Broadcasting Power

2011 12 Hours of Sebring Winner

There are many fans out there in the world like myself—those who absolutely love all that is racing, but usually cannot attend a live event. Because of this minor inconvenience, we are forced to go elsewhere to experience any particular race we want to see. Two obvious examples of this are to watch a race on T.V. or, if need be, to listen to one on the radio. There are times, however, when neither of these is available, so we are left to go online to follow twitter updates or to patiently wait until the race is over so that we can get some sort of recap of what has happened.

Nevertheless, fans such as myself would like to have every opportunity to watch a live broadcast of a race– especially our personal favorites. It’s no secret that I find sports car racing, such as the American Le Mans Series, to be some of the best racing in the world. Every year, I look forward to the three “great” American sports car races (24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and the 10 Hour Petite Le Mans) along with the pinnacle sports car race of the year, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. One of those great races, the 12 Hours of Sebring, happened last weekend. Unlike in years past, this year they only broadcast live on ESPN3.com and the official ALMS website (but not in the United States). The next day, they replayed the race on ABC. This move was very ambitious by the series and on the outside, the switch appeared smooth and problem-free.

By the time the race had started, however, fans were in an uproar. There are many ALMS fans in the U.S. who do not have ESPN3 and, just by virtue of being in the U.S., can’t receive the website’s feed. What are they to do? They were left with very few options. This type of move may have been better received if it was not one of the biggest North American sports car races of the year. The problems were not limited to ESPN3.com; my stream in Canada cut around the 5-hour mark and didn’t come back on for a while. All in all, the switch to an online stream of the race was not necessarily a good one.

This brings up a whole other issue: should motorsports in general get better broadcasting? Yes. What happened this weekend made me ask this question over and over. I’ve been asking it for years, but now that it seems to have happened to the pinnacle sports car series in America, this question is once again raised. There are two series in North America that get more than enough coverage: Formula One and NASCAR. NASCAR, I argue, gets way too much coverage. SPEED Channel, America’s only station dedicated to, well, SPEED, used to be known as Speedvision. All those who watched Speedvision will claim that it was far better than the current SPEED Channel. As someone who watched Speedvision with a passion, I agree with this common belief. Speedvision was a channel with most of its emphasis on racing. Similar to today, it had shows about NASCAR, shows about Formula One and some racing in the two series (again, like today, with the exception of the Busch Series and Winston Cup races), Grand-am racing, the American LeMans series, and the occasional ARCA or Sprint Car races (such as the World of Outlaws). Along with these, Speedvision also offered some live American Open-Wheel races (IRL and the CCWS).

One thing that I remember that stood out above these listed were the lesser series that actually got some air-time, such as the SCCA Trans-am series. This was one of my favourite series to watch. Like many fans in 2005, I was disappointed to hear of its closure. In 2009, the series got some sponsorship from Muscle Milk and re-opened. Unfortunately, this did not mean that it was going to be re-broadcast on the SPEED Channel. Many fans don’t even know of this series’ current existence because SPEED never even seems to mention it. This is a problem not limited to the Trans-Am Series. Before, there would be a show that played every week called Motorsport Mundial (as far as I know this show is still in existence, but not on the SPEED Channel). This show would recap various motorsports around the world, such as Rallycross, the V8 Supercar Series, DTM and even FIA Truck Racing! On top of this, Speedvision would replay various Touring Car Series from Australia, Europe and North America. Finally, the biggest tragedy with the current SPEED Channel is the lack of World Rally Championship coverage. Although it is quite difficult to film racing of this magnitude live, Speedvision used to replay each stage not long after the actual race took place. Along with many good things Speedvision had to offer, the WRC on SPEED has gone out of existence.

Instead, today on SPEED Channel there are many pointless shows on that really aren’t interesting to racing fans. Is there a need to show 8-hour coverage of the Barrett-Jackson Automobile auction? Is there a need to have various different NASCAR shows that viewers don’t watch, such as the game show Pass Time? Is there a need to show a 2-hour NASCAR pre-race show before the NASCAR pre-race? There is too much junk and too much NASCAR (yes “junk” and NASCAR are kept separate because I quite like NASCAR). Not many people in North America are aware of the various series around the world unless they go online and follow them that way. There are great races from the FIA GT series, DTM, WTCC, BTCC, V8 Supercars and WRC that are getting absolutely no coverage.

Last year, the SPEED Channel proposed the idea of SPEED2, which would be an online channel (much like ESPN3) that would show these events. Since the proposal of this channel about a year ago, I haven’t heard anything about it. There is no question that the SPEED Channel needs to step up its game. Race fans don’t want to see many of the shows that are broadcast and even NASCAR fans, such as myself, find many of the NASCAR-geared shows rather useless and time-wasting. I remember SPEED used to broadcast classic races. Even that would be a large step-up from what is shown today.

In my opinion, the transformation from what the SPEED Channel is today to an ideal motorsports channel is nearly impossible and will take a long time. In the meantime, however, SPEED needs to get its online channel running (hey, at this point online is better than non-existent), put some focus back on some lesser-known North American series, such as the SCCA Trans-Am series, and at least give the ALMS some well-deserved coverage. Racing needs to be accessible again for the average fan. With the way things are going, more and more series will fall by the wayside.

What’s it Worth

Robert Kubica

As the NASCAR world is gearing up for its season opener in Daytona, the Formula One world made headlines around the racing community when Lotus Renault GP driver Robert Kubica crashed heavily during the Ronde di Andora rally in which he was racing. His right elbow, leg, hand and shoulder were severely injured when his car crashed into a guardrail, which penetrated the car’s cockpit. Doctors say that a full recovery may take up to a year.

Some will argue, such as journalist Mark Hughes, that Kubica is the best driver in F1, despite his career numbers. This may be due to the lack of performance from his team. Nevertheless, the Lotus Renault has lost its number one driver in Kubica. Right now, the team is left scrambling to find a full-time driver for the 2011 season. Nick Heidfeld is the leading contender along with Bruno Senna. And it’s possible that former F1 champion turned WRC driver Kimi Raikkonen will make his F1 return.

This raises an important question: is it worth it for drivers under contract in an important racing series, such as Formula One, NASCAR, IRL etc. to risk their jobs by doing some “off season driving”? Speedtv.com’s recently published article, Kubica Crash Raises Danger Dilemma, talks about the issue of F1 teams letting their drivers compete in things like rallying in the off season. Former three-time champion Jackie Stewart, along with Martin Brundle and Patrick Carpentier agreed that Renault should not have let its prized driver Rally so close to the beginning of the season, let alone between tests sessions.

This is nothing new. Robby Gordon, NASCAR driver and owner, participates in the Dakar Rally, one of the years most grueling and dangerous races, annually. Just this year Tony Stewart spent time in Australia racing and got into trouble when both he and the owner of the dirt track where he was racing got into a heated argument, which ended up with both men exchanging punches and police having to detain the NASCAR icon.

Dakar Rally 2009

The bottom line is this: these people are racers. They will race when they get a chance to, and may even go skiing. Clearly these are not the safest things to do, considering a simple frisbee accident can leave Carl Edwards, arguably the NASCAR driver who is in the best shape, with a broken foot. Personally, I don’t believe that a driver should be restricted in his or her activities during the offseason. These men and women are racers, plain and simple. Yes, it’s unfortunate that 26-year-old Kubica cannot drive for the 2011 season and contend for a title, but I think it’s rather strange to put these drivers in a glass box for their career to preserve them for race day when, during the regular season, they go out and put their safety on the line by doing the simple thing they are made to do: race.

With this topic aside, I send my best wishes out to Robert Kubica for quick and steady healing. I hope that we can see you race again, whether it’s in a Rally or the Monaco GP.

 

 

 

Vettel Silences Critics

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel defied all odds this past weekend by shocking the Formula One world. The 23-year-old German phenom became the youngest Formula One champion in the history of the series on Sunday by leapfrogging his teammate Mark Webber and points leader Fernando Alonso after winning the Abu Dhabi GP. Alonso, most critics would agree, all but had the championship wrapped up, finished a disappointing finish, while rival Mark Webber finished eighth. Vettel’s win also secured Red Bull Racing’s first F1 championship ever.

The strides that Vettel made in battling adversity during these past weeks making up a lot of ground on his competitors was nothing short of brilliant.  The man nicknamed “Baby Schumi” after the seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher, did not only overcome the impossible, but he also battled the critics of the F1 world.  Vettel joined Formula One in 2006 as a BMW Sauber test driver, and started his first race the next season after driver Robert Kubica was seriously injured in an accident.  He promptly became the youngest driver to score World Champion points at the age of 19. Although he made only one successful start for the Swiss team, he was released and replaced American driver Scott Speed in the Toro Rosso team. In the 2008 season, the young German shook the F1 world yet again after winning the Italian GP, becoming the youngest driver to win a race at the age of 21.

Vettel was highly praised for his young, raw talent. Personally, I first saw this talent when he stormed up to a third place running order in a rain-soaked Japanese GP in 2007. Unfortunately, he wrecked under safety car conditions, which caused a lot of controversy (and in my opinion was not his fault). The next race, however, he collected his best finish of fourth in China. The young German was doing this all for a young team that was not known for very successful finishes. Vettel’s one-time teammate, Sebastian Bourdais, was even quoted to say that he had never seen such talent in a driver like Vettel.

I knew it was only a matter of time until this driver collected his first championship. After he was signed on to a deal in 2009 for him to run for Red Bull racing, I was sure that he would have a very good opportunity to win the championship. If it wasn’t for the outstanding performance of Jenson Button in the new Brawn Racing team, Vettel would have become champion that year. Equally, Vettel entered 2010 with confidence and a very good chance of taking the crown.

Sebastian Vettel

Throughout the year, however, Vettel had to face more than just his opponents. Showing incredible speeds, he won the pole for more than half the races in 2010. Unfortunately, his race results were nowhere up to his performance level. Some cases of equipment failure were partially to blame, but what got most attention this season where his “run ins” with the other competitors, most notably his teammate, Mark Webber.

Possibly the most famous incident occurred during the Turkish GP when Vettel and Webber collided while running first and second. As I alluded to in my earlier article, “When Racing Becomes Secondary”, this is one of the biggest no-no’s to commit in any kind of racing: wrecking both you and your teammate while leading the race. Vettel, again fought more adversity when he and competitor Jenson Button collided during the running of the Belgium GP. Criticism of the arrogance displayed by the 23-year-old rang throughout the Formula One world. Fans said that his ego heavily outweighed his talent and that his lack of respect for his fellow competitors really shows his true colours. The most famous comment Vettel received from personnel involved in an F1 team came from McLaren’s team boss, Martin Whitmarsh. Angered after the collision with his driver, Button, Whitmarsh lashed out at Sebastian by calling him the “crash kid” and stated that the accident would only be seen in a lower series.

Whitmarsh was understandably upset, as it was his car and driver who suffered the brunt of the collision.  The amount of fans, however, calling out Vettel was unreal. I never think that good, raw talent is ever a justification for acting poorly and showing poor sportsmanship, but I never really got the impression that Vettel was in over his head or driving poorly. He manned up for causing the crash with Button, and although never admitting to the crash involving Webber, Vettel legitimately contends that Webber was at fault. Looking at the replay many times, I can see Vettel’s take on this incident. No, he wasn’t blatantly taken out by his teammate, but neither did he blatantly take out Webber. In my opinion, it was an unfortunate racing accident in which neither driver showed respect for the other competitor. Many fans use these two incidents to support their opinion that Vettel will never be World Champion.

It’s true when people say that Vettel still has a lot to learn, because he does. He’s still only 23 years old and has a lot of maturing to do. With this in mind, however, Vettel possesses a driving ability that surpasses anyone else on the grid, and he showed it this year. The controversy over Red Bull favouring Vettel as opposed to Webber is a crock: it didn’t happen. Webber was in a favourable position throughout most of the year and didn’t have the luck and finishes needed to be World Champion. Both drivers are not friends, and Webber even told the media earlier this month that he will “never” be friends with Vettel.

Nevertheless, Sebastian Vettel received the crown that is rightfully his. Although already signed up for next season, Red Bull is in the process of extending his contract until 2015. This is not a bad thing to do for both Vettel and Red Bull. The Austrian team has made strides over the past few years and dominated the 2010 season. Vettel is the hottest driver in F1 and many teams would love to have him drive for them. This deal would solidify Red Bull’s place in the F1 world, and this team will get many more championships with Vettel in the driver’s seat.

When Racing Becomes Secondary

Felipe Massa

Formula One: the pinnacle racing series in the world. Whether or not most racing fans agree with this statement does not change the fact that this series is one of the most popular in the world. The Formula One circuit spans five different continents and includes drivers from twelve different countries, making it a truly international series. Its rich history includes living legends such as Sterling Moss and Jackie Stewart, who both lived and drove during some of Formula One’s most successful times. Like practically all series, the emphasis is on winning, with the driver’s championship being the main goal. Although this is the ultimate goal, drivers across the globe will put it all on the line to win a race if the opportunity presents itself.

For decades, teams that are entered in Formula One generally enter two drivers per team. Arguably, the most dominant team of all time is the Scuderia Ferrari team, which has two-time champion Fernando Alosno and Felipe Massa as its entries for the 2010 season. Both of these drivers have proven themselves as championship caliber drivers as Alonso has multiple championships to his name and Massa has eleven wins to his name and was just one point behind Lewis Hamilton for the 2008 title. This past weekend’s race at Hockenheim showed these two drivers 1-2 with Massa on the point. Throughout 2010, Massa has struggled, which has mired him back in the championship standings. His teammate, on the other hand, still has a sliver of hope.

For Ferrari, taking the first two podium spots was an ideal finish. What was not ideal for the team was who finished in what position. With Massa’s championship hopes all but over, Ferrari implemented something that is not new to auto racing: team orders. He was told to let Alonso by in order for him to get the maximum amount of points possible. This controversial finish caused past and present drivers, team owners, media, and fans to get heated.

Michael Schuhmacher and Niki Lauda

Many drivers and teams, such as Red Bull’s manager Christian Horner, voiced their displeasure over the move. According to Speedtv.com, three-time World Champion and former driver for Ferrari, Niki Lauda, believes that the FIA should go as far as to penalize the Italian team, on top of their initial penalty of $100,000. To Lauda, $100,000 is just pocket change to top teams such as Ferarri.

Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Ferrari’s team chairman, attacked the outraged by saying that this is not the first time this sort of thing has happened. Montezemolo does have a point; it is not the first time team orders have changed the complexity of the race. The most notable occurred during the last race in Singapore when Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed on purpose in order to give (again) Fernando Alonso (his teammate at the time) the victory. The chairman of Ferrari is not wrong in his statement, but just because something has happened in the past–in this case, an action that is detrimental to the sport, it does not mean that it is right to repeat this action again and again and again.

Many argue that Formula One is the pinnacle racing series in the world. What sort of image does the racing world craft when one of the most popular series has teams manipulating the race, while putting racing for the win secondary? Many Ferrari fans argue that it is just part of the two-team strategy. In their minds, Ferrari was just doing what was best for Ferrari. This statement does not represent a word of a lie. Ferrari did what was best for the team, but not what was best for the driver (Massa).

Others argue that since Alonso was catching Massa at a reasonable clip, it was best that Massa let him go, so that the horror that fell upon Red Bull during the Turkish GP would have no chance of happening. Both of these arguments have validity, but neither defend the fact that increasingly dull races, which are constantly overshadowed by the three-round qualifying, are being made worse and less exciting when racing for the win is taken out of the equation.

Formula One may or may not be the pinnacle racing series, but no matter how popular one series is compared to the other, it is hard to swallow occurrences such as this one. Nevertheless, I will always be a fan of the series and will continue to watch when I can. My hope is that during these races, team orders will be kept so that teammates “don’t wreck each other” (which I guess was not voiced to Red Bull during the Turkish GP), but that the spirit of the race is not changed by orders to falsely manipulate which member of the team crosses the finish line first.