Kel

Some are saying it's ballsy of him to make the statement, but then what does he have to lose? Shame he only developed a conscience once he had no hope of another f1 seat. The excuses he puts up are pathetic imho. From his Official Website: "I believe without doubt in my talent and my performance. I didn't get this far by getting bad results. Anyone who knows my history knows that the results I am having in F1 do not match my CV and my ability. The conditions I have had to deal with during the last two years have been very strange to say the least there are incidents that I can hardly believe occurred myself. If I now need to give explanations, I am certain it is because of the unfair situation I have been in the past two years. I always believed that having a manager was being a part of a team and having a partner. A manager is supposed to encourage you, support you, and provide you with opportunities. In my case it was the opposite. Flavio Briatore was my executioner" Shame he feels this *unfair situation* justifies him putting other drivers, officials and spectators' safety at risk.

Renault asked Piquet to crash, says transcript True, sour grapes, or a little from column A, and a little from column B....

I'll share with the D-Man thanks. But I'll bring some tape to divide the bed up and he better not cross to my side

Private hires/ corporate run track days are a different matter and I appreciate they definitely cost more when insurance, instructors etc etc etc have to be taken into account when setting prices. And the grid sizes at these events usually means you get maximum value for money. As Duncan says the PI entry cost won't stop us competing but may push this event out of some people's budgets, especially when you consider as a national event it will be attractive to interstaters. Once you add time off work, transport, food and accomodation (not to mention budget for things going wrong!) to a higher than usual champ round entry fee (for us NSW people at least) it starts to get prohibitive for the grassroots competitors that supert sprints are aiming to attract?

I guess it's all relative but we pay around $80 for a (1 day) superprint at Oran Park with the NSW Road Racing Club. I think it's $140 for the upcoming day/night sprint there. The enduro at Oran Park will set us back around $280. And private practice at Eatern Creek (where the Arsehole Racing Drivers Club rips everyone off) is only $120 a day from memory ($90 for arseholes ) Anyway can't wait to drive Phillip Island- whatever it costs!

I reckon I'd be happy to sleep in that spa for the weekend!

hope you're taking notes Duncan

Jokes aside it was brilliant fun A few laps after this stop we got a safety car & mandatory petrol stop which got us to the back of the grid. From there the boys drove like demons, not to mention our driver changes were a little quicker, and we ended up taking the lead about two hours from the end of the race. About an hour from the end we were about to lap 2nd place (!!!!) - not that we knew it at the time - when we developed a misfire due to a failed alternator. Lap times dropped from 1.20 to 2 minutes something, but we still managed to limp home and hold 2nd place, only getting overtaken in the dying minutes of the race (mind you in the pissing down rain, with no wipers or lights thanks to the dead alternator!) Make a great storyline for a sappy racing movie.....

Grab some popcorn, settle in and have a chuckle at us attempting a speedy NASCAR style tyre change at the 2003 Wakefiend 500....

I know rules are rules- but can anyone defend kimi now in second at the first safety car restart after he ran SOOOOOOO off the track at the start gee f1 rules are sometimes farked

Email received this evening, for those that may be interested... STATE CHAMPIONSHIP MOTORKHANA SUNDAY SEPT 13TH PRESENTED BY CLUB VEE DUB SYDNEY NIRIMBA TAFE, QUAKERS HILL EVENT STARTS AT 10:00AM SCRUTINEERING FROM 8:15AM THIS IS THE LAST CHANCE TO PRACTICE FOR THE NATIONAL MOTORKHANA CHAMPIONSHIPS ENTRY FEE $50 FOOD AND DRINKS AVAILABLE ON THE DAY PM me if you want contact details for organiser

lol same! you did good Liz- brilliant driving- cone down posters (except for my one cos it still looked good) are just haters!

some pics taken with our camera (thanks Rosie & Rosie's cousin!) a few more here: TEXI PICS sorry about the Zed bias

Best. Day. Ever. Can't believe how much fun I've missed sitting in the non-silly seat. Need to get a steering wheel in the hands more! Congrats to Pres Neily and the Exec for organising a crack team to put together this day. I wish I could name names, so many people helping out to make this day a success so big thanks to all.

In Ben's defence, there were many thinking that it was a LWR prepped car, given they have serviced the VIP cars recently. One of those rare occasions where brand recall is not a good thing

Pete, your various states of drunken undress don't bother me so much as your drunken falls from second story windows onto very rare Lancia Deltas do (ala Dutton Rally 2003)

I'm still having nightmares from the last time we shared a room with you Pete! Deal then will be we get a bigger place with plenty of room for chrashers/helpers etc

OK so I know December 4-6 seems like a long way away, but with our entry just being confirmed I figured it's time to start getting organised. So first question is who's running? For those interested, but who haven't entered, all info including supp regs are here: Mountain Motorsports Second question is whether anyone is keen to share accommodation and other stuff with Duncan and I? I'm about to book accommodation through Mt Buller Condos & wondering if any SAUers competing are interested in sharing a house or larger apartment to save some $$$ We also have quite a bit of gear which we'll be taking with us - tools, jacks, spare skyline bits, etc etc etc - but happy to chat about pooling resources for those running with lean crews like us. PM me if interested? Kel

+1 - who says Scots have no sense of humour

I'm always up for the silly seat if it's a skyline and a semi decent driver good to see some talk about getting one happening.

sounds like good fun my best at wakie is a 1:11 in a close to shtocker r33 gts-t (semis helped- i have more excuses if needed ) havent done a lap in anger in something quick in some time but i am consistent - interesting in running if there is a spot for slowish but consistent?

you know Neil did say the problem was with his hand....

Hey Neily - I think a HANS is a great investment but as Benny said it's probably not going to help with your movement issue. They are pretty much designed to stop your head whipping forward in a crash and not restrict your movement otherwise. Though some people do complain about it being restrictive I've never found it to be. I think you'd be better off trying a neck collar like this first http://www.soloracer.com/pyrocollar.html Probably more suitable for support and restricting movement and about a tenth of the price of the HANS! And btw NO chance we'll be letting you drill holes in your helmet for posts sunshine

currently watching Chris Easton drifting on High Five Extreme Sports

Yeah, I'm certainly no expert on wrecks but I know a few people who are, who saw it up close and thought it was a definite write off. One comment was maybe worth $30K for the parts that didn't look too bent or broken.