Second in a series of humorous, interesting or scary motorsport videos I’ve found on the internet. All I’ll say is that trees are hard, but for at least one person involved in this crash it was probably a good thing.
You can also view this clip on Google Videos.
Month: August 2006
Motorsport Video of the Week #1
Approximately every week I’m going to try and find a neat, interesting or just plain scary motorsport video and post it into this site. Some will be from Google and Youtube, and others will be sourced elsewhere. I’ll always give credit where due and if you ever find a video that shouldn’t be here please let me know.
And now the first – a fine example of how it can all go wrong in racing if your attention wanders. Watch closely :
Or you can view it directly on Google Videos. It’s a viral video to advertise a new Renault model, but I feel it’s done well enough to warrant inclusion.
Scammonden Dam Hillclimb – 20th August 2006
They built a reservoir at Scammonden for one very simple reason.
Because it rains a lot there.
And Sunday wasn’t a disappointment in that respect. Still, it’s one of those venues that needs supporting – Pendle & District always put on a good event with plenty of runs and although it’s a short hill it’s always a good day out. Part of the appeal is that it is a small event – about thirty cars, so you can chat with everyone and it’s more of a clubby atmosphere.
For me there was some confusion – I’d entered very late after hearing numbers were low and they needed more. As a consequence I’d entered first into mod-prods, a class for racing cars rather than road cars, then they moved me to standard production cars. I explained carefully that my car’s anything but standard and eventually I went into road going modified cars. Funnily enough the result would have been the same for me whichever of those classes I’d have been in, but you have to think of the fairness for others as well.
Once that was sorted everything was straightforward – I was second quickest in the very wet conditions, lagging behind a quick and well driven Citroen Saxo VTS belonging to Steve Mitchell. The extremely slippery conditions favouring the balance of the front drive cars.
However, once the timed runs came on I found my groove and set down a marker nearly a second ahead, pulling out more time as the day went on. Five timed runs later and I had a very strong lead, winning my class with an ok 29.4s run and coming 8th overall.
Scammonden Dam Hillclimb is an interesting one – it’s a short course up the service road for the dam. Incredibly steep, you can do most of it in just first and second gear – especially in the wet, and you find yourself doing a lot of wheelspinning as you fight for traction.
There are just a few corners – first is sharp left hander just a couple of seconds from the steep start line. You then blat quickly along a straight to a slightly intimidating corner with nothing but armco if you outbrake yourself. From there you start the real climb with a left hander that’s always a little later than you expect heading up to a couple of right handers. It’s not an especially tricky hill to learn, but it does demand commitment if you want to be quick.
Next Event: Aintree, 2nd of September 2006 – time to get that record back
Italy – Lucky in Lucca, and more….
Sadly, I never had a chance to write fully about Italy – so you’ll have to make do with this brief overview. Sorry!
I’m now back from a couple of weeks touring in Italy. Shattered, and surprised at my lack of internet access. It simply wasn’t an easy thing to sort out in some places, and I didn’t have my usual phone as it’s broken, so I was relying on an old mobile for access.
I’m struggling, actually, to give words to this country. Usually beautiful, sometimes ugly, almost always friendly…
The Statistics:
3200 miles driven; 3 new dents on the car; about 100 gallons (378 litres) of petrol used; highest speed travelled – daren’t say but speed limiters may have been touched; speed cameras triggered: 1; chats with police officers: 1
The Places – In (very) Brief
Milan
Nicer than expected. Friendly folk. Food ok. Lovely but pricey hotel in the centre appears to be something of a secret. Shall I keep it that way? Ask and I might add the name… heheh!
Parking in places could be challenging, like many Italian cities, and expensive, but at least the city itself proved easy to navigate and we found the hotel quickly.
Verona
We stayed in an astonishingly pretty campsite in the fortress overlooking the city. Food excellent where available but watch out – it would seem late eating isn’t a big thing here.
Taking a walk through the narrow streets at night is enchanting, and in the day you can visit the balcony where Juliet reputedly greeted Romeo. A lot of people rub the breast of Juliet’s statue, in particular her left breast which shines golden compared to the rest of her body. I’m still not sure why but I guess it brings luck, love, or just horniness to those who touch it.
Venice
So pretty, and (mostly) doesn’t smell as bad as some had suggested after all. Food good in one place, distinctly mediocre in another – so pays to search out a place that’s obviously popular with locals. Campsite turned out to be next to the runway at the airport – as are many of the other campsites. Watch out. Pricey too, at £20 per night including a car.
Bologona
There was something strange about this town. It was almost deserted, car hostile, and difficult to navigate. We couldn’t find a hotel in the centre that looked even vaguely approachable late at night and ended up resorting to the Holiday Inn near the airport – expensive rack rates so use Amex or a similar travel service to phone ahead and get a decent price on your room.
We discovered that it’s a student city, which may have explained the summertime desertion. Perhaps it’s vibrant in term time?
Tuscany in general
I can see why people fall in love with this area. It can be cheap, but the combination of good weather, good food, friendly people and varied landscape make it irresistable. Throw in pretty villages and girls and you have a region that begs to be explored. Sedately.
Watch out for travelling packs of Americans and middle-class English retirees who may sniff at you getting noisily drunk in their unspoilt bit of the country.
Lucca
I’d never even heard of this town before coming to Italy, but a barman recommended it to us… so why not? And it’s great! Best bet is to park in one of the reasonably priced car parks outside the old town then take a cycle to travel around the town – either hired or, as with some car parks, take a courtesy bike. You can also cycle around the city walls. Great little place, though packed with tourists so it can end up a little expensive and tiresome – but it’s not as packed or overpriced as other cities. And anyway, if there are tourists, there are facilities….
Pisa
If you approach the famous tower from the right angle it looks perfectly straight. Which could be a disappointment if that’s all you came to see. It was British engineers who stopped it falling over, apparently, and for a moment you might think they did too good a job. The plaza the tower is in (it’s the campanile for the Duomo) is very beautiful and although the tower is the reason people come, it’s a little bit more than just that. However, it’s also true that few people explore the rest of this city. We didn’t either. I feel a little guilty.
San Gimignano
This little gem of a town has a lot going for it and must have been something of a medieval Manhattan. It’s very pretty, full of towers, and has an awful lot of tourists. Lacked the charm of Lucca, but well worth a visit.
San Miniato
We stumbled upon this very pretty and friendly little town and we asked in an osteria for a room. It was at this point we learned that an osteria is just a type of restaurant. But this is Italy so phone calls were made by the proprietors and before we knew it we were checking in at a charming little B&B in the town centre. Anna makes a wonderful host – but she doesn’t speak a word of English, so take your time with bookings.
Siena
We accidentally turned up on the day of the Palio trials. The Palio is a crazy bare back horse race in the main square of the town – quite possibly the most ancient and yet least professional horse race in the world. Shame we missed anything exciting, but the main square is beautiful and ancient.
Florence (Firenza)
Florence is beautiful but, for me at least, not something that I found as beautiful as expected. What it is good for is art galleries. You can see some incredibly famous artworks in the city’s art galleries.
Genoa (Genova)
Don’t bother! Never seen quite such an ugly mass of concrete building. There are beautiful parts, of course, like most Italian cities, but they’re not necessarily easy to find. The guides say the city has a ‘gritty realism’ which I always think is travel guide speak for “you’ll be lucky not to get mugged.”
But on the whole – what a great country!
Driving in Italy
Driving in this country is actually a great experience. The road surfaces are smooth, the drivers skilled, and the weather generally good.
But there are things to beware of.
Speed bumps appear to have been randomly placed on the autostrada. Some people claim it’s down to subsidence or lorry damage, but I think it’s just to keep you awake.
The distance and direction markers towards towns and cities were the inspiration for some of Heisenberg’s greatest work. You might see that your town is 25km away. The next sign, 1km down the road, will say 20km. Then it’ll revert to 25km and you may well conclude that you’re going round in circles. Or getting closer, because as you continue the next sign will say you’re 18km away. The actual distance may be less. Or more.
If you park in the wrong place you’ll get a ticket, but working out how to pay isn’t simple so I’m ignoring my ticket and waiting to see what happens. Anyway, parking places are colour coded – white means you can park there freely, except when the signs say you can’t, yellow means you can park there freely except when the signs say you can’t and blue means…. well you get the idea. I think blue is pay, white is free, and yellow is residents but the reality is that you need to check as different towns have different rules.
Italian Food, In Italy
I’m a vegetable, as many of you know, so obviously can’t eat meat. Italy at least has a good range of vegetarian food available so there’s no need to spend too much time scrutineering the menus.
The food itself range from great to mediocre but there was nothing so amazing that I’m going to make a special mention. I did enjoy the white truffle and artichoke tagliateli I had in Verona – something I’ve never had before and which was delicious.
Next Time
It’ll be Rome and the south. And more slowly – the furious pace we set meant we covered a lot of ground, but it was tiring sometimes. Still… we had a great time.