After a few weeks of dark and sad news headlines dominating MotoGP, it is nice to have a story (or rumour at least) that looks like bringing some light and happiness back to the sport.

MotoGP’s gain could be F1′s loss, as rumours are going around suggesting that Charlie Cox could be leaving the BBC’s MotoGP commentary team to join……….the BBC F1 coverage!

Charlie Cox is what the mute button was made for on the TV, he is the special olympics of sports commentating – and if this news is true, then most MotoGP fans will be celebrating up and down the UK.

Oh, and F1 fans, we understand that satisfaction with Jonathan Legard as a commentator is pretty low, but you’d better get used to hearing phrases like “he needed that like a third armpit”, “that shot the fox”, “the red car has overtaken the blue car” (replace ‘car’ with ‘bike’ for MotoGP), and lots of wheezing talk about eating the other commentator’s lunch and getting out of the circuit early to avoid the traffic if Cox is on his way to your screens.

We stumbled across the complete video for the BBC’s MotoGP season review for 2009 – and you can watch it below (well, for as long as it stays online at least).

All the MotoGP races and highlights are covered from 2009, so sit back and enjoy all the action (the only downside is Charlie Cox’s commentary, but you can turn the volume down).

BBC MotoGP Season Review 2009:

MotoGP 2009 – Official Review

Finally! BBC gets their Cox out.

Another early Christmas present for UK MotoGP fans:
It appears that Charlie Cox has definately been given the boot from the BBC. Charlie Cox was the curse of MotoGP on the BBC with a stock of ‘catchphrases’ that would be used over and over again, as we have mentioned here previously, he was the ‘special olympics’ of sports commentary, a paragon of how not to be a commentator, and actually managed to give Australians an even worse reputation – so we are very happy not to have to listen to his voice in 2011. Fans can only hope that the BBC get the rest of their shit together and start treating the sport with the respect it deserves.

After not showing the MotoGP Qualifying yesterday, they manage to top it all off by cutting the 250cc race just over half-way though and instead making you rush online to watch the rest of it. What a joke.

And now after having my anger peaked, I have to stomach sitting through the main race listening to Charlie Cox puffing out his usual ‘catch-phrases’: “Nightmare in a bubblecar”, “Once more over the stripe”, “Needed that like a third armpit”, talking to Steve Parrish and referring to him as “Oh Oracle”, and then droning on and on about “stealing each others lunch”, etc…etc…

ARRRGH. *Shakes Fist*. Surely I should be able to withhold part of my license fee for this. Especially after the BBC’s alleged public commitment to the importance of MotoGP that they made at the start of the season when they were faced with MotoGP fans protesting that they had won the rights.

Suggest you use this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

Alternatively vent your frustration and leave an offensive comment about the BBC or Charlie Cox in the comments field – I won’t be censoring anything. Here’s mine:

Charlie Cox is the special olympics of sports commentary and MotoGP fans need the BBC coverage like “a third armpit”.

INDIANAPOLIS MotoGP – USA

Saturday 29 August

Qualifying
1750-2100, BBC Red Button/online

Sunday 30 August

125 and 250cc race
1650-1805, BBC Red Button/online

Race
1945-2100, BBC Three/online

Race repeat
0220-0335, BBC Three

The BBC have posted their 2009 plans for coverage of MotoGP and have tried to address the concerns raised by the fans of the sport – namely the interactive coverage, fears of MotoGP being bumped in favour of F1 coverage, the lack of 125cc and 250cc coverage….and of course the huge debate about the commentary team. You can find the BBC statement HERE or read below for the statement, and its currently generating a lot of comments.

Despite addressing many of the issues that fans have been raising over the last few months,  it seems like BBC viewers are still stuck with Charlie Cox as a “lead commentator”  – That’s the only real issue we have, all the other stuff we can cope with and we are pleased to see the BBC having taken some actions to satisfy the fans.

But Charlie Cox. Again. For a whole year. *sigh* Another year of watching MotoGP with the sound turned down.

BBC statement below:

It always feels like a long off-season but the planning for the new 2009 season is already well under way. We are expanding our coverage again this year and will be showing all the qualifying sessions (125, MotoGP and 250) on Saturday afternoons on the red button alongside our existing coverage on race day – 125, 250, MotoGP and MotoGP Extra – which all adds up to over seven hours of coverage a weekend.

We’ve been getting a lot of feedback both here and on other bike forums about a couple of key points. One has been our commentary line-up for this season and the other about not being able to record red button coverage. Both of these issues have been exacerbated by Eurosport losing the rights to show MotoGP for the forthcoming season leaving the BBC as the exclusive broadcaster for the sport.

First and foremost I want to point out that any decision about rights is made by Dorna, the rights holder, and not by the BBC. We are in the last year of a pre-existing contract and are delighted to have signed a new deal starting in 2010 which will take us through to the end of the 2013 season.

To give the situation some context our coverage attracts average audiences of 1.1 million with an approval rating that has been the highest for any terrestrial programme in a given week. We believe the BBC team is key to that success and we are looking forward to another exciting season in 2009. In terms of presentation, Suzi Perry has a wealth of experience from years of fronting motorbike racing and our pitlane reporter Matthew Roberts has worked as a journalist within the MotoGP paddock for eight years before joining the BBC and has excellent connections with the teams enabling us to break key stories last year.

Charlie Cox and Steve Parrish will once again be in the commentary box. Charlie is an experienced lead commentator with a great passion for and extensive knowledge of motorbikes whilst Steve raced at the very highest level finishing fifth in the world championship.

We have taken on board feedback about the non-recordable nature of the red button when viewed on certain platforms and as a result we will be looping the qualifying on Saturday afternoon and evening and will do the same with the races on Sunday into the following week. A timetable for this will appear on the website at the start of the season and will be updated race by race.

The inability to record via the red button is a Sky box issue rather than a specifically BBC one but we are doing all we can to enable you to watch the sessions you may have missed live. We will also be supplying additional Freeview details so you will be able to record our coverage when viewing the red button. There have also been questions about why we can’t use our other channels to show the 125 and 250 classes. Under the terms of the licence we can’t turn BBC Three or Four into a sports channel although we can use them occasionally and they are unavailable during the day as the bandwidth is used by CBeebies and CBBC.

One final point to answer is whether the BBC signing F1 will affect the MotoGP coverage and the answer is yes, but only in a positive way. We will be working with the F1 team to maximize opportunities to promote MotoGP. David Coulthard is part of the F1 team and a bike fan too who has come to the race in Brno for the last few years. The races don’t clash as the rights holders are keen to avoid this and the start times are offset on dates where both series are racing. The British MotoGP will follow the Hungarian F1 meaning we get to put the Donington race on BBC One, which is fantastic.

Coverage of any sport is hugely subjective. We always review our coverage at the end of the season and I frequently read the comments posted on a variety of websites including this one. We are very proud of our coverage and in being able to bring top-class bike racing to a wider audience, we believe we have the best team to lead our programme. I am always keen to get feedback and to find out what you’d like to see in the show so please let me know below.

After expressing our sadness at the news that the BBC were not changing their commentary team for 2008 (well more specifically we were angry that Charlie ‘that shot the fox’ Cox would be bellowing his catch-phrases all over the BBC MotoGP coverage for 2009), we were amused to see the BBC responding to the same story on Crash.net. When Crash.net reported that the BBC commenatry team would remain unchanged, hundreds of people complained. Belinda Rogerson, the producer of MotoGP on the BBC responded with an open letter – reproduced below:

BBC LETTER:
“Having read my way through the various comments on the site I wanted a chance to respond to some of the points raised. The BBC team work hard to produce the best possible coverage but I also accept that it is impossible to please everyone with our programmes. I also want to point out that many of the posts are of a highly personal nature and I am not prepared to get involved in that discussion.

“BBC Sport are proud of their coverage of MotoGP and bringing premier class racing to a terrestrial audience. In 2009 we are expanding our coverage to include Qualifying of the 125 and 250 classes on Saturday alongside MotoGP Qualifying from every round on the red button. There will be live coverage of every race and in Europe MotoGP Extra after the race has finished giving further insight and interviews. That’s around 7 hours of coverage each weekend.

“Our coverage attracts audiences of over a million with an approval rating that has been the highest for any terrestrial program in a given week. We believe the BBC team and the commentary team are key to that success and we look forward to another exciting season in 2009.

“Steve Parrish raced at the very highest level and Charlie Cox is an experienced lead commentator with a great passion for and extensive knowledge of motor bikes. We always review our coverage at the end of the season and I frequently read the comments posted on a variety of websites including this one but commentary is a hugely subjective issue and we believe we have the best team to lead our programme.

“In terms of presentation Suzi Perry has a wealth of experience from years of fronting motorbike racing and our pitlane reporter Matthew Roberts has worked as a journalist for Dorna for 8 years before joining the BBC and his excellent connections with the teams enabled us to break stories last year ahead of anyone else.

“We have taken on board feedback about the non-recordable nature of the red button when viewed on certain platforms and as a result we will be looping the Qualifying on Saturday afternoon and evening and will do the same with the races on Sunday into the following week. A timetable for this will appear on the website at the start of the season.

“The inability to record the red button is a Sky Box issue rather than a specifically BBC one so we are doing all we can to enable you to watch the sessions you may have missed live. If you can get Eurosport then you will also be able to access the red button. Under the terms of the licence we can’t turn BBC3 or 4 into a sports channel although we can use them occasionally and they are unavailable during the day as the bandwidth is used by CBeebies and CBBC.

“All broadcasters take the race coverage from Dorna and this is currently not produced in HD although I understand they are planning to do so in 2010. We took the widescreen coverage of the racing as soon as it became available at the start of the last season and we are always looking for further ways to innovate our coverage. I have a great deal of time for all the Eurosport team, I know them all personally and I was very sorry to see them go at the end of last season but this was a decision taken by Dorna and not the BBC.

“I am always keen to get feedback and to read suggestions as to what you would like to see within the programme and I will continue to read the websites and your views.”
Belinda Rogerson, MotoGP Series Producer, BBC Sport

The BBC’s attempt to be open with MotoGP fans may have backfired somewhat and initial reaction to Belinda’s attempt on Crash.net has been far from suppportive with comments such as:

*Eurosport was the basic acceptable standard, you are not meeting this standard. Therefore your product is inferior. All we need now is “ride it like tonto” commentary every weekend instead of the decent commentary team we are used to.

Belinda has started to engage in the ‘debate’ and you can watch Belinda take on the crash.net forum live (thankfully without commentary from Charlie Cox) here, the flamewar has begun.

17 pages long at the time of writing this! And in the middle of all the fighting, one voice of reason:

FAO Belinda,
Word of advice, don’t get into a war of words with forum trolls, they’re only here to waste time between repeats of Jeremy Kyle and generally can’t be reasoned with….

That may be true – but please Belinda, no more Charlie Cox.

Perry and Roberts I can cope with, even Parrish is bearable when paired up with a decent co-commentator – but Cox brings the whole thing crashing down. We’ve said it before, he’s the David Brent of race-day and the special olympics of sports commentary.

Some noise is already on the BBC forums:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A45519564:
Choice quote: “Mind you, I am quite prepared to watch the season but with the volume muted.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A45954471:
Choice quote: “As for Charlie Cox again has no exciting and informative commentating skills.”

Races fans had their fingers crossed when Cox signed on as a presenter for the Australian version of Top Gear, and hoped that this commitment would mean he would stay in Australia and not come back to the BBC. Cox left the show in December after reviews that could only be descirbed as ‘mixed’ to ‘awful’. And now he’s back. Bollocks.

[Background note: Charlie Cox is one part of the race day commentary team for the BBC coverage of MotoGP]

Ok, let me start by getting something off my chest first – Charlie Cox is an twat who ruins pretty much every race I watch on the BBC with his ‘catchphrases’, ‘jokes’ and barely concealed sexism and borderline racism – I seem to recall him repeatedly referring to the Tech 3 Yamaha team in 2007 as ‘Team Froggy’. So, I guess that could be worse, but its another stick we can use to beat his puffy body with I guess. I’d imagine with every blow he’d wheeze out one of his catchphrases – “I need that like a third armpit” *WACK* “”I need that like a third armpit” *WACK* “I need that like a third armpit” *WACK* etc……

Some of his repetitive quotes that BBC viewers of MotoGP have to put up with include:

• “He needed that like a third armpit” (usually mentioned in every single race at least once a lap)
• “A nightmare in a bubblecar” (again, used repeatedly in every single race)
• “As useful as the bottom half of a mermaid”
  

He’s the David Brent of race day, he’s the special olympics of sports commentary…he’s the Sid Wadell of MotoGP (except far less entertaining than Sid)

The good news: This weekend’s Valencia MotoGP is likely to mark his final MotoGP commentary for the BBC. He’s been fronting the Australian version of Top Gear and rumours are that he’s going home to focus on that, which is great news for race fans. The BBC are yet to confirm their plans for MotoGP for 2009, and who will be their chosen commentary team, but I’m in favour of rescuing as much of the Eurosport team as possible (although I think Julian Ryder has signed up for working with Dorna directly already).

Lend your voice here: Open Petition to the BBC

And to think that Dorna want to open up MotoGP up to a wider audience by giving exclusive rights to the BBC – if that wider audience they crave is defined by people who don’t care about live races, are happy to have random coverage of 125cc and 250cc races, and are happy to have scheduled races bumped for Top Gear repeats, then Dorna have really done their research well, as if the BBC continue at this rate, then thats what they are going to get.

[some highlights from the BBC 606 forums]
—————————————
125cc & 250cc races
0350-0605, BBC Red Button and BBC Sport website
Race live
0645-0800, BBC ONE and BBC Sport website
Race repeat
1145-1300, BBC Red Button and BBC Sport website
0140-0240, BBC TWO

so the race is on tv at 06:45 in the morning, and then repeated at 01:40? thank god for that, dont want to get up too early to watch it anyway. what the hell?

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This doesn’t take into account of any of the fans who may not be able to receive the red button feature (those in remote areas, or who still haven’t updated to digital) and how about those who have to work and are unable to get up at the ridiculous early morning repeat time? I can just about stomach the 11PM repeat times for the flyawway races, but after midnight is ridiculous – the BBC must presume us MotoGP fans are all jobless, drug addicts, as they’re the only people usually up at that time…
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A BBC MotoGP fan below……according to 606 forums (at least getting loaded on crack would probably make Charlie Cox’s commentary bearable, maybe even amusing……..actually no, not amusing, not even crack is that strong :