Cycle News

MOTOCROSS 2014 ROCKY MOUNTAIN ATV-MC AMA AMATEUR NATIONAL MOTOCROSS JULY 29-AUGUST 2, 2012 LORETTA LYNN RANCH/HURRICANE MILLS, TENNESSEE P96 future in motocross. In the 65cc division, another rider who you might be hearing a lot about in the near future is Cali- fornia's Josh Varize. He swept the 10-11 Limited class with rela- tive ease. After winning the first 7-11 moto, Varize ran into some problems, including a couple of crashes, but he still turned some heads with some impressive rid- ing all week. FEMALE FLIERS One of the more exciting riders to watch all week was Florida's Hannah Hodges ripping around the track on her RM85 in the Girls 12-16 class. She led ev- FILLING THE VOID: ANOTHER WAY TO WATCH LORETTA'S If you weren't able to attend Lo- retta Lynn's this year, you were still able to see a lot of the action live online on RacerTV.com. The on- line broadcast network streamed 32 hours of live racing coverage from this year's event, guarantee- ing that every class would be covered live at least once. RacerTV.com broke ground two years ago with Internet coverage of GNCC races before expanding to other racing series and other programs. Headed up by Racer Production's Carrie Coombs, the idea is to eventually build "an online chan- nel that's all racing all the time." "Whether it's racing, or highlight packages from off-road races and other premiere American motocross events, we want to fill the void that's left by broadcast TV," says Coombs. "It's an idea that kind of took root many years ago with Cycle News' Virtual Grandstand - just a guy with a computer and a phone line. Now we have a full production staff and a fleet of cameramen. "The whole concept came be- cause we all know that network TV is very expensive," adds Coombs. "And there have been some great series with good intentions come and go because they couldn't afford television. We know there are races that will never be live on network television. No network is going to do a show on a four-hour off-road motorcycle race on a Sunday after- noon. They're not going to devote that much time for that kind of show, because there are other things going on. So there is a place for us, but that's only on the Internet." For Coombs and crew, it was a steep learning curve going into their first broadcast. And from where they started to where they are now it's light years apart. "You had to be at that first GNCC two years ago (laughs)," said Coombs. "We bought all this fancy equipment from Europe and now it's like, how do we use it? We've come a long way." Loretta Lynn's, which RacerTV has covered for the last two years, has been their biggest undertaking, and it took a big investment to get things started. "The first thing we bought was a satellite dish, that was job one," says Coombs. "Then for Loretta's, we have eight cameras shooting live during the event. Some of them are stationary, and some are remotes. We also have a shoulder-mounted camera that is wireless and mobile, so we can get to key areas for inter- views and key areas on the track. We also have stationary cameras at stra- tegic places around the racetrack." As far as the announcing crews, RacerTV had four an- nouncers covering Loretta Lynn's, two in the tower – Jason Weigandt and Rodney Tomlin, plus Wes Kain on the podium and Jen Kenyon, who was the infield announcer. Kenyon's job was to do interviews with VIPs and industry personnel for the program and during the week they had Rodney Smith, Bryan Deegan, and Ryan Villopoto on the broadcast. "The great part is that everything is archived on the Internet, you can go online and watch your races at night if you want," says Coombs. "We've had a lot of really good feedback and a lot of social interaction as well." According to Coombs, RacerTV. com is still in its infancy and the sky is the limit. She's hoping to persuade other racing series to be part of the program. "A wise man told me a rising tide lifts all ships and we want every pro- moter to have an opportunity to have a show on RacerTV," says Coombs. "That's why we are training all of these cameramen and sending them to other events. There is a place for us and the off-road racing world, but that's only on the Internet. With the technology we have today, we can do that, but it can't just be about us and our races." Shan Moore For the third time, you could watch portions of the Loretta's race each day live on the Internet via RacerTV.

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