Been watching the race, how do spectators get to different grandstands? Say you are staying in the Fairmont and you need to walk to one of the grandstands it looks like all the pavements are closed?
Is all in the timing, the grandstands close quite early and there are tunnels you can't see on tv to them from certain gates. Sat in the grandstand opposite the pits a few years ago and had to wait about 3/4 hr after the race before we were allowed out. Best venue ever been to for a race, well worth the extortionate cost......
I was watching the highlights of the Monaco GP on the BBC Red Button this morning, and it's made me realise the only real weak point in the Sky Sports coverage - they don't have a 'In-house' Gary Anderson-esque technical guy.
They all have a stream of ex and current drivers, but no-one they can wheel out at a moments notice and comment on the deeper down workings of the cars. They either have to go and ask a current mechanic, or get Ant to use his testing experience to launch a thousand theories by pointing at his big telly.
Tell you who would be good for this type of role (but still a good few years away from being available) - Rob Smedley.
Nice to see Suzi Perry on The One Show today. They showed highlights (about 30 seconds) of the race and had an interview with John Surtees.
Also had a chat about women in motorsport. On that note, there's quite a contrast between Suzi, Lee McKenzie & Jennie Gow for the BBC and Natalie Pinkham for Sky.
Agree with Chris_Williams and solarflare that the clip of Natalie in a bikini on Sunday's race show pretty much summed up her role on the Sky team.
For example, out of the following 14 photos, all but four feature Natalie. That's a lot of attention for a pitlane reporter...
Nice to see Suzi Perry on The One Show today. They showed highlights (about 30 seconds) of the race and had an interview with John Surtees.
Also had a chat about women in motorsport. On that note, there's quite a contrast between Suzi, Lee McKenzie & Jennie Gow for the BBC and Natalie Pinkham for Sky.
Agree with Chris_Williams and solarflare that the clip of Natalie in a bikini on Sunday's race show pretty much summed up her role on the Sky team.
For example, out of the following 14 photos, all but four feature Natalie. That's a lot of attention for a pitlane reporter...
Nice to see Suzi Perry on The One Show today. They showed highlights (about 30 seconds) of the race and had an interview with John Surtees.
Also had a chat about women in motorsport. On that note, there's quite a contrast between Suzi, Lee McKenzie & Jennie Gow for the BBC and Natalie Pinkham for Sky.
And half of them feature Ted... so guess he's the housewives' choice?
Wrong! Try again.
I notice you are as keen as ever to defend Sky even when the facts aren't on your side... whether it's on here or on D.M.N.'s blog comments. I hope you get a suitable discount on your Sky bill for your troubles.
I notice you are as keen as ever to defend Sky even when the facts aren't on your side... whether it's on here or on D.M.N.'s blog comments. I hope you get a suitable discount on your Sky bill for your troubles.
Excuse me? I'm not sure I've ever commented on D.M.N.'s blog. If I have, it'd be once or twice - I don't even read it regularly (sorry D.M.N., but I do get the e-mail saying when it's updated so do have an eye on it).
Plus, I was simply being facetious against a typical over-reaction to something quite unlikely...
I notice you are as keen as ever to defend Sky even when the facts aren't on your side... whether it's on here or on D.M.N.'s blog comments. I hope you get a suitable discount on your Sky bill for your troubles.
Just checked my blog comments, doing search for 'Daniel', brings back 7 out of 982 comments - none of them DanielF.
In the interests of fairness, if I *did* comment, it'd be under TMLS. So you wouldn't necessarily associate it with DanielF, which I only use on Digital Spy (I changed it here back in whatever date this account is dated).
They either have to go and ask a current mechanic, or get Ant to use his testing experience to launch a thousand theories by pointing at his big telly.
Tell you who would be good for this type of role (but still a good few years away from being available) - Rob Smedley.
Thought F1Elvis was up for that role but havent seen him since testing.
Start the Clock !!!
Jp's 'cross the globe odyssey' begins NOW..
Our tour coordinator has just bundled me into the van and departure from Ataturk airport is in 2 hrs.
I change at Heathrow for Chicago then a short flight to Cinci where I rent pick up a cheap and cheerful rental and drive up I-74 to a northside hotel in Indy.
First stop..Attempt to get to The Burger Bash by 7pm Friday
Then a few hours sleep before watching Monaco qualy and a trip to the Speedway to say hello to a friend, pick up my scanner, watch the Champions League final and maybe even the Nationwide race. But it's gonna be an early night as we will leave for the track at daybreak (I HATE traffic..and so do my friends coming with)
Race Day:
What a great day it was here at the Speedway.
The night before I was privileged to get to chat to one of my all time favorite Indy500 drivers. Mr.Johnny Rutherford related some funny Pace Car stories and told me how NO ONE was as proficient at the job as James Garner.
After convincing the dullard of a yellow shirt, who stood blocking the entrance to his parking lot, that the people who need to park there should be able to turn right off 16th street I was happy to receive the plaudits from the pissed-off race goers in the car park queue.. One even shoved a beer in my hand (at 7:30 am) "I'll take you up on that upon our departure" I said. His is the spirit and joie de vivre of the 300,000 rabid fans that make the sojourn to this event every year. These are..My People.
Straight to 16th&Georgetown to soak up the early atmosphere. GodWhackers, scalpers,hawkers and gawkers all congregate to do just as I do...'check it out'.
Being 'early doors' I had no issues with the revised search policy and got inside in about 45 seconds...others I hear were not as lucky.
Keith Duncan and I went up to Rossco's fabulous TOWERSWEET only to find it empty, barring the attendant, so I filled up on brekkie before heading down to the pits and paddock for a snoop.
One's access to restricted areas are determined by 2 things here.
1) What credential you have
2) How good you are at creating a diversion towards the aforementioned yellowshirts..like the evergreen "OOHH LOOK, SHINY TOY"
I usually use the latter but had the right pass today.
As soon as I got to the paddock I saw the hardest working schmooze woman in racing doing her thing. Talking a great race... I don't know how she does it but if self-promotion and stick-at-it-tude was rewarded she would be in a Penske seat. But it isn't.
Hung out with my benefactors for a bit when Gordon Kirby came up for a chinwag..not with me mind you, although he did recognise me from back in the days of yore, but with the person of interest smiling in the background."What's the deal" Kirby asked. "For some reason..We are SHIT" was Hull's reply. Gordon has more anecdotes and info about racing than I've had hot dinners.
Walking back to the transporters I eavesdropped on a local TV interview where the reporter asked a driver...
"What's your biggest fear around here now that you've gotten the worst out of the way" "Not getting a good result" was the answer he offered.
Oh dear...It seems there are drivers who just have bad Indy JuJu..
The race was enthralling. I cannot stress how important it is for anyone calling themselves a race fan to attend this event.
It DOES NOT transfer to TV in anyway shape or form like it does when you are a part of it.
At the end of it, when the place erupted for TK, I went down to return my scanner ..only to find a gate open behind the Pagoda entrance.
Grabbing the chance with both hands I was heartened to see Yellowshirts and Indiana State Police accosting some poor idiot trying to jump the fence.
With diversion in place I sashayed into the winners circle and got right next to the celebrations.
I shouted out "Você vai ficar bêbado hoje à noite"
Has anyone here been to Monaco? In particular have you stayed in Nice during Monaco GP weekend? Looking for hotel recommendations. I don't want anything exclusive but I don't want a B&B either. Any recommendations? Thanks!
how does this compare to other Sky f1 exclusive races?
Not too shabby considering the channel has never broken 1 million for a programme average. A little lower than Germany last year (which was free to subscribers).
I haven't seen a breakdown, but I think they will be pleased considering the programme length was 5 and a half hours (I *think* that number is for the entire programme and not the original slot)
EDIT - Not so sure it is for the entire programme now, if you look at Monday's figures for the football - which also overran, ITV Media have got it as..
Rank Channel Time Programme OOOs Share
1 SkSp1 05:30 PM Football Gold 1639 10.7%
3 SkSp1 02:00 PM Live Football: Championship 1002 9.4%
4 SkSp1 05:45 PM Football Gold 852 5.3%
Gawd it makes for some depressing reading in here sometimes, honestly the moaning is worse than Button's at times. A bit of a mega post as I've been absent all weekend.
Conversely does that make you a BBC Bertie then?? Newsflash....people can offer up neutral or positive opinions about a company without them being an employee. Many people have had no problem with their connection as evidenced in this thread. It's a bit rude to try and belittle them when they're trying to help you identify problems with your connection.
Sorry Ken but I'm gonna have to disagree. I can't stand Ben's commentary, I just want to gag the excitable fellow and let DC talk. I miss Brundle and DC more than ever I think.
I was watching the highlights of the Monaco GP on the BBC Red Button this morning, and it's made me realise the only real weak point in the Sky Sports coverage - they don't have a 'In-house' Gary Anderson-esque technical guy.
Tell you who would be good for this type of role (but still a good few years away from being available) - Rob Smedley.
I agree on Rob Smedley, he'd be very welcomed in this house..and finally a bit of eye candy for me, getting sick of you lot having something to look at in Pinkham, McKenzie etc ;-) I disagree slightly re Gary Anderson, he's excellent (imo) at explaining general concepts such as aerodynamics, strategy etc..but his predictions are appalling. If Gary says XYZ will be fast, it invariable turns out to be the opposite. His best one was saying the McLaren was the car to beat based on his testing evaluation, his predictions are a bit of a standing joke on other forums.
Silverlight is not available and does not work on ios or android.
The new BT sport channel will be using Silverlight for their PC online player, so its not going away yet.
Oh...not what I wanted to hear!!
I have sync issues with Sky Race Control at the moment, not sure if anyone can help. I'm noticing the timing seems to slip further behind as the race goes on. By lap 25 the driver tracker was half a lap behind. By that point it's useless to me and I often turn it off. I hope Sky get rid of the awful Silverlight thingy, I find it slow and clunky on my laptop. I've used Sky Go across a variety of devices and it does tend to be a little hit and miss in it's performance. I tend to get the best streaming via Chrome on my laptop or by using my xbox.
I'm noticing a trend in here to point out that either the BBC or Sky commentators failed to notice xyz whereas the others did (therefore implying they're the better choice??). I think it's to be expected that they will spot different things, otherwise it'll be exactly the same commentary. Do people want to be spoon fed what they can see with their own eyes...or is it just an excuse for a good old bit of points scoring??
I agree with others saying Craig Slater is very flat and dull....imagine him and Di Resta on a night out?!!
I watched the Indy 500 via a feed kindly provided by one this threads gentlemen :-) I quite enjoyed the whole race, a few too many cautions but to be expected given the speeds they're doing. It was a shame the race ended under caution but I guess that's just part of the sport. Did enjoy a wry smile when Sato passed somebody and immediately moved back in, the commentator immediately got riled up saying 'That's an F1 move and isn't done in Indycar'......erm it was just a normal overtake, F1 or Clio Cup, it'd still look the same.
JP I love and despise you in equal measure, very envious of your weekend :-) I wanted Sato to win just for the craic, I did feel sorry for RHR getting breezed past like that after the last cautionary period.
And once again JP does the remarkable! I was just about to say I don't know how he does it, but being at Hyde Park with him many years ago for a F1 BMW Promotion actually I do know, I have the freebies to prove it. And the really annoying thing is he's one of the nicest blokes you can meet. Sickening Brilliant piece, chapeaux sir, chapeaux.
Has anyone here been to Monaco? In particular have you stayed in Nice during Monaco GP weekend? Looking for hotel recommendations. I don't want anything exclusive but I don't want a B&B either. Any recommendations? Thanks!
I've been, it's really expensive around the GP. Even B&B is like hotel prices. Depends really on your budget. I'd recommend the ferry from Nice into Monaco on race day, much nicer than sitting in endless traffic jams.
Admire your posts Elissa over the last few months, although the Ben Edwards thing, disagree entirely but, hey that's what makes us all individuals non? I just gonna love being in this forum in a few years time when FOM pull all the extra feeds given to Sky/BBC so they can show it for a fee on their site exclusively. Right now we are all getting the best coverage of F1 than we've ever got (cue the moaning..BBC don't show all races..Sky keeps going on and off) well look forward to all your griping when the TATA feeds that will house F1 in the future (2015 according to some sources) starts falling over for a fee too. Happy Days!
Comments
They all have a stream of ex and current drivers, but no-one they can wheel out at a moments notice and comment on the deeper down workings of the cars. They either have to go and ask a current mechanic, or get Ant to use his testing experience to launch a thousand theories by pointing at his big telly.
Tell you who would be good for this type of role (but still a good few years away from being available) - Rob Smedley.
Also had a chat about women in motorsport. On that note, there's quite a contrast between Suzi, Lee McKenzie & Jennie Gow for the BBC and Natalie Pinkham for Sky.
Agree with Chris_Williams and solarflare that the clip of Natalie in a bikini on Sunday's race show pretty much summed up her role on the Sky team.
For example, out of the following 14 photos, all but four feature Natalie. That's a lot of attention for a pitlane reporter...
http://www1.skysports.com/formula1/gallery/12738/8731955/sky-f1-at-work-in-monaco
And half of them feature Ted... so guess he's the housewives' choice?
(Or it's because most of the pics are F1 Show related, so naturally have the presenters in?)
On this note too
This feature on Yahoo today.
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/motorhead-uk/four-women-lined-indy-500-weekend-why-t-114727506.html
Half the pictures are of the back of his head.
Wrong! Try again.
I notice you are as keen as ever to defend Sky even when the facts aren't on your side... whether it's on here or on D.M.N.'s blog comments. I hope you get a suitable discount on your Sky bill for your troubles.
Excuse me? I'm not sure I've ever commented on D.M.N.'s blog. If I have, it'd be once or twice - I don't even read it regularly (sorry D.M.N., but I do get the e-mail saying when it's updated so do have an eye on it).
Plus, I was simply being facetious against a typical over-reaction to something quite unlikely...
Just checked my blog comments, doing search for 'Daniel', brings back 7 out of 982 comments - none of them DanielF.
Although I am intrigued as to who you are wbm00.
Thought F1Elvis was up for that role but havent seen him since testing.
Friday
After a whirlwind tour here in the embattled Middle East..
My 6 am wake-up call this morning is the adhān (call to prayer) bellowing out of the İngilizce Türkçe Sözlükten Çeviri.
Start the Clock !!!
Jp's 'cross the globe odyssey' begins NOW..
Our tour coordinator has just bundled me into the van and departure from Ataturk airport is in 2 hrs.
I change at Heathrow for Chicago then a short flight to Cinci where I rent pick up a cheap and cheerful rental and drive up I-74 to a northside hotel in Indy.
First stop..Attempt to get to The Burger Bash by 7pm Friday
Then a few hours sleep before watching Monaco qualy and a trip to the Speedway to say hello to a friend, pick up my scanner, watch the Champions League final and maybe even the Nationwide race. But it's gonna be an early night as we will leave for the track at daybreak (I HATE traffic..and so do my friends coming with)
I'll exchange the 72 virgins in Jannah and eternal blah blah blah for my own personal paradise.
21 hours later…
Made it..
STOP THE CLOCK
Saturday:
Enjoyable afternoon at the track today.
Got to see friends and check out the tourbus to end all tourbuses
Something called a Newell..What a Jewel !
Makes our mode of transport look like the projects in LeFrak City.
The paint has just dried on the pit stalls...my trousers have some telltale residue.
Crews are just making last minute adjustments to the fuel rigs
There appears to be an issue with Powers rig though... So look to see if that's an issue tomorrow.
Found a place to watch the GP tomorrow morning too ....If I get there in time.
Race Day:
What a great day it was here at the Speedway.
The night before I was privileged to get to chat to one of my all time favorite Indy500 drivers.
Mr.Johnny Rutherford related some funny Pace Car stories and told me how NO ONE was as proficient at the job as James Garner.
After convincing the dullard of a yellow shirt, who stood blocking the entrance to his parking lot, that the people who need to park there should be able to turn right off 16th street I was happy to receive the plaudits from the pissed-off race goers in the car park queue.. One even shoved a beer in my hand (at 7:30 am) "I'll take you up on that upon our departure" I said. His is the spirit and joie de vivre of the 300,000 rabid fans that make the sojourn to this event every year. These are..My People.
Straight to 16th&Georgetown to soak up the early atmosphere. GodWhackers, scalpers,hawkers and gawkers all congregate to do just as I do...'check it out'.
Being 'early doors' I had no issues with the revised search policy and got inside in about 45 seconds...others I hear were not as lucky.
Keith Duncan and I went up to Rossco's fabulous TOWER SWEET only to find it empty, barring the attendant, so I filled up on brekkie before heading down to the pits and paddock for a snoop.
One's access to restricted areas are determined by 2 things here.
1) What credential you have
2) How good you are at creating a diversion towards the aforementioned yellowshirts..like the evergreen "OOHH LOOK, SHINY TOY"
I usually use the latter but had the right pass today.
As soon as I got to the paddock I saw the hardest working schmooze woman in racing doing her thing.
Talking a great race... I don't know how she does it but if self-promotion and stick-at-it-tude was rewarded she would be in a Penske seat. But it isn't.
Hung out with my benefactors for a bit when Gordon Kirby came up for a chinwag..not with me mind you, although he did recognise me from back in the days of yore, but with the person of interest smiling in the background."What's the deal" Kirby asked. "For some reason..We are SHIT" was Hull's reply. Gordon has more anecdotes and info about racing than I've had hot dinners.
Walking back to the transporters I eavesdropped on a local TV interview where the reporter asked a driver...
"What's your biggest fear around here now that you've gotten the worst out of the way"
"Not getting a good result" was the answer he offered.
Oh dear...It seems there are drivers who just have bad Indy JuJu..
Speaking of TV interviewers...Who's the Hottest Girl at the track 24/7?
Yeah she is...Charming, sweet and so willing to chat to anyone about anything.
I reminded her of our night together at a club years ago and saw a flicker in her eye ...so I left the recollections when her producer came over to talk about in-race features.
I ambled to the pits to see the cars roll out and noticed how some of the cars use natty rims on their rolling tyres.
That Bia sure is a badass as she dispassionately turned down a marriage proposal offered on the grid in front of 300 thousand people.
Timing is everything ..The guy's an idiot.
The Ganassi guys seemed to be working to find a solution right up to the last minute.
Guess it wasn't found...Oh well.
I was looking at Sato's car and wondering out loud when a camera crew from GaoraTV asked for an interview with me.
Why I will never know but in my best Japanese I think I said "May I order the oven broiled tractor please?"
Or at least that's what the producer lady reckoned I'd said.
Just as race time beckoned I hightailed it back upstairs for a Splash and Go before the off.
Talk about a well thought out solution for hard drinking race fans... This place has it all.
The race was enthralling. I cannot stress how important it is for anyone calling themselves a race fan to attend this event.
It DOES NOT transfer to TV in anyway shape or form like it does when you are a part of it.
At the end of it, when the place erupted for TK, I went down to return my scanner ..only to find a gate open behind the Pagoda entrance.
Grabbing the chance with both hands I was heartened to see Yellowshirts and Indiana State Police accosting some poor idiot trying to jump the fence.
With diversion in place I sashayed into the winners circle and got right next to the celebrations.
I shouted out "Você vai ficar bêbado hoje à noite"
He looked over and I snapped this.
I wonder if he's woken up with a hangover
Jp
You bring light and smiles to our dull lives (and stir up large quantities of both the green-eyed monster and respect!!)
how does this compare to other Sky f1 exclusive races?
Not too shabby considering the channel has never broken 1 million for a programme average. A little lower than Germany last year (which was free to subscribers).
I haven't seen a breakdown, but I think they will be pleased considering the programme length was 5 and a half hours (I *think* that number is for the entire programme and not the original slot)
EDIT - Not so sure it is for the entire programme now, if you look at Monday's figures for the football - which also overran, ITV Media have got it as..
Rank Channel Time Programme OOOs Share
1 SkSp1 05:30 PM Football Gold 1639 10.7%
3 SkSp1 02:00 PM Live Football: Championship 1002 9.4%
4 SkSp1 05:45 PM Football Gold 852 5.3%
Conversely does that make you a BBC Bertie then?? Newsflash....people can offer up neutral or positive opinions about a company without them being an employee. Many people have had no problem with their connection as evidenced in this thread. It's a bit rude to try and belittle them when they're trying to help you identify problems with your connection.
Sorry Ken but I'm gonna have to disagree. I can't stand Ben's commentary, I just want to gag the excitable fellow and let DC talk. I miss Brundle and DC more than ever I think.
I agree on Rob Smedley, he'd be very welcomed in this house..and finally a bit of eye candy for me, getting sick of you lot having something to look at in Pinkham, McKenzie etc ;-) I disagree slightly re Gary Anderson, he's excellent (imo) at explaining general concepts such as aerodynamics, strategy etc..but his predictions are appalling. If Gary says XYZ will be fast, it invariable turns out to be the opposite. His best one was saying the McLaren was the car to beat based on his testing evaluation, his predictions are a bit of a standing joke on other forums.
Oh...not what I wanted to hear!!
I have sync issues with Sky Race Control at the moment, not sure if anyone can help. I'm noticing the timing seems to slip further behind as the race goes on. By lap 25 the driver tracker was half a lap behind. By that point it's useless to me and I often turn it off. I hope Sky get rid of the awful Silverlight thingy, I find it slow and clunky on my laptop. I've used Sky Go across a variety of devices and it does tend to be a little hit and miss in it's performance. I tend to get the best streaming via Chrome on my laptop or by using my xbox.
I'm noticing a trend in here to point out that either the BBC or Sky commentators failed to notice xyz whereas the others did (therefore implying they're the better choice??). I think it's to be expected that they will spot different things, otherwise it'll be exactly the same commentary. Do people want to be spoon fed what they can see with their own eyes...or is it just an excuse for a good old bit of points scoring??
I agree with others saying Craig Slater is very flat and dull....imagine him and Di Resta on a night out?!!
I watched the Indy 500 via a feed kindly provided by one this threads gentlemen :-) I quite enjoyed the whole race, a few too many cautions but to be expected given the speeds they're doing. It was a shame the race ended under caution but I guess that's just part of the sport. Did enjoy a wry smile when Sato passed somebody and immediately moved back in, the commentator immediately got riled up saying 'That's an F1 move and isn't done in Indycar'......erm it was just a normal overtake, F1 or Clio Cup, it'd still look the same.
JP I love and despise you in equal measure, very envious of your weekend :-) I wanted Sato to win just for the craic, I did feel sorry for RHR getting breezed past like that after the last cautionary period.
I've been, it's really expensive around the GP. Even B&B is like hotel prices. Depends really on your budget. I'd recommend the ferry from Nice into Monaco on race day, much nicer than sitting in endless traffic jams.