F1: SPEED - Thanks, Formula One Fans

Formula 1

F1: SPEED - Thanks, Formula One Fans

Thank you, fans, for your support of SPEED’s F1 coverage over the past 17 years...

SPEED Staff | Posted November 25, 2012 Charlotte, NC

SPEED concluded its coverage of Formula One on Sunday after 17 years. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Dear Speedvision, Speed Channel, and SPEED Fans/Viewers,

Please allow me this opportunity to thank all of you for your support of SPEED’s F1 coverage over the past 17 years.

I started at SPEED in July of 1996, and other than David Hobbs, no one has worked on more of SPEED’s Formula One shows than I have.

In 25 years of working in television, I have never known a more passionate and dedicated fan base than the F1 fan and specifically the F1 on SPEED fan.

From the very early days of Speedvision, we heard from you. And we have tried our best to make our shows something that you would want to see. In the past few years, with the advent of social media, we feel as though we have never been more in tune with our fan base. We know that we have failed at times, and we appreciate the fact that you let us know when we’ve let you down. We also hope that our successes have outnumbered those failures.

SPEED’s coverage of Formula One has come a long way since Sam Posey and David Hobbs kicked things off with the Brazilian GP of 1996. For those of you who don’t remember, or are relatively new to our shows, we started out with delayed coverage primetime on Mondays.

Then in 1997, we suddenly had the rights to live coverage of qualifying, and shared live coverage of the races with ESPN. In an odd twist, Sam and David were competing with Bob Varsha that year.

Derek Daly hosted Speedvision’s shows with Sam and David from 1998-1999 before Bob Varsha joined us in 2000. Steve Matchett made his debut on our Canadian Grand Prix coverage that same year.

When we hired Steve for that one race, I heard from a great many of you. It was unbelievable the amount of overwhelmingly positive feedback that Steve received after that one race. We knew, based on your comments, that we had found a star. And we realized, for the first time, how critical the technical/engineering perspective is to motorsports coverage.

From a personal perspective, I’d like to thank you for your understanding of our limitations. We don’t have a massive budget. We don’t have all of the resources that many other shows enjoy. In fact, Speedvision did not have a pit reporter for the first 5 years until we hired Peter Windsor in 2001. We did many pre-race shows with little more than great archival footage and some very talented feature producers.

Adding Peter to the team was a big step forward for us. His grid walks were always a source of anxiety; you never knew where he was going to go or what was going to happen next. And I hope you know that the grid walk was also done for you. The philosophy was always that the starting grid for a Formula One race was the coolest place that any of us could ever hope to be. Peter’s mission was to effectively take the viewer by the hand and walk them through the mass of people on the grid. He would introduce you to some friends and celebrities, point out some of the things you wouldn’t ordinarily see and basically take you to a place you may never get the chance to go.

Since Peter has moved on, we have been fortunate to have Will Buxton on board for the past 3 years. His enthusiasm is certainly infectious. We are just worried that he may not be able to sustain his energy level if he is ever cut off from Ferrari’s espresso machine.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge other folks who have called races on SPEED. Rick DeBruhl took over for Bob Varsha for 2 years in 2002 and 2003 while Bob covered the CART Series. Greg Creamer filled in for a few races as well over the years. Bobby Rahal and Townsend Bell did a terrific job when asked to fill in for David Hobbs, and Westbury Gillett covered for Will at the beginning of 2010. I would say that Leigh Diffey has filled in for Varsha since 2004, but referring to Leigh as a “fill-in” would do him a disservice. Leigh is extraordinarily talented, and as many of you know, he will call the F1 races next year along with David and Steve.

This letter was intended to be a thank you to our fans. If you’ve made it this far, I hope you don’t mind indulging me for a few more acknowledgements. I feel it’s important for you to know some of the folks who have poured everything they have into these shows since 1996.

Along with me, there have been 4 other F1 producers for SPEED over the past 17 years. Dave Lee (now with Velocity), Pete Neal (an Iraqi War vet now working to further his education), Dan Shutte (still at SPEED working on our NASCAR shows), and Jason Goldenberg who will guide the ship on her last voyage.

Our current production team includes Justin Kircher (the voice and creator of Paddock Pass), Jared Sells, Cynthia Castanares, Rick Ratajczak, Branden Williams, and Sean “Statman” Kelly.

There are literally hundreds of others who have contributed to SPEED’s coverage of Formula One over the past 17 years. Though I cannot name each of them, please know this: everyone who has worked on F1 on SPEED has had an extraordinary passion for the sport, and my lasting hope is that the passion was evident to anyone watching at home.

And on a personal level, I have one more thank you. To my father, Dr. Frank J. Wilson: thank you for taking me to the 1970 Daily Express Meeting at Silverstone. Sharing Formula One with you over the past 42 years and, more importantly, the past 17 has made it all so very worthwhile.

To our fans: thank you again. The support you have shown us has been humbling. I know I speak for Bob, David, Steve, Sam, Will and everyone past and present who has worked on F1 on SPEED when I say that your passion and loyalty has been the prime motivator of this team for the past 17 years.

With most sincere appreciation,

Frank Wilson
SPEED VP and Executive Producer
Frank.Wilson@Speed.com