Running for the 92nd time this year the famed Greatest Spectacle in Racing the Indy 500 , notably the worlds largest single day sporting event will take on a new meaning as new teams and drivers do battle to make the 33-car strong starting line up.
ONE Sport will once again have a team there to cover race week build up and all the race day dramas as they unfold.
You can join Robert Rakete and Bob McMurray from Indianapolis for the 92nd Indianapolis 500 Race Preview on Sunday afternoon May 25th on Powerbuilt Tools Motorsport and then the race highlights and race day pre and post race reactions on Sunday June 1 all here and free to air on TV ONE.
Plus from May 16th catch all the latest news as the team files daily reports from Indianapolis right here at www.tvnz.co.nz keyword motorsport so rest assured you will have all the latest news as this becomes perhaps the biggest year in open wheeled competition in the US for quite some time.
Bob's View
So, it's on then.
TVNZ in the form of TV1's ONE SPORT and the Powerbuilt Tools Motorsport show are going back to the Indy 500 in May for the 92nd running of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing"2008.
I am very pleased to say that they have asked me to be part of the team to bring you possibly the most important 500 race in very many years.
Those who know me will understand me when I say that motor racing has been part of my life and the opportunity to be at the Indy 500 once again is one that really cannot be passed up.
Oval racing is the very essence of "auto racing" in the USA and the Indy 500 is the very epitome of American open wheel oval racing.
The recent merger between the IRL and ChampCar has ensured that the best open wheel race drivers in the States will be battling for one prize in one unified form of car and machine and this years race is a major turning point for the very future and fabric of the entire racing industry.
Am I going there to work?
Yes!
Would I go there to just watch and be there?
Yes! You bet!
Is it hard work?
Not when you are enjoying yourself at something you love to do.
Do we have fun?
Oh yes!! but our aim is to bring you the very best show we can and give you an insight to this great event.
We will once again be going there as a small and tight (in money terms as well as numbers) crew made up of David Turner (Producer/Director/Driver/Worrier for all of us), Robert Rakete (well known personality although well known for what I am not sure), John Robertson (a delicate, talented and incredibly hard working cameraman with the build of a front rower), a new addition to the team this year in the form of Ben Marshall (editor and graphic design artist).
Ben is going with some new electronic editing equipment that will apparently, among other things, make things look better on the tele (although just how anything could make me look better than I already do I just fail to understand!!) and (now this is the really good bit) ME !!!
(As the cheering and the applause subside I modestly nod to the crowd).
So what can we expect from the show?
A darn good show for a start !!!
An insight into what makes the race and things around it tick.
A new look to the show with maybe one or two local ring ins to give their point of view.
And STUFF.
Stuff that has not yet been decided.
Which gives me a real good idea.
If anybody has anything that they really want to know about or see, from the "500" itself or anything around it, then just e-mail David Turner david.turner@tvnz.co.nz and we will try and either answer your question on the show or on this site or try and show you what you are looking for. Now's your chance to ask things about this event and set us on the task of finding you that answer.
Let us know.
We will be trying to write a blog each day for you to read right here on tvnz.co.nz and this year we may even include the "PHOTO OF THE DAY" in it.
Don't expect anything specific from the photo as it may well be completely off base as far as the 500 goes. We will just have to see.
I am as excited about going as I have ever been and that excitement is compounded because I really believe this years event will be fantastic and the chance to be part of it and to attempt to convey my own excitement in the form of making a good TV programme is not one that comes along every day.
Add to all of that the fact that our own Scott Dixon will be one of the front-runners and what can I say.
So remember, e-mail in anything you would like to see in the show and ROLL ON MAY!
Bob McMurray
