Why can’t they show F1 races at BTCC rounds?

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The British Touring Car Championship has revealed the dates of its 2009 races.

In the press release the series organisers explained the decision for releasing the dates of the race weekends before announcing where the races would actually be held:

Inevitably our dates are largely driven by the desire to avoid as many F1 races and other major UK sporting events as possible, so as to maximise our live TV coverage and audiences.

Two years ago I was at the British Grand Prix weekend. It was World Cup year, and England’s group stage match against Paraguay was on the same day as qualifying for the race..

So the organisers put up big screens around the circuit so those in the crowd who wanted to watch the match could. It seemed a sensible solution.

So why can’t BTCC organisers do something similar with F1 races? They could put one or two races on before the Grand Prix and one after, and let the crowd watch the Grand Prix on a big screen.

I can think of a few reasons why it might not happen:

  • Cost of hiring a screen
  • FOM/ITV not allowing the races to be broadcast or asking for too high a price
  • No-one’s thought of it

But I think it might be possible – they show F1 Grands Prix in cinemas, after all.

2009 British Touring Car Championship dates

Rounds 1/2/3: 4-5 April
Rounds 4/5/6: 25-26 April
Rounds 7/8/9:16-17 May
Rounds 10/11/12: 30-31 May
Rounds 13/14/15: 13-14 June
Rounds 16/17/18: 1-2 August
Rounds 19/20/21: 15-16 August
Rounds 22/23/24: 29-30 August
Rounds 25/26/27: 19-20 September
Rounds 28/29/30: 3-4 October

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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