The 2001 season saw the return of Toca Radio to the BTCC, and with it came the distinctive voice of Alan Hyde. The radio team provide an invaluable service to the fans over the course of the race weekend, and this has been even more the case this year, with live-streaming of the service on to the internet. So whether at the track or at home, chances are that you have listened to Alan Hyde’s commentary this year. Following the end of the season we thought we take the opportunity to quiz Alan on, amongst other things, how he thinks the year has gone.

I played guitar from the age of six, and electric guitar from the age of eight, and eventually formed a band at school when I was about fourteen. I guess that when we started gigging, about that time, I started getting used to talking to audiences. The in between songs banter was based on the style used by Hugh Cornwell, the lead singer of my fave band at the time, The Stranglers! I realised at the time that I actually used to enjoy doing the banter a little bit more than I actually enjoyed playing the songs!

I left school, and became manager of a musical instrument shop. I formed a more pro based band, and STILL preferred the talking to the audience to playing the music!

I became self employed in 1987, running my own recording studio based at home, and it was from here that I started writing and recording radio jingles for a popular radio DJ – who I also started hosting road shows for. From that point, I also started doing discos and DJing in nightclubs, instead of pursuing the live music option!

During spare weekends, I used to accompany Tony Coales, a friend of mine who used to be my sixth form English teacher, to race weekends. He used to drive a Mallock Mk 18B in the K Sports 1600 Clubmans Championship. He also used to spend some time PA commentating at these meetings, and I used to go along as his lap charter.

Following one weekend of commentary in 1993 that I had not attended, we were talking on the phone the following week, and he told me that the second commentator had not turned up, and that he had been told his services wouldn’t be required anymore! I asked what was going to happen for the following weekend, and he said he didn’t know. I offered my services to do the post race presentations and interviews, if they were really stuck for a voice, (and then got off the phone and wondered if I actually would be able to do it!). The suggestion was put to the big boss in commentary, and I think I got the job through Hobson’s Choice! I think I did OK though, and I got a few more bookings after that. Three meetings later, I talked at my first BTCC meeting.

What started off your passion for motorsport?

I remember being interested in Grand Prix when I was REALLY little – I actually remember listening about it on the radio rather than seeing it on the TV. I remember stories of Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, and later, James Hunt. I used to like collecting the models and stickers.

The first Grand Prix I actually went to was in the early 80s at Brands Hatch, and I think the thing that particularly grabbed my attention that weekend were the John Player Special girls…… Nothing very much has changed really – I still think it is the glamour and the people of motorsport that I love so very much!

Who were your early heroes?

The above names were just really people that I was aware of – not really my heroes, because I didn’t know enough of what was going on for them to be heroes.
My real heroes were musicians: Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy and Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits immediately spring to mind. Now Mark Knopfler has to be a super hero – not only does he write wonderful music, and play beautiful guitar, but he also has a fine collection of historic racing cars.

I actually met and interviewed him last year at Coys Historic Festival at Silverstone, when he was racing his Masarati! What more could you ask for from a hero?!

I guess Nigel Mansell was really my first motorsport hero. I saw his first ever Grand Prix win at Brands – in fact, I have a photo of him going around the circuit on the back of the Brands Hatch winners car – which I understand he got into lots of trouble for, as it wasn’t an official FIA Grand Prix vehicle! When he did the BTCC a couple of years back for Ford – he signed that photo! Mega.

As I started to follow Formula Ford, F3 and F3000, I became pretty interested in Johnny Herbert. I was looking forward to his career in F1, which I thought was inevitable, and then I was at the Brands Hatch F3000 meeting when he crashed and smashed his legs and feet so very badly. That upset me a great deal – and I was stunned and delighted that he was able to make such a comeback, and finish fourth in his first Grand Prix just a few months later, when he could barely hobble, let alone drive an F1 car! That is stuff that heroes are made of!

What are some of your greatest memories from covering motorsport events?

Wow. There are so many. I guess I am the kind of motorsport fan who has his major interest in the people side of the sport, so my greatest memories are usually the emotional moments. Matt Neal winning a race and picking up £250,000 was pretty special! Yvan Muller overtaking into Paddock Hill Bend is a pretty cool memory as well!

Johnny Herbert finishing his first Grand Prix was amazing, and then his first Grand Prix win at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone was incredible as well. Spookily it coincided with my first ever broadcast at a Grand Prix – I was the news reader that year on Radio Silverstone, and the IRN Headlines for the 5.00pm news was that Johnny Herbert had won the British Grand Prix! I enjoyed reading that!

Who is the most well-known motor racing personality you have met and is there anyone you’d particularly like to interview?

I had quite an honour this year – I was asked to conduct the post race podium at the Rockingham 500 Champ Car meeting, which I could barely believe, considering it was beaming live around the world! Roger Penske collected his award, and I was there to interview him, together with drivers like Kenny Brack and Gil de Ferran. Funnily enough, I remember Gil from British F3 – in fact, I remember chatting to Mika Hakkinen at Thruxton, when he was doing F3 as well!

I have interviewed Murray Walker, and even worked with him, which is a great honour. Stirling Moss, Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Ralf Schumacher, Damon Hill, there are loads of people who I have interviewed from the world of motorsport, who I sometimes can barely believe that I have been lucky enough to talk to. To pick one is too hard – I am grateful for the people I have been able to talk to – but I guess Murray is the legend from the field of work that I’m in, so I’ll pick him!

When did you first start working in the BTCC and how much has it changed since then?

The first BTCC meeting that I talked at was in 1993. I guess the main change as far as I’m concerned was that back then I wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone connected with the British Touring Car Championship! I was only allowed to do support races, as the BTCC had it’s own commentator, Brian Jones, who would do the races, and then come down and do the presentations as well.

The big memory that I have of that day was standing up on the Thruxton podium, getting ready to watch the race rather than report on it. Murray Walker appeared behind me, and he was then the voice of BTCC on the BBC.

I stepped back to allow him in to stand in front of me for a better view. “No, no” he said, “you stay where you are – you’re working, I’m not!”. I thought this was an incredibly gentlemanly and respectful thing to say. I was far too embarrassed to explain that actually Murray, I wasn’t talking about this particular race! He probably wouldn’t have heard over the cars anyway….

Obviously, the championship itself has changed massively during this time – I became quite regularly involved in the BTCC in 1997, and its changed a lot even since then. But then, times have changed so much, not just in motorsport, but in the world, so the championship has had to change to accommodate those changes.

This year has been proof that change is not necessarily a bad thing, as we have once again had a championship that has gone right down to the last round, as it did in 2000 with Super Tourers.

I was quite sad when we lost the classes and the RS500s and we went to 2-litre formula in the early 90s. I was proved very wrong! So the major changes this year made me quite excited at the prospect of change, and I was very pleasantly rewarded! This year has been mega in my opinion, and next year will be even better.

The sweetener for me was at the start of the year, when I learnt that Peugeot were entering the 406 Coupe, a car that I have drooled over since it first went on the market! When I knew that, I knew that the cars were going to look good! Little did I know how good they were going to sound and race as well!

Do you have a favourite circuit to work at?

Every circuit has it’s own character, which is great. To pick one circuit above all others I guess it has to be Brands.

Firstly because it’s only fifteen minutes from my house, so it does make the logistics of a race weekend slightly easier! But the main reason I love Brands is because it was the circuit that I used to go to when I was younger, and it is always with disbelief that I realise that I am actually working there, all these years on! Talking to the people in the grandstands and on the banking, where I used to sit!

I used to sit on the bank at Paddock Hill, weekend after weekend, and listen to every single word of the commentator, Brian Jones, who always made me feel at home there, even when I was there on my own, as he has such a friendly, welcoming style. It was like I had friend there every time I went to the circuit. A couple of people have said the very same thing to me this year, about their visits to a circuit at which I have been talking, which I find incredibly flattering.

Do you find all drivers very co-operative to work with or are there some who are much harder to get information from?

This year, the drivers have all been brilliant. Noticeably so. I reckon this is because the plan to have TOCA Radio back came from the top – Richard West – and he has raised our profile immeasurably. At the media day back in March, we were one of his announcements, which I couldn’t believe! Normally we have existed in spite of ourselves. This year, everyone was made aware of our presence both within and outside of the championship, and it has helped our cause greatly.

When I started working within the championship in a more regular way in 1997, there were a couple of drivers of who were very wary of interviews, in fact, wary of media period. I think the idea was that we might mean them harm or damage.

At that stage, I made it a personal goal of mine to earn the trust of one of them in particular, and therefore, before too long, get a rewarding interview. By the end of the 2000 season, I had become very nice friends with him, and we shared some lovely moments last year, as well as some great interviews. They are only people, and if you treat them with the respect that they deserve as successful people in their chosen field, then if I find them difficult to interview, it must be me who’s doing something wrong!

If I try to get to know them and I treat them with the respect that they deserve, I shouldn’t have a problem.

They are all individuals, they are all people, and they are all different, so if you get to know each one individually, you should be OK. It makes me quite sad sometimes when some drivers, or rather people, are misunderstood, and are therefore seen to be arrogant or rude. Some of them might just be a little shy or wary – they are all people, after all!

Are there any drivers who have genuinely left you in awe of their ability in recent years?

Every one of them that does what they do! Every driver who took part in that Feature Race at Brands Hatch for the final round of the 2001 season deserves a medal! They do an amazing job – I’m not too sure I can pick one out in particular………..

I do have a great respect for versatile drivers, though. Drivers who do what Grand Prix drivers from years gone by used to do – drive in different things and still drive well. I think Yvan Muller is to be commended for his busy driving life – previously Le Mans, F3000, and currently Touring Cars, Ice Racing and Rallying! There are a few drivers who show that kind of versatility, and I respect that massively.

Ayrton was the hero of all time for me, though. Sadly he died on my birthday, and I do a little silence for him every year, at just gone two in the afternoon. He was awesome. The day after he died, I had to do my first ever race commentary, (as opposed to presentations and interviews), and it was difficult to concentrate with the magnitude of what had happened that weekend.

Do you prefer to work in and around the paddock where the action is or in the commentary box?

That’s a really good question! I much prefer to work around people. I’m not that interested in what I have to say, I’m far more interested in what the stars have to say. I still like to talk about races as well, but I feel like a caged animal when I can’t get to the people. I feel like I’m talking about people who can hear what I’m saying, but I’d be far happier for them to be telling me about what’s happening!

I also have a throat issue. It dates back to when I was a singer, I think, but about seven years ago I had an operation to remove vocal cord nodes. Since then, my voice doesn’t have the greatest of longevity before it starts to get croaky and painful. Talking non-stop in excited tones about many races tends to take its toll more than stalking the paddock and doing studio talk shows!

How did the rebirth of Toca Radio come about?

Lots of people realised how much they missed the service last year, when it wasn’t there. Richard West seemed to be sure that he wanted the service back from the moment he took the job on, for which I, and a lot of other people, are extremely grateful. His support of our endeavour this year has been a great fillip to what we have been doing, and his praise has been very gratefully received. He has raised our profile and people’s awareness of our service more than anyone else has ever done.

The service takes a surprisingly large amount of money to operate for a full championship year. Our money always came from advertising revenue, but in 2000 it dried up.

This year would not have happened at all without the support of www.theAA.com, and we thank them massively for that. They have actually been a dream sponsor this year, and have been extremely supportive of all of our work.

Are you pleased with the reaction it’s had this year?

I am bowled over, to be honest.

Really, the support that we have had from listeners has been staggering. It’s great that we are getting fans and supporters involved in what we do, asking questions, making suggestions, and even just coming up and saying hello. It makes us feel like we are actually providing something worthwhile, and that people are actually listening! I have been extremely grateful that we were able to secure the services of Ian Titchmarsh and the team that we have used during the year, including the guest commentators that we have used. Their professionalism makes it all very rewarding.

This year was the first year that I have actually been given the gig to co ordinate and produce, and I am very grateful for that opportunity. I thought it might be scary, but it has actually enabled me to shape the whole thing to sound how I wanted it to, rather than just being told what to do. It was a very nice opportunity that I have enjoyed thoroughly.

What improvements would you like to make to the service?

I reckon I would like to make sure the that whole broadcast goes to the web. That is top of my wish list for next year! Qualifying day is the day that perhaps doesn’t attract a huge crowd at the circuit, but the day holds a lot of information that race goers could want to know, before they get ready to set off for race day. If we broadcast on the web for qualifying day, I think we can provide an even fuller service. There would be much greater opportunity for listeners’ questions for drivers.

At the end of the day, though, it’s just like drivers’ seeking drives, it all comes down to money, and whether it can be available or not!

What I would also like to do would be to have the opportunity to spend a full day in my own studio, running up to a race weekend, to fully edit material, and maybe even record some magazine type pieces reviewing the last races, or season so far.

Another vague idea that I have is to use a radio network during races. Responsible fans that are viewing around the circuit, who have a two-way radio link straight into my ear. I have enough engineers and producing people talking in my headset as it is – a couple more voices shouldn’t be too much bother!

How much planning goes into a typical race weekend?

For me, quite a lot! I like to edit all of our recorded material, including interviews, into topped and tailed pieces for playing out at the following meeting, as part of our sustained overnight service.

I have integrated TOCA Radio into a computer-based play out system this year, which has taken a great amount of time to do. Last year, in expectation of the return of the radio station this year, I spent some time setting up the system and software, and tailoring it to our needs. And also recording a large quantity of music into the system and making it broadcast ready!

I also have a lot of statistical homework to do before a race weekend. Charting race results for BTCC and all supports, identifying how many wins, seconds, thirds, fourths etc for each driver, as info that is used during the weekend. I often receive some help in this particular task!

And then, when the final timetable is released, I like to try and work out in advance any special features that we might try to work into our coverage, (like track music or talking to the grid girls!).

I also need to act on any notification of special “away from track” activities that may need to be covered, to work them into the broadcast. Brands was a really busy weekend for that sort of thing – track rides for winners, theAA.com auction etc etc! Oh yeah, and then being DJ at the party – it was a busy weekend!

Do you see Toca Radio becoming more interactive with the fans, with the increasing popularity of the internet?

I hope so very much – it has been great getting supporters involved in interrogating drivers! Often, they are going to come up with questions that I would never think of. We are all different people, and we all have different things that we are interested in, and therefore we all think of different questions that we would like to ask. That facility is great.

I am looking forward to seeing the web stats for TOCA Radio for this year – I am hopeful that they are going to be very encouraging. The web has changed all of our lives – it has made the world so much smaller and has brought things to new countries and new audiences. It is a natural progression for us to be using the web in every way that we can, and I am extremely grateful for being given the chance to be able to do it.

Do you enjoy having conversations with BTCC fans on the internet?

Yes I do. Very much! All of the people that I have met and chatted to have been really nice people. I like the opportunity to get feedback – it used to be hastily paging though Motorsport News or Autosport, looking to see if anyone had written into the letters page to complain about any of the commentators, just to make sure that we hadn’t done anything wrong! Now, we can actually get feedback direct – and I am delighted to say that no one has shouted at us this year – everyone has been very supportive, which I thank you all for.

It has made drivers able to show that they are human, and are alive in between races, and I have a huge respect for those drivers that take the time and the trouble to go on the web and answer questions or chat away.

I am like everyone who goes to races – I am a fan – and therefore, it’s great to be able to talk to other people who love the same sport that I do, and also share a good sense of humour about the events! It never ceases to amaze me how knowledgeable fans are, and I have a huge respect for such knowledge and passion.

Long may this sort of forum continue, and well done to those hard working people who make it happen – and who probably have square eyes from looking at the screen 24/7! The web is a great way to make friends, and I now have made an awful lot of friends who share my love of this sport and this championship. It would never have happened before the web, and I’m very glad that it has!

Do you feel having local commentators on the team at Knockhill, Mondello and Croft etc. help you and your regular colleagues?

I thought at the start of the year that it would nice to have a core of personalities on TOCA Radio, and then a flavour of personalities from meeting to meeting to add local colour, knowledge, or just their sparkling personalities! The same voices up and down the country would have proved a little dull over the full season, and so long as the core team is there, the format can be maintained. I reckon we achieved that to great effect! Mat Feeney from Mondello Park was wonderful to have on board – we liked him so much we had him back at Oulton Park! John Hindhaugh at Croft was great – for so many years known as the studio based presenter of Radio Le Mans and Race Radio, (when it started to broadcast at TOCA meetings).

Croft was my opportunity to let people know that he also makes a very able and excitable race commentator as well! I think that this format would be good to continue next year – it offers much needed variety as the year goes on.

What would you say to someone who wanted to become involved in the media side of the BTCC? Welcome! It’s like a family, and one that I am very proud and very happy to be part of. Not just the people that work at meetings, but also the army of supporters that travel the country, the army of marshals, the army of officials. It’s the best place in the world to get poorly, because if you do, before you know it, one of the armies has marched you off to the finest team of medics and facilities on the road in the UK – and you’re better before you know it! It is a lovely atmosphere, and everyone involved is very helpful and supportive of new talent. You would be very welcome!

You have done a bit of TV commentary this year. Is that something you’d like to expand on in the future?

Oh dear. You noticed then! I thought I had successfully kept that one quiet! I did do a PowerTour programme for Sky this year – which was great fun – but I was just standing in for a very talented TV commentator who was otherwise engaged! It was a job as the sole commentator, which I don’t enjoy too much on radio or TV. I prefer to interact with people when I’m broadcasting. No plans to go further down that road, to be honest. My first love is radio – it is a descriptive medium, whereas TV is not. It’s there. In your face. No need to be descriptive, more need to be opinionated, and as I said earlier, I’m not that keen on listening to what I’ve got to say! A nice little pit lane/interviewing job would be OK though! Or a job in a booth alongside someone else, talking about a championship in which I know all the drivers involved, and that I can swiftly identify EVERY SINGLE car without a retake! I could enjoy that, I think. It would be interesting to have a go, that’s for sure.

What do you think about the new breed of young drivers in the BTCC this year?

It’s great to see young, fresh talent, with their names above the garage. I know to many, it has been like a childhood dream come true. I know it has been that to many Dads as well! There have been some great revelations this year, and the BTC Production category gives us a great opportunity to see these great young drivers before we might have done previously in the BTCC. It would be unfair to mention any drivers in particular, as I’m sure I’ll miss some out. But what the heck!

In no particular order: Gareth Howell, Dan Eaves, Paul O’Neill, Mat Jackson, Gavin Pyper, Gordon Shedden, Tom Boardman, Tom Ferrier, Joanna Clarke, Nick Beaumont. All drivers who have added a great amount of talent and personality and success to this years’ championship. They have helped to make it the success that it has been!

Did I miss anyone? I do hope not…….

What were your impressions of your passenger ride in the safety car at Snetterton and would you do it again?

Mega! I’ve done a passenger ride with Will Hoy at Snetterton, in the dark, in a Super Touring Honda Accord (he made a great job of convincing me he lost it at Russell!), but nothing prepared me for the experience of a Safety Car lap in the Audi RS4 road car! I used to watch Jerry Mahoney in the BTCC when he was a very quick touring car driver. I am here to tell you that although he now looks after hospitality, entertainment and catering requirements at BTCC meetings, (not only his own), he has lost none of his speed! Or lunacy, which race car drivers seem to need!

It was actually a very surreal experience. Sitting in the RS4, waiting to go out onto the circuit, with all of the competitors around us getting ready to take part in the race. It was a scene that I have watched so many times from the outside, and then all of a sudden, I was actually involved in the whole process itself!

You bet I’d do it again!

Are you sad to see the night races go in terms of atmosphere?

Yes I am, but I understand the reasons why they have gone. There is nothing quite like the atmosphere as night falls and there is still racing to come. I love it. And I love the reaction of the crowd. I will never forget the support of the crowd at the Esses at Snetterton for the first BTCC night race in 1999.

I have no doubt that night fever will be back, but the events cost a huge amount of money to put on, and there needs to be a few pennies in the coffers before their staging can be justified. I am hopeful that we haven’t seen the last night race in this country.

Does working in the rain dampen your spirits, or do you still have the enthusiasm for it, no matter what the weather is like?

Would you like the truth or the Press Release? The truth is yes, spirits do get dampened a little! The final race at Brands was horrible – if the face was smiling then it was because the supporters and fans that were out in it like I was did not let the circumstances dampen their spirits. If they can put a brave face on it, then so can I!

I was mindful that I had got out of bed on Saturday having been suffering from a nasty dose of flu, and was hoping that the rain didn’t set back my recovery a whole lot…….but when all is said and done, the final race of the year was what the whole year had been building up to, and there was no way on Earth that I was going to let anything spoil it for me, or anybody there!
I went back to bed on Monday, though!

Do you have any tales you can tell from the end of season party at Brands?

I have tales, but none that I can tell. I hoped that the weather was not going to make it a washout, but it certainly didn’t! It was great to see people who have worked so hard during the year let their hair down – I guess it would have been quite nice to have been able to do the same, and not work as the DJ, but in the end, the crowd were so responsive and grateful that I had a great time working anyway. It did make a long working day, but then, it makes it a whole lot easier when so many brilliant people surround you. And I tell you what – there aren’t a whole stack of local DJs who can say that they had Mel C grooving at one of their discos!

Oh yeah, and I love my job! It isn’t like working! Like my Dad says, it’s about time I got a proper job!