The Dakar rally and Robby Gordon

I don't know how many people follow the Dakar rally in America, but it's been spectacular again this year. Set again in Chile and Argentina (because of political unrest in Africa), it's been a mad charge across all sorts of terrain from rocky river beds to soaring sand dunes. The quads, bikes, cars and trucks have all been exciting to watch, as usual. The sense of sportsmanship was alive and well with many riders and drivers stopping at the expense of their stage time to help others out. Early on for example, Luca Manca stopped and gave Marc Coma his rear wheel off his bike. Not on the same team, just because he knew Coma needed it and was angling for a win. Sadly, the very next day, Manca spiralled over the handlebars of his own bike and fractured his skull - that was the end of his rally, but that's what the Dakar is all about; extremes of hardship and victory in equal measures.
With one notable exception - again. American Robby Gordon was brimming with entitlement, assuming he deserved to win. He failed two years ago, he failed last year, and ultimately, he failed this year. He never stopped to help anyone out. He never had a good word to say about any of his competitors. And he always blamed his mechanics or his vehicle for each day's failure. The Dakar is about sportsmanship and a sense of community amongst all the competitors and the huge bivouac or caravan that supports the rally. For the third year in a row, Gordon treated the entire event with a level of contempt that makes me believe he should go home with his tail between his legs and never come back. He's an arrogant S.O.B who has no place in an international sporting event.

Schumacher returns to Formula 1

This is something most Formula 1 fans have been hoping would happen : Michael Schumacher is actually returning to F1. He's signed a one year deal with the new Mercedes factory team to race for them this year. Whilst this is good news in itself, the better side of this story is that we're finally going to get to see Lewis Hamilton race head-to-head with Schumacher - the greatest driver in F1 history. Hamilton is talented - very much so - but he's not had to face a true champion since he joined F1. Sure he's raced against Alonso and Raikkonen, but neither of those drivers really have their hearts in it. Alonso is just a crybaby - always complaining about something - and Raikkonen never really tries (which is why he's out of F1 this year).
So for one, I'm looking forwards to seeing how this pans out. It's a shame Schumacher isn't racing for Ferrari, but it will be interesting to see if he can help Mercedes - a newcomer - to get some decent victories in their first year.

Driving predictability.

We were in the UK for Christmas and it served to remind me the different styles of drivers I see all over the world. Whilst I still maintain that UK drivers are as bad as it gets, at least there's an element of predictable aggression about it. That's what you need when you're driving - predictability. Here in Utah people are so vague and out of it when they're driving that I'm amazed any of them realise they're in a car. Just when you think you've got it nailed down, you find an all-new idiot maneuver that takes you by surprise. Not so much in England any more. Even now, 9 years after leaving, I can predict what 75% of drivers will do long before they do it - as can most UK drivers. The other 25% is the "learning experience" that we all undergo every morning when we get into a car or step on to a motorbike. In Utah it's the opposite - I can barely predict what 10% of these fools will do on any given day, and that I suspect is why they're such dangerous drivers. They're properly random, and in an organised, flowing system like traffic on a road, randomness is the pebble in the stream that causes accidents.
Would I rather drive in England or Utah? Neither. I'd rather drive in Holland where the aggressiveness and predictability are both so high that everyone is almost telepathically connected to everyone else. There, when someone fits their car into the half-car-gap in front of you, it's not a surprise and it's nothing to get bent out of shape about because in a moment's time, they'll be gone again - off in another lane. The most organised chaos I've ever seen? Singapore.
The most disorganised chaos? Malta.
Be predictable, people. It really helps.

New year's eve is upon us.

2010 is just around the corner and with it will come the usual sense of freshness that any New Year brings. From a motoring perspective, the question is this : will we see any change to the status quo? Will the big three American manufacturers actually start producing a smaller vehicle? Probably not - well two of them won't. Ford looks like it's going to be the winner to me. If they follow through on the promise of bringing the European Focus and Fiesta to the US in 2010, they could reap huge rewards. I'm not a big fan of Ford - never have been. (Nor GM before that argument starts). But I know a decent car when I drive one and the current European Focus is decent. Not brilliant. Not outstanding. But decent in a way that few American cars can hope to achieve. Good handling, a reasonable interior, frugal with its petrol and a frankly great looking body all tie up to make a good package. Will the Focus be the car to sway the American public? Probably not. There's a hard core of drivers here that believe that size (both physical and engine capacity) is everything when it really isn't. Oversize American vehicles with archaic V8 engines are boorish and outdated. Come on people - grab the future. Move with the times. Embrace forced induction, small-capacity engines with excellent fuel economy. It's not like anyone over here ever drives at even 20% of their vehicle's capacity anyway so why do you need a 12mpg V8?
Happy New Year.

Christmas eve - I hope everyone is home and well

Just a quick note for any of my readers who are online tonight instead of being at home with their families enjoying the annual argument and crappy television : have a Merry Christmas.

Winter brings England to a standstill

It's amazing to me that a simple 2 inches of snow can bring an entire country to its knees. I'm in England right now, which is gripped in the midst of what the media are laughably calling "blizzard" conditions, meaning the entire transport infrastructure has failed. Trains have stopped running because of "the wrong sort of snow". Roads have iced up and frozen over because, despite thousands of tons of sand and grit being available in the transport depots, none of it has been used to grit or sand the roads. Bus services have stopped running, the channel tunnel is closed, ferries are running up to a day late and the four main airports are basically closed. Motorways are closed because chunks of ice are falling off bridges, and motorists are abandoning their cars everywhere. This of course has brought out the best of British. In one case, motorists abandoned their vehicles in a pub car park (rather than leaving them blocking the roads) and when they returned, found a clamping / booting company had clamped all the cars. Everyone was forced to pay a £150 release fee.
Because of 2 inches of snow? Seriously? Okay I realise that it doesn't snow like this in the UK that often but when this little snow can stop an entire country it's a pretty tragic enditement of the place.