Big Thumbs Up to OLN!

[Nailhead]

Kudos to OLN for their interest in the Dakar Rally-- in addition to their daily coverage, they have aired THREE one-hour programs summing up the whole Rally from Lisbon to Dakar. Perfect for those of us who can't get enough of the action... To top it off, their tribute to Andy Caldecott was spot-on; sensitive and moving, especially the shot of his bike from a helecopter as it was taking off. The only fly in the ointment was the extremely limited coverage of the trucks: after all-- how often does a person get to watch a vehicle the size of an efficiency apartment racing throught the desert? Anyone remember that old footage of that double-ended truck passing a Porsche 959? Anyway, thanks OLN for your interest in, and coverage of, this awesome, crazy, addictive rally!

-Chris

[jtwind]

I'm with you on this one. There coverage was much improved from last year and much appreciated. I also have my fingers crossed that they pick up world rally coverage. JT

[SQD8R]

[rideLD]

I agree. Some us remember when the only coverage was reading cycle news. Heres to OLN and SPEED for supporting our sport.

[jtwind]

I'm all for congratulating OLN for their picking up Dakar and learning from last year and putting much better coverage on this year. NOT to speed though. They are not supporting out sport at all. They dropped Dakar last year, dropped World Rally and Speedway motorcycling this year. I would't be at all surprised to see Moto GP, World Superbike and AMa superbike suffering or gone soon. JT

[lastplace]

I agree. Congratulations to OLN for very good coverage of the Dakar this year.

(The daily stuff started out a bit lame, especially with the blatant coverage of paying sponsors' teams, but the wrap-up shows proved that they were paying attention during the rally and actually learned, at least a little, of what it was all about. Always remember that this thing is much too big to cover in any length television show.)

[mototifosi]

Huge improvement over last year. We were "all" so spoiled by Toby. Last years was a freshman jinx I think. I was extremely pissed with their delayed coverage and lacking production. It seems they were listening to us and wanted to get it right this year. There was a lot of bad mouthing going around else where on this forum about lack of coverage on the "American" riders and political posturing as to why that was. As is the case so many times with the internet, there was a lot of premature speculation which all turned out to be air. The daily stuff was still lacking but at least it was daily and we didn't have to wait 2 weeks for it. Plus the 3 - 1hr recaps were right on the money. I knew the minute I heard Troutwig it was going to be good. I couldn't take anymore "mispronouncing"!!! They also did right by Andy. To bad we couldn't get that same in depth for Fabrizio. Haunting shot of his bike with the blades kicking up the sand around it hits me hard even a year later. A good amount of Jonah,Chris and the other American drivers and lots of behind the scenes which was great. While still not perfect they seem to be serious about it. They really came thru with the recaps. Hats off to OLN!!! Now go hire Toby...