It’s not often you breakdown, hours from home and get picked up by a fan of your rally TV show, but that’s exactly what happened tonight. And it gets better.

After filming up in Scotland for the last couple of days, I was today driving back when the car I was driving started misfiring. I was around two and-a-half hours from home, and it had already been a long day. Sigh.

From there though, things started to get better. For a start, I’d been told I’d have to wait over an hour for recovery, but the truck turned up in 20 minutes, then it turned out the driver was a rally fan and watches Special Stage. So the conversation back to the garage would at least be rally-orientated.

On arriving at the garage, I discovered that the recovery company was owned by none other than former Toyota and Vauxhall works rally driver, Fred Henderson. The rally talk continued.

It’s funny how, sometimes a tricky situation can be turned around, and all in the name of #RallyTV. Oh, and for the record; I’d still pick a tow truck over a train.

For the latest Special Stage rally programmes, on demand and in full HD, check out our YouTube channel, HERE.

See you on the stages…when I’ve fixed the car.

Paul

Sometimes, a high profile sporting event can throw up a story that can truly inspire us on a very normal, day-to-day level.

Take for example Denny Hamlin’s victory in the Daytona 500 at the weekend. The race is the Super Bowl of the American motorsport calendar, yet behind the scenes of the closest finish the race has ever seen, is a story to which we can all relate.

Denny’s parents spent his entire childhood throwing every last penny, and every waking hour into keeping their son on a racetrack. He showed promise from a young age, and demonstrated dedication beyond his years to making it in the industry of motor racing.

This gave them belief that what they were doing would one day be worth it. They couldn’t possibly have known how right they were.

Denny was punching above his weight, and invariably without the budget he needed. But the Hamlins stuck with it, including – according to yesterday’s Premier Sports race commentator – “remortgaging property and max’ing credit cards” just to keep Denny in a race car.

One of Hamlin’s backers along the way; family friend Ron Roberts describes the racer has having real talent behind the wheel, and underneath the car in an article written for The Richmond Times.

In the article, Roberts talks of Denny being able to fix the car himself; an ability borne out of the necessity of not being able to afford a mechanic to accompany him to race weekends.

Credit: NASCAR on Twitter

Many years of self belief got Denny through the highs and the lows of a career that at times must have looked like falling short of meeting the driver’s own goals. That, and the belief of his family.

When Denny signed to race for Joe Gibbs Racing – the team with which he would create the fairytale of this weekend’s Daytona 500 – so the story goes, he turned up one day on his parents’ driveway.

When his father greeted him, he told him the day had arrived; his parents could retire, and he handed him a set of keys to a new house that he’d bought for them to live in, and a boat for them to ‘play’ in.

Following Sunday’s race, which was strewn with drama throughout (including favourite for the win, Dale Earnhardt Jnr crashing out in the dying laps), Denny Tweeted a photo of a story he wrote, presumably when he was at school, which starts “My wish is to win the Daytona 500, If I won…I would like it to come true on Feb 17, 1998”.

Credit: Denny Hamlin on Twitter

The wish may have taken longer to come true than Denny could ever have imagined, sat at school day dreaming. But then, he could hardly have imagined the nature of the moment either; coming from four cars back on the last corner of the 200 lap, 500 mile race to muscle his way – three cars abreast – to the finish line of the race just a few feet out in front, in the closest finish in the event’s history.

The race commentator denounced the possibility of any of the drivers outside of the top two making a move as the cars passed the white flag for the final lap, but it was clear one man out there had belief beyond the expectations of the commentators, the crowd, or his fellow competitors as millions of people around the world – me included – rose to our feet for the thrilling finale.

I’m a fan of NASCAR on any day, but to watch a Days of Thunder style drama unfold live in front of my eyes was without doubt one of my sporting highlight of the year so far.

Reading about the Hamlin family’s fight for success after the race, I couldn’t help but think how closely that story, and those final few corners of the race reflect my own story so far, along with the support and belief of my family.

I’m pretty sure I also have a story that I wrote at school that perhaps I, too will be able to Tweet one day to similar effect.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a NASCAR fan or not, the message is universal: Dream big.

Paul

Thanks to my being signed to present the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship through the winter, it’s already been a busy start to the season in terms of stage miles, and television coverage.

The Motorsport News Championship fired into action with the half way marker in the season in January; the Jack Frost Stages at Croft. With minus four degree temperatures, it wasn’t just the drive to Darlington that proved treacherous.

But, I’m delighted to let you know that I survived the ordeal, and with most of my extremities intact. Well, all actually. Moreover, it was a great way to kick start the year, with some fast-paced action throughout the field, and a star appearance from Bentley GT driver, Guy Smith.

If you fancy catching up with the action, ahead of the next round at Brands Hatch airing on Motors TV this Friday, then here’s the show (and in full HD – HDMI cable at the ready!)…

Back in the forests, the BTRDA and Welsh Rally Championships have contributed to my mileage in the first part of the year, and pleasingly so. The Championships picked up where they left off, the Cambrian swapping from its traditional season end slot, to the season opener.

As I’ve come to expect, the organising team did a stunning job and delivered an action packed spectacle against the picturesque backdrop of a February Llandudno.

The TV show goes out at 10pm this Saturday, which will mark the first time Special Stage has aired coverage of an event within a week. Next time out, we’ll be going one better, with the Malcolm Wilson Rally going out in our usual Motors TV slot of Friday night.

If you can’t wait until then, here’s a preview of what you can expect from the official Cambrian Rally TV Show…

As always, thank you for your continued support. I’m looking forward to meeting even more new faces out on the stages in 2016, and of course catching up with those I’ve already had the pleasure of meeting through this sport that has been so close to my heart for as long as I can remember.

See you on the stages!

Hundreds of iconic cars from all eras – popular classics, classic sports and supercars. It could be a new strapline for my classic motoring channel, but I don’t do straplines. 

It’s actually a nutshell sized synopsis of what you can expect if you turn up to Event City in Manchester on the 17th or 18th September this year. It’s what you can expect from the Footman James Manchester Classic Car Show.

I’m delighted to announce that I’m partnering with the team behind the show to add my passion for classic cars into the mix, to bring you an event that I have a feeling will define the 2016 classic motoring calendar.

As plans for the show progress, I’ll update you on the latest updates and announcements, together with releasing details of the content we’ll be producing to bring the show to life on social media.

For now, full details about the show, including tickets can be found HERE.

Never let it be said that I miss an opportunity for some motoring content creation. When the Saab 900 Turbo cut short my ’80s turbo experience, I not only finished my film, I also squeezed my latest motoring column out of it.

I always like to get involved with new ideas when it comes to motoring, and a local lifestyle magazine shining the spotlight on motoring issues is certainly a new one on me.

Last month I introduced readers to the Ferrari 308 GTB, and this month I’ve carried on the 1980s theme with one of my favourite childhood cars; the ‘wedgey’ – and as it turns out – smokey Saab 900 Turbo.

I’m hoping to bring you more exciting news about my partnership with the team at LOCO very soon. In the meantime, you can read my latest motoring column HERE. 

If you haven’t seen the film yet, check it out here…

As always, the start of the 2016 motorsport season was marked by the Autosport International show at the NEC in Birmingham. And I was there, with Special Stage to kick our #RallyTV season off.

Aside from the vast array of inspiring machinery on display (see how inspiring here), rallying had some big stories to tell this year, and at the centre of those was the launch of the British Rally Championship.

As a rally child of the nineties, the news that both Skoda and Vauxhall are returning to the series for 2016 is exciting enough, but then you factor in D-mack fielding two M-Sport Fiestas with Elfyn Evans and Max Vatanen, and a whole host of leading names from world rallying and things start to get really interesting.

Of course, in all this BRC excitement, it’s important to remember that the BTRDA remains the rally championship for the UK; accessible and high profile, with some of the country’s best rallies and an unbeatable variety of cars and drivers. I’m delighted to be hosting the TV Series once more for the BTRDA, and can actually not wait for the first round to get underway next month in North Wales.

I’d be doing you a disservice if I pretended I wasn’t disappointed not to be presenting the British Rally Championship, but they’re doing their own thing commercially, so my passion will have to be on the sidelines – as a rally fan. As it has always been, incidentally.

Well done to the team behind the championship – they’ve done a superb job of launching the series, and it really does look like we could see a return to the days when the BRC was second only to the World Rally Championship in terms of profile.

I’m writing this, glancing at the clock because I’m on the road early to get to Croft for the next round of the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship, and of course that is one of the other big stories of 2016. For once we weren’t all twiddling our thumbs during the ‘off-season’, we were out competing on, watching and presenting at a very competitive rally series, which kicks back off this weekend.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all in 2016 – here’s to big things. For now, here’s a look at what stories rallying had to tell at the Autosport International show…

This is Rally – Paul Woodford

There’s a moment
before the storm arrives.
Before the storm can end.

A need to believe drives us
through the setbacks, the challenges;
the tragedies of competition.

We fight for a title,
for a chance to believe that we;
we can be the ones in control.

That we can learn faith,
in a line we draw but can’t see.

A journey that starts and ends,
but is never finished.

A strength that is built and tested,
but never broken.

The hours blur at the dying of the light;
the final beats of a clock,
the stages calling.

Then it’s lights out, countdown over;
the fight thrown into focus,
as we charge towards the apex
at which we are defined.

This, is rally.

Well, what a year 2015 was! Twenty cars filmed, over a hundred thousand views of my YouTube channel, and the launch of my new classic motoring channel, Classics Driven.

Along with some long overdue thank yous, I thought I’d answer a question that I’ve been asked a few times throughout the year:

“What’s you favourite car out of the ones you’ve filmed?”

You might actually be surprised by the number one – in a way, I am too.

I hope you enjoy this review of my top ten #CarFilms in 2015, and I’m looking forward to bringing you more content and exciting opportunities in 2016.

Happy new year!

January’s edition of Yorkshire lifestyle magazine, LOCO sees the publication of my first motoring column, having been introduced to the readership last month in a Q&A feature.

The editorial team at LOCO are doing something very different with the lifestyle magazine genre, and with a real focus on motoring. I’m looking forward to supporting them with their content into 2016.

Commercially, and in terms of readership, there are a lot of opportunities missed in the motoring sector, when it comes to local lifestyle media. It perhaps says something that this is the first such printed media I’ve wanted to take regular page space in.

January’s column features Top Gear, classic Ferraris and electric BMWs, and you can read it HERE.

Thanks for all your support in 2015. It’s been a big year. I’m very excited for 2016, and delighted you can all come on this journey with me.

Paul

I do quite often get asked advice on camera and sound equipment to make video blogs and short films. Along with questions about software and file storage. I thought it was about time to let you in a couple of little secrets. 

I produce my films and vlog content entirely on iOS equipment. Specifically, I use an iPhone and an iPad, with an app for the post production and editing.

Oh, then there’s the support crew; a combination of window sucker mount, iPhone tripod, iPad tripod (that I actually made myself – couldn’t find a decent one!) and wired microphone. They owe me the grand total of £12 between them, actually. So, that’s the budget spent.

WHO SHOOTS WHEN YOU’RE DRIVING?

Well spotted. From time to time, I need someone I trust to drive the cars for me while I shoot. This is a super important job; it requires someone with good driving skills, but above all, sound judgement. It is crucial that I produce my films safely, with maximum respect for road traffic laws.
Therefore, the person behind the wheel of the cars I shoot has to be both capable of doing what I need production-wise, but with more than one eye on safety and the rules of the road.

I occasionally use the owner of a car (again I only use those people I trust to do the job properly), but most of all I use one of the most important people in my life; my inspiration for rallying, and cars in general – my Dad.

WHY?

Because you know what; there’s more to this than just producing films. When I set out doing this a few years ago, I wanted to make films that people enjoyed watching, using the least possible equipment, software and support. That way, I was staying true to my original objective, [Mission Top Gear]. After all, when I get that all important call from a BBC Producer, I can say:

“Here’s what I shoot on my phone. Want to see what I could do with a proper budget?”

And that brings me on to the last, and without doubt most important tool I have; dreams. You’ve got to believe it ‘could’ happen, right?

Thanks for all the support, I appreciate it like you wouldn’t believe.

Paul