Author: Pat W

The Blog’s New Facebook Page

I have a new Facebook page! It can be accessed HERE.

www.facebook.com/iwatchtoomuchracing/

Why did I make one?

I find myself reading features and watching videos I think are really interesting and I want to share them. They are sometimes interesting pieces about things not front and centre in the motorsport eye so they’re easily missed. Discussing things about racing outside F1 and NASCAR (as well as interesting things within them that aren’t just the latest “he said, she said”) was the reason this blog was started in the first place. The Twitter account, and now the Facebook account, are just extensions of this.

The blog no longer seems the sensible place to collate external links. I do like the idea of short-form posts sharing things, like the post before this one about McLaren’s old team bases, but in reality few people read them and even fewer click through to read the thing I’m sharing. And I can relate. Clicking a link to a site only to find it’s a link to another site, just isn’t how things are done!

I think the blog is better served as a place to keep my thoughts, as and when I feel like writing them. (I might be tempted to post here a summary of things shared on FB..!).

Twitter timelines can fly by quickly, and people don’t – I think? – go back through the day or through individual accounts to see what they missed. Maybe they do.. It seems that the Pages function on Facebook is much better suited to this. In any case, FB reaches a slightly different audience, so I’ll continue to use Twitter for sharing things.

The final reason is this: Somehow, somewhere, someone seems to have decided that sharing on Twitter or Facebook is fine, it’s just considered sharing and is encouraged.
“Please Like and Share!!”
Put a video on your FB page and you’re helping.
But if you post the same video, treated in exactly the same way, embedded in a blog post..
“Oh no, that’s theft, how dare you, you need permission for that!”

I really can’t see the difference! Both are published on pages controlled by the same person, both are shares. If this were a profit-making website I’d understand. But it isn’t. It’s a blog.

And it is a blog. Not a content aggregator.

I don’t really feel I have enough to say to write many long-form blog posts nowadays, but I’d like to get into the rhythm of writing once a week. (I’ve said that before and not done it). I ramble on Twitter. Twitter is for short-form. I should be rambling here!

So my logic for the 3 places is this:
Twitter = Instant reaction, conversation, soundbites, retweets & links to things I found.
Facebook = Links to things I found.
Blog = Comments and ramblings, plus a place to put the calendar links because I don’t know what else to do with them.

All this stuff is my hobby, this is my effort at streamlining and making the most of my time.

Quote of the Day: A Classic Piece of Ronspeak

“You’ll notice that we have optimised the lateral optical interface of this building.”
I turned to McLaren’s then PR lady Ellen Kolby, and asked nervously:
“Er, does that mean it has a lot of windows?”

“You’ll notice that we have optimised the lateral optical interface of this building.”
I turned to McLaren’s then PR lady Ellen Kolby, and asked nervously:
“Er, does that mean it has a lot of windows?”

Alan Henry being given a tour of ‘Paragon’, later to be renamed the McLaren Technology Centre, by Ron Dennis in the later phases of construction.

For the last couple of years the respected and long-standing motor sport journalist Alan Henry has been writing blogs for McLaren and they are well worth going back through and reading.

This quote is from “In search of McLaren’s true roots” from August 2014, which runs through the team’s moves from factory to factory before settling in the MTC. It becomes even more interesting if you open up Google Maps and Streetview!

2016 Motorsport Calendars

2016’s calendars are now available!

Each year I produce motorsport calendars for use within Google Calendar, iCal, Outlook and many other apps.

I have now added as many 2016 motorsport dates as I can find and they are available to use!

Just go to:   www.toomuchracing.com/calendar

There are a few notes on my methodology followed by a table showing each racing series:  F1, MotoGP, IndyCar, WEC, IMSA, NASCAR, WTCC, BTCC, DTM and many more. Just click the links on the right hand side of the table.

There are a couple of options, try each to find the one that works the way you want it.

If you subscribed to these feeds in 2015, or before, and have not removed them, you do not need to add them again. Just scroll forwards and the dates will be there. This obviously doesn’t apply if you took it as a download!

Thanks everybody for your continued support of this project. Do keep pointing out errors and omissions. And share with anybody who may be interested!

This Blog

A quick note on the blog:  I apologise for not posting more frequently. The last couple of years have been quite tiring. I keep meaning to return with lots of small posts and observations rather than the occasional long-read. I do miss the long posts as well.

I’m also considering a Facebook page. On Twitter I share or retweet lots of stories I think are interesting or funny and it might be useful to have a place on FB to do the same. Let me know your thoughts.

For F1’s Sake Podcast

I used to listen to ‘Another F1 Podcast’ until they stopped making them. A podcast of frank opinions from a couple of guys on the state of F1, on teams and on how much of a **** Alonso may or may not be.

Now one of the two has moved on to a new monthly podcast along with two new co-hosts. Loose F1 chat in a ‘mates in the pub’ style. I don’t always agree though I do quite a bit and its all good fun – and nice to hear real opinions rather than a by-the-numbers field rundown or the details of what one of the Toro Rosso guys had for breakfast.

A little bit sweary in places, though not as much as in AF1P, so maybe not for the little ones!

It actually started 3 weeks ago, which I knew but then forgot because I’m stupid and can’t remember things.

For F1’s Sake (Soundcloud)

July’s podcast (36 minutes), recorded after the Hungarian GP:

No behind-the-scenes PR going on here, this is just an old-school ‘I found this and wanted to share it’ post. They haven’t paid me for this. Bastards.

[Edit – Updated links]