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I know Fernando Alonso often complains he’s quoted out of context, but on the issue of the racism shown towards Lewis Hamilton during testing in Spain he responded with (BBC Sport):

“It was an isolated incident and the FIA or anyone saying that the Spanish fans are racists is laughable.

“Last year, they called me a dog in a few races. Niki Lauda said those things about me, and no-one came to me to show me their support.”

Think someone needs to explain to him the different between ‘racism’ and ‘criticism’. He was probably called a dog due to the fact he had some terrible races. Sure, he looks a bit rough, but I doubt anyone was insinuating he’s actually a dog. Christijan Albers and Sakon Yamamoto were regularly called worse, again, because they were driving badly. For someone paid millions of dollars per race, you’d think he’d be able to take a bit of criticism and maybe learn from it - I mean, it’s not like Lauda has ever done anything in Formula 1 so might know what he’s talking about, is it…?

Still, here’s hoping Renault make a balls of a car like last season

Having the rental car buggered up last night turned out pretty well as when we arrived at the airport this morning to pick up a little compact from Alamo, the lady suggested if it was the best fuel economy we were after, they had a Toyota Prius hybrid available. It was $300 more than the compact, but some quick maths on estimated gas mileage (they quoted 60mpg) would work out worth it over the next 5 weeks or so.

The dash is pretty cool as it has a touch screen to handle the audio system, climate controls, etc. and shows some neat effects detailing how + when the electric motor is being charged and when it’s being used alongside or in replacement of the standard petrol engine. We put on around 280 miles on our way down from Seattle, and averaged 50.2 miles per gallon. That’s pretty damn good as an average over that kind of distance!

We’ve still got about half a tank of gas left, and I’m guessing it’s about a 10/11 gallon tank, so already it’s working out quite nicely! It’s really smooth, though there definately seems a very subtle jolt when the electric motor is engaged/disengaged.

Other than a little traffic coming through Portland, the drive from Seattle down to Eugene, Oregon was pretty smooth and easy. Very scenic with large wooded areas and mountain views down through Washington. Bit of a shame we’ve had to plow through in a day, but tomorrow we’re heading into the Cascade Range and Crater Lake National Park, and on our way back up to Seattle we can spend some more time checking things out, especially in Washington.

Considering it took the best part of two days when installing all the car audio equipment, it took about half an hour to pull it all out! With all the gear up for sale on eBay (go check the auctions out if you haven’t already!), figured I may as well remove it all with the auctions ending tomorrow and it being dry today for playing with cables + electrics. Once again, managed to avoid blowing either myself or the car up!

Looks a mess, but is all tidied up now (so space to sleep again tonight…). There’s also an old JVC head unit which I had way back in the Fiesta which ran for about a year up for grabs, at a paltry £10 at the moment. Sad to see it all go, as regardless of whatever some may say about the Sony X-plod gear, it does sound awesome for the price if it’s setup right. The Ford head unit just sounds so hollow now, even though the JBL components are still installed in the front - the Sony F7500 made such a difference with the extra power output, plus the amp + sub might have had something to do with it…

Mind, after re-installing the original Ford head unit I found the radio code was incorrect. Not too impressed at having to fork out 15 of my English pounds for the correct code, but, least it’s working now. No CD player though Not that I use the car much now though so can’t grumble too much - unless the eBay auctions don’t pick up much in the next 24 hours of course!

Decided to take out the frustration of conflicting info from Insure&Go and flog some more gear on eBay. First two people were having none of making a claim for cancellation of the Japan trip as technically I wasn’t declared unfit to travel or advised not to go by any of the medical practioners at either the hospital or my local surgery. Finally, someone saw sense (and after being quote their own terms + conditions which didn’t state a medical certficate declaring unsuitability to travel was not a requirement and thus they were, well, making shit up), and the claim forms have been sent out looks good for recouping the money.

But, another round of eBay auctions, mainly music stuff again, but this time car audio equipment (okay, and a PS2!):

• Sony CDX F7500 head unit, MP3 + CD changer out, remote
• Sony CDX 848X 10-disc CD changer
• Sony XM-280GTX 2/1 Channel Amplifier
• JVC KD-S731R CD head unit - 4×45W
• Sony PS2, 2 controllers, 8 games, memory card, network

Plenty of folk will testify as to how awesome all the Sony car audio equipment sounded! Some awesome bits of equipment in there, and going for next to nothing, so get yourself some bids in

So, my car went into the garage for a routine service + MOT yesterday. An MOT is a yearly check all cars must go through to prove they’re roadworthy and safe to drive, and I wasn’t expecting any problems. Having had to fork out for 4 tyres a week or so ago which set me back £320, I was called yesterday lunchtime telling me the power steering rack was leaking and needed completely replacing. Not impressed!

Ended up costing £319 just for the power steering rack including labour, pushing the bill to a shade under £600 when the service + air conditioning service was added in. £80 just for to re-gas the air conditioning unit is ridiculous too, especially since the damn thing is still blowing hot air! That’s a grand on a car I shouldn’t even be running anymore, although the way it’s looking I will be for another few months yet. Of course, I still have another 90 notes on road tax at the end of the month too

When am I flying out to Japan again…?

Some nugget straddling both lanes of the dual-carriageway doing about 40mph managed to kick up what I can only guess as being a thick chunk of roofing felt which quite nicely shattered my fog lights, ripped off the number plate and made quite a mess of the paint work around the side of front wing. Hopefully the scratching will polish out at the weekend, and I’ve got the number plate re-attached after stopping to get it, but Ford are wanting close to £80 for a single front fog light as the Collection edition has the RS sport kit which magically doubles the price…

Added to that, I have an boo-boo on my finger after slicing it open trying to tidy it all up in the dark Not a good way to end the day really!

I was asked to order a satellite navigation system for work that would allow those going out on training courses to easily find where they were going. Seems like a good idea, certainly better than trawling through a road map. Even with modern maps, it’s still a chew on if you’re trying to drive and look at directions, especially since most of the time you’re trying to find your way through rush-hour traffic on a morning.

So, I gladly offered to test our TomTom One over the weekend in order to figure out how to use it and then give a brief overview to the staff next week. Really, I just wanted to play with it! Driving back from work last night, I just couldn’t fool the damn thing, and I was making sure I went a completely different way to what was being suggested But, each time within a few seconds it re-calculated the route and give me updated directions. The real test was handing it over to my mother this morning - she needed to navigate through Darlington, a fairly small city, but if my mother could use it, anyone could Now don’t get me wrong, my mother is no slouch when it comes to computers + gadgets anymore and happily sits e-mailing, scanning, and text messaging, but is someone that needs technology to just work. And it did - she loved it!

Haven’t had much of a chance to try out it’s features for finding alternative routes around roadworks or traffic jams, and haven’t download the latest maps to the SD card, but it seems a cracking little package. Although the entry level system, at £230 ex. VAT it is still very impressive, with crystal clear maps and instructions, and a good database of streets even in fairly rural areas. If I wasn’t moving to the US in less than 3 months, it would definatley be up on my list of toys to buy, even though I wouldn’t really use it!

1) Sneak up behind a TVR of your choice and stick your window down so you can hear the roar of 400+ BHP desperately wanting to get past some old grandad in a Honda Civic as you approach a dual-carriageway section
2) Wonder how quickly the guy’s gonna pull away from you and spoil all your fun
3) Frown a little as you hear the engine rev ever so sweetly and then crunch as the driver completely misses 3rd gear and looses all power
4) Turn that frown upside down and grin as you sail past them both

Driving back from work needn’t all be about sitting in traffic fighting through roadworks!

Well, the sun kinda spoiled it, but the car ticked over to 30,000 miles on the drive in to work this morning. Not bad considering it was originally registered in September 2000 so is coming on for 5 years old. Bless the old geezer that drove it for 3 years before I got it - had only done 10,600 when I picked the keys up and had gone through 4 full services! Then I’ve been let loose on it…

Buggerit.

The MG ZR is basically a Rover 25 with a body-kit. Albeit, slightly faster (we’re still not gonna trouble 0-60 times here) and still not overly impressive to look at (though in comparison to a slug, we’re onto a winner) but why the hell do you then put on a full body-kit with wide wheel arches, a spoiler even someone of my size could go surfing on, and wheels that look like they’ve come out of a Meccano set? The only saving grace for the owner is that he’s tinted the windows so no-one recognises him. Think I’ll just sit by my office window so I can mock the poor owner when they return and throw stuff at them.

I’m sure I could think of better things to waste a couple of thousand pounds on.