Considering I’ve not written a blog since November, I thought it was high time I should do another. It’s hard to believe how fast time flies – we’re already closer to next Christmas than the last! We’re also over a week into July and it’s a non-stop period in the motorsport season. We’ve just had the British F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone, while this weekend I head to Donington Park for World Superbikes ahead of covering another round of the spectacular E1 Series for high-speed ‘Racebird’ power boats.
Greg Haines writes from Warwickshire, England
There’s no place better than England when the sun shines. The air is fresh in the countryside and it’s not as uncomfortable as Spain in the summer, although I am pleased I’ve finally had air conditioning installed at home in Spain for the first time in 23 years. I’m not sure how I coped before with temperatures sometimes close to 40 degrees Celsius in the summer. Madness!
Last weekend I went for the first time to the historic Shelsley Walsh hill climb in Worcestershire. Dating back to 1905, there’s 120 years of motorsport history there on two and four wheels; this makes Shelsley the longest-running motorsport venue to have remained open (wars and pandemics aside!)…in the world. Older than Monza, older than Indianapolis, older than everything. Incredible. It was great to witness how pure the whole thing is, not to mention catching up with Steve Parrish.
This weekend sees Toprak Razgatlioglu race at Donington for the last time, returning to the venue where he achieved his maiden World Superbike podium in 2018, before he heads off to MotoGP in which he’ll race next year at Silverstone. It’s a shame for World Supers that the Turk won’t remain next year but it’s fantastic he’s going to attempt to become the first rider ever to win the title in both MotoGP and World Superbikes. Imagine that happens at some stage! I’ve known Toprak since my first season in the WorldSBK paddock, which also happened to be his first full campaign in Superstock 600 back in 2015. He’s not changed, is a very consistent character (more than can be said for some of his rivals) and is always true to his word, very much like his great mentor, Kenan Sofuoglu. He deserves every success that comes his way…and I’m sure there are many still to come. The rivalry this year between himself and the Italian, Nicolo Bulega, is fascinating to watch.
After a couple of days back at home to catch up with family (a rarity with my job), I’ll be commentating on the E1 Series which comes our way from Monaco. A few weeks ago I went to Lake Maggiore in Italy to commentate on it for the first time; the boats are stunning to look at (more like spaceships, aesthetically) as they get up on their big foils (wings) which means the hull of the boat effectively is hovering above the surface of the water. As a broadcaster, it’s a good challenge to learn something new; not only is the series itself new, and therefore everything that comes with it such as boats, pilots and rules, but also new to me is the way in which the television production is done. Without sounding boastful, I can say I know Dorna’s world feed for MotoGP and World Superbikes like the back of my hand, whereas the broadcast feed (the same pictures everyone sees at home) for E1 is structured differently. It’s all very exciting and we witnessed some great racing and scary collisions when in Italy!
Our job is thrilling at times but also demanding, requiring great organisation and discipline. Once the Monaco event for E1 is done, I fly straight from Lodnon to Hungary in order to cover World Superbikes again for TNT Sports; that’ll mean vising the new Balaton Park circuit, while Hungary itself will be a new country for me. On the Sunday night after that comes an airport hotel at Budapest before getting up on Monday to travel home to Spain. I’ll literally get in my door to unpack my suitcase that evening, then pack it again before going to bed and getting up early for a 7:30am taxi on the Tuesday ahead of two longs flights to Suzuka, Japan for the first time. That will be the prestigious 8 Hour endurance race for bikes. Less than a fortnight after that, I head to Austria to do the trackside commentary for MotoGP. Having also been to the Isle of Man TT for the first time earlier this year, it’s been absolutely non-stop and there’s numerous more successive events to come. I’m by no means complaining but, if you want to do the job properly, you need to work very hard to organise yourself in order not just to be prepared for the event but to be feeling fresh and on the ball.
Speak with you soon over the airwaves and enjoy the rest of the summer! To those of you reading in the southern hemisphere, enjoy the rest of the winter!
Greg Haines - Commentator & Presenter 