Crashed Out!

We know that I like to hear about stupid criminals - my most recent post covered one.

And I do like a Norfolk story.

So one that combines them both is very welcome.

Now technically the guy in that Ferrari isn't a criminal (The Police said no further action would be taken) - but his driving certainly is.  And it looks a lot like he was speeding when he lost control on the bend.

The BBC have enjoyed putting out several crash videos lately and a later one from today is quite horrific.  It involves a motorcyclist and presumably a two-fingered salute (or middle-fingered salute) which led to him being forced off the road and thrown over a bridge suffering serious injuries.  The guilty party was was jailed for 4 years and 10 months.

They have also shown this story - looks just as horrific although the injuries weren't as bad.  The drunk criminal in that case got away with a suspended sentence which unfortunately doesn't mean that they hanged him.

The next story, from 4 days ago, is very unusual in that the guilty party is a Volvo driver.  He (or she) has driven into a bus lane that has "No Entry" signage at the start and a spiky trap at the end.  It looks quite tame next to the other videos.

Meanwhile, drive.com.au have a story that involved a crash, may or may not involve a criminal and, surprisingly considering where it took place, does not involve a video.

It involves this picture:

Two people were injured - that may be them lying down in the front of the picture.

The story, headlined "Electric BYD with teen inside crashes into Myer from shopping centre display" is here.

Why are they telling us it is electric?  Could it not have happened in a petrol or diesel car?  I think it could as long as the car was an automatic although you may have heard the engine start up.  Anyway, all BYD cars sold in Australia (and here come to that) are electric.

Presumably, someone gave a car key to a 14-year old boy - or just left it in the car.

The whole scenario was inevitable though, as soon as the those two crash-test dummies decided to visit the perfume department.

Hot Wheels

I've never seen Days of Thunder.

So I didn't know who Rowdy Burns was when he was mentioned in this Car+Driver story.

It is about the overnight theft of 192 wheels and tyres from the cars in a Texas car lot:

I guess they aren't big on locking wheelnuts over there.

The article also mentions "Robin Reliants" - I guess I should be impressed that Americans have even heard of the Reliant Robin, even if they can't get the name right. They do some sums in the article too:

Considering the approximately four-hour window that the police figure it took to perpetrate the crime, that’s a theft rate of one wheel every 1.25 minutes. And the thieves removed nearly 1000 lug nuts in the dark. Whoever the perps are, clearly Rowdy Burns needs to hire these guys.

Hence the Rowdy Burns comment - I had already decided Christian Horner would be interested in them.

The article also makes the very good point that they must have been packing plenty of spare battery packs for the cordless impact guns that were used in the heist. Imagine trying to do that using a wheel brace or with cables trailing all over the place.

Now the thieves have to try and sell the wheels on knowing that the Police will be out looking for them:

Oops!

Is Formula 1 Real Racing Any More?

I don't know, I don't watch it any more.

But that question was asked by Andrew Benson, the BBC's chief F1 writer on their F1 Website.

Now, being the BBC's chief F1 writer, he isn't going to answer no to that question - but his justifications don't really add up for me.  He quotes some stats that seem to show that drivers are driving as hard as they were before the BBC sold out to Sky but the very fact that the question is being asked is evidence that there is something wrong.

As it happens, the timing of F1's waning excitement is entirely coincidental with the Sky deal - the cause appears to be the Pirelli Tyre rule-changes making it easier to overtake.

What?

Easier to overtake!?

How can that be worse for a sport where processional racing has impacted on excitement for years?

Well, apparently, drivers are having to slow down to preserve their tyres.  Lot's of media interest was generated by a Lewis Hamilton quote over his pit-radio from the Spanish Grand Prix - "I can't drive any slower". Here is one example.

Judging by the highest-rated comments on Andy's article, those still enthusiastic on the sport all seem to agree that the tyres are an issue.

This weekend sees the Monaco Grand Prix.  This was always the highlight of the F1 Year for me - and for many F1 fans.  Now the BBC has even lost the rights to cover this race live - whoever did their negotiations (Ben Gallop, Barbara Slater, Mark Thompson) really were inept beyond belief.

Highlights is not good enough for me and there is no doubt that audience figures are dropping - globally as more countries are putting F1 behind paywalls.

So silly tyre rules need sorting!