Don’t expect WRC on Dave to get better

Jake | Monday 14th December 2009 | Rally

Motorsport on TV in 2009 – that’s the theme for this last normal week of the year

Dave getting the rights to the World Rally Championship for 2008 was a good thing, after ITV4 had become increasingly disinterested.

The first season went pretty well, with commentator Paul King easing into the channel’s trademark ‘witty banter’, and Neil Cole acquitting himself tremendously as presenter. But in 2009, it went down the toilet somewhat. Celebrities were the order of the day, and to hell with anything else.

Not all of them were bad: Shane Lynch at least knows about the sport, and at Rally GB Rupert Grint had something to say because his brother does a bit of rallying. Even Ben Shepherd was all right, because he was professional, enthusiastic and didn’t really have anything to plug.

But Sean Hughes clearly had no interest in what was going on, and with Robert Llewellyn and Rufus Hound, the plugging of other shows on Dave was absolutely painful.

I’ve nothing against talking to celebrities who happen to be there, or even shipping qualified celebrities out to the rallies. But it’s a WRC programme: stage footage should come first, and what else there is should at least be about rallying in some vague sense. Turning half the show into a low-rent chat show is not the way to go.

Alas I’m not sure it’s going to be any better in 2010, because WRC promoter ISC has awarded Motors TV rights to show daily highlights with oodles of onboard footage. So that, in the mind of the promoter, is for the hardcore fans, who are evidently expected to have pay TV of some form.

Dave, meanwhile, will continue to be there to try to attract new fans, and that probably means more tedious celebrity interviews. I hope not though, because Neil Cole knows the WRC as well as anyone, and should be fronting coverage we can all be proud of. And all enjoy, frankly.

5 Comments

There are 5 comments

Comment by @neilcole, Monday 14th December 2009 @ 20:48

The good news is – we will be having fewer celeb guests in 2010, more focus on action, location & of course the excellent line-up of drivers. Kimi, Bosse, full-strength Solberg (P), Gigi, Block, Atko, Rossi, and more… plus the sWRC. Don’t lose faith in Dave – we’ll do our best to keep it sideways. Neil
Comment by kwakkerman, Wednesday 20th January 2010 @ 22:17

I’ve been looking on the listings on Dave for the Monte Carlo round and can’t see it on – am I missing it?
Comment by Jake, Thursday 21st January 2010 @ 08:48

The Monte Carlo Rally isn’t part of the WRC again this year. It’s the opening round of this year’s IRC, so only broadcast on Eurosport. It’s a shame, I know!

http://2or4.co.uk/2010/01/19/everyone-loves-rallying/
Comment by jim, Sunday 31st January 2010 @ 09:34

thank goodness WRC is still available to FREEVIEW. That’s great. Yes, let’s have less clap trap, but maybe it’s the penalty you have to pay for not joining all the football morons in order to get some first class motor sport. I shall be watching and dreaming (it’s really me driving, on screen, of course). Hey, Neil, did you pay these so called celebs to go, I’ll go for free and as a previous commentator said, cannot be much worse. Why not a watchers competion every event and the winner joins you? That way you meet some real enthusiasts and make spondoolies for DAVE en route? Look forward to Valentino, will he be driving car no. 46? All the best an hope WRC stays on DAVE for years to come……… Jim
Pingback by WRC back on Dave – 2or4.co.uk – a motorsport blog – Formula 1, MotoGP, Rally, Superbikes, Touring Cars, Friday 12th February 2010 @ 14:31

[...] what I’m most looking forward to is seeing what the coverage on Dave is like this year. I wasn’t optimistic, on the basis that Motors TV now has extended coverage, but the show’s presenter Neil Cole [...]