Televised Motor Racing

Sir,

I wonder if you could do anything to persuade the TV people to televise a Grand Prix for a change. In July we had a situation where two British drivers were leading the British Grand Prix, both driving brilliantly, and holding Niki Lauda at bay and on neither ITV nor BBC was there any television coverage. We have horse racing, cricket, the boat race tennis and athletics all splendidly covered by both BBC and ITV but almost never motor racing.

I have written to Frank Bough at the BBC about this and he didn’t have the courtesy to reply.

I then wrote to Dickie Davies of ITV and had a nice letter back saying that they were considering the matter and hoped to televise some races.

They did in fact cover several Grand Prix races but only about a week or so after the race occurred. If the BBC won’t listen to a number of requests for TV coverage of motor racing events then perhaps you could persuade ITV to take this up.

You are the motorist’s champion and the only motor magazine that shows up the bias that exists in this country against motorists, except perhaps the Veteran Car Club.

Surely it is time to show the British public that we can produce the finest racing drivers in the world.

Etwall, Derbys JOHN SHERRARD

P.S. I thought that John Watson deserved to win and that it was very sporting of Hunt to say that he didn’t think he could have passed him if he had continued.