Dan Long
2018 RD GPC Champion - #3 RiP
So to liven things up I thought we could have a interview with our commentator friend Si Smith who does all the Live stuff for PSR RDLMS coverage. Here is how the interview went!
1. What has been your most rememorable moment of the RDLMS S1 that we had finish just recently and why did you choose this?
I have to say it was laughing at my own little team. BackMarker Brigade, a team I've been running for several years has always been a team that will struggle on in the face of adversity. Much like Minardi, my favourite F1 team, BMB is all about just having a passion to race and enjoy yourself. I never really look at overall speed, its competance, respect, politeness and passion. Having said that, 60 laps down made me proud in ways it really shouldn't have!
The RDLMS series though was absolutely fantastic from start to finish. I'd not commentated for such long periods of times before although I'd raced for many hours on the trot. I was worried it would become processional but as the final race in Sebring showed, anything can happen right down to the wire. It was a privilege and a joy to be part of the series and long may it continue!
2. What is your favourite race of all time (real motorsports) and what made you think this as your fav?
I am big carnage fan. Monaco 1996 sticks in my head as I'm a big Olivier Panis fan. I have no idea why though. I used to pick names on the TV screen that I thought sounded cool as a kid and say things like "Look Dad, I want to be a Katayama!!!" and start walking around steering myself shouting "I'm Ukyo and I'm in the gravel" and "call me Lamy...Pedro Lamy". Also Europe 1999 for me was a fantastic race, I was watching it on Youtube just last week and even though I know exactly what happens, I was still on the edge of my seat screaming "nooo not Badoer!" From a Minardi purist point of view it was one the best and most heartbreaking races I've watched.
3. What is your favourite commentary moment and in what way made it go great?
I do miss Murrayisms! When he got it wrong it was because he was so caught up in the moment. I do it quite often and get tounge tied. However the absolute best piece of live real motor racing commentary comes from the 1989 Monaco grand prix from James Hunt. Much more straight forward than my innuendo!
4. Who is your favourite commentator of all time?
As this interview progresses I'm realising I'm sounding like such a 90's child but aside from the great Murray Walker, I used to love the old Eurosport coverage with Ben Edwards and John Watson. Ben is a great commentator in my humble little opinion and John was so opinionated and blunt, like most drivers-come-commentators, it was quite obvious he was a bitter bunny which made his venom quite entertaining.
I also like to say if your not commentating alone, it really relies on the chemistry you have been the two or three commentators you have at once. I have been in some awfully dead pairings and it does effect your own performance if your not both reading on the same page. Nothing against the other commentator, but its just some styles clash and while I can be deadly serious in commentating all race, I'd rather be hyper excited and have a laugh freeflowing my way through than being set rigid in an A-B-C structure.
I think Crofty and Anthony Davidson have great chemistry and make the BBC coverage of the practice sessions an effortless task even if no one's on track. That same chemistry is something that I feel is lacking in the Legard/Brundle pairing. Martin sounds audibly uncomfortable as Legard's fluffing about fails to capture the essence of what's going on. Both are good commentators but something just doesn't sit right and usually chemistry is near immediate, it doesn't need constant work.
5. What do you use to race on? Pad? Wheel? Keyboard?
Race? You mean go at speed? I'm a bit behind everyone (not just on track) when it comes to peripherals as I think I was the only driver who chose to drive with a keyboard. I had spent so long playing arcade games I was setting my car up (with my limited knowledge) to let the car turn at stupid degree angles. I'd been racing for several years online in various small leagues but when I popped into FSR mid 2008 and racked up a few DNQ's (my Minardi heritage intact phew!) everyone kept saying "get a wheel". Early 2009 I upgraded from my A/Z/</> set up to an xbox controller which I still use now.
I do have a wheel though but it requires far too much co-ordination for me to be doing any of that. Jack Nicholls took pity on me and I bought his Logitech wheel when he moved onto a G25. I sat there in my head thinking, yes now you'll show them, and promptly forgot the whole feet-must-do-your-braking concept and speared off into the barriers! Every now and then I get it out and have a go but I'm even slower than I am usually. That shouldn't really be humanly possible so maybe I'll make a proper go of it for 2011 but for now, if I can scrape inside 107% rules I think I'll survive for now. I'm much more of a survival driver than an outright kamikaze one. I don't care if there' only half a wheel on the thing, if it's still got the engine running and it goes forward - I'm racing!
6. Are you going to be contesting with your snails in the next series of RDLMS or are you going to be giving us more comedic moments in the life of commentating?
I have submitted BackMarker Brigade in for season 2 and hope to be accepted. I think there's a place for on the grid for a hard trying band of dreamers. Plus Meep the Snail will be on the car!!! What more could you want?! I won't be driving though so long as there will be a live broadcast. I'm fortunate enough now to have made so many friends across sim racing I can sit back and watch my cars attempt to brake the pit lane speed limit on the back straight.
7. Will you be playing anymore food games in your next commentary broadcast and what would you like to do it on if you will?
Ah these games are staples now! This traditional started so much smaller in 2009 during the FSR AMA commentaries when I would pretend to have a local country dish to it. "I'm throwing another shrimp on the Barbie in welcome to you for the Australian GP". Then for this year I thought, Simon, you man boobs are aerodynamically challenged, just eat the things for real! I try to find new ways to make the broadcasts as interactive as possible and as welcoming, friendly and enjoyable as can be. If that means suffering my "oh my god, I knew raw fish was a bad idea" followed by a huge thud as I hit the floor - then I'm all for it. (Please don't ask for raw fish next time peeps!)
8. How were your lentils compared to your Snails and do you like eating crazy food?
I was pleasantly surprised with lentils - it looked suspiciously like someone had stolen some rabbit hutch food and curried it. I'd have rather had my King Prawn curry that the other kind man ordered me and that was very nice on a sunday evening.
Snails was mind over matter. I looked at it and thought, what else in the garden can I start hoovering up! Spiders on toast? It took on the flavour of the garlic dressing I gave it. I copped out on that one but live vomit is only fun if its on the racing line at a hairpin and thus causing chaos!
9. What was your first ever commentary moment and what inspired you to become one?
I honestly can't remember the first time I commentated but when I was young and only had a ZX Spectrum I used to get a piece of paper, write the names of the F1 drivers on them, cut them out and map out a track from pencils and pens. I'd then push the paper pieces round the track or roll a dice and move them forward a pen or pencil and I'd be commentating on that back then. Good job I have a vivid imagination! I then moved forward to commentating on GP2/3/4 league highlight video clips back in 2005 but the first internet live broadcasted commentary was in 2008.
I don't really know what inspired me to do it. I suppose I talk so much rubbish and no one listens to me so you are all inflicted with it all! Now days I do it because I feel at home with the community, the fantastic people in it and the hard work and dedication that goes on. It's also a great release as my other passion is being a singer/songwriter and a lot of what I do with that is quite dark and intimate, so being able to express myself in different extremes keeps me a happy snail!
and finally (drum roll pleaseee) {Oooh, can I?
)
10. Do you want to say any thank you's here at RD or any site which has helped you become who you are in this soap studded land of RaceDepartment and PSR TV??
For Race Department itself, I'd firstly like to thank Damian Dainhumain for introducing me to the community. How I'd not heard of it until 2009 I've got no idea. I won't forget that, he's a genuinely nice guy as well.
From there, wow there's so many to thank. Eric, Bram, Yoeri, Ryan for organising leagues for me to babble through. Xose (and Dave too) for providing cameras when they can for me and especially Xose who had to endure my "I press that button? No wait! Argh!" moments learning how to start a broadcast.
From PSRTV land, Ian Busching works tirelessly for the service and deserves a lot of credit for getting it to where it is now. A big thanks for him to have the faith in me to front the iRacing broadcasts (and promptly get him a lot of trouble for being far too rude. Honestly, he about to take him from behind after sniffing round his rear.)
I'd also like to thank everyone that tunes in, joins the chat room and posts in the forums during the broadcasts (and races too) as that's exactly why I do the broadcasts and have an absolute ball doing them. It's all about you guys and I try my best to keep you amused.
Lastly I'd like to thank my drivers and people who have invested time, money and awareness in BackMarker Brigade as a team. In 2010 I decided to run the team without profit or money incentive to my drivers at all. Everything earnt for the team by results or sponsorship for the year is going to two charities whom dealt with both the rebuilding of towns shattered in the Boxing Day Tsunami and the Haiti Earthquake. I'm so grateful that everyones behind it and shows just how great the sim racing community is.
Aww group hug!
----
Hope that's not tooooo epic LOL
Thanks for letting me take part!
Si
And a BIG thanks to Si for letting me interview him about all his times as a commentator, I hope to see him do some more commentaries in the near future!
1. What has been your most rememorable moment of the RDLMS S1 that we had finish just recently and why did you choose this?
I have to say it was laughing at my own little team. BackMarker Brigade, a team I've been running for several years has always been a team that will struggle on in the face of adversity. Much like Minardi, my favourite F1 team, BMB is all about just having a passion to race and enjoy yourself. I never really look at overall speed, its competance, respect, politeness and passion. Having said that, 60 laps down made me proud in ways it really shouldn't have!
The RDLMS series though was absolutely fantastic from start to finish. I'd not commentated for such long periods of times before although I'd raced for many hours on the trot. I was worried it would become processional but as the final race in Sebring showed, anything can happen right down to the wire. It was a privilege and a joy to be part of the series and long may it continue!
2. What is your favourite race of all time (real motorsports) and what made you think this as your fav?
I am big carnage fan. Monaco 1996 sticks in my head as I'm a big Olivier Panis fan. I have no idea why though. I used to pick names on the TV screen that I thought sounded cool as a kid and say things like "Look Dad, I want to be a Katayama!!!" and start walking around steering myself shouting "I'm Ukyo and I'm in the gravel" and "call me Lamy...Pedro Lamy". Also Europe 1999 for me was a fantastic race, I was watching it on Youtube just last week and even though I know exactly what happens, I was still on the edge of my seat screaming "nooo not Badoer!" From a Minardi purist point of view it was one the best and most heartbreaking races I've watched.
3. What is your favourite commentary moment and in what way made it go great?
I do miss Murrayisms! When he got it wrong it was because he was so caught up in the moment. I do it quite often and get tounge tied. However the absolute best piece of live real motor racing commentary comes from the 1989 Monaco grand prix from James Hunt. Much more straight forward than my innuendo!
4. Who is your favourite commentator of all time?
As this interview progresses I'm realising I'm sounding like such a 90's child but aside from the great Murray Walker, I used to love the old Eurosport coverage with Ben Edwards and John Watson. Ben is a great commentator in my humble little opinion and John was so opinionated and blunt, like most drivers-come-commentators, it was quite obvious he was a bitter bunny which made his venom quite entertaining.
I also like to say if your not commentating alone, it really relies on the chemistry you have been the two or three commentators you have at once. I have been in some awfully dead pairings and it does effect your own performance if your not both reading on the same page. Nothing against the other commentator, but its just some styles clash and while I can be deadly serious in commentating all race, I'd rather be hyper excited and have a laugh freeflowing my way through than being set rigid in an A-B-C structure.
I think Crofty and Anthony Davidson have great chemistry and make the BBC coverage of the practice sessions an effortless task even if no one's on track. That same chemistry is something that I feel is lacking in the Legard/Brundle pairing. Martin sounds audibly uncomfortable as Legard's fluffing about fails to capture the essence of what's going on. Both are good commentators but something just doesn't sit right and usually chemistry is near immediate, it doesn't need constant work.
5. What do you use to race on? Pad? Wheel? Keyboard?
Race? You mean go at speed? I'm a bit behind everyone (not just on track) when it comes to peripherals as I think I was the only driver who chose to drive with a keyboard. I had spent so long playing arcade games I was setting my car up (with my limited knowledge) to let the car turn at stupid degree angles. I'd been racing for several years online in various small leagues but when I popped into FSR mid 2008 and racked up a few DNQ's (my Minardi heritage intact phew!) everyone kept saying "get a wheel". Early 2009 I upgraded from my A/Z/</> set up to an xbox controller which I still use now.
I do have a wheel though but it requires far too much co-ordination for me to be doing any of that. Jack Nicholls took pity on me and I bought his Logitech wheel when he moved onto a G25. I sat there in my head thinking, yes now you'll show them, and promptly forgot the whole feet-must-do-your-braking concept and speared off into the barriers! Every now and then I get it out and have a go but I'm even slower than I am usually. That shouldn't really be humanly possible so maybe I'll make a proper go of it for 2011 but for now, if I can scrape inside 107% rules I think I'll survive for now. I'm much more of a survival driver than an outright kamikaze one. I don't care if there' only half a wheel on the thing, if it's still got the engine running and it goes forward - I'm racing!
6. Are you going to be contesting with your snails in the next series of RDLMS or are you going to be giving us more comedic moments in the life of commentating?
I have submitted BackMarker Brigade in for season 2 and hope to be accepted. I think there's a place for on the grid for a hard trying band of dreamers. Plus Meep the Snail will be on the car!!! What more could you want?! I won't be driving though so long as there will be a live broadcast. I'm fortunate enough now to have made so many friends across sim racing I can sit back and watch my cars attempt to brake the pit lane speed limit on the back straight.
7. Will you be playing anymore food games in your next commentary broadcast and what would you like to do it on if you will?
Ah these games are staples now! This traditional started so much smaller in 2009 during the FSR AMA commentaries when I would pretend to have a local country dish to it. "I'm throwing another shrimp on the Barbie in welcome to you for the Australian GP". Then for this year I thought, Simon, you man boobs are aerodynamically challenged, just eat the things for real! I try to find new ways to make the broadcasts as interactive as possible and as welcoming, friendly and enjoyable as can be. If that means suffering my "oh my god, I knew raw fish was a bad idea" followed by a huge thud as I hit the floor - then I'm all for it. (Please don't ask for raw fish next time peeps!)
8. How were your lentils compared to your Snails and do you like eating crazy food?
I was pleasantly surprised with lentils - it looked suspiciously like someone had stolen some rabbit hutch food and curried it. I'd have rather had my King Prawn curry that the other kind man ordered me and that was very nice on a sunday evening.
Snails was mind over matter. I looked at it and thought, what else in the garden can I start hoovering up! Spiders on toast? It took on the flavour of the garlic dressing I gave it. I copped out on that one but live vomit is only fun if its on the racing line at a hairpin and thus causing chaos!
9. What was your first ever commentary moment and what inspired you to become one?
I honestly can't remember the first time I commentated but when I was young and only had a ZX Spectrum I used to get a piece of paper, write the names of the F1 drivers on them, cut them out and map out a track from pencils and pens. I'd then push the paper pieces round the track or roll a dice and move them forward a pen or pencil and I'd be commentating on that back then. Good job I have a vivid imagination! I then moved forward to commentating on GP2/3/4 league highlight video clips back in 2005 but the first internet live broadcasted commentary was in 2008.
I don't really know what inspired me to do it. I suppose I talk so much rubbish and no one listens to me so you are all inflicted with it all! Now days I do it because I feel at home with the community, the fantastic people in it and the hard work and dedication that goes on. It's also a great release as my other passion is being a singer/songwriter and a lot of what I do with that is quite dark and intimate, so being able to express myself in different extremes keeps me a happy snail!
and finally (drum roll pleaseee) {Oooh, can I?
)10. Do you want to say any thank you's here at RD or any site which has helped you become who you are in this soap studded land of RaceDepartment and PSR TV??
For Race Department itself, I'd firstly like to thank Damian Dainhumain for introducing me to the community. How I'd not heard of it until 2009 I've got no idea. I won't forget that, he's a genuinely nice guy as well.
From there, wow there's so many to thank. Eric, Bram, Yoeri, Ryan for organising leagues for me to babble through. Xose (and Dave too) for providing cameras when they can for me and especially Xose who had to endure my "I press that button? No wait! Argh!" moments learning how to start a broadcast.
From PSRTV land, Ian Busching works tirelessly for the service and deserves a lot of credit for getting it to where it is now. A big thanks for him to have the faith in me to front the iRacing broadcasts (and promptly get him a lot of trouble for being far too rude. Honestly, he about to take him from behind after sniffing round his rear.)
I'd also like to thank everyone that tunes in, joins the chat room and posts in the forums during the broadcasts (and races too) as that's exactly why I do the broadcasts and have an absolute ball doing them. It's all about you guys and I try my best to keep you amused.
Lastly I'd like to thank my drivers and people who have invested time, money and awareness in BackMarker Brigade as a team. In 2010 I decided to run the team without profit or money incentive to my drivers at all. Everything earnt for the team by results or sponsorship for the year is going to two charities whom dealt with both the rebuilding of towns shattered in the Boxing Day Tsunami and the Haiti Earthquake. I'm so grateful that everyones behind it and shows just how great the sim racing community is.
Aww group hug!
----
Hope that's not tooooo epic LOL
Thanks for letting me take part!
Si
And a BIG thanks to Si for letting me interview him about all his times as a commentator, I hope to see him do some more commentaries in the near future!
