The Twilight Race

[Valve Bounce]

So, what do you guys and gals think of the twilight race? I had predicted visual issues and bunsen confirmed that. He stated that it was difficult to race under these conditions because he couldn't judge the exits of the corners, and visibility was often difficult. The entire southern section of the track had corners going into the sun, and the main straight headed into the sunset.

I had predicted a monumental first corner prang and that almost happened. Also, the TV footage was evidenced by very bad reflections off the road and the cars were difficult to make out whenever the camera pointed towards the sun.

Nevertheless, Bernie got what he wanted - an much increased viewer audience in Europe.

So, tell me your thoughts.

[wedge]

If Indycars, NASCAR and endurance racers are fine with it I can't see why F1 has to complain.

[LiamM]

Cos F1 does it to be kind to people in far away lands. In my view the Australian GP is for Australians and as such should be at a time to suit them. The BBC still showed it at 1pm like normal so would have still caught the off-chance viewers, just meant the die hard few of us got a bit extra sleep

[Valve Bounce]

If Indycars, NASCAR and endurance racers are fine with it I can't see why F1 has to complain.

Don't ask me - ask Bunsen. He was the one who said it was difficult to see. Maybe he knows very little about motor racing.

[dj_bytedisaster]

If Indycars, NASCAR and endurance racers are fine with it I can't see why F1 has to complain.

Indycars and NASCAR seldomly race in the twilight hours. most of the time they either race at day or at night. And why is it that most crashes in the 24h classics happen in the twilight hours both evening and early morning. coincidence?

For me the later showing was sort of a turn-off. It was always part of the appeal of the season opener, that you had to get up at a completely unholy time (usually 4am) to see the race and if you couldn't be bothered to get up, or like my dad chronically fell asleep again ( @ me ol' man ) you could still catch the repeat at noon.

For me this was a prime example of Bernie putting financial interests over safety and comfort of the drivers. And I don't think it wasn't any help fro australian spectators who didn't happen to live in Melbourne. Usually with the race being over at 3pm, you could (theoretically) get to the airport fly home and still be at work in time on monday morning. That was quite a bit harder if not impossible for some folk this year, I suspect.

But everything that pleases the midgets wallet will be done and if that means racing naked, prepare for seeing more man skin than you'd have liked

[GP-M3]

I was hoping someone would be talking about this. The main issue is, THE TV PICTURES LOOKED LIKE CR*P!!

Everytime I saw the lousy pictures, and it was most of the time, I was cursing Bernie. What a stupid little greedy fellow.

I stopped watching F1 for many years when the FOCA/FISA wars started. Since I've been back, I've stayed out of the Max / Bernie bashing. But that little midget has gone over the top now.

One of the real beauties of formula 1, is the majesty of it all, the colors in particular. It wasn't until I looked at some still pictures on the day after the race, that I realized the Virgin logo was in red. This is by far the worst looking TV coverage of a major event I've ever seen.

So the small minded moron got better TV times for the Euro viewers, and ended up giving them cr@p to look at. What a bad trade off. They can always record the event. I record essentially every race here in So Cal, 90% of TV viewers time shift their favorite shows. Bernie is so old fashioned, I really think he has become a detriment to F1. Most of us use DVRs now, perhaps Bernie will discover the VHS machine soon!

This all, and not to mention the extra dangers he has put before the drivers. Really poor show.

Thanks for the thread, I wanted to vent that.

[ArrowsFA1]

Nevertheless, Bernie got what he wanted - an much increased viewer audience in Europe.

Did he though? Were there really more European viewers this year? Also, did the change in start time affect audiences elsewhere?

[Dave B]

In the UK the viewing figures were well up on last year*, but whether that's entirely down to the timing is unknown as we also had a new broadcaster and a British champion skewing the experiment.

Towards the end of the race the setting sun did cause some problems for TV viewers: Martin Brundle in the commentary box couldn't distinguish between a yellow and green flag, for example; and the lens flare on the onboard cameras was offputting.

For me, there's something special about getting up in the middle of the night for the first GP of the year, I'd happily get up at 2am (and did for FP1 & 3).

(The live coverage of the race was 159% up on 2008, the replay 25% down, overall 7% up. [source])

[Mark]

BBC coverage, much hyped season, Button on pole, Hamilton as world champion. Of course the viewing figures will be up!

And, sure a 7am start is going to get more viewers than 4am but it's still rather too early!

[AndyRAC]

BBC coverage, much hyped season, Button on pole, Hamilton as world champion. Of course the viewing figures will be up!

And, sure a 7am start is going to get more viewers than 4am but it's still rather too early!

Too early??
Part of the appeal of the Australian GP is getting up at silly o'clock to watch it. I don't agree with holding races to suit the European audience. Leave it as it was.

Bernie$£$£$£$£$£