last year black olive covered hyden only and it was shown on sbs.ORP also done coverage on hyden and the rest of aorc events last year and it was shown on one hd,if i remember correctly,. i enjoyed all coverage that the aorc recieved last year.

hankmoody wrote:

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Once again I read the comments posted on a site owned and populated by the very enthusiasts of the exciting sport that the forum is designed to promote and I wonder, why the whinge? I have had the good fortune to witness first hand the emergence of this sport over the last two decades. From the days when forty of us would turn up at someone's cousin's farm on Saturday to mark the track, light the fire and drink the beer and then race the dozen or so homemade off road chariots on the Sunday for no more glory than receiving a hastily knocked up trophy and being bought the first round, to the monumental, well organised, professional spectacle that was the first round of the AORC at Hyden last month. Ninety of the best presented off road racing cars of all classes from all corners of the country, new transporters, big sponsors, the support of an entire township / shire, camera crews and local radio conducting interviews, photographers everywhere and, most importantly, hundreds of cheering, enthusiastic spectators. Who would have thought all those years ago that one day we would be doing what we love in an environment where families and groups of spectators would make the not inconsiderable trek out to our events to watch us compete, kids and parents alike wearing the livery of their favourite off road team. This monumental progression has taken time and thousands of hours of selfless dedication by a wide cross section of passionate believers in our sport.
Whilst all of us know how exciting our sport can be and indeed many of us wonder what's taking the rest of the population so long to catch on, I'll hazard a guess to say that Network Television is not beating down the door in a bidding war to secure the AORC rights, just yet. I'm not privvy to the nuts and bolts of the media deals being done each year but I am privvy to the feedback I receive from work collegues, friends of friends and indeed perfect strangers commenting on the AORC and showing a surprising knowledge of the sport as a whole, due largely to the television exposure on Speedweek. You'll see what I mean if you load up the race car and take it down to the local shopping centre on a Saturday morning. Make sure you're well prepared, because the public knows what they're seeing and the kids will want a poster. How many of us get stopped at every roadhouse across the country to talk about the series and what's in the transporter? If we go back even just three or four years I'll bet I wasn't alone being forced to describe our Pro Buggies as "Yeah, just like beach buggies." The exposure our sport is receiving is phenomenal; sure there are more avenues to explore out there but there always will be. As competitors, we should keep working hard to promote our sport, display our cars, talk to people, encourage sponsorship and pounce on any opportunity to further our cause. (and try and win a few races too..) The TV deals, when they come, will be made by the professionals in that field that our off road committee appoints. We have a say in the direction this process heads when we vote our committee in.
Black Olive, ORP, SBS, oneHD, youtube, Network TV or whatever the direction, let's support the decision, be positive with our sponsors and get on track with bringing Off Road Racing the attention it deserves.

As a post script and whilst we're on the subject, it is a joy to watch the Black Olive chopper pilot showcasing his talent and obvious understanding of our sport by spectacularly pushing the envelope to bring us that amazing high speed, close up vision that our supporters love.

See you in June for undoubtably the biggest and best Finke ever.

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There is a lot more to the TV side of offroad racing than most people know about and I'm sure that after the last couple of months those that had anything to do with it do not want to hear one more thing about TV.
Basically nothing is free and the money has to come from somewhere, so the more coverage we want the more it costs.
The AORC could have been on one hd this year but the costs associated with it were rather high, I am very confident that the AORC will be on commercial TV very soon but it has to be done properly and we need some very good sponsors to make it happen, that said if things go to plan and ORRINC can achieve what they set out to do the AORC will be broadcast Australia wide on commercial TV for the 2011 season.
Please don't criticise those that are trying their best to promote offroad racing, it may not be perfect but I think that it is near impossible to please everyone.