The Magic Of Carlton Kirby

Apart from the continual Simoncelli-bias and preposterous level of rider misidentification here's just two little gems from Eurosport's stand-in commentator Carlton Kirby this morning to remind you why we need Toby and Julian back NOW...
(*Honestly, tuning in to Eurosport nowadays is like visiting-time at the James Allen Sunshine Home For The Terminally Bewildered!)


"Two Spanish flags for the crowd to see, one of them Japanese."
Carlton Kirby, MotoGP 250cc race, Catalunya - Eurosport

"And Folger drops from second to sixth place, just holding on to fifth."
Carlton Kirby, MotoGP 125cc race, Catalunya - Eurosport

Worst... Commentators... Ever...

(*No, I don't look like him. I just sound a bit like him right now.)

Although I've got to be honest and say it was a pretty much perfect weekend - or it was in the end, despite a fluffed race start and despite the lack of a whole Quali session... Yes, a pretty damn excellent weekend overall, I cannot let it end without saying how it was almost spoiled as a viewer experience by the sit-in commentary team of James Haydon and Carlton Kirby on Eurosport.
I don't know exactly *why* Toby and Julian weren't doing the duties, but one thing is for sure - and that is that TV's commentary equivalent of a couple of mediocre supply teachers were no kind of worthy substitute.
Ex-racer James Haydon I'm aware of; decent studio talking head and okay on bikesport in general - as for Carlton Kirby (who sounds more like the name of a remote but picturesque Lincolnshire village) well I've not really had the pleasure before. And dear crikey, I hope it's a long time before they're handed the mikes of our beloved race coverage again.

Pronouncing Alvaro's name wrong constantly is always going to be a bit of a red rag to me, but I could easily let that go were it not for all the other problems. Clearly Sideshow Bob fans, they seemed barely able to hide / balance their adulation - so whenever he got passed early in the race, they told us he "let them through". Yeah... Right...
Having said that, they didn't seem to have much of a handle on who or where anybody was in the early laps anyway and repeatedly misidentified riders and positions.
And having just told us once again (with the aid of the onscreen notices we can all see) that Bati had just done another fastest lap, they suddenly came up with the revelation that he was the "man on the move". Durh.
And in assessing Simoncelli's performance they managed to acknowledge that it wasn't his wrist that had let him down, but his tyre. A bit of slightly more unflinching honesty might have carried that thought all the way through to the fact that *he* let that bloody tyre down.
Their mangling of the art of commentary wasn't restricted to 250cc either - the top class got a broadside of them; the renaming of Jorge to "George" Lorenzo being the highlight - though he can probably at least take comfort from being on the kind end of their awful clichéd sloganeering: "He may be number 99, but he'll be giving it 100%!" WTF!

Anyway, rant over. Nothing could spoil today. Bloody good try though.
You can only imagine that this was some very dark piece of humour from Dorna to get back at Eurosport for being so popular as to ruin their BBC exclusivity masterplan... "Okay you can have 2009 coverage, but only if you agree to allow James Haydon and Carlton Kirby to commentate..."
One of the few things I *did* enjoy hearing them say was that Toby and Julian will be back on-air at Jerez.
Thank you Jeebus, thank you!

Commentary Confirmation

Following the brilliant news that Eurosport will retain their coverage of MotoGP this year, it's great to know that Julian Ryder will also be joining the previously confirmed Toby Moody in the commentary box.
Whilst it's a shame that Randy Mamola isn't on the crew, it's Toby and Julian who are central to my enjoyment of the coverage (particularly as it's more about 125 and 250 which he doesn't really involve himself in).

So this year promises fabulous 125cc and 250cc coverage of sessions across the weekend AND Messrs Moody and Ryder doing the commentary.
Awesome. Fantastic. Brilliant.

In fact, exactly as it was last year before DORNA and the bloody Beeb went and tried to crap all over it!

Goodbye & Farewell To Eurosport's MotoGP Coverage

Well, this is it...

Goodbye Eurosport.

It’s with very mixed feelings that I’ll be watching your coverage this weekend.
I’m sure I’ll enjoy it as I always do, because it’s quality stuff - extensive live coverage of all classes and bags of informed opinion in the commentary box and pit lane.
At the same time, I’ll be watching it knowing that it’s going to be the last time. And I know that what the BBC have actually discussed so far isn’t going to measure up. Simple as that. If they poach Toby, Julian and Randy as their TV team then they’ll have made at least one smart move, but I doubt that.
Certainly inconsequential answers about *live* coverage, and coverage of the lower classes looking to get stuck behind the red button all suggest pretty dire times ahead.

Thanks for all the pleasure you’ve given me and many other fans - particularly those with an interest in 125cc and 250cc. You’ll be very very sorely missed.

If there *is* a god (which, let's be honest, seems extremely bloody unlikely given the horror of all the current wars, recession, global warming and the release of “High School Musical 3”) then somebody somewhere somehow will have the common sense and decency to bring you back to our screens.

Till then; goodbye and good luck Eurosport.
Toodle-pip.
gb

Indianapolis Grand Prix - Eurosport TV Schedule

As always, we recommend the Eurosport TV coverage - far better commentators, and far better 125 and 250 coverage of course than anybody else; there is no decent alternative - and so here's the listings for the weekend (not including repeats)...


FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 12TH

12/09 18:00
(Eurosport)
The Indianapolis Grand Prix 125cc practice session

12/09 18:45
(Eurosport)
The Indianapolis Grand Prix MotoGP practice session

12/09 20:00
(Eurosport)
The Indianapolis Grand Prix 250cc practice session


************************************************


SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 13TH

13/09 18:15
(Eurosport)
The Indianapolis Grand Prix 125cc qualifying session

13/09 18:45
(Eurosport)
The Indianapolis Grand Prix MotoGP qualifying session

13/09 20:00
(Eurosport)
The Indianapolis Grand Prix 250cc qualifying session


************************************************


SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 14TH

14/09 16:45
(Eurosport)
The Indianapolis Grand Prix 125cc race

14/09 18:00
(Eurosport)
The Indianapolis Grand Prix 250cc race

14/09 19:15
(Eurosport)
The Indianapolis Grand Prix MotoGP race


************************************************

Oh, And While We're On The Subject...

It's interesting to note in that crash.net article below about the BBC and MotoGP coverage that "no mention has been made" regarding commentary teams.
Given the necessarily flat reaction I've had to what they've said (and not said) about 250cc and 125cc coverage, I can only hang onto hopes that they'll make a good call regarding who should be in the commentary box.

And there is of course only one possible answer ;)
Come on Beeb... it's a no-brainer...

Catalunya GP - Eurosport TV Schedule

Don't forget to follow the weekend with the gods themselves; Toby and Julian over at Eurosport...
Here's the schedule for both Eurosport and Eurosport 2, including repeats:

Friday June 6

Eurosport 2
12:00  Live MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix 125cc practice session
12:45 Live MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP practice session
14:00 Live MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix 250cc practice session
22:30  MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP practice session

Eurosport
20:00  MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP practice session

************************************************

Saturday June 7

Eurosport
11:30  Live MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP qualifying sessions
12:00 Live MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix 125cc qualifying session
12:45 Live MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP qualifying session
20:15  MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP qualifying session

Eurosport 2
14:00 MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix 250cc qualifying session
17:00  MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix 125cc qualifying session
17:30 MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP qualifying session
21:15  MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP qualifying session

************************************************

Sunday June 8

Eurosport
08:45  Live MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix warm-up session
09:15 Live MotoGP
An introduction to the Catalunya Grand Prix
09:45 Live MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix 125cc race
11:00 Live MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix 250cc race
12:15 Live MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP race
19:30  MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP race

Eurosport 2
15:00  MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix 250cc race
15:30 MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP race
21:00  MotoGP
The Catalunya Grand Prix MotoGP race


(*Listings courtesy of the excellent mindthezap)

UK Television Coverage For The Australian MotoGP Weekend

_____________________________________________

BBC
Sunday 14 October
125cc, 250cc races live, - BBCi 0245-0515
MotoGP race live, - BBC ONE 0545-0700
Races re-run, - BBC ONE, 1300-1400

_____________________________________________

EUROSPORT
Friday 12 October
4.45am - Live MotoGP Practice
6.00am - Live 250cc Practice
6.45am - Live 125cc Practice

_____________________________________________

EUROSPORT
Saturday 13 October
4.45am - Live MotoGP Qualifying
6.00am - Live 250cc Qualifying
6.45am - Live 125cc Qualifying

_____________________________________________

EUROSPORT
Sunday 14 October
00.45am - Live Warm Up
2.45am - Live 125cc Race
4.00am - Live 250cc Race
5.15am - Live MotoGP Race
9.30am - MotoGP 'coverage' / highlights

_____________________________________________


Don't forget that BatiFans *always* recommend you tune in to Toby & Julian on Eurosport for maximum enjoyment :)

AlvaroBautista.co.uk Namechecking clip

Thanks to stv21 for finding this clip of the wonderful Toby Moody and Julian Ryder on the Eurosport TV channel raving about Alvaro post-race at Estoril and namechcking our website.
Cheers guys :)
We love you!

AlvaroBautista.co.uk Gets TV Plug On Eurosport

Sunday really was a good day for us... Not only did Bati take Estoril by storm with a gobsmacking win in the MotoGP 250cc race, but Eurosport actually ended up namechecking our website.
In post race comments by the smashing Toby Moody and Julian Ryder, they were talking about how wide-ranging support for Alvaro Bautista is, and were talking about what a good reception he’d got at Donington.
Then Toby Moody (I think it was Toby Moody - I did go a little bit freaky for a second...) announced that there was now AlvaroBautista.co.uk for English speaking fans.

Whether he assumed that we were actually an ‘official’ site, or whether he had simply judged it to be a good site for Bati fans, I have no idea - but it was an excellent and unexpected moment. We exist for other fans and to have people of that calibre pointing them our way is brilliant.

Many thanks to our favourite commentators :)
We’ve mentioned you before on this blog (and on the BatiFans.com Fan Forum) but now you have truly entered our Hall of Fame!

Julian Ryder, Toby Moody and Alvaro's XIX Tattoo

(*Above: Alvaro and his 'XIX' tattoo at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix)

Forgot to mention in the post yesterday a curious little piece of trivia regarding Bati, arising from the race coverage...
I watch MotoGP on British Eurosport - a thoroughly enjoyable experience, in great part thanks to the excellent Julian Ryder and Toby Moody; jovial, intelligent guys whose informed unbiased and down-to-earth banter is a million miles from ITV's frankly piss-poor Formula One coverage.
Testimony to just how great they are is that my other half, who doesn't even follow - or really like - MotoGP - loves listening to them :)

Weirdly though, in the Czech coverage, they mentioned having noticed that Alvaro Bautista had what they described as a "new" tattoo of 'XIX' on his forearm (Roman numerals for 19 of course); whereas it's actually been there quite some time now - in fact you can see it on this Alvaro Bautista Profile videoclip from last year's Season Review DVD...
This clearly suggests that little Bati simply doesn't get enough coverage if something so big and tattoo-like isn't noticed before now! I'd certainly not put it down to lack of interest from messrs Ryder and Moody, who judging by their comments, really enjoy Bati's riding and presence in 250.
(*And bless them too for finding His Smugnificence Lorenzo's antics hilarious... and "verging on camp" as they put it in a moment of serious understatement...)