A Family Affair

Caught this rather nice article in the online Telegraph this week. It came with this very cheesy photo:

It's about BTCC driver (and reigning champion) Matt Neal teaching his twin sons, Will & Harry, to drive now that they have turned 17.

William and Harry!!

I hadn't though of him being a Royalist. I also hadn't thought of him as being old enough to have kids old enough to drive. He's only about my age!

His sons will have an excellent teacher and it looks like he is trying to keep their feet on the ground including some professional lessons as well. I'm not as sure of the car choices though, a sporty Corsa and an old Beetle with no seatbelts. The former will cost a fortune to insure and the latter has no seatbelts.

I've not mentioned the BTCC much this year - but I haven't missed a race and they have been just as exciting as every recent season. I've not watched any f1 meanwhile and am not missing it in the slightest.

The BTCC last weekend was at Rockingham and much rain caused much sliding off but there were no major disputes - unlike last year when this excellent picture was taken:

I don't usually credit the pictures I find on the 'Net but this is worth a link and a mention of Life Exposed Photography as this picture perfectly captures Matt in full-on anger mode where no other picture of the incident I've found does.

Here, Matt is launching himself at Jason Plato after a serious shunt in qualifying. Good! - we like some passion in our racing drivers. Jason is wisely keeping his helmet on given that Matt practises martial arts and is considerably bigger than him. Meanwhile, their dads are in the picture trying to make sure it doesn't get any worse.

A very un-cheesy photo - but, then again, racing-driver Matt Neal will be nothing like family-man Matt Neal - I hope! And it looks like it is family-man Matt Neal that Wills & Harry have as their driving instuctor.

X-Ray Specs

Actually, that's a very misleading title - there aren't any specifications out for the Lada X-Ray yet - it's still a concept.

It looks OK, in a brown Renault Koleos-ish sort of way but, then again, I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a fair bit of Renault involvement in this car. The BBC Website has this story/video today where Lada's new British-sounding designer, Steve, is shown telling us about the new ideas including the "unique" X shape at the front of the car that makes me think Vauxhall.

This story is on the back of a short one in The Telegraph a couple of days ago about how the last Lada Classic (or "Riva" as we'd call it) has finally rolled off the production line after 40 years. According to that article AvtoVAZ, who own Lada, said this week "it would now concentrate on making newer Lada models such as the Kalina, Priora and Granta."

These do not look good. I wonder if anyone's told Steve.

The Worst Time to Have a Heart Attack is During a Game of Charades

That's my favourite joke from this nice (for once) Daily Mail story.

The story is how the management and staff of Westgate multi-story car park in Leeds are cheering up their customers with amusing quotes, sweets, competitions and, mostly, with jokes displayed in the stairwells.

The Mail, being The Mail, has to comment that some of the jokes are politically incorrect - something they are very much in favour of - and seeing as how they don't seem too politically incorrect, I can quite happily live with too.

Lots of the jokes are in the style of (or nicked from) Tim Vine and Milton Jones - two of my favourite comedians. But another favourite comedian, and Lionel Messi look-a-like, Canadian comedian Stewart Francis, is the one who I reckon is being mostly plagiarised.

The joke in the story about the '70s Karaoke Bar is one of his - as is this one which they haven't used but I just like:
"Standing in the park, I was wondering why a frisbee looks larger the closer it gets...then it hit me"

The most relevant one though is this one of Tim Vine's:
"Crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many different levels."

'03 Ford For Sale

1903 that is.Fox News have the story of this Model A Rear Entry Tonneau (presumably the forerunner of the Mondeo) coming to auction with a pre-sale estimate of $300,000 to $500,000 - and it only cost $850 when new.

Pistonheads, meanwhile, are reporting on another item up for auction - the Dunlop Bridge from Donington Park.I won't be bidding because I already have the Scalextric version - I don't need the real thing.

Besides, it doesn't include the metal framework which you would need in order to walk over it! Apparently that was scrapped when Donington were doing all the work to upgrade when they were getting set for their ill-fated venture into hosting the British Grand Prix.

A venture that proved to be a bridge too far.

Tiffany Dell

Who!?

Oh, you mean Tiff Needell!

When he first appeared on Top Gear many moons ago, I thought they were calling him Tiffany Dell.

Today, I have learned that his name is actually Timothy!

He doesn't look like a Timothy.

The more disturbing news is how I found out that his hame is Timothy - it's on the Discovery Channel UK Website under "Meet the Team" for the new series of Fifth Gear!

Whilst looking on the MSN Cars site today I found a preview for the new series of Fifth Gear.

And yet Channel 5 have been plugging a new series with this photo:When they put up that photo and the news of the return of Fifth Gear, I guess they didn't realise that Discovery UK had done a deal and would actually be showing it.

It is disappointing for me - it means that it has gone over to pay-TV like f1 did so I won't be watching it - at least not until they start showing repeats of it on Quest or Dave or, dare I say it, Channel 5!?

And should it be called "Fifth Gear" now? They called it Fifth Gear when it evolved from Top Gear and moved to Channel 5. Now it's moved to Discovery it should be called "Searching for a Gear" or "Finding the Right Gear" something to do with discovery anyway.

The good news is the return to Fifth Gear of Jason Plato - if that's his real name.