One Lap of Bathurst

1 lap of Bathurst from the drivers seat of a V8 Ute!

1995 Save Mart 300 Finish

1995 NASCAR Save Mart 300 from Sears Point, back when they ran the Carousel!!

Bathurst 1994, A Wet Start

V8 Supercars circa 1994; Bathurst in the wet!!

1989 - Birmingham Superprix - A fantastic BTCC scrap

This is the BTCC I grew up watching!! Ford RS500's, rear wheel drive, loads of power, H-pattern' boxes!! Rouse in his element against, Soper, Gravett, Harvey etc!! Brilliant!!

2010 V8 Supercars - Gold Coast Race 2

Touring car racing at its best!!

Great cars, great noise, great track, great racing!!

I've Been Thinking...

Did not get to watch this year's Bathurst 1000 as it is not on any TV channel I can get... pity, that's one great piece of tarmac!!

Good Cup race from Charlotte. Lots of 2 and 3 wide racing... pity Jimmie couldn't get alongside Kyle at the end though... 

Chase now down to 3?? Depends if Talladega brings any upsets; have a bad day there and you won't finish in 20th, you'll finish in the wall!! Fancy partnering the 48 in the draft?? 

If Harvick or Hamlin want to beat the 48 at the end of the year, they need to start beating the 48 now!!

First pictures of 2011 Cup cars are filtering out. The new fronts look good!!

Kasey Kahne leaves RPM... In one way, I can't say I blame him as they obviously don't get on, and the results are showing this... but... he should have stayed to the end of the year!!

Autosport headline "Raikkonen to miss rally after crash"... so where's the news...

Another Autosport headline "Korean track hailed by F1 drivers"... they haven't started practice yet!!

I very rarely watch a Grand Prix live, I watch the races later in the day. The advantage is that I can miss the build-up, watch the start and when I get bored speed the race up until something interesting happens, or the race finishes. Some races I watch at 30 times speed, and the better ones at only 12 or even 6 times speed! Lets see what happens this weekend...

Go Webber!!

DTM in America?? It might give the Japanese manufacturers something to have fun with but will anybody care??

Charlotte was the last Nationwide race of 2010 for the pretty new cars... roll on 2011!!

NASCAR to use E15 ethanol next year, and fuel injection on the way... just stay away from bigger wheels, bigger brakes, and sequential shift transmissions!!

Just read the "official" top 50 jokes, no sign of Ecclestone in the list... Man walks into a bar and asks for David Coulthards personality, barman says I don't work miracles, I just serve drinks...

How do you set up 43 NASCAR drivers for a big ol' bar room brawl... Have at it boys, then near the end of the year race at a flat half mile short track and a restrictor plate track... back to back!!! Sounds like fun...

2010 European Late Model Series Gallery

2010 EUROPEAN LATE MODEL SERIES CHAMPION 

JEAN VASSEUR

Latest Ramblings - NASCAR HOF / BTCC NGT

NASCAR Hall of Fame

2010 Inductees - Bill France Sr, Bill France Jr, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Junior Johnson.

Last year, when the first HoF inductees were announced I thought the people going into the HoF made sense. France Sr and Jr had to be in for obvious reasons, Petty and Earnhardt were inevitable, and Junior Johnson should be in the HOF, but there were rumblings that others should have been included but were not.

2011 Inductees - David Pearson, Bobby Alison, Lee Petty, Ned Jarrett, Bud Moore.

One year on and the second set of inductees have been introduced. All the names have a significance for the history of NASCAR. Should other names have been included as well as, or instead of the class of 2010? Maybe, maybe not, however only five people are inducted each year so someone is always going to be left out.

My gripe is this; certain people seem to think they have a god given right to be in the HoF. To be nominated for the Hall of Fame should not be a given to be taken for granted, it should be an honour! All former Champions have a case for inclusion; maybe more Championships should mean you are higher up the list, maybe not. Some Crew Chiefs, Spotters, or Team Owners should be on a short list of potential inductees, along with certain organisers, officials, broadcasters and or track owners.

However the statistics resulting from a career in the sport is only part of the story. Surely who the person is, how they conducted themselves throughout their life; the human nature element must also be considered.

The Hall of Fame should mean something, being inducted should mean more, not be expected.

BTCC COT sorry NGT

At the last BTCC round a matt black Toyota Avensis debuted the Next Generation Touring car that BTCC is moving towards - turbocharged 1.6 engines, standardised (bigger) brakes, standardised suspension and gearboxes...

I am not a fan of the cars currently used in the BTCC and am in two minds about what I would do with the BTCC cars. The BTCC should reflect the cars driven on the roads.

I would not like it, but my head says if the BTCC was a Focus against an Astra, Golf, Megane, 307, Civic, Auris, A3, 1-series even, it would make sense as these are the cars the average British buyer buys.

My second mode of thinking, my heart, says the BTCC cars should be saloons, so an Avensis against a Mondeo, Insignia, Accord, Laguna, A4, 3-series. Arguably my heart says this as these are the sorts of cars that were raced in the BTCC when I last cared about it; Cleland in a Cavalier against Radisich in a Mondeo, Hoy in a 3-series, Menu in a Laguna, and the odd Volvo or Alfa 155 thrown in for good measure.

To me the evolution in BTCC cars from front wheel drive production based saloons to race cars with a roof, and wings has gone too far. The basics of the NGT look good, a saloon with standardised brakes, suspension and gearboxes to keep costs under control, but some of the specs worry me... Bigger brakes?? 1.6 turbos??

Here are the basics of my BTCC COT car... I would give the cars smaller brakes to increase braking distances, smaller wheels and tyres to lower grip levels, 2.5 V6 production based engines to give the cars less stressed engines that still create a good amount of power, and a better exhaust note, 6 speed H-pattern gearboxes (when the average Mondeo or Astra has a sequential gearbox so can the BTCC versions!), three pedals, and very very limited (standardised) aerodynamic modifications from the production shell. I would love rear wheel drive, but understand that most modern road cars are front wheel drive so will have to live with it!

Why are the rule makers besotted by making the next generation of race car quicker or stop better than the outgoing cars? So what if the NGT lapped slower than the cars do now. So what if they had to brake earlier going into corners. Give the drivers less grip, more power, longer braking distances, proper gearboxes, and less aero grip and then see who can drive, and race!

Want vs Think Predictions

NASCAR 

Want - Tony Stewart / Kevin Harvick

Think - Jimmie Johnson

I would love Smoke to win another Championship, especially as he has his own team, however after he ran out of fuel a couple of weeks ago the chance of him being up top come seasons end has gone up in... Failing that, I think Kevin Harvick would make for a great Champion. RCR up top again, a new name on the trophy, and don't forget that until the points were reset he was leading!

However I have an uneasy feeling I can't shake off, I feel the steam roller with 48 on the door is coming... and fast. JJ always seems to have a habit of finding a bunch of pace once the Chase starts, and he is our current point's leader. I would like a new name to win this year, but reckon 5 in a row might just happen. 

Formula One

Want - Mark Webber

Think - Mark Webber

When Mark Webber won his first race the F1 paddock celebrated. The nice guy finally won! Now the nice guy is leading the Championship! Let's be brutally honest here... had Vettel / Hamilton not messed this year up Webber would probably be third or fourth, but they did so he's not. This is probably Webbers one shot at the title and I hope he gets it!! 

BTCC

Want - Anybody but Pluto

Think - Pluto

Plato may be the class of BTCC right now, good car, good team, and he should win the title this year... but... oh go on... somebody stuff him off big time so Neal has a look in... please... oh go on! 

IRL

Wanted - Franchitti

Think... it's all over, it is now...

I know the seasons over, but I really did want Mr Judd to win! Not only did he win this year but he has won 3 out of the last 4 Championships! 

X Factor

Want - Erm -anybody legally allowed to be in the UK...

Think - painter bloke in the hat - not that I watch...

Erm...

Oops...

Sorry...

Moving on...

I think i'll go lie down... 

Oh look its Pluto...

  

Strictly...

Not a hope in...