A new season brings with it a new broadcast agreement with
Fox Sports and the Ten Network, which means a shuffle of commentators, experts
and hosts between the two networks. Here’s my Clipsal 500 coverage report card:
A Grade
Neil Crompton.
About the best motorsport voice there is in Australia. Everything Crompton
does, he does it well, and has the brilliant ability to make sense of even the
most technical issues. The pit walk – a concept borrowed from NASCAR, Formula
One and IndyCar – is a great idea, and he’s given plenty of time to roam the
grid. No one seems to want to not talk to Crompton.
Pairing him alongside the even-keeled Greg Rust was a
brilliant move, even though Crompton could easily have been the play-by-play
guy, and work alongside an analyst, as he did alongside Mark Skaife last year
on Channel Seven, after Matt White departed. Crompton is the Gold Standard of
motorsports broadcasting in Australia, and there’s no one who looks even
remotely close to tipping him from that perch.
Chad Neylon. A
newcomer to V8SC television, the West Australian broadcaster has a tough job,
broadcasting so many of the support categories – Australian GT, V8 Utes,
Porsche Carrera Cup, amongst others – and is a rising broadcasting star, who
may well be the voice of V8 Supercars in years to come.
Switching from one series to the next isn’t easy, but Neylon
does it brilliantly. Manages to convey the excitement of a given moment without
screaming at viewers, and knows when to tone things down, too. Another thing
that impressed me was his ability to recall specific moments, not just in V8s,
but around the world. The guy does his homework. He’s great!
Greg Rust.
Returns to V8 Supercar commentary after remaining with Ten when the series
headed to Seven, and reunited with Neil Crompton, Rust is well at home. You can
tell he and Crompton are friends, and have a long broadcasting history
together.
Rust deserves his gig as chief play-by-play man. He never
talks over Crompton (or vice versa), and has that remarkable ability to be
quiet and let the pictures, and the wonderful sound of a full-bore V8 engine,
do the talking. Forming a nice partnership with Greg Murphy on the Dunlop
Series, too.
Russell Ingall.
The Enforcer steps from out of the cockpit and into the TV booth for Foxtel,
and has immediately impressed. Not afraid to call a spade a spade, and has a
great sense of humour. Rusty is going to be a hit. A nice contrast to Mark
Skaife, and a guy who’s only going to get better as he gets more practice.
Great hire by Foxtel.
Mark Larkham. Why the man known as Larko wasn't picked up to
work the pit lane for race broadcasts is beyond me. Like Crompton, he can make
the complicated facets of the sport seem damn simple when he explains them.
Clearly, the guy loves the sport. You can hear it every time he speaks. He
should have a bigger role than that as ancillary pit reporter for Channel Ten.
B Grade
Greg Murphy. The
always-controversial Kiwi is no Mark Larkham, who he basically replaced on pit
lane this year, but he has the makings of a decent broadcaster. I like the way
Rust and Crompton throw to him during the broadcast to do some analysis of the
racing from pit lane. Given that he’s only a few months removed from driving in
the endurance events, his knowledge of these new cars is something that even
Crompton can’t match.
The Davison brothers:
brilliant broadcasting of the Carrera Cup and GT races. Will and Alex both have
bright futures in commentary once their driving careers are done and dusted.
Easy to listen to, knowledgeable and personable. Pretty much the holy trinity
of broadcasting.
C Grade
Matt Naulty. Another
rising broadcaster who does a solid if unspectacular job calling the Stadium
Super Trucks and Touring Car Masters.
Mark Webber. A
decent broadcaster who probably needs to talk just a touch slower. It’s hard
for him to give any huge insight into V8 racing, considering he’s never raced
one in his life. He’s there as name recognition for Channel Ten.
Mark Skaife.
Whereas his partner Ingall isn’t afraid to call a driver or the series out,
Skaife seems to forget that he is paid by Foxtel not by V8 Supercars. I can’t
ever recall him having a bad word to say about the series, even when one was
warranted. If he can morph into a talking head who doesn’t mind criticising the
sport’s leaders when criticism is due, and can toss out some of his overused
clichés – “this is wild!” – he’ll be okay.
Jess Yates: The
former SPEED host gets her reward for years of studio toiling, and now presents
Foxtel’s coverage from the track. Not at all bad, but fairly unremarkable
compared to Skaife and Ingall. The anchor position is a tough job, and often a
thankless one, when you’re deferring to experts or other commentators. Still, a
solid talent.
D Grade
Matt White. Never
been a huge fan of White’s. He runs the studio for Channel Ten after years
calling races on Channel Seven. Seems to be a walking cliché/hyperbole machine.
I never understood why networks covet him like they apparently do.
Chris Stubbs. For
a guy who is apparently Foxtel’s motorsports insider, he didn’t break many
stories. One thing is for certain, Stubbs, a decent broadcaster, is no Robin
Miller. I guess the veteran IndyCar scribe/TV presenter is who Foxtel modelled
Stubbs’ position on? If so, it wasn't even close. Stubbs seemed to be little
more than a glorified Foxtel-only pit reporter, a path that’s been well trodden
by Murphy and Crehan on the V8TV coverage. At first glance, he’s superfluous to
Foxtel’s needs.
Mark Howard: A
Channel Ten stalwart, does some reporting from the pit lane between races. A
solid broadcaster, who isn’t given much time to shine either side of the main
race coverage.
Riana Crehan. Not
who I would’ve chosen as the second race coverage pit reporter to work
alongside Murphy. I understand that the sport likes to involve females in their
coverage, but should a woman be given a position ahead of a more qualified
former driver like, say, Mark Larkham?
Not a knock on her talent at all, but a positioning issue
here. Surely Crehan could’ve been given another job – perhaps a reporter, like
Kylie King – to allow Larkham and Murphy to roam pit road? You need your
experts in such a crucial place as the pits, and Crehan seems a little out of
place, particularly when the talk turns very technical. Kudos for getting
interviews out of drivers who clearly don’t want to talk. That’s a feat that
takes persistence.
F Grade
Greg Martin. The former Australian rugby union
representative (and, apparently, a V8 tragic) seems to have been cast as the
resident moron – or, the motorsport outsider, as he is apparently known – and
spent his weekend roaming the spectator areas, shooting grabs at the
merchandise tent, with grid girls, riding on a motorcycle course designed for
kids, and generally making a fool of himself. As far as cringe-worthy goes, Martin’s
spots were way off the charts.
The sad thing is that Martin is a pretty good rugby
commentator. Whoever decided that he would be best let loose on the Clipsal
paddock to make himself look like a complete idiot needs to be removed from
their job. It wasn't funny – it was embarrassing. Send Marto back to the rugby.
At least he’s doing something worthwhile there.
Hopefully Foxtel will review their first weekend of coverage
and realise they don’t need buffoons to deliver a good weekend of racing. V8 fans
aren’t fools. I wonder how many cringed like I did every time Martin was shown,
or, afterward, when Skaife, Ingall and Yates were forced to awkwardly laugh at
his antics. Sheer embarrassment.
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