6 replies to this topic

[Doug Nye]

(DAMMIT - heading should read 'Car-cam', of course)

Help? My memory won't work. I recall Paul Frere driving a TV-packed camera car in (I think) a late 1970s or early 1980s 1,000Kms race at Nurburgring. I recall Australia's Channel 9 (????) developing modern helicopter-linked car-cam technology in an '80s (?) Bathurst 1,000, and I clearly recall Renault fielding a third F1 entry as a camera-car for Hesnault to drive in the German GP. I know the German GP was 1985, but I cannot fix the date or details for Bathurst and the far-reaching Aussie innovation. Anybody????

DCN

[Ray Bell]

Sorry, Doug, I don't have my magazines here...

But Peter Williamson's Toyota Celica had the in-car camera using the technology pioneered by Channel 7 (Sydney) in about 1978.

There was a small white dome that contained the antenna in the back window of the car. That linked to the helicopter hovering overhead... and I'm fairly sure it was used at Amaroo Park before being put to the real test at Bathurst. It was only a year or so before they added in-car commentary from Williamson.

He was right behind this, being a Toyota dealer of some scale and taking advantage of every opportunity to get more publicity.

The name given the camera setup was 'racecam' or 'race-cam'... it moved on to Daytona before long, with Channel 7 people setting it up on the super speedway there, again this was about a year after the innovation was first seen.

[david_martin]

I am almost certain that first broadcast from Williamson's very competitive Celica using the Helicopter relay system developed by Geoff Healy and John Porter from the OB department at Channel 7 in Sydney was the 1979 race.

[Gary Davies]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
It was only a year or so before they added in-car commentary from Williamson.

I was minutes away from a similar post, albeit with less detail than Ray. I can only add the comment "And couldn't he talk!!!"

[Ray Bell]

Thanks, David... and I'm sorry to have cut you off in your prime Vanwall! Yeah, you're right, but the fact is that it enthralled the viewers.

I think anyone wanting a definitive answer to the original question, by the way, should be checking the tape of the August Amaroo Park before they announce their conclusions.

I know I went up in the helicopter (it was a Channel 10 'copter on hire to Seven, actually) one year when they were trying a similar scheme to bring the action in the pit lane closer to the viewers. A guy with a backpack had that white plastic dome just above his shoulder and we flew around checking the reception for about half an hour. That was definitely later, though, I'd say either 1982 or 1983.

Later tests with the 'racecam' system led to it being used in open cars. Graeme McClintock's Clubman was the first open car to carry the camera, again at Amaroo.

The Seven people seemed keen to avoid putting their little camera out in the open and exposing it to danger, but that era has well passed. They've been mounting them in front spoilers and all over the cars now for years.

One of the big advances was when they started moving the cameras about within the cars. This was certainly happening by 1982, as I recall the camera in Brock's car being turned sideways to look at Allan Grice (in turn looking at the camera for a second or two) as they headed down Conrod Straight dicing for the lead at 160mph.

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
(DAMMIT - heading should read 'Car-cam', of course)

Help? My memory won't work. I recall Paul Frere driving a TV-packed camera car in (I think) a late 1970s or early 1980s 1,000Kms race at Nurburgring. I recall Australia's Channel 9 (????) developing modern helicopter-linked car-cam technology in an '80s (?) Bathurst 1,000, and I clearly recall Renault fielding a third F1 entry as a camera-car for Hesnault to drive in the German GP. I know the German GP was 1985, but I cannot fix the date or details for Bathurst and the far-reaching Aussie innovation. Anybody????

DCN

Sigh - I remember the 80s Bathursts being picked up by the BBC - until someone noticed that there were too many 'baccy ads on, in and around the cars. Hence no more Bathurst on the Beeb until it was a sanitised "Super" Touring car race.

pete

[Darren Galpin]

I remember one year as a child watching the ad's for Bathurst with Ford RS500s banging off walls, and sitting avidly in front of the TV all afternoon waiting for the race. Put up with all of the horse racing and everything else I disliked, only for a small note towards the end of the program saying that it now wouldn't be shown for advertising reasons. I remember being incredibly pissed off at the time!