A day at the races

Nope, not horse racing. On Sunday I tootled along to Donington Park for the World Series by Renault weekend.





I've not really been a massive motorsport fanatic. I was one of many that became disenchanted with F1 after Rubens Barrichello pulled up before the finish line to let Michael Schumacher take the chequered flag at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix. From then, I saw it nothing more than 24 moving cigarette adverts (and later, post tobacco advertising ban, mobile phone adverts), some evidently much quicker than others, all following team orders in order to contrive a result.

But I've tended to keep a ear to the ground anyway, especially in the lesser known versions, British Touring cars, World Rally Championship, that kind of thing.

And so we headed to Leicestershire for an event, armed with free tickets (a Yorkshireman doesn't turn down a freebie) to see what you don't tend to get with Bernie Ecclestone's offering these days, some competitive racing and fan friendly fun.


There was plenty going on as well. There were five races that day and two exibitions. One of which was of Renault's Formula One cars of yesteryear, including the John Player special once used by Ayrton Senna:


They then broke out the current Renault R26 racing car, which proved almost impossible to photograph:


But it did get a little easier as the day went on.......


There were plenty of side-stalls as well and it all made for a fantastic day out, all complimentary of Renault Sport and one that probably be attending again. Ignore the fairgrounds, interactive games and simulators in the infield where you got to queue for ages, there was still plenty to keep you occupied between races.The infield still had exhibitions from the Renault Collectors and Classic Car club and after we'd had a wander around there, we headed into the Paddock.

Here you had plenty of photo opportunities, chances to talk to drivers / mechanics, classic car shows, collectors car show, it was a petrol-head's paradise.


There were obviously people there who didn't fall into the "casual viewer" category like I did and they felt right at home talking about gear mechanisms, power-to-weight ratios and slip-differentials, stuff that goes way above my head.

Me? My interests were elsewhere....


Who said motorsport was dull?!

Uninformed Technology

The Times have been carrying a few pieces this weekend about how our roads are very dangerous places to be.






In the UK, we all vehicles have to display a small disc in the corner of the windscreen which, for cars, can cost anything between £50 (discounting exempt cars) and £215 a year depending on how much your vehicle harms the local wildlife.

But last year, almost 2.2million people, twice as many as two years ago, didn't bother to purchase the said disc. Now ordinarily, that wouldn't be that big a deal. The only people that would be harmed is HM tax man, and we've got no sympathy for him.
But when it comes to car tax, it becomes a bit more serious. The problem with that is that the tax disc is the primary, ney, only method of proving that a vehicle is insured and has undergone an MOT where necessary, meaning that if there's 2million vehicles that aren't registered and taxed on the DVLA database, then there's probably more than 2million uninsured drivers on our roads as well.

That's bad news for the likes of you and me, who are thought to pay an extra £30 on our premiums to cover for claims involving uninsured motorists and it's even worse news if you're rear-ended by one of the aforementioned group.

But why the increase? Simply, there are less traffic police officers on our highways and byways. Less officers means less chance of getting caught and goes some way to explaining recent rises in drink driving incidents convictions as well. Reduce the chance of getting caught and you immediately reduce the risk.
The Government defends this by saying that technology is able to reduce the workload of traffic officers, and by 'technology', they mean speed cameras, and that this allows them to be deployed elsewhere.

They perhaps haven't realised the pit-falls of such a scheme. Such technology relies on information. Every legally registered car is on a database in Swansea.
So lets say you are photographed by a so-called "safety camera". The camera takes a photograph of your motor and it's unique ID number. Some bloke then comes along, empties the camera film and punches that number into a super-secret computer. The computer then gleefully spits out your name, address and various other nuggets of information about you and your car. The £60 fine is sent out to you - job done.

But take your unregistered cars. Type that number into the same super-secret computer and it'll knock it straight back. The offender gets then gets away with not only driving an illegal vehicle, but also the traffic offence.

The powers that be are determined to tackle the problem and have announced 'new technology' to catch out the offenders, so lets simplify this:
They have information that is flawed...... which means that the technology doesn't work..... so they bring in new technology..... but the new technology relies on information..... but the information is...... Oh I give up!