DAY IN THE LIFE
Whether at frozen lakes or Goodwood, this commentator thrives on the thrill of reporting all kinds of motorsport
Motorsport commentator and Shelsley Walsh diehard Toby Moody
I’VE BEEN FREELANCE since my 22nd birthday, so every day is different with racetrack commentaries, car launches, voiceovers… and lots of phone calls. So many phone calls that I’ve now put a chair at the end of the garden so I can talk away in peace while admiring the view over the fields.
If I’m at a racetrack, I try to make the mornings as stress-free as possible. The secret of that is to start ‘race day’ the night before, by doing notes and prep for the broadcast the next day. Turning up and winging it won’t do the job. The ‘old school’ may well have managed late nights with bottles of red and four hours’ sleep, but broadcasting with a hangover doesn’t work. I’ve tried it and it’s rubbish.
Taking time to watch the chaos of fans as they try to blag their way into the Mugello MotoGP paddock with the old ‘I’m a friend of Valentino’ line always amuses, while standing on the top of a motorhome at Jerez, hearing Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy
Diamond over the PA as the sun peeks over the hill, gets you in the right spirit to portray just how brilliant these sporting days are.
For me, commentating isn’t just about saying there’s a red one in front of the blue one. It’s about the experience of the weekend, not only for petrolheads but also for the viewer who drifts in and out, so I’m always trying to make a mental note of things to add to a broadcast. Being a ‘scoop’ journalist has never interested me, but talking to people and getting nuggets impossible to use on-air are all useful in building up a full picture of the paddock and the race.
This year I’ve commentated on some Scandinavian RallyCross, where the commentary box was an EasyUp tent overlooking a frozen lake at -12ºC. It was huge fun but I always look forward to the Le Mans 24 Hours, where I’ve worked for a few years now as a commentator for the ACO on its world feed and as a host for manufacturers in their hospitality units.
At Le Mans you have to temper the enthusiasm and conserve your energy levels, as you need to be on top form whenever you’re in the box. So trying to go to bed early
is a priority, in one of the new caravans that the ACO lays on by the TV area. It’s a brilliant innovation because you save hours by not being stuck in traffic, and with the big hospitalities nearby there’s a chance of a second breakfast with Aston or Porsche – I can’t function without food in the morning.
This year I’m presenting at the Goodwood Festival of Speed again. That means long days, but it’s all worth it for who and what you see. The thrill there is hearing from my producer: ‘We need a five-minute piece, live, in under a minute’s time, please, Toby.’ To think of what to say about the nearest Porsche 956 or Audi Quattro is a buzz before hearing the ‘Cue Toby!’ in my ears. The TV guys almost have their own separate race alongside the racing on track.
The phone will surely ring during the day wherever I am in the world. It was pretty cool to be asked to work for Jenson Button this year as he races SuperGT in Japan. He has a YouTube channel that covers what’s happening behind the scenes as well as the races, which are edited down to about 20 minutes each. It’s opening up a wider horizon for fans to keep in touch with a genuinely cool dude. I popped out to Fuji for a preseason test and he was mobbed by fans every time he went outside the garage. So there were three security guys… at a test session!
There’ll always be work for Shelsley Walsh during my day because I’m a director there. I’ve seen it grow from hosting three race weekends a year to seven, plus lots of other events that aren’t against the clock. I did my first commentary at Shelsley and I have a soft spot for it in my motorsport world. It was my dream to see an Auto Union C-Type return to Shelsley, and I made it happen in 2016 when Hans-Joachim Stuck came and wowed us all.
I’m a complete BMW E30 M3 nut, since having a summer holiday job at Prodrive in 1990, where I worked on the Bastos M3. For a 17-year-old that was pretty special, and it made me fall in love with such a cool car. So it was clearly fate when I saw the right one advertised for sale in 1999. I bought it and used it to drive to Imola, Monza, Switzerland, Andorra and Spain.
I still have it, so on the odd sunny weekday I’ll take it out without feeling guilty, as I was probably working at a circuit the weekend before. The M3 fuelled a love of classic and youngtimer cars that lasts to this day.