12 October, 2018
Why learning to lose is the path to winning
Last night was the count for the local by-election, in which I stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate. I lost. I came third. And I’m OK with that. But this isn’t a political blog, at all, even though I’m involved in it. So if you want the results, they’re here. Once upon a time, I […]
2 March, 2014
What a difference a tyre makes – mini review of Yokohama Advan Neovas on track
Yesterday, finally, after a break of nearly four years, I returned to the race track. Not for a competitive event, but for a track day. And I learned a little… The scene has changed. Maybe. Track days were mostly full of road cars. Lotus Elises were hugely popular, but you’d see a collection of Porsches, various […]
18 July, 2012
It’s OK, Coming Second Isn’t So Bad
One of the lessons I’ve learned, from motorsport and life in general, is that coming second is actually OK. You’re brought up in school to believe that winning is important. Anything else is being a loser. Well, they’re wrong. The minute you learn to accept that you win by being the best that you can […]
18 October, 2009
Oulton Park Trackday With GTDC
After two years of going nowhere near a race circuit while I concentrated on building up the business, I finally got the Elise nicely fettled by Phoenix Motorsport in Accrington and got out with the Gold Track Driving Club.
13 July, 2009
Saab 9-5 Aero (HOT) Estate For Sale – SOLD!
Given that I’m selling my motorbike at the moment as well, you may well wonder if I’ve had some kind of financial crisis of my own. But thankfully, no. I just don’t need such a large and fast car any more. When I was doing a lot of sprinting I needed something capable of towing […]
5 May, 2008
Photos From the Aintree Spring Sprint 2008
I’m not going to be challenging for anything much this year, but on April 26th I ambled along to the Aintree Spring Sprint and took some snaps. A selection of them are available here. Use them as you like, but don’t remove the tag. If you’d like to receive a higher quality image, just let […]
30 April, 2008
Aintree Spring Sprint 2008
Each year, Liverpool Motor Club holds three sprints at the classic Aintree circuit. It’s a relaxed, sociable and efficient event. I always thought TVR’s finest moment was the Cerbera – a combination of classic low-rider looks, power, and noise. Still handled badly, but that can largely be sorted out. It was great to see everyone […]
18 February, 2008
20 January, 2008
Stop Whinging and Learn to Drive
Sorry David Coulthard, but when I saw this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7191512.stm I saw red. I mean, apart from some of his astonishingly patronising comments directed towards younger drivers, he did nothing but confirm that his F1 career has been a long period of journeyman mistakes. His ability to spin off during warm up laps was once something […]
8 July, 2007
Aintree Sprint, 30th June 2007 – Rain again
If you’re in Britain you’ll already be aware that for the past few weeks we’ve been getting rain of near biblical proportions, with floods causing a lot of damage in the Midlands, and just a lot of heavy rain in the rest of the country. Aintree wasn’t much different, though not quite so bad as […]
25 February, 2007
Videos are back!
Ok, it’s supposed to be video of the week… yet since Christmas I’ve not been updating this section. My Bad! Now, I’m not about to go back to updating weekly. I’ve been busy, I’ve got trips planned, and it’s hard to update this section every single week unless some of you start sending me quality […]
23 November, 2006
Car Games
Car stunts have never had the flash factor of motorbikes…now it’s changed! It’s a viral, but good… here’s the two that have been done so far:
15 October, 2006
What Happens at Your First Sprint or Hillclimb
The first event you ever do is a great experience. Don’t make yourself sick with worry, and ignore the people making fun of you and suggesting you’ll go out in a big ball of flames or similar! Accidents, in particular serious ones, are rare in sprints and hillclimbs, and if you take it easy while […]
30 August, 2006
Motorsport Video of the Week #2
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.
23 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 […]
21 August, 2006
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 […]
30 July, 2006
Loton Park, 29th July 2006
Woke up this morning, looked outside, saw the sun… and just wanted to go back to sleep! Yep – I was shattered! I’d failed to get to sleep early, and then woke up with a start a few times. I don’t know why, but when I have an event on the next morning I wake […]
27 July, 2006
Loton Park Preparation
Every year I look forward to Loton Park, down in Shropshire. And every year I worry about it! It’s a lovely hillclimb – scenic and great for spectators but there’s no denying that it’s not without dangers. Lots of people end up with damaged cars here. I’ve decided not to trailer the car up as […]
12 July, 2006
Competing in Your First Sprint or Hillclimb
I’m often asked by people how to start competing in sprinting, and the reality is fairly simple. This information also applies, by and large, to entering many other events which don’t require a special license – eg, trials, autotesting, navigation rallies and so on. First, find an event with a local club. In the North […]
Aintree Circuit Trackday Video, May 2005
I’m afraid that due to issues with recoding some of my videos to this website’s flash player I’ve had to stick with the Google Video system for some videos, at least for the time being. A lap of the Aintree club circuit. It’s a classic little circuit in the old school format – ie, fast, […]
Loton Park Hillclimb Video, July 2005
I’m afraid that due to issues with recoding some of my videos to this website’s flash player I’ve had to stick with the Google Video system for some videos, at least for the time being. A quick but not really that quick run up the classic Loton Park hillclimb course. It’s a real test of […]
Aintree Sprint Video, September 2005
I’m afraid that due to issues with recoding some of my videos to this website’s flash player I’ve had to stick with the Google Video system for some videos. In this one I set what, at the time, was up there amongst the fastest times at Aintree for a road going production car under two […]