The first WRC event coverage went out on Dave last night, and by my reckoning it was a pretty good job.

Neil Cole is our cordial host, which is a good start in itself – the lack of an on-screen presenter did last year’s ITV4 coverage no favours. And even better, Cole – who did the Shakedown programmes a couple of years ago – is no moron.

His blog makes interesting reading, musing on the balance between Dave’s required “witty banter” and doing the WRC justice for fans. Some content may have been a little incongruous, but Gigi Gali was described as a “Crazy Italian”, and for that I award top marks.

Inevitably with the return of an on-screen presenter, there was less stage footage than last year, particularly with the pieces for viewers new to the series. But that’s no bad thing – it shows commitment to the endeavour – and we’ll just have to see what the mix is like once the team have found their feet.

Paul King has kept his place as commentator, and I certainly hate him far less than this time last year. In fact, he was absolutely fine.

Overall: bloody good work, Dave.