Titch

YourRacingCar.com brings you the latest in our behind the scenes interviews with the people who are the fabric of the British Touring Car Championship. Ian Titchmarsh epitomises this series of Q and As, primarily, because only a handful of people have ever seen his face.

You have to get up early to catch a glimpse of the lesser spotted ‘Titch’ at a British Touring Car Championship weekend. We know he hides out in the commentary box and every BTCC spectator since… well a long time ago… will instantly recognise his voice as part of the trackside commentary (and often comedy) due of ‘Alan (Hyde) and Titch’.

Alfa Romeo 158/159

Full Name: Ian Titchmarsh

Job Title: Motor racing commentator and writer, BRDC Director, retired Solicitor.

Favourite BTCC Circuit: I like them all for different reasons

Favourite race car of all time: Alfa Romeo 158/159 ie the Grand Prix car not the current 159 road car.

What’s your road car: Alfa Romeo 147 Ducati/Alfa Romeo Spider 3.2 V6/Alfa Romeo 75 Twin Spark/ Alfa Romeo 1600GT Junior/Jaguar E-type 4.2 FHC

YRC: How did you become the voice of British Motorsport?

First, I am hardly the ‘voice of British Motorsport’!! (YRC: rubbish). In 1963 I answered an advertisement in Autosport which led to me spending most of that year travelling around Europe with The Tulip Stable which ran a Formula Junior Brabham BT2 for Klaas ‘Jimmy’ Twisk. There were just the two of us living off starting/prize money from one race weekend to the next, preparing the car and living in the truck etc. In those days FJ was second only to F1. After leaving. University in 1966 to become a lawyer I spent my weekends as the Northern Representative of Autosport until 1976. I had started commentating in 1974 and had the opportunity to become more involved with this, in particular at Silverstone and Donington Park, so I stopped writing and concentrated on commentating. One of the advantages of the latter is that you do your preparation in advance of the racing and retire to the bar for a drink at the end of the day whereas a writer has to spend the evening writing his report(s).

YRC: When do you get a chance to eat?

Most organising clubs allow for a lunch break in their timetables but this can be eaten into (which means that the sandwiches aren’t!) if there are delays on track in the morning. There are also some events where parades etc take place during the lunch break which have to be talked about in which case lunch has to wait until the end of the day.

YRC: BTCC isn’t your only job so how do you keep up with all the news and information that’s important for each weekend?

Reading Autosport and MN and talking to people. Most of the major championships also have very good media co-ordinators who provide updates. Most championships and series have websites even if they don’t have co-ordinators and these can be useful. Now that I have retired from my day job as a Solicitor, theoretically I should have more time but being a director of the BRDC takes up a good deal of time too.

YRC: Who’s your favourite pit lane commentator to work with? 

For obvious reasons it would be invidious to answer this question.

YRC: What’s your favourite race series to work on?

See the previous answer.

YRC: If someone wanted to get into doing a job like yours, where would they start and what route would you suggest they take to make it to the top?

I started commentating partly as the result of sitting alongside commentators doing their lap charts (click here for a good insight into ‘Lap Charts’), answering the phone etc while reporting race meetings for Autosport. This was in the days before electronic timekeeping so lap charts were vital. This gave me a feel for what was involved in being a commentator. Several of my fellow commentators also started as lap charters. As with marshalling you have to be prepared to start at the bottom and gain experience at club events either in a second box or covering a couple of races alongside one of the regular commentators. Local radio is another way of finding out whether you can talk into a microphone effectively but there are various differences between broadcasting and circuit PA commentary. Ask yourself whether you rely on the commentator(s) at race meetings for information and description. If you don’t, then you won’t understand what the job is all about. It is helpful to have a strong voice.

YRC: Do you remember many of the races you commentate on?

Yes, to a large extent. I can recall the outstanding races quite easily without prompting but would probably need to look at my race programmes to recall many of the straightforward 10 lap clubbies. A quick calculation suggests that I have probably commentated on over 10,000 races since the mid-‘70s.

YRC: You’ve been the voice of our circuits for a long time – do you prefer the ‘good old days’ or modern racing? 

First, I don’t accept that there were the ‘good old days’. In any period there have been some great races, great drivers and great racing cars. I  am old enough to have seen Stirling Moss in some of his best ever races (eg the 1957 European GP at Aintree or the 1959 TT at Goodwood) but I also saw (and commentated on) Ayrton Senna in the European GP at Donington in 1993 and Lewis Hamilton’s utterly dominant win in the British GP at Silverstone in 2008. All of these were great races and there have been many more in between Where do the ‘Good old days’ begin and end? Two of my favourite events are the Monaco Historique and the Macau Grand Prix.

Titch and Fulvio

YRC: Do racing drivers make good co-hosts in the commentary box?

Most do, a few don’t. Probably the most enjoyable driver to co-commentate with has been John Watson who is never lost for words, passion or opinions. Wattie is extremely good at treading the dividing line between being the expert and a race commentator.

YRC: Do you feel detached from the action and hubbub stuck in the box all weekend? 

To some extent, yes. Which is why at British F3/GT meetings, for example, I enjoy having David Addison in the main box whilst I am let loose in the pit lane. That said, in the pits you can lose an overall view of the race.

And the YRC compulsory question: Would you rather be a pirate or a ninja?

I don’t think I could adapt very well to a Japanese way of life so I suppose the answer has to be ‘pirate’.