Autocar UK – 31 July 2019

BTCC ON ITV MOTORSPORT

3 1 JULY 2019 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 53

and for being affable and direct –

except when it’s necessary not to be

a f f a ble. B e h i nd t he t e nt i s t he mor e

exclusive and mysterious TOCA

bus, to which errant drivers are

summoned after ‘infringements’.

Gow and a panel of experts use it to

dispense brisk justice.

“Steve’s already here,” Gow tells

me over a quick cup of tea. “He

always arrives early. Probably in

the truck.” The truck is shorthand

for the £2 million outside broadcast

units on site, stuffed with screens,

control panels and preoccupied

people, and united by cables as

thick as the hawsers that hold

the Ark Royal to a dockside.

Today, there will be a remarkable

six and three-quarter hours of live or

as-live TV on ITV4 – precisely timed

to run between 11.13am and 5.59pm

provided there are no crash delays.

These happen often enough for Rider

a nd c r e w t o b e w e l l u s e d t o m a k i n g

changes on the hoof, even though

they start out with a painstakingly

written 38-page script with breaks

scheduled to the second.

ITV has about 15 people on site.

Everyone except Rider and his

immediate crew will stay in the

trucks and orchestrate coverage

of the day’s three BTCC races but

also the supporting Ginetta Juniors,

F4 single-seaters and Mini Se7ens

whose TV timings get shifted

I

about to cover pauses for accident

clear-ups.

We run Rider to earth in a

seasoned Mercedes Sprinter

pr o duc t ion u n it pa rk e d ju s t b e h i nd

the control tower, adjacent to

the starting grid. He uses it for

preparing, interviewing people,

writing bits of script that might

be needed, talking back and forth

to colleagues in the bigger trucks,

grabbing lunch or a coffee and

generally holding himself ready for

a ny t h i n g. To d ay, he w i l l mo s t l y d i v e

back and forth between track and

van, with occasional transmissions

from a rickety race commentator’s

gantry above the van.

Rider turns out to be a thoroughly

n ic e g u y, f r ie nd l y i n t he w ay of a

person who meets far more people in

a week than he could ever remember.

He greets us with the famous smile

and then, in that egalitarian TV

way, introduces everyone else – the

director, the cameraman, the sound

man and the guy who always walks

backwards with a video screen

strapped to his chest so Rider and

the director, David Francis, can see

exactly what’s being transmitted.

The small team has been briefed

about our presence and is cool. I’m

keen to get Rider talking about the

slings and arrows of the job – he has

a huge reputation for being nerveless

in really difficult situations – but

he ’s not a m a n t o s pi n y a r n s. We c h at

about cars, the weather and Formula

1 (he was anchor to commentating

le ge nd Mu r r ay Wa l k e r), but h a rd l y

a syllable passes about the rigours

of commentary. “I guess you see

most things, over the years,” he says

mildly. “You learn to survive them.”

Good commentators, Rider believes,

a r e n’t pa r t of t he s t or y.

He’s a bit preoccupied just now,

anyway, because today’s 406-minute

magnum opus is getting close. There

are intro pieces and links to prepare

before transmission starts at 11.13am

and it’s already 10.30am. Rider also

has a couple of friends along for

the day and they deserve a walk

through the grid.

Five people are involved in

presenting today’s TV show, all busy.

I suddenly perceive the need for a

variety of faces and voices to ◊

t’s mild and

overcast at

Thruxton circuit

near Andover,

Hampshire. The

Met Office says afternoon rain

is a 25% possibility. The usual

dedicated crowd is pouring in

for the third British Touring Car

Championship meeting of the

year – which means they’ll be

seeing races seven, eight and

nine of the series.

Today’s field has 30 cars

divided among 10 marques,

and following yesterday’s f lat-

out qualifying the first 20 are

crammed inside one second.

The field contains five former

champions and 18 previous race

winners, so tremendous racing

isn’t just wishful thinking,

it’s guaranteed. Today’s average

s p e e d w i l l b e 110 mph-plu s , a nd

the cars will hit 155mph through

Church corner, the fastest on the

circuit. At Thruxton, there’s only

e v e r one t y r e c omp ou nd u s e d: h a rd.

Given the guarantee of great

racing, it’s ironic that we’re not here

to watch it. Our mission is to discover

how this event – like the rest of 2019’s

10 BT C C me e t i n gs – w i l l b e c o v e r e d

for an off-site ITV audience that

usually builds to around a million

a race if you aggregate audiences

from the real-time race programme,

highlights and online coverage.

We’re spending the day with

TV anchorman Steve Rider, the

face of televised BTCC for at least

a quarter-century and a nationally

recognised sports-programme

personality since the 1970s when

he s pr a n g t o pr om i ne nc e on BBC

Grandstand and Sports Personality

of the Year. Nowadays, the BTCC is

Rider’s biggest gig and he pulls it off

with a professional ease admired by

everyone else in the same game.

My first call is the TOCA tent,

prominent in the paddock just

behind the ancient, creaky Thruxton

race tower to which BTCC series

supremo Alan Gow once ironically

attached a fake British Heritage

plaque. It’s still there. Gow has a

reputation for running a tight ship

Trusty Merc

Sprinter provides

a day-long Thruxton

base for Steve Rider and

his crew of four. Might not

have been brilliant if the

threatened rain had

arrived – but

it didn’t.

Nose-to-tail racing

is a hallmark of

BTCC combat

Rider shares mic

duties with Harvey

(centre) and O’Neill