There are three series which I’m forced to follow through highlights shows: British Superbikes, WTCC and World Superbikes. Well, not quite forced to: I could get Eurosport and watch them live. But I don’t. The point is: there is definitely a skill in crafting a highlights package, and not all of these manage it.

British Superbikes, on ITV4, represents close to the ideal highlights show. For one thing, there’s a real, actual presenter on screen and on the grid – James Haydon. As I have previously remarked, he now does a very good job indeed.

The downside is that the commentary is not bespoke: it’s an edit of Eurosport’s live coverage. But you’d not want to replace the ever-entertaining Jack Burnicle and James Whitham, and the highlights are extensive enough to still convey the story of the race – the programme is an hour long for standard two-race meetings, with an extra 30 minutes for the triple-headers.

That’s where World Superbikes on Channel 4 falls down. The problem is that two races – plus qualifying – are stuffed into less than half an hour; and while Charlie Webster provides a voiceover, race commentary is an edit of the world feed by Jonathan Green and Steve Martin. In a busy race, you end up with lots of shouting about the overtaking moves, and little idea of who’s where and who’s going where. So, bizarrely, you get better highlights from races with less action, because there are fewer quick, jarring cuts from one overtake to the next.

World Touring Car Championship highlights on ITV4 also squeeze two races plus qualifying into half an hour. The difference is that the commentary is specific to the highlights show – it used to be Martin Haven, but earlier this year Ben Constanduros took over. And it works: because the commentary is continuous, even when there’s a lot of action, there’s still time to cover how the race is progressing as a whole. There’s a bonus of watching WTCC highlights too: it cuts out all the bloody safety cars.

So the conclusion is you either need lengthy highlights, or a bespoke commentary. Easy!