Leigh Diffey shares love of motorcycles in new video

Leigh Diffey may be best known for calling racing on four wheels for NBC Sports, but the Australian American also is very passionate about racing on two wheels.

As part of NBC Sports’ Storytime series (video above), Diffey described his love of motorcycles and showed off a scooter with a special meaning to him.

Earlier this year, Diffey had the chance to call the first three Monster Energy Supercross rounds of 2020 and served as the host of NBC Sports’ coverage of the Moto2 opener in Qatar. The opportunity to play a role on both was something that Diffey was fortunate to be a part of, as his first assignment after leaving Australia was to cover the World Superbike championship for the BBC.

“It was so important to me personally because motorcycles have been so important to me ever since the age of 6,” Diffey said in the video. “Here at my home in Connecticut, I still have my first motorcycle that I raced at the age of 6. It’s under renovation at the minute.”

Diffey introduced the audience to his two sons before showing off his scooter, which is just like one of the ‘postie’ bikes that deliver mail in Australia.

“This year has been really special to me,” Diffey said. “I got asked a lot by you guys; ‘are you excited to do Supercross? What about MotoGP and World Superbikes coming to NBC Sports?’ I just wanted to share this moment for you that for me and my family, I couldn’t be more excited and it was a terrific start to the year.”

An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”