From Wimbledon to Sachsenring
| 08:48 UK time, Thursday, 12 July 2007
So it's finally stopped raining long enough for us to get finished and I can get back to the day job of being Series Producer for . June and July are a bit of a marathon from my point of view. I reckon by the end of July I'll have done more than 50 days and managed only five days off - the good news is, I have some time off booked after Laguna and I'm planning to sleep for days! Having said that I really enjoy working at Wimbledon as it’s a complete change from what I do on the bikes.
We left on Sunday night and drove back to London. Within 12 hours I was walking in the gates of SW19. The first morning is always a bit chaotic regardless of how much preparation we do and this year was no different, not helped by pretty grim weather and then the Henman match meant we stayed on air till 9.30 in the evening – so it was a very long day indeed!
I’m one of the VT Producers at Wimbledon which means I am responsible for everything that isn't live. There is a team of about 25 people who do everything from making the openings for the shows, making the features and logging all the matches.
The last time I wrote was just before the British GP and despite the weather's best attempts to spoil race day, the programme went really well. Murray Walker joined us for the weekend and it was an absolute pleasure to have him around. If you missed we have put the whole 15 minutes on the website. Steve Parrish managed to find a break in the weather to ride the Kawasaki – given that the bike is worth around half a million pounds these rides always make me nervous but he brought the bike back safely and was full of praise for it.
Somehow in all this I also had to hop over to Holland for a couple of days for the Dutch TT and try to find time to plan the which takes place at the weekend. We now have the key stories set up with interviews with local rider Alex Hoffman and World Champion Nicky Hayden as well as a feature we did a few weeks ago when we sent Steve Parrish and Casey Stoner to an oil refinery to see how the race fuel is made. Given Steve’s reputation for practical jokes I am amazed they let him anywhere near the place!
We're halfway through the season now and I have to admit it always feels easier once the British GP is out of the way.
Just in case you missed the news, you can now get coverage of the 125 and 250 races on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳i, just press the red button. Coverage starts at 0945 on Sunday morning. And despite his huge crash in Holland, in the 125 class proving just how tough bike racers are.
is as normal:
Saturday 14 July
Qualifying, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳i and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sport website, 1245-1400
Sunday 15 July
MotoGP, 125cc, 250cc races live, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sport website, 1230-1400
MotoGP Extra, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳i and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sport website, 1400-1430
