DO AS YOU DO, GET WHAT YOU GET
Dear reader/viewer, if I were to suggest that motorcycle racing had something to learn from that rather snooty bunch of people who run horse racing, you would no doubt be sending for the men in white coats. But read on.
The Jockey Club, which is a sort of cross between the ACU and MotorSportVision, owners of Brands Hatch and three other circuits, has addressed a problem afflicting many other sports. How to get new people, whose knowledge and interest might be minimal, to sample their sport.
Their answer? Music.
This venerable bunch is getting into the business of promoting rock concerts. Recognising that the Sport of Kings maybe losing its appeal to the common man, or woman, not turned on by the sight of a dozen nags going round in a circle while contributing to the coffers of those who promise much and deliver little, the bookies.
So live music played by top bands is being added to the card at some of the twelve tracks, from Cheltenham to Aintree, to pull in younger punters, men and women, who might not otherwise even think of going to watch racing. And where piloted last year, it has worked. Part of a plan to create new attractions and leisure activities at venues as unlikely as horse race tracks.
Is it something which MSVR. and other racing promoters should try? Why not? The need is the same. Fans are drawn from a small pool of enthusiasts. Promoters constantly dip into that pool but there is only so much money, even less now.
Thought has to be given to exposing just how exciting our sport is. Media coverage has become very specialist and with the disappearance of the BBC's involvement in MotoGP even more so. We have got to get to a wider audience.
The Jockey Club, of all people, are showing the way!
SPEED FREAK
Is Guy Martin the most famous motor cycle racer in the country? Well, as most people outside of the sport would be hard put to name any current rider, with the possible exception of the Doctor, he probably is. What are we to make of it?
Sport in general, and motorsport in particular, is full of dull people. Often made dull, it has to be said, by managers and PR gurus et al who believe that riders, like children, should be seen but not heard. But sometimes because they have nothing to say, twitter is proof perfect of that.
Not Martin. The self-proclaimed Lincolnshire truck fitter has become a TV star and in his latest offering, "Speed" on Channel Four, became the fastest cyclist in Britain, clocking 112.94mph on a pushbike slip-streaming a lorry. The fastest speed in the world is 167mph and our hero, interviewed on Radio Five Live, said he was going for 200mph next time. He also, by the way, broke records in sledging and cycling on water!
Martin is a one-off. Not everyone's cup of tea. But he is interesting. And while the acclaimed TT video "Closer to the Edge" was jaw-dropping, particularly to those who had never witnessed the madness of the TT, it is his sheer querkiness, other than his sideburns, which appeal to broader TV audiences.
If portly darts player Phil 'The Power' Taylor can become a national treasure, there is no reason why Martin can't. (Except for the fact Taylor is the greatest darts player to have ever walked the earth and a 16-time World Champion. Martin, erm, isn't - Ed).
