hillclimbracers.com

Just back from a wonderfully sunny Prescott and catching up on some footage from runs that i missed. It's such incredible coverage and does so much to take the sport to people around the country and the world. Had some friends watching today from Yorkshire that are now keen to attend Harwood for the first time ever - despite 30 years living in Harrogate!

I think i heard in the paddock today that the coverage is stopping? Does anyone know why and what we can do to retain it? I would be extremely surprised if the championship organisers were to let this slip away and i imagine it also does a huge amount for the venues as well, as I assume they get to use the footage in their own PR campaigns.

If it is a cost thing then surely that can be overcome?

I think the folks that do the coverage are a bit burned out, it is a lot of work to set up the cameras, onboards, sort out all the IT< travel, staying away etc.

From what I gather it is not about money per se, though I think what they have done deserves a lot more financial input from clubs and the like to enable it to be improved, another aspect the team struggle with, it can only go so far with what there is, I think Rich wants to push things on ever more but feels unable to do so.

It is a difficult situation as though the series is organised by one group the tracks all have their little ways and cliques, and each round offers different challenges.

I hope it continues, the standard has been set and no doubt it has increased footfall and engagement more than anything seen in hillclimb racing for years, but it needs a professional team to do it from every meeting, and that needs to be paid for and I would imagine if it was, it would cost a damn sight more than is offered now.

The coverage is brilliant, I look forward to being able to watch it when I'm home tondo so. Many people from around the world watch, would be a massive shame to lose it but also appreciate that it must be a huge amount of work.

If you go back to when Hillclimb TV started you will apprciate the work that has been done just to improve the product from its launch to where it is now.

Last year Rich spent nearly as much time working on Hillclimb TV as he did in his everyday job! His commitment to (a) providing the service, (b) improving the product, and constantly striving to be better is incredible.

I think his dilema is simple. To make it even better will take more of his precious time. The rewards just in cash terms are minimal. However, he would love to continue but feels that his drive to improve and keep improving is taking a toll on his health. His dilema has not been improved by certain clubs denegrating his efforts and he has already ruled out covering their events this year IF he were to contunue.

As part of the Harewood commentary team should Hillclimb TV not be there in May and july for the BHC meetings it will certainly make my job a lot more difficult.

My only point would be it does not need to be better, it is perfectly fine as it is, I think this is the teams personal ambition and drive to endlessly improve which is admirable, it has done a huge amount for this sport already.

I do sympathise with the later points though, I had heard the same and if true that is fairly shocking and would actually dissuade me from visiting said venue in the future.

I'm the guy behind it and I'm sorry to say Prescott was the last HillClimb.tv stream, at least for the current setup and for the near future.

I wrote a long post on facebook that explains some of the reasoning behind it - though it's more a combination of a lot of factors rather than any single easy to fix change.

To list some here..

• I enjoy moving the coverage forward more than the long setup.
• I can't do anymore on a weekend without involving more people - that adds a cost but also makes me focus on how bad I am at dealing with people.
• I've never really been sure how much clubs/championships want the coverage to grow or if they just want something good enough to keep fans updated (since saying I might step back there has been talk of putting streaming behind a paywall, or doing much more basic coverage - so I feel I might have been trying to do too much)
• Similarly I feel I've been putting myself out to promote the sport and there has been little effort from others. (There was a lot more social content from the last meeting so I hope that is kept up.)
• Doing 14hr days over the weekend has meant I've spoken to people even less and feel less part of the community. (I started hillclimbing as good way to get away from the PC - and turned it into something that locked me in front of 4 pcs in a shed for the the weekend!)
• I've felt overlooked with some other projects and that has just made me feel more of an outsider.

Clubs have given me what I've asked for for the streams so it's not really about money - though improvements also got more expensive as the coverage grew.

I could stop trying to improving the coverage, instead scale it back a bit, and the money from clubs, YouTube and supporters would get me near to minimum wage for the time involved, but that really wouldn't be interesting for me.

I have introduced a streaming company to Tim Wilson of the BHC and hopefully they may be able take over at some point. I think he, and clubs, might be looking at a number of other options as well. I may end up involved again (e.g. it would be much easier for someone to use my timing link and graphics than start from scratch) but will have to see what the setup is.

I really am sorry. I feel really bad about those that will find it harder to follow the sport due to my decision, especially some of the people that played big parts in events but are now unable to attend due to age or health.

Hopefully the funds can be found for someone else to cover events, and to grow awareness of the sport to the levels it deserves.

I expect most people will understand and be grateful for the insanely hard work you've put in to make it happen. Be proud of what you've done, but don't carry on at the expense of your health (or bank account) because that isn't worth it. Hopefully something will come along to take over the great work you've done.