North American Sportscar Media Thread

[MaskedRacer]

I found out something that IMSA can improve in. Their opening intro music. Its not that great. The WEC and Blancpain GT opening jingles are incredible! Stuck in my head always. Step it up IMSA.

[Akrapovic]

IMSA live stream needs to sync video and audio better. Quite often an incident happens and then 3 seconds later the commentators shout about it. It's strange to watch.

Video quality and stability has improved 100 fold over the last few years though. Big step up.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

S365 is criticised for partaking in click-bait. However, I think it's worth mentioning that the writing quality (of the site) and audio production quality (of the podcast) far outstrips all of their competitors at the moment. The tone of the podcast is also very different from a lot of the others. There is a lot less entitlement.

I also enjoy the lack of obvious hate-references to elsewhere, and that the tone is usually objective

Also in recent ELMS race report there was only mention of "Oreca-badged Aurus", and even that just once, while in DSC they repeated the fake branding title constantly without even mentioning Oreca. "Aurus dominates at Barcelona" just sounds sickening

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Chiana

I also enjoy the lack of obvious hate-references to elsewhere, and that the tone is usually objective.

A thousand times this.

The opinion is fine (especially from those more well-versed than I will ever be), welcome most of the time, and usually based on some sound reasoning. But couching attacks under the "soapbox" umbrella is getting old and tired fast.

[Akrapovic]

I'm going to post something I've been thinking about for a while, but I haven't managed to work out the best way to word it. So it might come across a bit harsher than intended, rambly and a lot of nonsense (like most of my posts!). And this is purely my opinion.

Aside from the constant hate-references, the other thing that's bugging me with the coverage is we appear to have lost sight of what the purpose of journalism, media and reporting actually is. We're all motorsport fans, and the reason we watch motorsport is to enjoy the cars, the tracks, the drivers, the teams, the series, and the events. The whole purpose of motorsport journalism is to report the goings-on in the motorsport world. We cannot all be there, so we need an intermediate to go to the events and bring us the news. This may be purely my opinion, but the journalists aren't part of the show. They're the vessel to bring information about the show.

Somewhere along the line, motorsport journalism believes it has become part of the show, and half the time we're now reading and listening to the goings-on between journalists. It is talked about as if they're part of the event the same way a driver is team manager is part of the event. There is a feeling of self-importance coming through. Constant strange references about the media teams and individuals, as if I'm to follow them like I do a driver or team. Even weird inside jokes, that the teams and drivers aren't really in on because they aren't watching the races (they're busy competing in it), which leads to awkward interviews - Ford drivers and pink fluffy slippers and the constant confusion from the person being interviewed is an example of it.

There are some obvious exceptions to this - JH being the "voice" of Le Mans due to the continued service of RLM during the big event. Also, Nick Daman making Creventic grid walks far more interesting than they have any right to be. So maybe my thoughts don't make complete sense.

But I think in general, I personally (and this is purely my opinion), am a bit bored of hearing about the media involvement. I don't care about personal feuds. I don't care about weird inside jokes. I don't care about the insider points-scoring game. I want to hear about the racing world. The media are not part of the racing world. I do not care about them.

And you know, as much as S365 needs to cut out the damn clickbait, it does do a lot of things right. Dagys doesn't get enough credit for the positives. And not a single broke L SEP U+2028 Line Separator to be seen.

[broadrun96]

I think the difference is the reporting should be clear, we all know Robin Miller wears his opinions on his sleeve and always puts his spin on things. But it's obvious and he, most of the time, admits that. Some reporters, and sadly becoming more common in all media, put their opinion in the writing without making it obvious. And of course they're always fighting for our clicks and traffic so the teasing headline with a half truth becomes more common. Then when nothing is actually in the article everyone rails and hates. Frankly part of your job as the consumer is to read, parse and make a decision yourself, think we have lost sight of that. Don't take what to read as gospel, they may know things they can't say or lose their source but hinting leaves a lot of room for "debate" in forums and social media. Sadly, that becomes a pattern of anger when groups form up behind their chosen author.

Should read all, similar to all types of media, content you can to develop your own opinion and importantly not pretend your idea should be everything. Honestly forgetting that, and numerous posters on here also forgetting, has taken much of the joy of racing away. Thankfully most of my racing enjoyment can be refreshed hitting Road Atlanta 45 min up the road 5 or more times a year and the couple big events camping trackside for 4-5 days with bourbon, fire, too many cigars and the smell of racing fuel does wonders. And honestly many times I haven't cared what's under the skin of the car, it's going fast, making noise and there's enough to have a race. I'll never get to drive that fast or on that track but I'll celebrate those talented, lucky or rich enough to share it with us.

[seanyb505]

A few thoughts on the previous two, well written and well intentioned posts:

In the case of IMSA I see what you're saying about media being part of the show, and the actual show crowd not really seeing that. The first thought I had was after the merger, fans weren't really fans of the initial commentary team, instead preferring what we have now. Fans wanted the current team as a component to the show. Inside jokes that don't land with drivers always makes me lol, like a real-life "The Office" moment.

Second, it sounds like you've had the joy of talking about racing on an internet forum taken away, not the joy of racing.

And yes, reading from a wide range of sources should be required as your form your own opinion. I find most of the bigger story lines will show up here in discussion. I don't have time for many other disciplines outside sportscars and F1, so that pretty much eliminates sites that cover umpteen series. I'm too lazy to try to sort through 15 articles to find the 3 on sportscars when that exact info will show up here anyway.

I stop clicking after too many clickbait headlines. We shouldn't reward those articles with clicks. If the story turns true, I'll hear about it eventually. First person to break a news story carries a lot of weight, first to read about it doesn't really mean as much. I'll be okay if I first see the Ford/Hyundai/Lamborghini/Subaru/McLaren/Porsche/whatever DPi on an entry list instead of a "we sell cars and racecars = we're building a DPi" article.

[Akrapovic]

I think in my case I still have the joy of the forum, but not social media. Facebook is absolutely uninhabitable now. My Twitter account, I literally deleted and recreated to do a full clear out, and now I have no motorsport on it. I found Facebook particularly toxic when I started reading the popular motorsport groups on it.

I do think a good commentary team is crucial to the series doing well online. IMSA Radio vastly improved the online coverage of IMSA. It was almost unwatchable without them. But...there's that line of - love the commentary team, but my interest isn't in them. It's in the sport itself. They aren't the sport I'm interested in. But maybe that's just me and I'm being very moany and unreasonable about it.

The Office analogy you made is absolutely spot on. That's exactly what it is, lol.

We may have concentrated on IMSA there, but I feel like ELMS and sometimes WEC falls into that. Less so with Blancpain, as SRO does its own productions. Blancpain does have its own issues with Watson losing his mind, but that's a different topic.

It's funny how priorities change. Sean has stopped clicking on clickbait websites, and some of that occurs naturally. You don't make an active effort, it just occurs less. I've actually gone the other way, and now I end up on S365 more than I used to because I want a website that displays quickly, sentences that are structured properly and headlines and text which display without errors. I value the technical and presentation side of things, and S365 does that very very well.

[seanyb505]

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I think in my case I still have the joy of the forum, but not social media. Facebook is absolutely uninhabitable now. My Twitter account, I literally deleted and recreated to do a full clear out, and now I have no motorsport on it. I found Facebook particularly toxic when I started reading the popular motorsport groups on it.

I do think a good commentary team is crucial to the series doing well online. IMSA Radio vastly improved the online coverage of IMSA. It was almost unwatchable without them. But...there's that line of - love the commentary team, but my interest isn't in them. It's in the sport itself. They aren't the sport I'm interested in. But maybe that's just me and I'm being very moany and unreasonable about it.

The Office analogy you made is absolutely spot on. That's exactly what it is, lol.

We may have concentrated on IMSA there, but I feel like ELMS and sometimes WEC falls into that. Less so with Blancpain, as SRO does its own productions. Blancpain does have its own issues with Watson losing his mind, but that's a different topic.

It's funny how priorities change. Sean has stopped clicking on clickbait websites, and some of that occurs naturally. You don't make an active effort, it just occurs less. I've actually gone the other way, and now I end up on S365 more than I used to because I want a website that displays quickly, sentences that are structured properly and headlines and text which display without errors. I value the technical and presentation side of things, and S365 does that very very well.

Thoughts from this comment:

1. Yes Facebook and Twitter are garbage.
2. Commentary is important if that is all you get in your racing videos. I would love for IMSA to post race replays with no commentary even a couple weeks after the race. Could be cool feature for a paid service one day.
3. IMSA Radio crew still is great to have. Recall the joke that was MRN covering TUSK in 2014. But recall the joke that was the commentary at the 10 hours of suzuka in 2018? A gift we got was that most of the race was engines only! May not get that this year.
4. John Watson is god, don't diss him.
5. The 'clickbait' depends on what interests you I guess. If there is something about a future GT effort or the status of a GT team. I"ll click it. I do pass on all of the DPI rumors. Those have become silly. The only thing I care about with Ford is if we can get a GT on the Weathertech series grid in 2020.
6. Recall we had none of this at the start of the 2010s. I had never heard of the Nubrugring 24 and Bathurst 12 until this decade.

[Akrapovic]

John Watson is great, but look passed your admiration for him and he's beginning to lose his touch. He's making a lot of very silly mistakes recently - mistakes he never used to make. He's had some insane rants which make him sound like the old guy in the nursing home, shouting at clouds (Insert Simpsons gif here), and his co-commentator often just humours him now. It's awkward and weird.

Clickbait has nothing to do with interests. Clickbait is very simply defined - is the story actually a story? Or is it taking something out of context? Does the headline match the content? If it doesn't, it's clickbait, regardless of interest.

[NaBUru38]

Meanwhile on television, IMSA at Lime Rock got an average 213 k viewers on NBCSN last Saturday.

[Maelochs]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Meanwhile on television, IMSA at Lime Rock got an average 213 k viewers on NBCSN last Saturday.

How many of them tuned in to watch IndyCar?

I am glad I have options to watch the races, I hate BoP racing, but i find ways to enjoy what is offered ... or I do something else.

I like bicycle racing as well. Watch a few bike races .... two guys talking for three to five hours during events with between five and 25 minutes of action. Makes auto-racing commentators look lame.

[MaskedRacer]

I think we need to give David Land and his youtube channel some love and attention. He has stepped up big time in the past year to become a serious major racing correspondant. He says he particuarly will increase coverage of IMSA. And will attend and report on all of the NAEC races at the very least. More events possible.

[PointDSM]

Originally Posted by MaskedRacer

I think we need to give David Land and his youtube channel some love and attention. He has stepped up big time in the past year to become a serious major racing correspondant. He says he particuarly will increase coverage of IMSA. And will attend and report on all of the NAEC races at the very least. More events possible.

While I do watch him to get a condensed VLOG of Indycar/IMSA/NASCAR information, all he really is, is a repeater of other journalist's information. His love-affair with Alonso is also an annoyance in my mind (something other sources don't necessarily have, think Sportscar365 and Level 5 initially (for good reason).

Once he goes out an becomes a true journalist, then his credibility will also rise in that arena.

[CyberMotor]

I venture into this discussion cautiously as one who gave my best efforts to cover sports car racing whenever I could. I look at Sportscar 365 and Dagys as examples of what I wanted to become but never did. Still over the years, we did make some positive contributions I believe.

You folks are a tough crowd and some of your criticisms are accurate while I question some of them. Covering races is damn hard, exhausting and has its level of danger. I respect the photographers, writers and web developers as I know from experience how difficult their job is.

Recently, we purchased a slide scanner and I have started dipping into the thousands of slides that I shot over the years but never made it to a website. Here is one memorable shot (for me). The photo is a bit grainy but I remember that shot! Andrea Montermini was on the pole and was flying in the special 1997 race at Sebring. I shot this photo and a couple more and then went back to the pits as it was actually too close to the action. He was probably going 140-150 mph.

I was later in the MOMO pit when Montermini came flying around 17 a few minutes later and did a 720 on the front straight. I was standing next to Kevin Doran as he yelled, "Get on the radio and tell that _________ to slow the _______ down!"

I can't wait to find more memories like that one in all the photos but they won't be going to a website. In the early days, I felt appreciation for the efforts and then the comments became hostile and not very encouraging to continue.

[TF110]

I have skipped most of the podcast stuff. I don't want to be talked at or have guesses or opinions of someone told to me. When they are podcasts of interviews with teams or people in the teams, I'll listen. But the rumors and all that have been a letdown. I don't expect anything but when there's all this stuff about new dpi's or McLaren in hypercar I lose interest in listening to you when your "sure-thing" falls through. I'll stick with reading the sites and see if anything comes from the rumor-mill.

[S griffin]

Some podcast stuff is good. It’s usually good to listen. There’s plenty of good interviews out there anyway. Podcasts usually give another angle to it and it’s for those who want to have that bit extra. But I understand it’s not for everyone

[MaskedRacer]

Cool that the Daytona 24 start is on NBC. I currently live in a place that is out of range even for those digital antennas. Will probably get by on a combination of imsa radio, live on boards, and live timing.

However if someone finds some sort of live link to the NBC broadcast as we get to Saturday. Would be nice to share it.

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Some podcast stuff is good. It’s usually good to listen. There’s plenty of good interviews out there anyway. Podcasts usually give another angle to it and it’s for those who want to have that bit extra. But I understand it’s not for everyone

I guess it depends on how much content you thirst for. Big fan of the S365 podcast (rank as #1) and the MP/GG/SK (rank as #2) ones myself. Midweek motorsport (#3) too but don't listen to that one as often as you have to work to skip through the F1 and motorcycle content which I don't care about. Also of course David Land on youtube deserves views (rank as #4)

[seanyb505]

Originally Posted by MaskedRacer

Cool that the Daytona 24 start is on NBC. I currently live in a place that is out of range even for those digital antennas. Will probably get by on a combination of imsa radio, live on boards, and live timing.

However if someone finds some sort of live link to the NBC broadcast as we get to Saturday. Would be nice to share it.

NBC track pass. $3 a month. No one is forcing you to watch another season of IMSA limited to gtlm onboards. I can't see a legitimate reason for anyone to wait for a link to be posted because it costs $3 less. Maybe I'm missing something?

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by seanyb505

NBC track pass. $3 a month. No one is forcing you to watch another season of IMSA limited to gtlm onboards. I can't see a legitimate reason for anyone to wait for a link to be posted because it costs $3 less. Maybe I'm missing something?

Well I did not know about it until just now. I am interested. Do you know what the details are? Does it show the races live? Does it show practice sessions? Perhaps advanced live timing? Etc?

[seanyb505]

Sorry, I thought it was recently discussed here and across the news sites.

https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/trackpass - I'm pretty sure this doesn't require a cable subscription to create an account.

No practice sessions as I don't think those were ever broadcast in any form. Races should be live. Prototype and Pilot Challenge races are moving from imsa.tv to this for North American viewers. It also looks like the main event races will be shown here as well unless I'm mistaken. It'll use NBC comms, not sure about NBC commercials/info trinkets.

International feeds are unchanged across the board for all series - all watchable on imsa.tv with radio le mans commentary.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by seanyb505

Sorry, I thought it was recently discussed here and across the news sites.

https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/trackpass - I'm pretty sure this doesn't require a cable subscription to create an account.

No practice sessions as I don't think those were ever broadcast in any form. Races should be live. Prototype and Pilot Challenge races are moving from imsa.tv to this for North American viewers. It also looks like the main event races will be shown here as well unless I'm mistaken. It'll use NBC comms, not sure about NBC commercials/info trinkets.

International feeds are unchanged across the board for all series - all watchable on imsa.tv with radio le mans commentary.

So Gold is now split up by sports (I discovered this yesterday trying to access an English Football game on for my son who is home with the flu). I'm starting to feel like I need to take a second mortgage out on my home just to pay for sports these days. 30 bucks a year for EPL, 60 bucks a year for golf, 40 for motor racing and don't forget, 70 for figure skating (i know that's your goto seanyb but....

In all seriousness, the next 3 to 5 years are going to be rough while all the big boys (networks) fight to save their investments with Netflix, Amazon and others. We're about to start paying through the nose (if not already) to have much less. I feel like those that chose to hold onto actual cable may have been right all along!

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by CyberMotor

I venture into this discussion cautiously as one who gave my best efforts to cover sports car racing whenever I could. I look at Sportscar 365 and Dagys as examples of what I wanted to become but never did. Still over the years, we did make some positive contributions I believe.

You folks are a tough crowd and some of your criticisms are accurate while I question some of them. Covering races is damn hard, exhausting and has its level of danger. I respect the photographers, writers and web developers as I know from experience how difficult their job is.

Recently, we purchased a slide scanner and I have started dipping into the thousands of slides that I shot over the years but never made it to a website. Here is one memorable shot (for me). The photo is a bit grainy but I remember that shot! Andrea Montermini was on the pole and was flying in the special 1997 race at Sebring. I shot this photo and a couple more and then went back to the pits as it was actually too close to the action. He was probably going 140-150 mph.

I was later in the MOMO pit when Montermini came flying around 17 a few minutes later and did a 720 on the front straight. I was standing next to Kevin Doran as he yelled, "Get on the radio and tell that _________ to slow the _______ down!"

I can't wait to find more memories like that one in all the photos but they won't be going to a website. In the early days, I felt appreciation for the efforts and then the comments became hostile and not very encouraging to continue.

Really appreciate you posting this (awesome pic, too).

The older I get, the more I realize that there's some people that'll never be pleased (I could go deep as to why), but certainly, we all make mistakes, missteps and wrong choices. Some do it much more publicly than others and certainly take the heat from anonymous jerks

But I do thank you for the comments about the realness in attempting to make a living doing this.