Tuesday 16 June 2009

All bow to Valentino Rossi

That last bend move on Jorge Lorenzo in Catalunya was awesome - up there with the very best overtaking moves in motorsport. And after the race he was talking as if he had already thought about having to overtake in that way!

Now why can't they get F1 cars to overtake like that?

I know - it's all down to physics etc but it's a real pity. I suspect that the only reason there was more overtaking in F1 in the distant past was down to there being bigger differences in cars and driver ability. And there was a greater chance of a driver making an error. Bring back manual gear boxes and clutches.

Another Rossi was in the news last night - Giuseppe Rossi helped Italy to a 3-1 win over the USA scoring a cracking goal from outside the box. It must be something in the name - I don't know a bad Rossi. Quo's Francis Rossi has been a hero since the early 1970's and Rossi's ice cream since I was a kid!

Anyway, well done Il Dottore - we salute you!

Thursday 11 June 2009

Button top of the class

It's nearly half term and the drivers are lined up outside the head's study. How do you rate their performances so far? Here's my view on each driver:

Jenson Button. Top of the class. How did we ever doubt him?
Rubens Barichello. Rumbled by his brighter class mate. May soon be time to leave.
Sebastian Vettel. Stunning season. Could be next in line for the throne.
Mark Webber. Showing well in a good car at last. Under pressure from Vettel.
Jarno Trulli. A solid season from a very good veteran.
Timo Glock. Disappointing in this year's car. Should be showing Trulli the way home
Nico Rosberg. Making the best of a car that only flatters in qualifying.
Felipe Massa. Keeping his head down and waiting for the Ferrari to improve.
Fernando Alonso. Teachers pet. Driving well whilst waiting for a faster car elsewhere.
Kimi Raikkonen. Must try harder. Does anyone know if he’s really bothered?
Lewis Hamilton. Welcome to the real world. Still a good driver. Showing some respect now.
Nick Heidfeld. Mr Reliable making the best of a slow car.
Heikki Kovalainen. Can’t get his head round driving a crap car
Sebastien Buemi. Bright first season but needs to cut out the silly mistakes.
Robert Kubica. Must concentrate .What a difference a year makes. Finding it hard to grin and bear.
Sebastien Bourdais. Shocked by Buemi. Not good enough for a Champ Car winner.
Giancarlo Fisichella. Wringing the neck of the Force India. Very creditable.
Adrian Sutil. Another young gun for hire. In the queue for a top drive.
Nelson Picquet jnr. Class joker. I’d really like to see Nelson’s boy do well – but it ain’t happening.
Kazuki Nakajima. Kamikaze driver with plenty of ability. Cut the mistakes and could be good.

Monday 8 June 2009

Vettel and Button to race for Ferrari

It was great to see Jenson Button winning in Turkey but this season is beginning to confuse the hell out of me! As a lifelong Ferrari fan I would love to see the boys in the red cars win races but they don’t seem very interested - but then I’ve also been dead impressed by Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Buemi. It’s getting so I don’t know who to follow anymore and then there’s KERS or is that CURSE! Even commentary god Martin Brundle doesn’t know what to make of it. What’s clear is that it doesn’t seem to make Ferraris run very quickly and therefore all most certainly a bad thing. Only one thing to do – throw KERS out and install Button and Vettel in the Ferrari.

Thursday 4 June 2009

Britain Quits the EU

Oh, I wish! I am still embarrassed that I voted in favour of joining the EEC back in the 1970’s. But we were lied to. I can’t believe we’d ever have joined if people had known that we were heading for political union.

The real question is what do we get for our membership? It might be easier to first look at what membership could bring. Benefits could reasonably expect to fall into three broad categories: Economic, Political and Military(Security).

I know the following arguments have been simplified but if I’ve got it grossly wrong I’d love to know!

Do we get any real economic benefits from membership? We’re a significant economic contributor to the region so it doesn’t look like it. The Spanish will reasonably have a different view.

Would countries/companies/individuals stop buying our goods if we weren’t members? Don’t be daft. People in the EU happily buy Japanese and Chinese goods. Never mind cuckoo clocks from Switzerland. Can we buy stuff cheaper from the EU because we are members – I don’t think so. So, no real economic benefits then.

What about Military? Do you feel any safer knowing that the French are on our side? And the Germans? They are supposedly helping in Afghanistan but won’t fight! And who are our enemies, anyway? The Russians are no longer a major threat – and if they were, we’d still need help from the Americans!

The most likely threat to us as a country probably comes from Argentina - especially as we’ve barely got a fishing fleet now– never mind a navy! Can you see the EU helping us if the Argentinians decide to have another go at the Falklands? Yeah, right!

So that leaves political benefits. I’m not sure I can even be bothered to argue this one. Is there anything remotely good about letting a group other than our own government set the laws by which we live – even if our current lot are particularly bad at it!

And does anyone else round the world care if Europe speaks with one voice? The Americans – the Chinese? I shouldn’t think they give a monkeys about what we are up to.

So did I vote for a Pro EU party – well what do you think!