Motors and Me

More karting tomorrow and, again, it’s with the lads from Mini2.com . One of the lads even got himself and his car into the launch edition of GoMini Magazine , doing performance tests of his Cooper S. It’s since been heavily modified, mind, so I’m rather looking forward to seeing it again. Still, flash cars to one side, the karting’s the main thing. It’s been a fair while since I got a crop of bumps and bruises on the indoor track at Dunston. By some miracle, the circuit owner (also a Mini2 person) can’t attend, as he’s down South somewhere on a trackday, practicing for his entry in next year’s John Cooper Challenge. Good job, really — he’d show me up otherwise. :) Even with the main competition out of the reckoning, Dunston’s a hard track to race on. While it’s better laid out than it was under previous owners, it’s still pretty hard to overtake. Add a random grid-slot into the equation and it usually makes for some fun racing. Expect a report... sometime (I’ve given up on promises

Okay, it took an age to post, but here it is — Martin Brackenbury’s verdict on my first round in the Michelin Renault Scholarship qualifiers. Corners: Good use of all track + good racing lines. Needs to push harder into corners. Steering: Nice + smooth steering. Good hand position. Braking: Braking too early for most corners in 1st session; 2nd session, braking too late. Throttle: Nice power delivery, even in very wet conditions. Gears: Good gear change, up and down the gearbox. Overall: Very good to start with, but looked to have got too over confident at the end and started braking too late. Grade: B (on a scale from A to F) The comments were pretty much exactly what I’d thought myself. Still, I got through and am looking forward to the second round on 6th January. Fingers crossed for a lack of ice. :) P.S. The commenting system on this blog’s finally working again. :)

I’m through to the second round of the Be A Racing Driver competition. Seems they couldn’t turn down my next two hundred quid. Hmmmm... I’m a sucker for this, aren’t I? :) Whatever, I’ll post a full report of their verdict on my first round soon.

It's taken me a while to post about it, but Thursday 23rd October saw my first step into the world of competitive racing. Well, a potential first step. It was my first round date for the Michelin Renault “Be A Racing Driver’ competition. On arrival at Elvington, I got my first bing of the season from the Mini as it announced the temperature had dropped to 3°C. Things didn't really get much better weather-wise, as rain clouds came scooting across the plains and drenched the airfield, leaving standing water everywhere. Despite this, the day was great. My instructor was none less than last year's winner, Martin Brackenbury, and he loved the wet. Good job, really. The qualification was split into 4 sessions on the cone-marked track. First were 2 laps with the instructor to learn the circuit layout. Next, it was his turn to take the students out for a few flying laps, showing the lines and the sort of pace you can hold. The last two sessions were yours to show what you'r

Went karting at Warden Law with a bunch of MINI2ers this last weekend. In contrast to the first MINI2 event, this one was nice and dry and levelled the playing field a little. No more of the 8-seconds-faster-than-the-pack nonsense. It was more like 3 seconds this time. ;) As well as the guys from MINI2, a couple of friends of the circuit — themselves kart owners — joined in. These guys were quick. They also weren’t averse to nudging the rest of us. Very sporting. Not. Still, at the end of the final, I’d held on to second place, which I guess is fairly respectable. The fella who beat me was, somewhat patronisingly, counted out of the reckoning for the trophy (some codswallop about him taking shortcuts, which he definitely didn’t). At least it meant I picked up another gong to put on the shelves at home. Even if I didn’t win, I can pretend I did. :) For the record, my best lap time on the full circuit (with the revised Dog Leg corner) was 67.173secs.

Today started so well. Nice breakfast, nice early start, and nice weather — amazing considering the rain and gales last night. A brief trip back to the Kylerhea ferry and I was ready to start the route from Glenelg to Gruinard Bay. At last, the time had come. :) Coming over the pass to Loch Duich, the view was even more stunning than yesterday. I knew I had little time to stop and stare (had to be back home by Friday and I was still heading North), so I pressed on to Eilean Donan Castle and beyond, to Plockton. Realising that photo opportunities inside the village were few and far between (it’s more picturesque when seen from a distance), I made a hasty exit. Rather too hasty, as it turned out... *CRUNCH* With a sickening deceleration and the sound of shattering plastic, my reversing — and my holiday — came to an abrupt halt. I simply can’t put into words the anguish I felt upon confirmation of my fender bender. In fact, I don’t even want to try. Suffice it to say that I knew t

Following a decent breakfast, the drive north was more frustrating than flowing. Slow traffic, wet roads and a consistent drizzle all conspired to hinder progress. Rannoch Moor was fairly impressive, although once again, the view was spoiled somewhat by the weather. In fact, it wasn’t till past Invergarry that the traffic evaporated and the roads dried up. From there on to Loch Duich, the drive was an absolute delight. The open roads, good surface, and gentle curves allowed a steady pace of 70mph+ to be maintained absolutely safely, if not exactly legally. I even hooked up with a similarly driven Audi (complete with Nordschleife sticker on the rear bumper) for the stretch through Glen Shiel. The company was much appreciated and it almost felt rude not to say goodbye when I turned off toward Glenelg. Nevertheless, a snack stop atop the Mam Ratagan pass soon provided the day’s next smile. An elderly gent parked alongside the MINI asked to look at the car’s interior, as he’d not had

Today’s been a bit of a mixed bag, but it’s definitely ending on a high. First, there was the morning, where the warmth of my bed did its best to convince me I didn’t need a holiday, just a good lie-in instead. Next, once the devilish duvet had been defeated, there was the dreary, headache-inducing drive up to and beyond Glasgow. Upon reaching Loch Lomond, I was beginning to wonder whether the bed had been the better option. Finally, with the weather closing in — this is Scotland after all — came the scenery. Sadly, most of the stunning views were obscured by cloud, but this just made the approach to Inveraray , my first night’s stop, that much more special. Coming down to sea level, the town’s whitewashed facade stood out like a beacon through the gloom of rain and dead flies. Not quite your traditional picture postcard, but a welcoming sight nonetheless. Nosh: King scallops, salad, chocolate torte & a cappucino at Loch Fyne Oyster Bar — good stuff Kip: Lorona B+B — cheap, c

There have been a few times recently that I’ve avoided blogging about something because I feel guilty. Because I am guilty. A couple of months back, for instance, I was lucky to get away with a clean licence after one particular bout of... spirited driving. On an early Sunday morning blast with friends, I absolutely ragged the MINI round a roundabout near Penrith and straight past a police car. I was doing almost 70mph in 2nd, just changing up to 3rd. Were it not for the fact the convoy I was in had dropped back, I might not have slowed down as much as I did. You see, I hadn’t even noticed the car I passed was a police car. I was told later that the cops had followed for a short while before deciding I wasn’t worth it. The thing is, a police presence shouldn’t be the deciding factor in how fast I go. The road’s speed limit and conditions on the day should be enough to dictate that. Not only that, but how aware can I be of other traffic, if I don’t even notice a police car? It’s rat

Good grief. It seems there are a lot more racing scholarships about than I'd imagined. Here's another: F1 Scholarship . I don't think I'll bother with this one, mind. Following my trip to Croft, I know my limits and they're not very impressive. Then again, the amount of tyre smoke and dust I kicked up during my sideways moment was probably quite impressive. And pointing at 90° to the direction of travel is probably more than a moment, too — especially when it starts at 85mph. ;)

Whew, what a day! Croft was quite something. Not as fast as I was expecting (approx. 105mph top speed), and lacking the edge that you get in a race situation, but it was still pretty amazing. A few things to take home: It takes very little abuse to make standard-issue MINI brakes feel like sponge It is possible to achieve fuel consumption figures in single digits (egads!) The Jim Clark Esses can be taken flat out, but you need to be smooth If you're not smooth, the result might be that you're travelling sideways at 80mph (gah!) Pick the grass out of that! (Just as I did when I got back to the pits.)

Less than 36 hours now before I’m at Croft Circuit, putting the Mini through its paces. To say I’m starting to crap myself would be... well, it would be an exaggeration, but you get the idea. It’s like a child’s anticipation of Christmas, but multiplied 3 or 4 times. I’ll bet you any money I feel physically ill on the morning of the trackday and can’t even face breakfast. I’m sure that once I’m out on the track, all the nerves will just disappear, replaced by nothing more than a stupid, wide grin. Oh man, I can not wait! :) :)

...are easily parted, or so the saying goes. I think it might be true. After all, I’ve only gone and entered the Be A Racing Driver competition! No, I can’t quite believe it either. :) Now to get my application form in for the Be A Grand Prix Driver competition. Hell, if you're gonna have a go, you may as well try it every which way! :)

I see there’s another competition out there to help you become a racing driver . This one’s a little more expensive, at £200 for each of the first three rounds, but any subsequent rounds and the final prize of a year’s competition would come for free — cars and maintenance thereof included. Life might just prove too short for me to pass this up. I may well be decidedly average, but dreams are there to be chased. What’s £600 for the chance to fulfil a life’s ambition?

Oooh, yes please. :) Looks like Karting North East's indoor circuit is going to be hosting the regional qualifier for Channel 5 and Exchange & Mart's Be A Grand Prix Driver 2004 competition. Just this last weekend, spectating at Rockingham, I wondered to myself what the quickest route into competition racing must be for someone my age (a creaking 28). Maybe this is it. Just maybe.

Ralf Schumacher demoted 10 grid places for next GP [BBC Sport] That's a touch on the harsh side, if you ask me. Amazingly, only Ron Dennis tells it as it is for once, putting it down to nothing more than a racing incident. Wonders may never cease.

Despite the soaking conditions, banana-yellow waterproofs, and being given kart #13, the first Mini2North karting event last Friday was a great laugh. And I’m not just saying that because I won (which I did - wahey!). Everyone had a whale of a time. Actually, I think that’s the first time I’ve beaten Lindsay in the wet. He’s normally an absolute master in those conditions. I can only assume he had a pretty average kart. I’m pretty sure mine was exceptional too, at least compared to previous rain-affected outings. Even on the slicks, I could attack most of the corners with a fair degree of confidence. In fact, I don’t think I spun once! Even in the dry, that’s a bit unusal for me. Gary Robertshaw, one of the circuit’s directors, was still ahead of me for pace, mind — by almost 2 seconds a lap. Apparently, he had a coming together with a backmarker near the end and I slipped past to victory. I never saw it, but I’m not going to contest it! :)

There’s no point in prolonging the agony. I may as well just put this site into cold storage now. It turns out that I have very little to say about cars and motorsport and all that kind of thing that can’t be said elsewhere . As a result, this site’s being closed down. Or is it...? There’s one slim chance for survival. I may convert Petrolhead into a seriously low volume weblog for write-ups of my karting exploits. I would make no promises on frequency of posts or anything like that, but at least I’d get to record the fun I have for later alcohol-fuelled arguments about who won what. Any announcements about such a venture will be made on either minimal or 7days7cars . Or both. But for now, au revior.

Okay, I’ll hold my hands up and admit it. This site is dying a slow, painful and very public death. Unless I suddenly start coming up with material to put here (instead of just piling more content onto the revitalised 7days7cars site), I’m going to close this place down properly. Sorry.

Is it just me, or is the new Lamborghini Gallardo the most perfect looking car ever? What a stunna!

Some bugger beat my February arrive-n-drive lap time. By 0.07secs. Arse! :(

Jacques Villeneuve qualifies in third place for the Australian Grand Prix. As Murray himself might say, “Faaaaaanntastic!” A strong BAR outfit complete with the cocky confidence of a back-on-form Villeneuve is possibly the best thing that could happen to F1 this year. Forget most of the technical changes, Jacques’s the man to deliver excitement on and off the track. Bring it on!

So then, my first spot of karting since July 2002. Long overdue. Taking a couple of laps to get familiar with various circuit changes and, indeed, the whole experience of being back in a kart, I noticed I was failing to pull away from Lindsay. Belated Christmas present or no, my competitive instinct kicked in. There was no way I was going let that continue. ;) With overalls flapping like a WW1 fighter pilot’s scarf, I set about February’s arrive-n-drive lap record in my usual ragged manner. In fact, I really need to remember to tuck the overalls into my socks next time I go to Gateshead. A couple of times, when coming into the first hairpin, the overalls caught on a bolt somewhere near the brake pedal. Cue a reduced ability to slow the kart down and a few very sideways moments as I threw it around the corner. I’d like to claim that this was the reason for my spin half way through the session, but... well... that was just me asking too much of the kart. :) As the space-time cont

Good grief. Over a month without an update. Coincidentally, I took delivery of the new car just over a month ago. I wonder whether that explains it. I’ve also missed every bit of motorsport action going, so that might explain it too. I have, however, been karting twice, so it’s about time I wrote about that. Just a mo...

Various things conspired this weekend to ensure I missed every bit of the Monte Carlo Rally . Tonight, I finally got around to checking out the result and what a result! The fact that Loeb excelled doesn’t suprise me, but to see both McRae and Sainz immediately up there on the podium was a shock. So much for all of the “out with the old, in the with the new” stuff that was being written in the motorsport press when Solberg won the Rally of GB. Long live the old flesh! :) P.S. Sorry about the shockingly bad headline. You’d think I wrote for the 4car rally newsletter or something.

Got an enticing leaflet in the post yesterday. Karting North East have a special offer going at the moment - £25 for half an hour of karting on their superb Warden Law circuit. The format is that of a mini-GP — 10 minutes of practice followed by a 20-minute race, with a trophy to the winner. It’s about time I added to my collection. (If any workmates read that last sentence, I was only joking, honest! Please don’t punt me off! :) BTW, if you don’t fancy the sound of racing outdoors in the current weather, there’s always the indoor circuit in Gateshead, where they’ve got a similar offer on.

That stuff about the Stig, while attracting more hits to this site than I’ve ever seen, was just a scurrilous rumour. Or so everyone’s telling me. Even one of the Top Gear pages points out the following: Nobody, not even the crew, knows who the Stig really is. However, I can reveal that he’s a bit on the short side and he speaks with a strong French accent. Doesn’t exactly sound like Perry McCarthy, does it? Hey ho.

Signal vs. Noise in motoring-related thread shocker. To be fair, they do talk about SUVs quite a bit, but this time it’s German engineering, rather than environmental issues, that’s coming under the spotlight. Having read a few things recently about declining standards in various German car-makers’ output, I’m starting to wonder whether this article’s highlighting a genuine trend. It’ll be interesting to see what people have to say about it...

This may just be a scurrilous rumour, but it seems the identity of the Stig from the BBC’s Top Gear may be out. Perry McCarthy , one-time Formula 1 flop, is said to be the man with incredibly bad taste in music, although Julian Bailey did deputise on one occasion. Not only that, but he’s lined up to be a co-presenter in the next series. Source: mini2.com . Of course, whether any of this turns out to be true is anyone’s guess. I’m still just reeling in shock from the sheer quality of the last series. While Channel 5’s 5th Gear plodded along in the style of the old Top Gear and Channel 4’s Driven just lost the plot completely, Top Gear under Clarkson’s guidance has been superb. Roll on series two! :)

Is it just me, or does the new Rolls Royce look like it was designed especially for black American rappers? Not wishing to stereotype — Jay-Z, Nelly and the rest do it well enough in their videos — but it definitely has a very US-friendly, almost gangsta-esque style to it. Gone are the flowing curves of Rollers of old, replaced instead by hard-cut shoulders, gun-metal grey paint and a grille you could use as a barbecue rack. Not only that, but the whole thing is huge. If that’s not pandering to American tastes, I don’t know what is.

So then, the reason for the reduced output on sniffpetrol has been revealed. Richard Porter, its chief protagonist and also a Top Gear script-writer, has just joined the ranks of Evo magazine as a columnist. Yep, that would explain it. Oh... and the name for his new column? Petrolhead. Gah! Of course, I’d like to claim I’m a trend-setter, but it appears petrolhead.co.uk got there before me anyway. Hmmm... perhaps I should’ve done a quick whois search before naming this place?