Scheduling: The 2019 Qatar MotoGP / Hong Kong E-Prix

After a dominant display in 2018, Marc Marquez looks to keep hold of the MotoGP crown, as the championship springs back to life in Qatar.

This year though, Marquez has a new partner at Repsol Honda in Jorge Lorenzo, a pairing that will be fascinating to watch as the season progresses. For UK fans, live coverage of the series remains on BT Sport.

2019 is the first of BT’s new three year MotoGP contract, and with it Suzi Perry is on-board as BT’s presenter at every race this season. The main personnel change for BT is that James Toseland is no longer with the team.

On the free-to-air front, highlights of the championship move from Channel 5 to Quest, with the 60-minute show airing in an earlier time slot on Monday evenings.

Staying on tarmac, Formula E makes the jump to BBC Two for the Hong Kong E-Prix as part of their commitment to air one race on terrestrial television. In a throwback to ITV’s coverage of the series, Jennie Gow presents from the BBC’s Salford studios.

Jamie Chadwick and Marc Priestley are alongside Gow in the BBC studio, instead of Billy Monger as originally billed. Prior to the live airing, delayed coverage of qualifying airs via the Red Button for the first time.

To be honest, there is an argument that the Formula E World Feed on its own would have been a better approach, especially as the World Feed output has matured since ITV covered the series in its inaugural years. Saying that, adding a bit of colour to the broadcast is par for the course for BBC’s sporting output on linear television, so it is not too surprising.

Meanwhile, the IndyCar Series moves from BT Sport to Sky Sports F1 in a multi-year deal, with Sky covering qualifying and the race live. The expectation is that Sky are taking IndyCar’s World Feed without any bespoke wrap-around content. UK viewers will hear the likes of Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy calling the action.

There is a lot of action across the weekend, with IndyCar overlapping with both MotoGP and the climax of Rally Mexico.

MotoGP – Qatar (BT Sport 2)
02/03 – 19:45 to 20:45 – Season Preview
08/03 – 10:30 to 18:15 – Practice 1 and 2
09/03 – 10:15 to 13:15 – Practice 3
09/03 – 14:00 to 16:15 – Qualifying
10/03 – 11:30 to 19:00
=> 11:30 – Warm Ups
=> 13:15 – Moto3
=> 15:00 – Moto2
=> 16:30 – MotoGP
=> 18:00 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – Qatar (Quest)
11/03 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Highlights

Formula E – Hong Kong
Shakedown, Practice and Qualifying also air live on YouTube…
09/03 – 07:45 to 08:30 – Shakedown (BT Sport 1)
09/03 (Saturday night) – 23:15 to 00:15 – Practice 1 (BT Sport 3)
10/03 – 01:45 to 02:45 – Practice 2 (BT Sport 3)
10/03 – 03:30 to 05:00 – Qualifying (BT Sport 3 and Eurosport)
10/03 – 06:00 to 07:30 – Qualifying Delayed (BBC Red Button)
10/03 – 07:30 to 09:30 – Race
=> live on BBC Two until 09:15
=> live on BT Sport 3
=> live on Eurosport 2
10/03 – 07:30 to 09:10 – Race: Voltage (YouTube)

IndyCar Series – St Petersburg (Sky Sports F1)
09/03 – 19:30 to 21:00 – Qualifying
10/03 – 16:30 to 20:30 – Race

World Rally Championship – Mexico (All Live)
Every stage also live via WRCPlus.com
07/03 – 16:45 to 18:15 – Shakedown (BT Sport Extra 1)
08/03 – 01:30 to 03:00 – Stage 1 (BT Sport Extra 1)
08/03 – 15:00 to 02:15 – Stages 2 to 9 (BT Sport Extra 3)
09/03 – 13:15 to 02:45 – Stages 10 to 18 (BT Sport Extra 1)
10/03 – 14:00 to 19:45 – Stages 19 to 21 (BT Sport Extra 2)

World Rally Championship – Mexico
08/03 – 02:00 to 03:00 – Stage 1 (BT Sport 3)
09/03 – 05:00 to 05:30 – Day 1 Highlights (BT Sport 2)
09/03 – 17:00 to 18:00 – Stage 12 (BT Sport/ESPN)
10/03 – 05:00 to 05:30 – Day 2 Highlights (BT Sport 3)
10/03 – 18:00 to 19:30 – Stage 16 [Power Stage] (BT Sport/ESPN)
11/03 – 16:00 to 16:30 – Day 3 Highlights (BT Sport 3)
11/03 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights (5Spike)

Asia Talent Cup – Qatar (BT Sport 2)
09/03 – 13:15 to 14:00 – Race 1
10/03 – 10:30 to 11:30 – Race 2

Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Series – Hong Kong (BT Sport 3)
10/03 – 00:15 to 01:15 – Qualifying
10/03 – 05:45 to 06:45 – Race

As always, I will update the schedule if anything changes.

Updated on March 5th with changes to the BBC’s Formula E line-up. Updated further on March 8th, with Quest’s MotoGP deal announcement.

Scheduling: The 2019 Mexico City E-Prix / F1 Barcelona test 1

Formula E hurdles towards one-third distance as the second leg of its South American tour takes it to Mexico for the Mexico City E-Prix.

The electric championship uses part of the Formula 1 circuit, encompassing the famous stadium section. As usual, the race airs live across the BBC’s digital platforms, with BT Sport, Eurosport and Formula E’s YouTube channel also covering the action.

Formula E’s support series, the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy returns in Mexico, with both qualifying and race airing live on BT Sport. Sweden plays host to round two of the World Rally Championship, where one expects much more snow than what fans saw in Monte Carlo for the season opener.

Meanwhile, Formula 1 testing gets underway in Barcelona, where the big news is that the first test will air live across F1’s over-the-top platform and Sky Sports F1. However, the F1 TV stream is only available to Pro users (which UK fans do not have access to), meaning that UK fans will need to watch Sky F1 for testing.

Sky are covering each of the four afternoon sessions live as well as the review show, whereas F1 TV is covering the complete day live. Sky are not repeating the live action, so if you want to watch it, you will need to set your recorders. Little is known about the presentation team currently, although Karun Chandhok has alluded to his involvement on Twitter.

Elsewhere, the Williams documentary premieres on BBC Two having been released on DVD in 2017. Whilst I am happy to see it premiere on a major platform, the decision to air it against Formula E on the Red Button is an odd move by BBC’s schedulers.

Formula E – Mexico City
Shakedown, Practice and Qualifying also air live on YouTube…
15/02 – 21:45 to 22:30 – Shakedown (BT Sport 1)
16/02 – 13:15 to 14:30 – Practice 1 (BT Sport 3)
16/02 – 15:45 to 16:45 – Practice 2 (BT Sport 3)
16/02 – 17:30 to 19:00 – Qualifying (BT Sport 3 and Eurosport 2)
16/02 – 21:30 to 23:30 – Race: World Feed
=> live on BBC’s digital platforms from 22:00
=> live on BT Sport 3
=> live on Eurosport 2
16/02 – 21:30 to 23:10 – Race: Voltage (YouTube)
18/02 – 00:00 to 01:00 – Highlights (Quest)

Formula E Radio – Mexico City (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
16/02 – 17:40 to 19:10 – Qualifying
16/02 – 21:45 to 23:15 – Race

F1 Testing – Barcelona 1 (Sky Sports F1)
13/02 – 15:00 to 15:30 – Racing Point Launch
14/02 – 12:00 to 12:30 – McLaren Launch
18/02 – 13:00 to 18:00 – Day 1
=> track action from 13:00 (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> review at 17:00
18/02 – 19:55 to 20:55 – Day 1 Review (R)
19/02 – 13:00 to 18:00 – Day 2
=> track action from 13:00 (also Sky Sports Main Event until 14:00)
=> review at 17:00
19/02 – 20:25 to 21:25 – Day 2 Review (R)
20/02 – 13:00 to 18:00 – Day 3
=> track action from 13:00 (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> review at 17:00
20/02 – 20:05 to 21:05 – Day 3 Review (R)
21/02 – 13:00 to 18:00 – Day 4
=> track action from 13:00 (also Sky Sports Main Event)
=> review at 17:00
21/02 – 20:05 to 21:05 – Day 4 Review (R)

Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Series – Mexico City (BT Sport 3)
16/02 – 14:30 to 15:15 – Qualifying
16/02 – 19:45 to 20:45 – Race

Williams Film (BBC Two)
16/02 – 21:00 to 22:45

World Rally Championship – Sweden (All Live – BT Sport Extra 1)
Every stage also live via WRCPlus.com
14/02 – 09:45 to 11:15 – Shakedown
14/02 – 18:30 to 20:00 – Stage 1
15/02 – 06:45 to 17:15 – Stages 2 to 8
16/02 – 06:00 to 19:15 – Stages 9 to 16
17/02 – 05:30 to 12:45 – Stages 17 to 19

World Rally Championship – Sweden
14/02 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Stage 1 (BT Sport 1)
15/02 – 21:45 to 22:15 – Day 1 Highlights (BT Sport 3)
16/02 – 08:30 to 09:30 – Stage 11 (BT Sport 2)
16/02 – 14:00 to 15:00 – Stage 14 (BT Sport/ESPN)
16/02 – 22:00 to 22:30 – Day 2 Highlights (BT Sport 2)
17/02 – 11:00 to 12:30 – Stage 19 [Power Stage] (BT Sport/ESPN)
17/02 – 20:00 to 20:30 – Day 3 Highlights (BT Sport 2)
18/02 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights (5Spike)

As always, I will update this site as and when further details confirmed.

Update on February 15th – Two pieces of good news. WRC highlights will air on 5Spike on Monday, whilst Formula E makes it BBC radio debut on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. Formula E has its own bespoke radio commentary, with Claire Cottingham, Tom Gaymor and Marc Priestley in the booth for Mexico.

Scheduling: The 2019 Rally Monte Carlo / Santiago E-Prix

Every stage, of every rally, live. All Live is back for year two, with the Monte Carlo rally opening the 2019 World Rally Championship!

The rallying curtain raiser takes place from Thursday 24th January through to Sunday 27th January. Every stage is not only available via WRC’s over-the-top service, but for the first time ever is also available on BT Sport.

BT are airing the main All Live feed via their Red Button service throughout the 2019 season, offering rallying fans an alternative way to view the action. BT’s existing 2018 commitments remain, with a select number of stages (WRC’s live World Feed content) airing on their linear channel as well as the daily highlights packages.

Further west, Mexico City plays host to the Race of Champions this weekend. The action airs live on Sky Sports F1, with Will Buxton and Neil Cole on commentary, and David Croft and Jennie Gow reporting from the pit lane.

Elsewhere, Formula E heads to Santiago for the third round of the season, with BBC, Eurosport, BT Sport and YouTube covering the race live.

Race of Champions – Mexico City (Sky Sports F1)
19/01 – 19:00 to 22:00 – Nations Cup
20/01 – 19:00 to 22:00 – Race of Champions

Formula E – Santiago
Shakedown, Practice and Qualifying also air live on YouTube…
25/01 – 18:15 to 19:00 – Shakedown (BT Sport 3)
26/01 – 11:00 to 12:00 – Practice 1 (BT Sport 3)
26/01 – 13:00 to 14:00 – Practice 2 (BT Sport 3)
26/01 – 14:45 to 16:15 – Qualifying (BT Sport 3)
26/01 – 17:45 to 18:30 – Qualifying Delayed (Eurosport 2)
26/01 – 18:30 to 20:30 – Race: World Feed
=> live on BBC’s digital platforms
=> live on BT Sport 3
=> live on Eurosport 2
26/01 – 18:30 to 20:10 – Race: Voltage (YouTube)
27/01 – 18:00 to 19:00 – Highlights (Quest)

World Rally Championship – Monte Carlo (All Live – BT Sport Extra 1)
Every stage also live via WRCPlus.com
24/01 – 09:45 to 11:00 – Shakedown
24/01 – 17:30 to 18:15 – Opening Ceremony
24/01 – 18:30 to 20:45 – Stages 1 and 2
25/01 – 06:15 to 17:15 – Stages 3 to 8
26/01 – 06:45 to 14:30 – Stages 9 to 12
27/01 – 06:45 to 12:45 – Stages 13 to 16

World Rally Championship – Monte Carlo
24/01 – 18:30 to 19:30 – Stage 1 (BT Sport 1)
25/01 – 21:45 to 22:15 – Day 1 Highlights (BT Sport 3)
26/01 – 13:00 to 14:00 – Stage 12 (BT Sport 1)
27/01 – 00:45 to 01:15 – Day 2 Highlights (BT Sport 1)
27/01 – 11:00 to 12:30 – Stage 16 [Power Stage] (also BT Sport 3)
27/01 – 19:15 to 19:45 – Day 3 Highlights (BT Sport 1)

Eagle eyed readers will spot zero reference to World Rally Championship’s free-to-air highlights programme. That is because there is currently no word on who is airing the package, and there is no sign of it in Channel 5’s current schedules either. As and when – or if – the schedule updates, I will update this article.

Scheduling: The 2019 Marrakesh E-Prix

After Antonio Felix da Costa won the opening round in December, the Formula E season heads to Morocco for the Marrakesh E-Prix! It is the third E-Prix in Morocco, which remains in its January slot.

All the action for UK fans airs live on YouTube and BT Sport. Eurosport is airing delayed coverage of qualifying, followed immediately by live coverage of the race. Meanwhile, Final Score delays the BBC’s Red Button output, however the race still airs live via BBC’s online platforms. Highlights air on Quest on Saturday evening, repeated on Sunday morning.

Following its first outing last month, Formula E’s bespoke YouTube show Voltage returns in Marrakesh, with XO stars Stephen Tries and Will Lenney the guests this time around.

The Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Series, which supported the main attraction in Saudi Arabia, returns to the Formula E support bill next month in Mexico City.

Formula E – Marrakesh
All sessions air live via YouTube and the following UK channels…
11/01 – 14:15 to 15:00 – Shakedown (BT Sport 1)
12/01 – 07:10 to 08:15 – Practice 1 (BT Sport/ESPN)
12/01 – 09:00 to 10:00 – Practice 2 (BT Sport/ESPN)
12/01 – 10:45 to 12:15 – Qualifying (BT Sport/ESPN)
12/01 – 13:30 to 14:30 – Qualifying Delayed (Eurosport 2)
12/01 – 14:30 to 16:30 – Race: World Feed
=> live on BT Sport/ESPN
=> live on BBC’s website and Connected TV
=> live on Eurosport 2
12/01 – 14:30 to 16:10 – Race: Voltage (YouTube)
12/01 – 17:25 to 19:25 – Race: World Feed Delayed (BBC Red Button)
12/01 – 22:30 to 23:30 – Highlights (Quest)

As always, the schedule will be updated if anything changes.

Scheduling: The 2018 Ad Diriyah E-Prix / Christmas reviews

A bass riff may not accompany Formula E, nor may it be airing on one of the BBC’s traditional television outlets, but nevertheless, the electric series takes a major step into the future as season five begins, with live coverage across the BBC’s digital platforms.

The start of the 2018-19 season takes the championship to a new, perhaps controversial, location as the series descends on Saudi Arabia for the Ad Diriyah E-Prix.

For UK fans, as well as the BBC and incumbents Eurosport, the actions airs live on BT Sport and YouTube for the first time. The BBC’s coverage is of the race itself, from the five-minute sting to after the chequered flag, excluding the pre-race festivities.

In a departure from last season, Eurosport are taking the World Feed commentary with Bob Varsha, Jack Nicholls and Dario Franchitti, a surprise considering Eurosport usually provide their own commentary feed for motor racing events.

However, BT Sport is the only UK television station that will air every Formula E session live, including the Shakedown on Friday afternoons, as well as practice on Saturday mornings. For non-BT Sport fans, the good news is that every session airs live via YouTube. Additionally, highlights air on Discovery-owned channel Quest following their Football League highlights show on Saturday, with a repeat on Sunday morning.

Vernon Kay and Nicki Shields complete the World Feed line-up. Kay stays in the Formula E paddock after impressing as Channel 5’s presenter last season. Last year, North One Television produced Channel 5 output, North One also forming part of Formula E’s worldwide output alongside Aurora.

Laurence McKenna hosts the tailored YouTube race programme, called ‘Voltage’, with Becky Evans alongside him. Neither are names regular readers will recognise, but both are young and active in the car scene on social media, and are exactly the right people to grow Formula E’s presence amongst the younger generation.

Red Bull profiled Evans here, whilst McKenna has presented a variety of social media output and podcasts in the past few years. KSI and Zerkaa, who form part of the Sidemen (a group of YouTube personalities), join McKenna and Evans in the YouTube London hub.

Elsewhere, December is packed with season reviews. BT Sport are going the extra mile with their MotoGP review show airing live from The Bike Shed in London. Suzi Perry presents as usual, with special guests including Bradley Smith, Sam Lowes, and triple MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo.

Sky’s F1 review show premieres on Christmas Eve, whilst Channel 4 are not airing a formal Christmas show following their short review during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend.

Formula E – Ad Diriyah
All sessions air live via YouTube and the following UK channels…
14/12 – 11:45 to 12:30 – Shakedown (BT Sport 1)
15/12 – 04:00 to 04:45 – Practice 1 (BT Sport/ESPN)
15/12 – 06:00 to 06:45 – Practice 2 (BT Sport/ESPN)
15/12 – 07:30 to 09:00 – Qualifying (BT Sport/ESPN and Eurosport 2)
15/12 – 11:00 to 13:30 – Race: World Feed
=> live on BBC’s digital platforms from 12:00
=> live on BT Sport/ESPN
=> live on Eurosport 2
15/12 – 11:30 to 13:10 – Race: Voltage (YouTube)
15/12 – 22:30 to 23:30 – Highlights (Quest)

Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy Series – Ad Diriyah (BT Sport/ESPN)
15/12 – 04:45 to 05:30 – Qualifying
15/12 – 09:30 to 10:30 – Race

MotoGP (BT Sport 2)
09/12 – 19:30 to 21:00 – Season Review

BBC Radio F1
TBC – Season Review

Sky Sports F1
24/12 – 19:00 to 21:00
=> 19:00 – Alonso / Johnson Car Swap
=> 19:30 – Jean Todt Exclusive: Future of F1
=> 20:00 – Season Review

In the run-up to Christmas, keep an eye on this post in the event of any changes to the review programming over the festive period.