r/btcc 9d ago

Question / Discussion Sports Personality of the Year

Its a shame the BTCC gets no mention at all in the BBC's sporting round up of the year, Formula 1 is a given, but they even gave a mention to Formula-bloody-E.

They must really resent ITV having unilateral rights over the sport to bypass it completely.

I know the Championship isn't mainstream enough for the protagonists to be in the running for the main award, but it's a shame it gets no mention whatsoever, given its following. And I would argue that WSR's achievements were worthy of being in the running for Team of the Year!

14 Upvotes

10 comments sorted by

22

u/bigdogg2783 9d ago

Much as I love the BTCC, it is a pretty low-level championship in the broader motorsport world. 90% of the drivers aren’t even paid.

4

u/MarcusH26051 9d ago

Yeah even in the years there's been British winners of the junior ladder to F1 there's been no mention so expecting BTCC is a bit much. Very lucky if anything outside of F1 gets any kind of mention Motorsport wise on SPOTY

10

u/sjr0754 9d ago

Formula One and Formula E are both FIA World Championships with significant British involvement from teams and drivers.

With the best will in the world, the BTCC is a high level clubman championship. They are not remotely in the same league.

5

u/dt26 9d ago

What did Jake and WSR do this year that hasn't already been achieved by other drivers and teams year in and year out for the past few decades? What makes this year's championship worth mentioning over any other year? Jake didn't even lead the championship for most of the season.

> They must really resent ITV having unilateral rights over the sport to bypass it completely.

Nah, they just don't care about motorsport outside of F1. I worked there for years and unless there was a chance to get some cheap broadcast rights motorsport was rarely in the conversation.

3

u/Lukeno94 9d ago

If the BTCC wasn't going to end up near the top in the 1990s, when it was at its international peak, there isn't a chance of it getting there ever again. Formula E is a world championship and of a far higher calibre than many give it credit for.

2

u/Ok_Music253 9d ago

Maybe I'm just biased then 🤣 I wouldn't have had any protagonists in the running - as a runner myself my choices were Hodgkinson or Yee as what they both did was magnificent.

2

u/No-Photograph3463 9d ago

I mean it is just a national championship mainly made up of pay drivers. Its predominantly its past history which makes it popular now more than anything.

And if they did mention the BTCC then what about British GT and Super One Karting let alone other World Championships like WEC where british teams and drivers have won.

2

u/mrmayhembsc 9d ago

TBF, if you look at the candidates, they have often had international success rather than national success.
I'd say I am more annoyed that anyone who had success out of F1 is not offten nominated when they had success. No one from WEC/endurance.

F1 18
Motorcycle racing 3
Speedway 2
CART 1 (and that Was Mansell)
Rallying 1

2

u/Embarrassed_Box_8790 8d ago

The BBC has longggggg since abandoned us motorsports fans. If it's not football or athletics then forget it. I know other broadcasters are able to pay mega bucks for tv rights but you only have to watch the sport segment of the news to know that the beeb dosnt give a toss about us