84 replies to this topic

[PeterElleray]

Interesting that the 67 british gp was shown on itv - no advertising on the cars then. i had been led to believe that the switch came in 1968 when the advertising appeared. certainly the 68 race was on itv. so the race was covered by itv for 4 straight years, 67-70? but at the same time the bbc continued to take the world feed for european races. i dont think the us, mexican and certainly not south african gp's were ever broadcast live or time delayed in this country, as opposed to highlights in wheelbase or similar, till 1978 - anyone remember differently?

peter

[mscheeres]

Interesting that the 67 british gp was shown on itv - no advertising on the cars then. i had been led to believe that the switch came in 1968 when the advertising appeared. certainly the 68 race was on itv. so the race was covered by itv for 4 straight years, 67-70? but at the same time the bbc continued to take the world feed for european races. i dont think the us, mexican and certainly not south african gp's were ever broadcast live or time delayed in this country, as opposed to highlights in wheelbase or similar, till 1978 - anyone remember differently?

peter

ABC succesfully had a live picture from Le Mans for the 69 24hrs (by they way they are specifically discussing this it was one of the first times) so was there simply no interest by the BBC/ITV, too expensive or no interest?

[dolomite]

not sure why they did that, unless thats the only english language segment left... the full race does live up, more or less, to the printed accounts - interesting to hear francois commenting on jackie's racecraft!

peter

Thanks for that Peter, I shall have to go and look for the french version then!

[Tim Murray]

ABC succesfully had a live picture from Le Mans for the 69 24hrs (by they way they are specifically discussing this it was one of the first times) so was there simply no interest by the BBC/ITV, too expensive or no interest?

I'm sure that at the very least the dramatic last few laps of Le Mans '69 was shown live, but can't remember whether this was on BBC or ITV.

[mscheeres]

I'm sure that at the very least the dramatic last few laps of Le Mans '69 was shown live, but can't remember whether this was on BBC or ITV.

ABC have at least shown something during the evening (CET, they are calling off with 'see you tomorrow'). Next segment is the last two laps in full. Seeing the slipstream battle is superb

Can't find the segment where they are discussing the sat picture, need to check my 1967 DVD

[roger.daltrey]

With regards to that Whickers World doc, I posted similar question on a 'Grand Prix' thread a few years ago. I originally watched it sometime in the early 80's so the tapes/film must have survived that long. Never seen it since, although bits of it pop-up in the extras on the Grand Prix DVD.

So, any ideas where the WW doc can be found ? (Or is that off-message for this thread ?)

[Simon Taylor]

I've only just picked up on this thread, which includes (further above) several references to the championship-deciding 1976 Japanese Grand Prix at Mount Fuji. If I may be a little long-winded (for a change?), perhaps I should record my memories of how the BBC's coverage happened.

At the time I was publisher of Autosport, having been kicked upstairs after a hugely enjoyable stint as editor, so I was driving a desk instead of a typewriter and missing my former role of covering races. As a devotee since the cradle of the old BBC Light Programme's radio coverage of motor racing with Raymond Baxter, Robin Richards and my Autosport colleague John Bolster in the pits, I had diffidently approached the moguls at Broadcasting House to try to get them to consider me as someone who could supply radio reportage from Grands Prix. They refused politely, because they already had a deal going with Barrie Gill. Barrie, in his capacity organising sales promotion and PR for various motor-racing sponsors through his company CSS, was at the races anyway, and was able at low cost to the Beeb to provide all the radio they wanted, which was brief two-minute summaries of who had won each Grand Prix on the early Sunday evening sports roundup. As explained above, following on from the Durex Surtees debacle earlier the same year, BBC TV had an uncomfortable relationship with Formula 1 and covered very little.

Then, a few days before the Japanese Grand Prix, my phone rang at home one evening. It was Dick Scales, Editor of Sport at BBC Radio. He'd been expecting Barrie Gill, who'd already flown to Fuji, to be supplying some sort of coverage for him. But that very afternoon somebody in BBC TV had suddenly woken up to the fact that Britain might have a new World Champion that weekend, and had hastily got hold of Gill in Tokyo and told him he would have to voice some edited pictures which they would squeeze into the schedules on Sunday afternoon. Gill was delighted to be summoned by TV, which was a step up from radio, and so he called Scales and told him he couldn't supply the radio coverage. For some reason Scales thought of me, and told me to pack a bag, grab my passport, and get to Heathrow toot sweet.

I fetched up at Fuji on Friday morning, somewhat jet-lagged, and picked up the threads. I found my commentary booth, a tiny rickety temporary structure with one small black and white monitor, lots of unfamiliar switches and knobs, and a smiling Japanese technician who spoke no English. The race was due to start on Sunday at 1.30pm, 4.30am London time. At that hour, Radio 2 had no qualms about opening up their Sunday output early and allowing me to commentate on the entire race live. There were no other commitments until the normal Sunday output began with a Church service at 7.30am. They also decided to put it out over the World Service as well, so the audience would be considerable. On TV nothing would go out until edits on ITV at 1.10 pm (Andrew Marriott commentating, introduced by Dickie Davies) and the hastily organised edits on BBC1 at 3.55pm (Barrie Gill commentating).

But on Sunday, of course, the weather clamped down at Fuji: steady rain and thick fog. The Sunday morning warm-up happened on schedule, but then as the weather worsened nobody seemed able to take a decision whether to run the race. Back in London, as the minutes ticked away, my new masters were not happy about the lengthening delay. In any case the producer that morning had serious qualms about my inexperience, and whether I could keep talking on my own for the full two hours. So he sent a message: "Find some English-speaking bloke, a celeb or somebody interesting, and get him in the box with you as a co-commentator." The box was barely big enough for me and Quentin Spurring, Autosport's editor, who had agreed to keep my lap chart. But then I found wandering around the paddock, cold and wet and looking for shelter, the newly-crowned World Champion motorcyclist Barry Sheene, who'd come to Fuji to cheer on his mate James. Although Barry later became a brilliant commentator, presenter and TV personality, at that stage of his life he'd never - so he told me - held a microphone before. But I persuaded him to squeeze into our little box.

The race finally got under way at 3.05, 1 hour 35 minutes late. Barry was pretty laid back about his first-ever broadcast. Just as we were about to start the live output I heard in my headphones from London, "Tokyo, could we have some words for level, please" - so they could adjust things correctly their end. I switched on my mike and said the usual "One-two-three-four-five, Mary had a little lamb, I had cornflakes for breakfast." Then they asked for some level from Microphone Two. I told Barry to say something, so he switched on his mike and said, "It's pissin' wiv rain 'ere, and we've got about as much chance of a decent race as the Pope f***-ing a nun in front of the Vatican." There was a horrified silence in my headphones, and then the upper-class BBC voice in London spluttered back into speech by saying, "Er - watch it, Tokyo".

Well, we covered every single lap of the race live: the high drama of Lauda's early withdrawal, Hunt's stop with shredding tyres, and all the rest of it. The commentary went fine, and Barry behaved well and was entertaining and pithy. But in the conditions and with all the pitstops, a lot of people were very confused about the correct race order and who was on which lap. None of today's electronic timing screens, of course - just my lap-charter Quentin squished in between us in the tiny wobbly little box, trying to peer out at the track through the rain and the murk. But he stuck to his guns, and as the chequered flag came out for Mario Andretti his lap chart said James was third. I trusted him, and as James crossed the line I went into overdrive, telling the news as it happened to Great Britain and her colonies: "James Hunt is Champion of the World." As is well-known, James came into the pits after the race convinced he was fifth and had lost the title. But fortunately Quentin's lap chart was entirely right. Once I had confirmed the news, London said tersely in my headphones: "Wrap up, Tokyo, wrap up." The church service had already been delayed nearly half an hour.

As it happened, at Brands Hatch that day there was the Motor Show 200 meeting, for F5000 cars that year. I was told later that the whole of Brands Hatch - paddock, spectator enclosures, restaurants - was silent because everybody was huddled around trannies or sitting in their cars, doors open, listening to our radio commentary. And when I described James crossing the line as champion, a great cheer went up.

Back in England I went to see Dick Scales, who promptly signed me as BBC Radio's motor racing correspondent, to cover Formula 1 and Le Mans from the start of the 1977 season. It was a job I was privileged to do for the next 20 years. I'm just eternally grateful to Quentin for his lap charting skills - if his chart had been wrong, my broadcasting career would have been over almost before it had started....

Edited by Simon Taylor, 21 February 2012 - 09:33.

[nmansellfan]

Great story, Simon! Even the two girls in my office who have absolutely no interest in motor racing laughed at that one...

A baptism of fire then for your first radio broadcast, myself and a great many others are glad the BBC signed you up for '77 onwards!

Edited by nmansellfan, 20 February 2012 - 17:22.

[dweller23]

Fantastic stuff, thank you a lot for the whole story.

[ChrisJson]

+1

[roger.daltrey]

Wow what a great story Simon - tell me has Ron Howard been in touch to ask how the we (the British nation) prepared to hale a new world champion ?

Would make a great scene of contrasts wouldnt it - JH showered with champagne and adulation on the podium, and a small shed with three blokes huddled over a mic telling the story to a nation the other side of the planet.

Seems a world away - 3 TV channels, Morecambe & Wise, big drought, Bruce Forsyth........ well almost

If you've got any more like this, then please set up a thread - notwithstanding your existing journalistic commitments.

[La Sarthe]

Simon, have you ever thought about doing 'A Lunch with........ Simon Taylor'? Treat yourself to a nice meal and a bottle of wine and put down a selection of tales from your years in the business for the rest of us to enjoy.

I'm sure I'm not the only one here for whom the first thing we read in each month's Motor Sport is your feature (along with DCN's piece of course!). Keep up the good work.

[Simon Taylor]

Many thanks for the flattering suggestion, La Sarthe, but the list of exciting, interesting and entertaining motor racing people past and present whom I still want to have "Lunch With..." doesn't seem to be getting any shorter, I'm delighted to say. They've all got to come first.

It has been suggested by a couple of publishers that I ought to turn into book form all the anecdotes about the motor-racing people I have been lucky enough to watch, listen to and know over the past five decades. Perhaps I'll get round to it some day.....

[D.M.N.]

Fascinating thread and a fascinating read that from Simon. 16 years before my time 1976 was, but it sounds like from some of the posts in this thread that every weekend was an adventure in itself to find F1 coverage on TV or radio or even not at all.

[dweller23]

Question regarding Belgian GP 1966 - in "Grand Prix The Killer Years" documentary there was a part of original BBC broadcast of this race with Raymond Baxter's commentary. Was it live coverage, race highlights or rather taken from Wheelbase episode?

Also, does anyone have any idea when did BBCs Wheelbase stop using world feed material in F1 reviews and started using different ones? Surely it has to be somehow connected to the anti-advertising stuff from 1968?

[Vitesse2]

Question regarding Belgian GP 1966 - in "Grand Prix The Killer Years" documentary there was a part of original BBC broadcast of this race with Raymond Baxter's commentary. Was it live coverage, race highlights or rather taken from Wheelbase episode?

On the day, BBC1 showed two 20-minute segments at 3.20 and 5.15, either side of "The Fighting Seabees". No live radio.

Wheelbase the following Friday was subtitled "The World of Motor Racing". But again, only 20 minutes.

[dweller23]

Thanks a lot. It's a shame that BBC never showed this thing in their BBC F1 Classic programme, I'd love to see that race.

[Simon Taylor]

I've only just picked up on this thread, which includes (further above) several references to the championship-deciding 1976 Japanese Grand Prix at Mount Fuji. If I may be a little long-winded (for a change?), perhaps I should record my memories of how the BBC's coverage happened.

At the time I was publisher of Autosport, having been kicked upstairs after a hugely enjoyable stint as editor, so I was driving a desk instead of a typewriter and missing my former role of covering races. As a devotee since the cradle of the old BBC Light Programme's radio coverage of motor racing with Raymond Baxter, Robin Richards and my Autosport colleague John Bolster in the pits, I had diffidently approached the moguls at Broadcasting House to try to get them to consider me as someone who could supply radio reportage from Grands Prix. They refused politely, because they already had a deal going with Barrie Gill. Barrie, in his capacity organising sales promotion and PR for various motor-racing sponsors through his company CSS, was at the races anyway, and was able at low cost to the Beeb to provide all the radio they wanted, which was brief two-minute summaries of who had won each Grand Prix on the early Sunday evening sports roundup. As explained above, following on from the Durex Surtees debacle earlier the same year, BBC TV had an uncomfortable relationship with Formula 1 and covered very little.

Then, a few days before the Japanese Grand Prix, my phone rang at home one evening. It was Dick Scales, Editor of Sport at BBC Radio. He'd been expecting Barrie Gill, who'd already flown to Fuji, to be supplying some sort of coverage for him. But that very afternoon somebody in BBC TV had suddenly woken up to the fact that Britain might have a new World Champion that weekend, and had hastily got hold of Gill in Tokyo and told him he would have to voice some edited pictures which they would squeeze into the schedules on Sunday afternoon. Gill was delighted to be summoned by TV, which was a step up from radio, and so he called Scales and told him he couldn't supply the radio coverage. For some reason Scales thought of me, and told me to pack a bag, grab my passport, and get to Heathrow toot sweet.

I fetched up at Fuji on Friday morning, somewhat jet-lagged, and picked up the threads. I found my commentary booth, a tiny rickety temporary structure with one small black and white monitor, lots of unfamiliar switches and knobs, and a smiling Japanese technician who spoke no English. The race was due to start on Sunday at 1.30pm, 4.30am London time. At that hour, Radio 2 had no qualms about opening up their Sunday output early and allowing me to commentate on the entire race live. There were no other commitments until the normal Sunday output began with a Church service at 7.30am. They also decided to put it out over the World Service as well, so the audience would be considerable. On TV nothing would go out until edits on ITV at 1.10 pm (Andrew Marriott commentating, introduced by Dickie Davies) and the hastily organised edits on BBC1 at 3.55pm (Barrie Gill commentating).

But on Sunday, of course, the weather clamped down at Fuji: steady rain and thick fog. The Sunday morning warm-up happened on schedule, but then as the weather worsened nobody seemed able to take a decision whether to run the race. Back in London, as the minutes ticked away, my new masters were not happy about the lengthening delay. In any case the producer that morning had serious qualms about my inexperience, and whether I could keep talking on my own for the full two hours. So he sent a message: "Find some English-speaking bloke, a celeb or somebody interesting, and get him in the box with you as a co-commentator." The box was barely big enough for me and Quentin Spurring, Autosport's editor, who had agreed to keep my lap chart. But then I found wandering around the paddock, cold and wet and looking for shelter, the newly-crowned World Champion motorcyclist Barry Sheene, who'd come to Fuji to cheer on his mate James. Although Barry later became a brilliant commentator, presenter and TV personality, at that stage of his life he'd never - so he told me - held a microphone before. But I persuaded him to squeeze into our little box.

The race finally got under way at 3.05, 1 hour 35 minutes late. Barry was pretty laid back about his first-ever broadcast. Just as we were about to start the live output I heard in my headphones from London, "Tokyo, could we have some words for level, please" - so they could adjust things correctly their end. I switched on my mike and said the usual "One-two-three-four-five, Mary had a little lamb, I had cornflakes for breakfast." Then they asked for some level from Microphone Two. I told Barry to say something, so he switched on his mike and said, "It's pissin' wiv rain 'ere, and we've got about as much chance of a decent race as the Pope f***-ing a nun in front of the Vatican." There was a horrified silence in my headphones, and then the upper-class BBC voice in London spluttered back into speech by saying, "Er - watch it, Tokyo".

Well, we covered every single lap of the race live: the high drama of Lauda's early withdrawal, Hunt's stop with shredding tyres, and all the rest of it. The commentary went fine, and Barry behaved well and was entertaining and pithy. But in the conditions and with all the pitstops, a lot of people were very confused about the correct race order and who was on which lap. None of today's electronic timing screens, of course - just my lap-charter Quentin squished in between us in the tiny wobbly little box, trying to peer out at the track through the rain and the murk. But he stuck to his guns, and as the chequered flag came out for Mario Andretti his lap chart said James was third. I trusted him, and as James crossed the line I went into overdrive, telling the news as it happened to Great Britain and her colonies: "James Hunt is Champion of the World." As is well-known, James came into the pits after the race convinced he was fifth and had lost the title. But fortunately Quentin's lap chart was entirely right. Once I had confirmed the news, London said tersely in my headphones: "Wrap up, Tokyo, wrap up." The church service had already been delayed nearly half an hour.

As it happened, at Brands Hatch that day there was the Motor Show 200 meeting, for F5000 cars that year. I was told later that the whole of Brands Hatch - paddock, spectator enclosures, restaurants - was silent because everybody was huddled around trannies or sitting in their cars, doors open, listening to our radio commentary. And when I described James crossing the line as champion, a great cheer went up.

Back in England I went to see Dick Scales, who promptly signed me as BBC Radio's motor racing correspondent, to cover Formula 1 and Le Mans from the start of the 1977 season. It was a job I was privileged to do for the next 20 years. I'm just eternally grateful to Quentin for his lap charting skills - if his chart had been wrong, my broadcasting career would have been over almost before it had started....

In amplification of the above, Quentin Spurring has just asked me to post the following:

There was no need for Simon to remind me of the trauma of that cramped afternoon at Fuji International Speedway. It lives with me always, thanks not only to one of the most extraordinary Grands Prix I have ever witnessed, but also to Barry Sheene. Simon has been complimentary about my lap chart, but the truth is more entertaining because, contrary to his assertion, Barry did not behave himself during the broadcast.

It is not easy to convey just how small that commentary box was. It was compact for a solitary Japanese person, and there were three of us inside. Being cast as the lap charter, I was seated at the tin desk, on the only tin chair. Barry squeezed between me and the tin rear wall. There was just enough room for Simon to stand between the edge of the desk and the side wall.

The three of us were in this miniature sauna for a long time while the drivers and the teams and the officials dithered about whether to start of the race. As he says, Simon spent this time trying to explain the situation to the BBC back in London, placating them so that they would stay on air. Barry decided to fill the hiatus by acquainting me with his lifelong admiration for people who could keep accurate lap charts. He just couldn’t understand how I could keep track of everyone, he said. I must have incredible powers of concentration, he said. It showed such fantastic dedication, he said, it was very clever, must have taken years of practice. “Aw, shucks,” was the gist of what I was saying, but he wouldn’t stop, and I was still saying it when the race started.

The cars disappeared from sight, reappeared briefly over the top of the pits, and came back into full view as they exited the right-hander at the start of the long pits straight. I leaned forward to identify the leaders – and, from behind, Barry clamped both his hands firmly over my eyes.

I struggled like hell, but we were all so cramped together, I couldn’t get the leverage to break free. Barry held on, and he only let go when the last car had passed the pits opposite us.

I hadn’t seen anything whatsoever. In desperation, I looked across at the circuit’s electronic timing tower. It had broken down.

I informed Barry that, if he did that again, I could just about raise my fist high enough to make steamy nights with ‘Steph’ a distant memory. He was still laughing, but I charted the second lap unmolested. Niki Lauda retired his Ferrari in pit-lane as he completed it but, as far as the lap chart was concerned, he had never started the race. It was sheer luck that Simon saw him do it. Similarly, John Watson had never had the Penske in second place on lap one, because he had been in the escape road on lap two, and my lap chart had him ninth.

Much of the rest of the Grand Prix, from a lap charter’s perspective, was a nightmare of place changes and pitstops, obscured by the spray that was thrown into the air by the cars, and/or by the windows of the commentary box misting up. At one point, one of my companions created an odour that would have cleared a ballroom, let alone a tin can. All the while, there was that nagging worry that my chart had been irredeemably compromised because I had missed the first lap. For an hour and 40 minutes, I felt I was saving the chart, not ‘keeping’ it…

One reason for this was that, at mid-race, the timing tower flickered into life, showing a race order that was completely different from mine. This threw me into a panic. It was a kind of relief when I saw that Alan Henry, who was lap charting for Barrie Gill in the adjacent booth, was panicking, too. I don’t know if Alan’s chart was the same as mine, but clearly his race order also differed from the one being shown on the tower.

Alan and I tried to communicate with each other through the glass partition, but we couldn’t shout without impinging on the live commentaries. Using sign language, we agreed that we needed to correct our charts to match the official timing.

Then the timing tower went blank again. We decided we must have been right all along.

Or had we?

It took a while to restore my chart to what it had been before, while also keeping track of what was happening now. When, somehow, it all worked out in the end, more luck than judgement had been involved.

I have kept a secret about this ever since 1976: somehow, on one lap, I must have completely missed Mario Andretti’s Lotus. I saw Mario win the Japanese Grand Prix by a few yards from Patrick Depailler’s six-wheel Tyrrell, with James Hunt’s McLaren in third place. So that was also what Simon’s listeners heard on BBC Radio 2. It must have been exciting for them. It was an hour after the finish before I noticed that Mario had won by a few yards – er, plus a whole lap…

[Gary C]

Simon, thank Quentin for supplying that anecdote, just brilliant!

[Option1]

Wonderful anecdotes Simon and Quentin!

Neil

[cpbell]

I wonder how the Crofts of this world would manage with that sort of chaos nowadays?

[dweller23]

I've been thinking about 1980s and BBC coverage and I must ask about it - while I know that live coverage of European races started in Belgium 1981 (and I'm talking about 1980s and leaving Monaco and Great Britain 1980 from it), I have a question about 1986 French GP. Was it at all showed on BBC? I know there were finals of Wimbledon, so I assume that there was no live coverage.

Also, was San Marino 1982 covered live? I'm fairly sure that Walker and Hunt were at Imola, doing live commentary, but I have no idea whether it was for BBC or Channel 9 or any other TV station.

[Vitesse2]

I've been thinking about 1980s and BBC coverage and I must ask about it - while I know that live coverage of European races started in Belgium 1981 (and I'm talking about 1980s and leaving Monaco and Great Britain 1980 from it), I have a question about 1986 French GP. Was it at all showed on BBC? I know there were finals of Wimbledon, so I assume that there was no live coverage.

Also, was San Marino 1982 covered live? I'm fairly sure that Walker and Hunt were at Imola, doing live commentary, but I have no idea whether it was for BBC or Channel 9 or any other TV station.

Can't help on 1986 - the library I use for post-1985 access to The Times seems to have dropped it: possibly because it wasn't working properly since they upgraded.

1982 San Marino wasn't shown live in Britain: 40 minute highlights at 9.05pm on BBC2.

[Thundersports]

I've been thinking about 1980s and BBC coverage and I must ask about it - while I know that live coverage of European races started in Belgium 1981 (and I'm talking about 1980s and leaving Monaco and Great Britain 1980 from it), I have a question about 1986 French GP. Was it at all showed on BBC? I know there were finals of Wimbledon, so I assume that there was no live coverage.

Also, was San Marino 1982 covered live? I'm fairly sure that Walker and Hunt were at Imola, doing live commentary, but I have no idea whether it was for BBC or Channel 9 or any other TV station.

The mid 80s races were shown live France for example springs to mind they showed the start then after 5 laps went to the Tennis and then back mid race for 10 laps then the end of the race........Very frustrating as I had to sit through Tennis to find out what was going on! That was 1985 if others remember Piquet lead on Pirelli tyres.

[morningview66]

Not sure if this is the best place for this post, but i think its about time i weigh in my two pence

I have been very interesting in the broadcasting history of formula one, largely to find out what has been shown and to see if anything has survived and available today.

I have had a look at Austrian, Italian and French newspaper archives from 1970-1975 an their is some interesting stuff on broadcasts, but i need to look again through this and organise my lists. However this set me on to thinking that i should probably start in my own country. I found out that the University of Sussex has a archive of Radio Times magazines from 1955 onwards. I have made a couple of visits and below follow the broadcast times i have discovered so far. (of course this is only what was planned to be shown, it may not have happened or the may have been more broadcast).

1955
No F1 on BBC

1956
British GP - 110mins (1h50m)
12.15-13.00
14.15-14.40
14.50-3.30

1957
British GP - 212mins (3h32m)
12.10-15.00 (slightly sceptical about this as it might just be 10 or 15 mins from 12.10 then a gap in broadcasting till the next BBC TV programme at 15.00)
15.45-16.00
17.30-17.57(approx)

1958
French GP (10mins approx)
Report in Sportsview program

British GP (95mins)
1.45-2.30
3.30-3.45
3.55-4.30

Italian GP (10 mins approx)
Report in Sportsview program

Moroccan GP (15 mins)
10.15-10.30 special Sportsview report

1959
Monaco GP (55mins)
2.35-3.00
5.15-5.45

French GP (55mins)
1.50-2.10
3.10-3.30
3.50-4.05

British GP (80mins)
2.15-2.45
3.30-3.50
4.05-4.30
4.35-4.55

Portugese GP (10mins approx)
Report in Sportsview

Italian GP (35mins + 10mins approx)
4.40-5.15
Report in Sportsview

1960
Monaco GP (60mins approx)
2.30-3.15
5.35-6.10 (with football)

Dutch GP (15mins)
4.35-3.50

Portugese GP (10mins approx)
Report in Sportsview

I can continue to post when i find out more if people are interested.

[PeterElleray]

yes - very interested

peter

[AAGR]

Looking back, I'm still in awe of what Simon Taylor achieved 'on air' in Japan and in later years.

However, he undersells himself, for he hasn't mentioned the difficulties of keeping talking when producers are constantly sending messages or instructions, or warnings of impending commercial breaks, into your ear-phones at the same time.

Maybe I haven't done the job up at that level, but even for me, on International rallies, at Goodwood, with Big-Wigs to pacify, etc, etc, it can still get/feel very busy in the commentary booth at times ....

So, once again, many many congratulations to Simon

AAGR

[racer69]

Also, was San Marino 1982 covered live? I'm fairly sure that Walker and Hunt were at Imola, doing live commentary, but I have no idea whether it was for BBC or Channel 9 or any other TV station.

Channel 9 showed the race 'live' (well, perhaps on a slight delay, but in full minus a few ad breaks anyway) with Murray & James

[Allan Lupton]

Also, was San Marino 1982 covered live? I'm fairly sure that Walker and Hunt were at Imola, doing live commentary, but I have no idea whether it was for BBC or Channel 9 or any other TV station.

It's on a BBC site so it must have been their film. Doesn't prove it was "live" of course.

[Vitesse2]

It's on a BBC site so it must have been their film. Doesn't prove it was "live" of course.

See post 73

[man]

Channel 9 showed the race 'live' (well, perhaps on a slight delay, but in full minus a few ad breaks anyway) with Murray & James

Do you have a C9 "live" copy of this race or is your information based on memory/TV listings?

[morningview66]

I have not been able to get back to the Radio Times Archives yet but i have been searching accessible newspaper archives on the inter. The following is from two Swiss newspapers so may not be entirely accurate. There alo appeared to be a sports show called sports et fetes/sports ete that showed un-listed sports programmes much like the BBC's grandstand so there could be more F1 broadcast through there. But these are the listed ones in the papers.

1970
Spain Highlights France2 45mins
18.25-19.10

Monaco Highlights France2 45mins
18.25-19.10

France Segments France1 35mins
14.50-15.00
16.50-17.15

Italy Segments France1 50mins
15.15-15.45
17.40-18.00

1971
Monaco Live France2 70 mins
16.00-17.10
Monaco Highlights France2 45mins
18.15-19.00

France Highlights France2 45mins
18.15-19.00

Italy Live France1 115mins
14.20-16.15

1972
Britain Live France1 115mins
14.25-16.20

Austria Segments France1 75mins
14.55-15.30
16.30-17.10

Italy Segments France1 155mins
14.25-14.45
15.15-17.30

1973
Monaco Highlights France3 60mins
20.30-21.20

Britain Live France1 10mins
16.00-16.10

Austria Segments France1 170mins (alternating with swimming)
14.25-17.15

1974
France Segments France2 70mins
11.50-12.30
13.30-14.00

Austria Live France1 265mins
14.30-17.15

1975
Spain Highlights France1 27mins
19.33-20.00

Monaco Segments France1 70mins
15.15-15.50
16.40-17.15
Monaco Segments France2 80mins
16.10-16.30
17.00-17.30

France Segments France1 85mins
14.15-15.00
15.50-16.30

Britain Highlights France1 30mins
18.50-19.20
Britain Highlights France2 42mins
17.30-18.12

Germany Highlights France1 27mins
19.33-20.00

Italy Segments France1 75mins
14.15-14.45
15.30-16.15

[dweller23]

Thanks a lot for this information.

[Bruno]

My GP


http://brunodaytona6...8/25688924.html

[Welling]

Race 1 (Argentina) of 1978 was shown on the Wednesday night on Sports Night introduced by Harry Carpenter.