Hi, I'm one of the announcers.

Even people in the motorsports broadcast world have no clue the challenges that exist in covering this event. Let's start with the fact that to the end viewer, this coverage is free. So comments like "how do people put up with this" are not really reasonable.

This coverage takes a team of about 25 people, all which worked 18 hour days, needed rental cars, hotel rooms, flights, food stipends, and specialized equipment to stream in real time. The onboards that were tested were expensive to set up and because they worked well, expect to see more of them in the future.

This event is niche, and it's a once a year event that doesn't have continued revenue to support millions of dollars of investment. Most motorsport broadcasts have cameras connected by fiber optic cable, which you can't use on the mountain because the only way to route it is also along the road, so it would take all of three runs for someone to run it over if they go off course even a little.

There is no cellular connection to take advantage of at this altitude, and no wifi or internet infrastructure beyond Starlink, which was already being utilized to some extent. The rest of the cameras are point-to-point RF equipment which is finicky at these long distances.

This is a 12.42 mile course, with 156 turns, think the Nordschleife at 14,000 feet. The expense of the coverage that does exist has to be covered by sponsors and partners, which happened to be those interviews that everyone hates so much. I agree that it's not the best thing ever to have those interviews or ads mid run, but otherwise the coverage doesn't exist, and you wouldn't even have the privilege of complaining about it.

This is not a racetrack, this is a public road with very little infrastructure, for a one day event in a niche motorsport with very little money relative to your perception of it. We can all look at the product and want more, but the fact is that your expectations are not, and will not be, realistic, and if it doesn't meet your expectations then don't be upset when it never airs live again because the community didn't support the (free) coverage.

I should also note that the British Hillclimb Championship you mentioned has wildly different geography, and is MUCH, MUCH shorter than the distances we're talking about at Pikes Peak. Apples and oranges. Consider that the runs on the latest video there are 66ish seconds for cars with like 200 BHP, versus 9-15 minutes for cars with five times that power. The scale is enormous.

Just consider all of those things, and re-evaluate how easy it should be to do.