This year at Knockhill Racing Circuit you can hear possibly the best commentary line-up yet to be heard at the track for the SMRC Championship rounds. Rob Johnston and Gary Stagg have been in the box for years now and they were recently joined by Duncan Vincent, whose inside knowledge and comedy stylings in the pitlane have added much to the informed and expert commentary Johnston and Stagg deliver from the tower.

We recently caught up with Rob Johnston and he was kind enough to answer a few questions for us.

SCR.co.uk: What is your background in motorsport?

RJ: I got hooked on F1 in the mid 70’s. Active involvement started in the early 80’s with a mixture of marshalling and occasionally competing in MG Car club events. Stuart and Angus Gray were amongst the very best of all in that arena. When they started racing and sprinting in the mid 80’s I tagged along and helped with the car preparation. That eventually led to a season working on J.J. Lehto’s car at Pacific Racing in the 1988 British Formula 3 Championship. It was a bumper year for British F3 with Damon Hill, Martin Donnelly, Eddie Irvine and Gary Brabham amongst the pace setters. After that, a couple of seasons back with the Gray brothers running Westfields in Scottish sportscar races and sprints followed before we all found more sensible things to do, like careers and families.  

SCR.co.uk: How long have you been commentating on motorsport? Do you commentate on anything other than SMRC Club Racing?

RJ: This my 10th season of commentary. It certainly doesn’t seem that long. Beyond SMRC events, John Chalmers and I used to do some commentaries at Croft. I also did two or three seasons of motorcycle commentaries at Knockhill, and although some of the racing was stunning to watch, it just reached overload trying to combine that number of Knockhill weekends with family and work commitments. So at the moment it’s just SMRC Knockhill.

SCR.co.uk: How do you feel the club racing world and Knockhill Racing Circuit are progressing?

RJ: I think both are in very good health, all things considered. They’ve both changed a lot over the last 10 seasons, but both very positively. On the SMRC side I think the club has a good mix of classes and the racing seems closer than ever. Also the running of the meetings is now very slick, with races turned around very quickly. There is always room for improvement though and for example on safety, I think it’s time to be looking at introducing HANS devices to most classes.
On the Knockhill side of things I think the circuit looks stronger than ever. It really is a very well run business with a clear understanding of its customers, a realistic and achievable set of objectives and superb leadership of its people.

Now, the SMRC sometimes moan about Knockhill, Knockhill sometimes moan about the SMRC and the competitors take turns to moan about the SMRC, Knockhill and each other, but fundamentally it all works and works very well. It would be nice to get more spectators though.

The fact that Ally Hunter, Graham Brunton, Iain Cowie and Bryce Wilson can set up and run businesses founded on Knockhill and SMRC activities says it all. That would have been hard to imagine 10 years ago.

SCR.co.uk: Murray Walker was famous for his post-it note system to help him remember things - do you have any methods to help your commentary?

RJ: Post-it notes work when there are only 20 drivers to deal with, but at a typical SMRC there are 80 or more. I have learned a few tricks that work for me, but I know that both Garry and Duncan have their own different methods of doing things. For identifying cars, I always like to work from the qualifying results sheets rather than the programme listings. I know that others find that quite awkward. Also I always try to get to the Saturday test day for a quick nose around. It helps get my eye in and I can pick up some background information. I really suffer if I miss out on that. Other than that I just try and assume that the spectators can only see the track immediately in front of them and constantly think about what they need to know next. I wish I had more preparation time for each meeting though.

One mental block that I know I share with a number of other commentators including luminaries such as Ian Titchmarsh (BTCC and F3/GT) is being unable to recall the result of a race at any time more than 5 seconds after it finished. SMART Timing computer to the rescue. 

SCR.co.uk: What races/series have you most enjoyed commenting on over the years?

RJ: Most enjoyable race series has to be Legends. Even when they first started out with just six cars, it demanded a whole new intensity of commentary effort. The concentration required for those 6 or 8 lap blasts is immense and I love it. A good close FF Zetec race is hard to beat as well. Radicals are good because they are so fast, and Nick Fleming’s recent efforts in the historics have been stunning. Best ever individual race? Very hard to choose but it would probably be Finlay Mickel going from 19th and last on the grid to win a 6 lap legends heat by overtaking every single car (no retirements). Hardest ever though was last year when some minor series for Alfa Romeos visited Knockhill with only three or four cars of completely disparate performance. The only reason it could be called a race was because they all set off at the same time!

SCR.co.uk: The current commentary team of yourself, Gary Stagg and Duncan Vincent seems to have good chemistry. Is it as much fun as it sounds and how do you put up with Gary's puns and Duncan's innuendo?!

RJ: I'm glad it sounds like fun because it is. The three of us are very different characters but do seem to work well together. Garry is the technical brain that has assembled one of the best (possibly the best) circuit commentary systems in the UK. I actually like his puns, but they are sometimes so sophisticated that I have to humour him and check the dictionary when I get home. Duncan is a great asset to the team bringing in depth paddock gossip, the all important drivers eye view and some wonderfully entertaining post race interviews. The innuendo tends to scare Garry a bit though – it’s his name on the broadcast licence. Always trying to improve the show, Duncan and Garry are determined to achieve a live in-car race commentary this season, and after a couple of attempts to get all the kit to work, it could be coming soon.

SCR.co.uk: SMRC Club Racing spectators have had the pleasure of hearing you interview stars such as John Cleland over the years. Any big names or interviews which stick out in your mind especially?

RJ: Meeting these people is one of the great perks of the job. John Cleland is certainly always good for some gritty no-nonsense tell it as it is material. Obviously there's often a bit of off-air chat as well as the interview itself but after 10 years I'm struggling to remember all of them. Joining John on the "A" list, the genuine nice guys would have to include Anthony Reid, Allan McNish, Dario Franchitti, Stirling Moss, Mike Jordan, Adam Carroll, Martin Donnelly and Malcolm and Matthew Wilson. But there are so many – and lots of great characters in the SMRC world too. My in car commentary laps with Anthony Reid were epic as well.

Over the last couple of seasons we've started keeping a list in the commentary box of the very best interview quotes. It includes Duncan Vincent's classic "You're on live radio, don't say cock or bugger".

SCR.co.uk: Do you have any ambitions in the motor racing world left to fulfil? 

RJ: I’ve been lucky enough to have fulfilled many of them, but here are three of the remaining and less easily achievable ambitions.

I would love to get the chance to try some TV commentary. It would be very challenging to describe something the viewers can see for themselves as opposed to something they can’t see. It’s a very different discipline.

It would be nice to have a day on track with a fast well set-up car, with a good instructor, and learn how to drive the thing with at least a minor level of competence. Strangely enough I don’t really have any burning ambitions to race.

Finally I’ve always wanted to go to the Daytona 500. I’ve been in the USA 19 times in the last 5 years and never yet been able to get to a NASCAR race.
 
SCR.co.uk: Any final words?

RJ: You didn’t ask who I rate as the best motor racing commentator in the business….

Best TV commentators would be Martin Brundle and Ben Edwards. Best circuit commentator would be Brian Jones at Brands Hatch with close runners up being Ian Titchmarsh and David Addison.