I've been writing and talking about DirtQuake VI being on national, UK, free to view TV for the last few months, so it's almost become normal. Yeah, sure, there's going to be an hour-long show about an all-comers UK dirt track race on TV at 8pm, straight after the highlights of the Tour de France, the biggest annual spectator-attended sporting event in the world. Why wouldn't there be?
So, DirtQuake is something different to what it was last year, never mind back at the soaking wet Coventry in 2012, and everyone has an opinion on it now, which is good and healthy. At least people have heard of it. But unless you were down in the pits at the end of the day you won't know that DQ is still doing exactly what I hoped it would do, back when I first talked about the idea with a handful of people before a dirt track race at Leicester. It's demystifying racing and making it accessible to people who previously wouldn't have had the first clue or hope of getting into racing. There are hundreds, of people who have taken part in their first ever race because of DirtQuake.
I'll see the show for the first time at the same time as you, if you watch it. The TV crew and the presenters seemed to really enjoy it. Gavin Emmett and Neil Hodgson threw themselves into it and Steve Parrish was truly interested in the stories behind the names on the entry lists. I reckon it's going to be fun.