile up and another restart. Only on about the 4^th restart did the field get through without driving into each other, but by this point with a much shuffled pack.  The remainder of the race was exactly what you’d expect from a spec series on a street circuit with no overtaking opportunities – cars running closely together but unable to get through.  On balance however I enjoyed it more than the action from Albert Park.

The double file restart proved highly unpopular with the drivers who disliked the incidents and jostling for position. However I felt the drivers complaints were a little over the top. Firstly – crashing is discretionary, all the incidents were as far as I could tell, caused more by drivers launching up the inside where there was no grip rather than any particular factors of them running closely together. Surely the team managers could have told their charges not to do anything that will compromise finishing the race. Secondly St Petersberg is probably an exceptional case in that it is a circuit where it tough to overtake, for most drivers the restart was the sole opportunity to move up the order.

Watching the race at home I loved the new restart format, it spiced up the racing, gave the fans multiple ‘first corners’ throughout the event, and created some great action. If F1 is serious about cost cutting and improving the show, then side by side restarts after a safety car could be an answer to both elements (minus the wrecked cars). It would give the fans more action, it would shake up the race order, and it would create the side by side racing we all want to see.

For years F1 teams have used the role of the test driver as a way to introduce new drivers to the team and assess their pace. The likes of Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill used test driving contracts as their route into regular F1 race seats, whilst others such as Alex Wurz and Pedro de la Rosa have been able to sustain their careers through solid seasons in the test seat.

However, in recent years the role of the ‘test’ driver has shifted to that of ‘reserve’ driver. This is partly because there is little actual testing to be done, and also because reserve driver sells better to potential sponsors.

With the massively reduced number of F1 testing days throughout the season, opportunities are limited for reserve drivers to get behind the wheel, which restricts the value they can add to the team, and also their opportunity to get F1 mileage. Whilst I fully understand and support the restrictions in testing days for the teams in terms of the racing, there is surely an argument to set aside several days a season for teams to run reserve and rookie drivers.

The situation at Renault has clearly illustrated why this should be the case. From an external perspective it seems utter ludicrous that a team with four, yes four, reserve drivers should then go and recruit a fifth (Nick Heidfeld) to fill the hole left by Robert Kubica.

In particular I think that Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean could feel hard done by as both have in previous seasons been thrown into race seats without the opportunity to get some test days under their belt and therefore were perceived to underperform.

Whilst Heidfeld seems a sensible short term option, if he is in the seat for the whole season you wonder what that will give Renault. Heidfeld is a solid performer, but he has never had a standout performance, or indeed a run of races that have shown a touch of magic. The absence of Kubica seems like a golden opportunity to give a relative newcomer a good run in the car, with some pre-season testing, to show their full potential.  Given that Renault have four young guns on their books as official reserve drivers it would have been super to see at least one of them given the chance.

The counter argument is that by running two inexperienced drivers in the car that they could end the season with fewer points than Britain in the Eurovision song contest, and a damage bill to match Vitaly Petrov’s from 2010. True, but then Heidfeld is hardly likely to be bringing the car home on the podium every weekend.

To put either Bruno Senna or Romain Grosjean in the car would be a huge risk, but if either showed their pace from F3 and GP2 on a regular basis, then Renault may just be sitting on a new star driver.

For an up and coming driver an F1 contract, or any description, is a dream come true. However if a driver signs up as a reserve driver to me there is an implicit understanding that if one of the principle race drivers should have to step down from their seat, that the reserve driver should have first refusal for the drive. Furthermore in order to bring through new talent teams cannot be afraid to be risk averse and offer drives to known quantities who are unlikely to deliver spectacular results.

In the wake of Robert Kubica’s horrifying accident last Sunday there has been a lot of comment about why he was rallying so near to the start of the season, and why Renault let him compete?

In the modern age of motorsport it is unusual to see drivers competing outside Formula 1, but this is a relatively recent trend. Partly this is because the way that drivers are contracted and paid has changed. For the top drivers their F1 salary means that they don’t need to race elsewhere to make ends meet (in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s Can Am prize money heavily outweighed the rewards available to drivers in F1), whilst for up and coming drivers the terms of their driver development contracts means that they usually have to ask for permission to breathe, let alone race elsewhere.

However, that cannot mitigate the fact that most racing drivers love competing and driving quickly, and that if they have a window where they can race and rally they usually will. It was good to see that Renault have been supportive of Kubica’s decision to go rallying, as despite the risks a happy driver who is risking injury through competing in rallies, is far better than a miserable driver who is going stir crazy. It is certainly worth considering if Ferrari would have got more out of Kimi Raikkonen if they had allowed him to go rallying on his weekends off.

To continue the Raikkonen parallel, throughout 2010 Kimi did his upmost to keep the Citroen spare parts team in business with a series of massive accidents, all of which he more or less walked away from. In contract Kubica who very rarely has incidents was catastrophically unlucky with angle that his car went into the barrier. Fortunately serious injuries in all forms of motorsport are rare and an accident such as Kubica’s is the exception rather than the rule. Gone are the days where F1 drivers regularly competed in the spectacular, but potentially lethal, Group C sportscars, where there was a real risk of serious injury or worse – in 1985 current F1 drivers Stefan Bellof and Manfred Winkelhock were both killed in Group C races.

 Yes motorsport is dangerous, but he could have as easily picked up a similar injury in a road accident, or in a mountain biking incident. For example Jason Watt’s single seater career came to an end following a motorbike incident at the end of the 1999 season that left him paralysed from the waist down, or Alessandro Nannini’s 1990 helicopter crash that ended his F1 career after his arm was severed. Short of wrapping your driver in cotton wool at the end of the season there is nothing that the teams can do to ensure that their charges arrive at pre-season testing in full health (although off season cryogenic freezing is surely something to investigate).

Along with everyone else in the motorsports community I hope that Robert Kubica makes a full and speedy recovery, but I also hope that when he’s back in the cockpit that Renault will allow him to go back to rallying.

It’s been a long time since I posted here. 2010 was a great season, I had some of my most enjoyable commentaries - the BTCC @ Brands Hatch and the Formula Ford Festival, together with some excellent national and international meetings throughout the year. I also stupidly worked through the night at the Britcar 24hrs on the day before my wedding. Other highlights included the Superleague Formula meeting at Brands Hatch, F2 at Silverstone, F3 at Rockingham and the International GT Open.

2011 is already shaping up to be a great season and I am very excited about what’s already in the diary.

If you would like me to commentate on your event either live on the day, or for television highlights, then please contact me on 07971100465 - benfrombristol@hotmail.com

 Thus far my diary is looking like:

March 19/20 - Snetterton 300 - the first meeting on the Snetterton 300

April 15/16 - Silverstone - FIA Formula 2 Championship

April 23 - Snetterton

April 30/May 1 - Brands Hatch

May 2 - Snetterton

May 14 - Oulton Park

June 5/6 - Brands Hatch

June 18/19 - Brands Hatch F3/GT

June 25/26 - Snetterton Lotus Festival

July 2 - Oulton Park

July 16/17 - Brands Hatch

July 23/24 - Brands Hatch - FIA Formula 2 / International GT Open

August 13/14 - Donington Park

August 20/21 - Brands Hatch

September 10/11 - Anglesey

September 17/18 - Snetterton

October 15/16 - Snetterton

October 22 - Vee Festival* as event co-ordinator

November 5 - Lotus 1000kms

 I look forward to seeing you throughout the season

Its been a long, long time since I posted on here largely because I have barely had a moment to stop over the summer. If last seasons combination of racing and commentary was busy, then focusing on commentary for 2009 has kept me extremely active.

To pick out highlights from the summer is near impossible as pretty much every meeting I’ve been to has had its outstanding moments - the Britcar 500 meeting as we raced into the night had its usual intoxicating atmosphere, whilst the F3/GT event at Brands had some great racing and the added dimension of major championships being decided. Other highlights would include the FPA and GT Cup meeting at Oulton Park in July or the SPEED race at Brands in August where banks of showers upset the order on every lap.

However the best race I’ve seen this year was last Saturday at Silverstone, where the Lotus on Track Elise Trophy cars, in front of the BBC cameras (Jake Humphrey was racing) had an absolutely stunning six way fight for the win. Watching from Becketts I had a priviledged view of some great dicing. It was also fun to work at a club meeting with a big media presence as the podium festivities were filmed as we got Jake up for a special presentation and some interviews.

As the season begins to wind down I have a busy run in - Fun Cup at Oulton Park, organising the Vee Festival at Brands Hatch, the Truck Superprix at Brands and then finally the BARC Winter Series at Rockingham on November 7th.

Coupled with this I have several TV voiceovers to do before the end of the season, starting with the GT Cup 100km race from Knockhill which premieres on Motors TV on Friday 16th October at 19.10.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been kept very busy by once again organising the Vee Festival. The good news is that we have an entry matching the 2008 level and this time around, thanks to the generous support of SCS, highlights of the event will be shown on Motors TV. It is good that the event has consolidated into 2009 and its great to have the support once again.

Looking forward to the winter it would be good to get involved in commentating on some other sports to keep my eye in until the racing season kicks off again. Please contact me on 0797 11 00 465 or benfrombristol@hotmail.com  with any opportunities

Its been a while since I posted here, perhaps a reflection of my busy 2009. My commentary year kicked off with a thoroughly enjoyable CSCC two-dayer at Anglesey before moving on to Brands Hatch for the A1GP weekend. An epic three days of action, I was all on my own for Friday’s Practice/Qualifying day before teaming up with Mark Werrell for the race action, which was excellent. Mark and I had a great weekend helped no end by the superb racing on offer. The second Lurani Trophy Formula Junior encounter was probably the best race, but other memorable moments include Ireland clinching the A1GP title and Paul Hogarth’s monster GT Cup shunt.

Following a much needed weekend off, next up was Silverstone for CTCC/BARC meeting. A eclectic mix of cars and some enjoyable dicing made it a good couple of days, although my burgeoning cold meant I was worn out by Sunday night. May Bank Holiday and it was up to Oulton Park for the BARC on the Saturday and BRSCC on the Monday. The BARC meeting was one of the most enjoyable I’ve covered in a long time, a wide variety of machinery and some cracking racing ensured the 9 race programme disappeared in the blink of an eye. The BRSCC meeting on the Monday was Caterham heavy, but delivered some top dicing, although the R400’s could have done with a few more cars. Whilst it was the Roadsports that had the grid nos the R300’s looked the most fun to drive.

Next up on the Circuit Public Address diary is the Lotus Festival at Snetterton on June 13th/14th, Thruxon on the 28th June, and then the World Series by Renualt at Silverstone on July 4th/5th. July, August, September and October are now all looking extremely busy. In fact pretty much the only weekend I have off is that of the British GP, although I am open to offers of free tickets.

A diary that is now even fuller due to the news that I will be part of the commentary team for the F3/GT season finale at Brands Hatch on September 19/20. I am really excited about this meeting as I love F3 and Formula Ford.

Last week however it was away from the circuits and into the studio for my first TV commentary commitment of the year, covering the World Series by Renault for Renault TV. The programme is produced by KPC Media and presented by Gemma Scott, keeping together the team who made last years’ BT Vision and Setanta shows. I have to say I’m biased by this year’s programmes are a big step forward and well worth searching out when they appear on Renault’s website and their satellite channel in a few weeks.

If you are looking at putting a race series on TV or need a commentator for any event, then please contact me - benfrombristol@hotmail.com / 0797 11 00 465