F1 v BTCC

Probably not a fair fight this, because I only watched the highlights of the Grand Prix whereas I watched all of the first three rounds of the BTCC.

The Grand Prix actually had a bit of action at the start and it was good to see the Red Bull cars doing so well. Webber showed (once again) that he is not quite up to the pace of his team-mate so once Vettel passed him, there was a bit of a procession then to the finish line. I am very pleased that Vettel won, especially since I've gone off McLaren since Ron Dennis has spoken out in favour of the Tories. It was Schuey's turn to have mechanical problems this time and he was joined soon after by Alonso so that's left Massa leading the Championship for Ferrari.

Meanwhile, over at Thruxton, it was very good to see Fabrizio Giovanardi back after it looked like he wouldn't be competing although the current champion Colin Turkington was notable by his absence - it seems crazy that he couldn't get the sponsorship deals sorted when two other drivers, one of whom I'd never heard of, did manage it. The first race was slightly processional, but the second and third, maybe because ballast had been added, were much better. The second involved a "coming together" of old rivals Plato and Neal but I think they shocked everyone by being really nice about it and even joking before shaking hands. In the third race, Neal had another "coming together", this time with race-leader Rob Collard. It took them both out and since Rob is another who manages to have more than his fair share of "comings together", words were shared that were not so friendly. While there is definitely a place for the nice guys like Turk and Gio, the sport also definitely needs the passionate guys like Neal, Plato and Collard and, from the past, the likes of Muller and Cleland.

As I said, it was never going to be a fair fight, but I'd still put the BTCC on the top step of the podium any day.