Motors and Me

Am I prescient or what? Manager says Kubica now on the market Kubica, who has been with the team since the 2006 season, had a contract with BMW until the end of 2010, but the team's exit has left the Pole's future in an uncertain position. However, his manager Daniele Morelli made it clear that Kubica is now open to offers. Good luck to the lanky Pole. If it weren't for Massa's quick recovery from the spring incident , I'd have said Kubica was an obvious choice for the Ferrari seat, but I'm no longer sure he's going to be needed. Pity.

My heart goes out to Robert Kubica. This time last year, he was fighting for the F1 world title. At one stage, he even led the championship . Things were going brilliantly for him, he was driving well and people were saying some very good things about him. Fast forward to 2009 and where is he? Nowhere. Where's the press coverage and hype about his talents? Nowhere. It's as if he's fallen off the face of the planet. What went wrong? From what I've read, halfway through the 2008 season, BMW decided to shift their development efforts to the 2009 car, despite the success they were enjoying in 2008. The effect of this was that their 2008 season quietly tailed off, taking their #1 driver from championship leader to frustrated also-ran. If I were Kubica, I would've been mad as all hell. What makes it even worse is that, while Honda adopted the same approach and built a pretty awesome car for 2009, BMW completely failed to capitalise on their long development time for

Slightly random post, but I struggle to think of more than a handful of cars that look good from behind. This thought struck me today as I walked behind one of the few that does look pretty good, in my opinion: the new Ford Kuga . But what other cars have a nice arse? And are pretty much universally thought to look as good from behind as they do up front? Here are my own personal preferences, with links to supporting evidence: BMW Z4 (1st-generation soft-top) Perfectly sculpted, just like the rest of the car and works better as a soft-top than as the coupé Lotus Elise (2nd-generation) Small, but perfectly formed and just as unconventional as the rest of the car. Ford Fiesta ST (MK5) Another car that is all-round perfectly formed. Nothing too showy, but perfectly proportioned, with the rear tying in nicely with the overall design Ford Racing Puma (with F2 spoiler) Bit of a cheeky inclusion, this, as the spoiler's non-standard, but with it in place, the car's a pe