I wrote this to mainly benefit those who want to know a bit about F1 and V8 Supercars.

Now, back in April, I posted a blog to help those who were miffed with the Formula 1 side of things for Will's trifecta weekends. From what I can gather after reading through it again, most of it will stay the same for 2009 with one exception; I honestly believe that Renault will make the jump from the second tier teams to the top flight...with Fernando being my tip to win his third title seeing how well that Renault improved over the course of the year.

Some things have changed; Vettel has replaced a retiring Coulthard at Red Bull, leaving an open seat at Toro Rosso and will certainly have the upper hand on Mark Webber considering Mark is currently in hospital with a broken leg having been hit by a car while riding his bike in Australia yesterday. The other main change is that, for the first time since 1997, the drivers will be using full slicks instead of the grooved ones.

The basic specs of an F1 car is as such; 2.4L V8 engine, restircted to rev at a maximum of 19000 rpm and producing around 750 bhp. Overall, the car weighs about 1350 lbs, including the driver and, given the chance, one can go from 0 to 100mph and back to 0 in roughly the time it take you to write out your full name.

On first glance, a V8 Supercar isn't terribly different from the current Cup car; both have a rear wing, both have a splitter and both have V8 engines...but that's about it. While NASCAR uses, basically, a shell that fits over the car, V8's are closer to being considered 'stock' with its headlights, brakelights and windshield wipers. Performance wise, the Cup car walks all over the V8's, as it should since it has the bigger engine (the V8's use a 5L one) and can reach a higher top speed (again, this is expected since it has about 200 more bhp), but the V8 Supercar weighs 400 lbs less so I'd imagine it would have better braking capacity.

Hope that helps a little bit.

Alrighty, the new and improved 2008 version...nah, I decided to keep the same categories as last years'...easier on the brain that way :P

Rookie of the Year - unlike last year, this was actually a hard choice...in the end I've gone with no one in the top tier of any category; Joey Logano. Ok, so I know he did race a few times in the Cup series but he was astonishing in the Nationwide car and his biggest test will be whether or not he can fill Tony Stewart's boots at JGR next season. Personally I have some doubts but shall refrain from passing judgement until at least we hit the All-star race.

Best Race of the Year - Spa...wet/dry/wet/late race passes/the winner stripped of the win a few days later, what more do you want? The Brazilian GP was a nailbiter, as was the final Truck race at Miami...but Spa had that special "what the...?!" factor for me.

Qualifier of the Year - Have to go for Jimmie Johnson since he won my TNQC title for the second straight year.

Team of the Year - Scuderia Toro Rosso. Not only did they confuse everyone by having Sebastian and Sebastien racing for them, Seb (the Vettel variety) scored their first ever pole position at Monza and also backed it up for the win the very next day.

Pit Crew of the Year - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. They put their boy, Lewis Hamilton, onto the inters with less than 10 laps to go in the final race of the season when the title was still very much up in the air. I would say that Lewis bailed them out but I think any of the drivers could have passed a car that was on the wrong tyres so I can't do that...still, a gutsy call by the crew.

Driver of the Year - The aforementioned Sebastian Vettel...not only for his incredible performance at Monza but he also almost destroyed a nations' hopes when he passed Lewis Hamilton with a handful of laps remaining at Brazil.

Person of the Year - A lot of candidates for this one; Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Lewis Hamilton, Jamie Whincup...but in the end, there can be only one. And that one is Valentino Rosso for winning his eighth MotoGP title.

That's the (sort of) serious stuff out of the way...on to the lighter side!

Personality of the Year - Totally different from the previous award as you can tell by the 'ality' added on the end of it. Bootie Barker takes this award for attempting to emulate Chad Knaus' raindance moves on NASCAR Performance at...uh, Atlanta I think. Either way, it was hilarious to watch.

Crash of the Year - Take a bow, Michael McDowell...that's a bow, not a million barrel rolls. Mighty glad he walked away uninjured.

Surprise of the Year - The ESPN2 commentators at the Nationwide race in Montreal for, obviously, forgetting that the V8 Supercars race in the wet and so Marcos Ambrose, who raced the series for five years, would be just as qualified as Scott Pruett to be classified as "decent in the rain".

Miracle of the Year - That Marcos Ambrose didn't take himself out at Watkins Glen in the NW race when he sideswiped a backmarker with a dozen laps to go...my heart nearly stopped when that happened, let me tell you!

Worst Looking Car Livery of the Year - Force India in F1...I know I wasn't alone in having to do doubletakes every time to make sure I wasn't seeing a McLaren instead.

Bone-headed Overtaking Attempt of the Year - Sorry jon, but your man, Kevin Harvick, gets this for taking out himself, Tony Stewart and Jamie McMurray in one mistimed brake slam at Infineon, pretty much gifting the win to Kyle Busch. Special mention to Carl Edwards for, effectively, ruining half the Chase drivers' title hopes at Talladega (ta for reminding me about that one, jon).

The Dental School Award (aka, the award that made the most jaws drop during the year) - This one goes to Felipe Massa for showing that Lewis Hamilton isn't the only driver capable of roughing people up. Not only did Felipe go the long way around at Hungary, he then gave Lewis a little love tap at Japan which sent the McLaren into a spin...and yes, he did get a drivethrough penalty for it. Special mention to Lewis for ramming into Kimi Raikkonen...in the pitlane...at Montreal which handed BMW their first ever win as a manufacturer (thanks bc, I was on the plane that day so I missed it). Also, dare I add, I agree with Chad Knaus on 'TWIN' when he pointed out that the #48 wasn't on the penalty list all season...well done, Chad!

The 'Carved from Stone' Award - The one person that stood up when the heat was on, who never buckled under the enormous pressure put on them...F1 boss, Max Mosely, who somehow avoided being sacked from his job after that whole scandal thing.

The Red Bull Award - Timo Glock for launching over the kerbs at Albert Park, destroying his Toyota in the process, in the opening F1 race at Melbourne.

The Lucky #### Award - Me...for picking all 3 winners in the Memorial (had Labour...the dang holiday names have me all confused *laugh*) Day trifecta. Granted, taking Lewis Hamilton and Scott Dixon were not hard choices but Kasey Kahne came through for me by taking the chequer at Lowe's, cheers guys! Apologies to Lori that Kasey's win was at Tony's expense.

Any suggestions are always helpful :)

Every so often, motorsport produces a winner that just leaves you shaking your head in amazement at how they did it; Zanardi's real 'pass in the grass' on Herta at Laguna Seca in 1996, Larry Perkins in the 1995 Bathurst 1000 after being a lap down (no lucky dog rule in V8's so he did it the hard way), Barrichello's victory at Hockenhiem, Kyle Busch at Darlington this season...believe me, I could go on.

Well, the 2008 Italian Grand Prix gave us a new name to add to that list. Not since...well, long before I was watching F1 anyway, the teams had a wet Monza to deal with. Now, Monza in the dry is a rather hairy ride; zero downforce with three big stops and any track in the wet all but guarantees the form book be chucked out for the weekend so why should this one be any different?

Initially it wasn't. More often than not in the past couple of seasons, Scuderia Toro Rosso have been mighty quick whenever Mother Nature steps in to level out the playing field then fade during the race due to it being dry. We saw glimpses of how good Sebastian Vettel may one day be when he stepped in for Robert Kubica at Indy last season and when he ran as high as third at Fuji until taking out himself and (sort of) teammate, Mark Webber, behind the safety car. But this year has seen the young German's stock only rise...so much so that there were whispers of him joining Ferrari before being signed to replace David Coulthard at Red Bull. He's a rather likeable guy as well, polite, makes time to sign stuff for fans, answers media questions (and even thanks them at the end of the interview)...as Martin Brundle said on the coverage of the race; he might be ruining the reputation of drivers everywhere.

Vettel at the wheel of his #15 Toro Rosso.

After swimming his way to being the youngest ever driver to nab a pole yesterday, Sunday dawned with grey skies and umbrellas out...the perfect conditions for a classic race as title favourite, Lewis Hamilton, had to work his way from 15th on the grid having made a hash of qualifying and we all saw at Silverstone how good Lewis can be in wet conditions. But the story was always going to be how long Vettel could hold off Kovy and whether Hamilton would pass Massa to increase his championship lead.

The answer was a simple one in the end; never...to both scenarios. It would be akin to, for arguments sake, the Wood Brothers winning the Coke 600 (which, given their current form, I think most would agree that luck would be required in big doses for that to happen).

Heikki's McLaren didn't even look remotely possible of hanging with Sebastian as whenever he closed down the gap, Vettel responded the very next lap and while Lewis looked capable of passing Felipe in the final third of the race, he had used up the best performance his inters had to offer and actually slipped back into the clutches of the eighth placed man, Mark Webber. So really, the only question was whether Vettel's car would hold together to collect not only his, but also the teams first ever win. From 1985 to 2005, Minardi were known as 'the other Italian F1 team' and always loitering at the back of the grid. Only once in their history did they qualify on the front row.

Sebastian became the youngest ever F1 winner.

Cue a new owner in the form of Gerhard Berger who changed the team into Toro Rosso from 2006 who, when it became clear that BMW were going to break from Williams to join Sauber, managed to secure Ferrari engines for the team. All that meant the stage was set for Ferrari to win again in Italy...just not in the way it was expected. Sebastian drove fantastically well and while he got lucky as conditions changed enough to switch from the monsoons to the inters at the time of his final stop, I don't think anyone would begrudge the little team from Faenza of their moment in the sun...and if anyone does, well I guess they just don't appreciate it when David slays Goliath.

Can you say "Lewis who?" Hail the new rainmaster in Formula 1; Sebastian Vettel.

I had thought that jbroomy or bc525 would have been all over this one but I suppose I'll do the honours instead.

Last weekend saw two major milestones reached in motorsport; not only did NASCAR finally decide to hold a race in the rain (and yes, I am peeved that they'll refuse to do it for the Cup series if Chad Knaus' report on 'TWIN' had a shred of truth to it), but we also had the 100th different winner in F1 history.

Heikki Kovalainen, aka 'Kovy', was the lucky driver in more ways than one.

He put in a great qualifying lap to start second behind his teammate, and Championship leader, Lewis Hamilton but at the Hungaroring, that means the dirty side of the track. Indeed, Felipe Massa's Ferrari got the jump on both McLarens and took the lead going into turn one with Kovy settling into third...and a rather lonely race for the Finn had begun.

Kovalainen became the 100th different driver to reach the top step of the podium.

Now, some drivers have no winning luck at certain tracks; Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500, Michael Schumacher at the Australian GP, Glenn Seton at Bathurst, Rubens Barrichello at Interlagos and Kimi Raikkonen at Hockenheim just to name a few (dare I add Marcos Ambrose at Montreal to that list?). However, Felipe Massa tends to have more than his fair share of bad luck than most (although, some of his retirements are down to brainfades mind you...not good if he wants to win the title one day) and around Hungary, that 'luck factor' is even worse as he hadn't had a good points race there in his entire career.

That was set to change on Sunday as not only did he manage to get the jump on Lewis at the start, but he was able to slowly build his lead over the next 40 odd laps before he could cruise when Hamilton got a puncture on his left front tyre (either from flat spotting or debris, I'm not sure) with 29 laps to go (70 lap race by the way). At that time, Felipe's lead over Kovy was around 23 seconds and it looked a forgone conclusion that Massa was about to retake the Championship lead as Lewis had to work his way through the field for the second straight race. However, the racing Gods had something else in mind and as Felipe came down the front straight to start lap 68, his Ferrari V8 engine let go in a huge cloud of smoke and his race was over.

And so, that left Kovy to pick up the pieces and secure his first grand prix victory. The Finn, in just his second season finally broke through and repaid the faith Ron Dennis showed by replacing Fernando Alonso, the man who had won the 2005 and 2006 titles, with him. Now, I pretty much expected Kovy to struggle against Lewis this season since Lewis had all of 2007 to get used to 'the McLaren way', but now that he has that first win, his confidence at a title shot in 2009 would have been significanlty boosted.

As for the luckless Massa...well, he can take heart in the fact that his teammate came from further back this time last year to win the Championship so all is not lost yet.

Alrighty, someone gave me this idea after informing us on Will's trifecta that they guess the F1 drivers so I thought I'd try to help out a bit.

First things first; the teams and drivers to beat. Ferrari (Kimi Raikonnen and Felipe Massa), BMW (Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica) and McLaren (Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen) were the 'big three' last year and the only things that has happened this season is that BMW have closed the gap a bit and Kovy replaced Fernando Alonso at McLaren...so not much change then.

Ferrari look like they are slightly ahead of McLaren in terms of outright pace (I believe the Maccas just missed the setup badly in Bahrain) and of their two drivers, you'd have to say Kimi has the edge given the fact that he won the Championship last season and Felipe tends to have brainfades every now and then. McLaren are a little tighter to pick...Lewis has a full season with the team behind him but Kovy is Finnish and that means he'll shine in a Macca (just like Mika Hakkinen and Kimi did before him...Keke Rosberg didn't fit the McLaren mould in 1986 so he's not being counted) but even so, I'd have to favour Lewis based on his 2007 form, but only just. The BMW's have the second hardest pairing to seperate with both Kubica and Nick showing on any given day they can beat the other. As biased as I am toward Nick, I would have to say that Robert appears to be the slightly better all round driver (qualy and race) but if you had to pick one to come through the field, you'd have to go with Nick.

The second tier of teams see a battle between Toyota (Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock), Red Bull (David Coulthard and Mark Webber), Renault (Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet Jr) and Williams (Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima). All four teams are fighting it out for the final two points paying positions assuming the top 3 teams don't strike problems in the race. Of the four, only Red Bull appear to have 'equal' lineups as Jarno, Fernando and Nico look to be clear number 1 drivers for the other three teams. Mark has the qualifying pace while DC seems to be better during the race...not much to pick between the two then since qualifying is vital in F1 but as Mark tends to have all the bad luck, you'd have to favour DC over the course of the season.

Best of the rest...well, Honda is doing their best to recapture their 2006 form when Jenson Button scored both his and the teams first win and with Rubens Barrichello as wingman, on paper the team looks to have the goods. However, 2007 was a truly horrible year and even with Ross Brawn on board, I can't see them consistantly challenging the second tier teams until the last quarter of this season. Toro Rosso are really the only other team likely to upset the apple cart on occasion with Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais having the pace but the car seems to be far too fragile to keep up on Sundays. I'd have to give the nod to both Jenson and Bourdais to outpace their teammates but really, you'd have to pick the right week if you want a good score in Will's trifecta.

The lingo; vitally important since F1 is European while you follow NASCAR...so here's a few explanations for you.

- "oversteer" is the same as a "loose" condition.
- "understeer" is the same as the car being "tight".
- "neutral" is the same as being "snug"...which is the condition you'd want if you want to pull away from the cars behind you.
- "huge shunt" means a crash of Michael McDowell at Texas proportions.
- "they cranked on some front wing during that stop" means the team added angle to the front wing to assist in front downforce and reduce understeer. This is mainly done in qualifying or if rain comes during the race...yes, these guys race in the wet using something called a "wet weather tyre" which is a foreign concept in NASCAR but provides great racing.
- "incident involving car X is under investigation" equates to "driver of car X better get his butt into gear and go faster since he's about to cop a drive through penalty for doing something stupid".

That's pretty much it for the basics in F1...hopefully they make sense and feel free to ask questions, preferably to bc525 or jbroomy since they know more than me :P

Been waiting for today to post this so here we go. Australia does tend to have a pretty decent history in motor racing, be it Sir Jack Brabham in F1 or Mick Doohan in the 500cc bikes. But what could 2008 bring for a nation that prides itself on punching above its weight when it comes to sports?

The V8 Supercars kick off at the end of February in Adelaide for the Clipsal 500, raced on the streets where the F1 boys used to be until they moved to Melbourne. Garth Tander has moved from Toll HSV to the Holden Racing Team (HRT) and will be favourite to retain his title. Helping him should be the fact that Holden have released a new Commodore so that should be better than the old one. However, we'll have to see on that since AVESCO have regulations in place that neither manufacturer can have a significant advantage over the other so the racing still should be pretty even. His closest rivals will most likely be Rick Kelly, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup...in other words, the same three as last season. Dark horses could be Mark Winterbottom and Lee Holdsworth. My money will be on Tander but since I'm president of 'The Stoppers', I doubt Garth will be happy with that idea.

Formula One sees Mark Webber flying the flag...again. Mark seems to make a habit of joining teams that then inexplicably decide to push the self destruct button on the cars' reliability (Jaguar, Williams and now Red Bull), but he is one quick guy, particularly when it comes to qualifying. He's twice visited the podium and will be needing some serious good luck if he wants to stand on the top step and hear Advance Australia Fair being belted out. But, with Adrian Newey on board, anything is possible...hopefully Vettel won't take him out again like last year in China when they were behind the safety car. That could have been the first win for an Aussie since Alan Jones back in the 80's, but hey, some people say you "have to lose one to win one," before you can fully appreciate it.

Mark had been running in 2nd and quicker than the leader until this happened.

Casey Stoner is the reigning champion in the MotoGP series after trouncing everyone in his Ducati. Chris Vermeulen is also in the series and he won a rain-soaked race at Le Mans which didn't really surprise many as he's considered somewhat of an expert when the skies open. But Casey has the added advantage of a new teammate this season and his confidence levels will be skyhigh so we could very well wind up finishing 1-2 at the end of 2008...I'd settle for just the 1 to be honest but the main thing for both will be whether their bikes are competitive enough.

Casey celebrating one of his 10 wins in 2007.

The Sebastien Bourdais World Ser...uh, Champ Car Wolrd Series, apologies for getting the name wrong...will be moving into unchartered waters as Seb has left to persue his F1 dream (driving for Toro Rosso). Will Power managed to increase interest from Australia by having a great start to the year, so much interest that the TV networks were forced to show the races instead of just a highlights package...a win for the public finally. Unfortunately, I don't live in Australia so the only race I get to see in NZ is the one on the Gold Coast but that's ok, my interest in the series is nowhere near as high since the death of Greg Moore in 1999...yes Will, that's a challenge that you're welcome to tackle and I truly hope you have better luck on the streets of Surfers Paradise this time around.

With a bit more luck, Will might have challenged Seb for the title.

NASCAR...bit like F1 really where Marcos Ambrose is the only representative. His debut season in the Busch series last year went exceptionally well with the only thing missing being a victory. And if I know Marcos , he'll be keen to put that right this year. He'll also be making his Cup debut (ok, so he did at Watkins Glen last year but the weather ruined his chances as qualifying was cancelled so that doesn't count in my books) and run a part-schedule (around 15 races or so). I am not really expecting much in the Cup series since the Wood Brothers aren't exactly what you'd call a topline team anymore...but they do have a great heritage and the knowledge he'll get from racing with them will put him in great stead if he manages to make the switch to Cup fulltime in 2009.

Back for another tilt in the States, Marcos is looking to improve on his best finish of fourth.

Discounting the V8's since it's a home series, our best chance of winning clearly comes from the MotoGP...but we like to spring surprises and I know I won't mind if any (or all) of the rest pulls a Steven Bradbury ;)

So why did I wait until today before posting this? I suggest you look up January 26 and Australia on Google and find out.

'Australiana' by Austen Tayshus (from 1983)...thanks to HotFootLori for the instructions although the sound needs to be up quite high to hear it

Ok so I'm a week and a bit late...blame it on the fact that I was back on dial-up connection speeds since I may have used up my parents' download limit inside the first week I was there.

Anyway, part two as I mentioned...well, as some others thought I should put in.

The Dental School Award (aka, the award that made the most jaws drop during the year) - this can only go the wonderful people known as 'NASCAR officials'. Not only did they manage to turn the last 15 minutes of the series formerly known as the Busch series race in Montreal into something that Hollywood would be proud of, they then found a way to top that when the Cup guys went to Kansas. Tony Stewart looked to have the race in the bag when the rains came, but they decided to sit it out and wait for the track to dry. Tony then went on to blow a tyre and smack into the wall so I'm sure he agreed with that decision. Clint Bowyer crossed the line behind the pace car but the win was awarded to Greg Biffle who finished fourth. Make sense? No, I don't get it either.

The 'Carved from Stone' Award - Can only go to the 'Ice Man', and 2007 F1 Champ, Kimi Raikonnen for showing some emotion and cracking a smile after winning in Brazil. Not only did he finally sound pleased when he said his "I am absolutely ecstatic" in the press conference afterwards, he also managed to make me eat my words about him being a car-breaker before the season kicked off.

The Red Bull Award - Dario Franchitti for taking to the air twice within a week (Red Bull gives you wings, remember) despite not being in his private jet. I think he's sorted out the confusion now...after being told his frequent flyer points didn't increase for either incident.

The Lucky #### Award - Quite a few nominations for this one; Jeff Gordon for managing to win with a steam engine for one, Casey Stoner for thoroughly dominating the MotoGP series on a Ducati (to me, Ducati are the Ferrari of sports bikes) and the guy who was driving the rescue truck when Danica Patrick spun out and went within inches of collecting it (look it up on youtube...it's hilarious and scary at the same time) spring to mind. However, it can only go to the #888 Vodafone entry of Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup at Bathurst. Why, you ask? Well, not only did they twice avoid getting taken out at the end of Conrod Straight, but Jamie somehow managed to not get bogged in the gravel trap when he came into pitlane...they ended up winning the race still.

Well, that's all I can think of right now. Oh, I was going to put this on his blog the next time he posted but I'll do it here; I saw a nice 2008 calender the other day, photogr...Miss V8 Supercar.

I can only hope with you that NASCAR do a similar thing in the future *grin*

...what would it be? The old points format back? The top 35 qualifying 'lock in' to be chucked out?

Mine isn't really going to be much of a surprise...unless they actually did it in which case it would then be a huge surprise.

Mexico City, Montreal, Sonoma and Watkins Glen; the four tracks where the Cup and/or Bu...uh, Nationwide cars have to turn left as well as right. They also tend to come under fire from people as strategy plays the main role, more so than on the usual ovals. However, when things go right, they also can throw up the most exciting races...the '07 Watkins Glen race missed out on my 'Race of the Year' by a whisker, mainly since Nurburgring had that amazing, wheel-####ing dual between Fernando and Felipe for the win while the only wheel-####ing Jeff Gordon was doing was whacking his head repeatedly on the steering wheel after throwing away the race.

But I'm not asking for more road courses, no. My point is that since next year is the last year for the 'normal' cars in the Nationwide series (assuming they do switch in '09 that is) and the first full year with the new car for the Cup guys...that makes 2008 the best opportunity to correct the one thing that royally ticked me off this year; wet weather.

There is absolutely, without question, no reason why NASCAR can't race in the rain on their road courses. V8 Supercars do it, Formula 1 do it, Champ Car do it...even the bloody MotoGP bikes can handle wet conditions, yet, despite having a roof (something F1, CCWS and bikes don't), NASCAR cancel the sessions to wait for Mother Nature to let up.

What's good enough for the rest of the world apparantly isn't for NASWUSS...uh, NASCAR

Yes, that kind of weather isn't the best with the fans at the track (been there, done that) but the slippery conditions bring out the best in the drivers...and isn't that what racing is all about?

So my '2008 one thing' would be to see the cars roll out on every road course with lights, wipers and Goodyear to have brought some wets just in case of adverse weather (they should remember how to make them from their F1 days). It won't happen of course, but I don't mind...just means the drivers will remain soft whenever someone spills their beer on the track *shrugs*

Ok, so this is the big one, the one we've all been...uh, never mind, I've just checked my inbox and apparantly if I continue that thought a J.K. Rowling is threatening to sue me.

Anyway, this isn't just restricted to a single series, this will (hopefully) incorporate everything.

Rookie of the Year - not a hard choice when you boil it down. To win 4 races (granted, you should if you are driving the best car but a win's a win all the same) and come within a single point of winning the title, it can only be Lewis Hamilton...anything less than having the #1 on his car in 2009 will be a failure however (no pressure Lewis...just don't change your name to Tim Henman over the offseason, mate).

Best Race of the Year - again, not a hard choice. You want a race to have everything; variable weather, crashes, overtaking, wheel-####ing, a charge through the field, right? Well, there was only one race that brought us all that and that was the European (or was it German this year?) Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. The skies opened on lap 1 causing a red flag as 5 cars went off about a lap later (all at the same corner...one car even brushed the rescue tractor/crane as it was retrieving the other cars from the gravel trap), Alonso and Massa provided the climatic finish while Hamilton finished an agonising second behind 2 points after a stonking drive from the back.

Qualifier of the Year - now, this is a tough one. There have been several quality drivers to consider for this one; Jeff Gordon, Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne just to mention a few. However, I'm going a bit more controversial for this one...Nico Hulkenberg. He's the new Williams F1 test driver and thumped everyone in the A1GP series this year. Not bad for a 20 year old that no one had heard of before 12 months ago.

Team of the Year - Hendrick Motorsports...do I really need to explain why? No, I didn't think so either.

Pit Crew of the Year - I'm going with the Toll HSV boys from the V8 Supercars. When the pressure was on, they delivered in the final round, getting Garth Tander from 5th to 1st and were the main reason he won the title.

Driver of the Year - another toughie. Kimi Raikonnen, Jimmie Johnson, Garth Tander, Dario Franchitti, Nico Hulkenberg all won their respective series, though only Nico won by a massive margin. However, I'm going with the man who set a few records but didn't win the title...Jeff Gordon.

Ok, so that's the official stuff out of the way so let's have a little bit of fun.

Personality of the Year - Rusty Wallace for providing us with his insightful comments and magnificent commentary...hopefully someone gives him a drive next year instead.

Crash of the Year - I think we can all agree that there were many candidates for this one. But, at the end of the day, I've given it to dragster driver, Phil Lamattina...which I think HotfootLori posted about in September.

Surprise of the Year - Clint Bowyer would, under any other circumstances, be odds on here...but I have to give this to the fact that the name 'Earnhardt' won't be in the winners list for NASCAR this year...in any category. If the number of engine failures matched his car number, he might have picked up the next award too, but it was not to be.

Miracle of the Year - Jeff Gordon not winning his 5th title? Lewis Hamilton doing the impossible by screwing up the final 2 GP's of the year to lose the championship? Phil Lamattina for surviving that crash? No...this award can only go to one thing; McLaren Mercedes F1 team. The miracle being they weren't punished more in the 'spygate' saga.

Worst Looking Car Livery of the Year - Team Vodafone in the V8 Supercars. They took the old saying "if you can't beam 'em, join 'em" a touch too far when they launched their 2007 challenger. I guess no one told them that HRT use more or less the exact same colours in more or less the exact same locations...made it hell to watch on TV.

And lastly, my favourite award...

Bone-headed Overtaking Attempt of the Year - well, Juan Montoya didn't take long to make his mark...just 3 races in fact and the mark was on Scott Pruett's right rear panel. Garth Tander nearly cost himself the V8 title by divebombing inside Steve Richards but wobbled away with a broken suspension instead. Dario Franchitti took Marco Andretti off...along with a section of his front wing which ultimately cost him a win. Quite a few to choose from I think you'd agree, but the winner has to be Kyle Busch for passing (well, trying to anyway) his brother at the All-Star race.

I thought I might as well try to give you lot a bit of a laugh heading into 2008...hope you don't mind. If anyone has a problem with who got what, you are more than welcome to argue your point/s...just be prepared for me to not care about it *laugh*

Apologies for missing out a few awards...a 'part deux' might be required to cover for that ;)

Okey dokey, now it's been a while since I've done one of these but the same thing applies; this contains spoilers for the...oh wait wrong webpage, sorry.

This post contains sarcasm and ranting...probably. I won't know until I finish it really *shrugs*

Not much on last week in terms of motorsport...just the NASCAR circus...so we'll go a week further back and start with Formula 1, the start of the Belgian GP in particular. Fernando Alonso edged his teammate coming out of the first corner hairpin leaving Lewis to take to the tarmac on the outside of the track before going side-by-side through half of Eau Rouge (cue 'heart in mouth' as some people may recall Stefan Bellof attempting something similar in the 1980's...and it was the last thing he ever did). In the end, Lewis gave way and Fernando was able to finish in front of him...so no worries, right?

Wrong.

Lewis then decided to have a nice whinge (proving that he is a stereotypical Brit afterall) and said that Alonso's tactics were unfair...what rubbish. Lewis has no problems cutting everyone else off when launching off the line when the lights go out (standing start remember) which can be just as dangerous as squeezing someone to the outside.

So, Mr Hamilton, think about things before you open that mouth to complain...you're a rookie driver after all, remember that. I know Fernando has come under fire lately, but after hearing Lewis' bleat, I hope he wins the title now just to tick McLaren off.

Sandown had the first endurance race of the V8 Supercar calender and the officials all need to be sacked after putting the safety car out with around 30 laps to go. Why? Simple; they couldn't even pick up the leader of the race.

Instead, the leader was stuck behind the guys in seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth meaning instead of a nice clear track to make hey while the guy in second was negotiating those cars, he was losing ground as someone nicked all the blue flags since none were being waved to let the near lapped cars know they were being lapped.

Um, not much to talk about the Loudon race really except to congratulate Clint Bowyer on a flawless performance and gave me good reason to wear the shirt I got at last years Sonoma race with pride on tuesday...even if I was the only person who knew who Clint Bowyer is down here.

So we'll go to Dover and that incident...no, not the Tony/Paul one or even the Denny/Kyle one (both have been thrashed to death so I'm not bothering to cover those). The incident I'm talking about is Carl's backflip; how many more times do you reckon he'll do that until he snaps an ankle and stuffs all the ligaments in them?

I mean, I can stomach Tony's fenceclimbs...though maybe he should cut that back since he's a bit red-faced when he gets back down...but to risk an injury like that (and I speak from experience with this; landing on your ankle sideways is not a nice feeling) is rather silly, but still, he's in pretty good shape in the overall standings and it would be nice to see a 'new' champion crowned this year.

That's it in terms of racing action so we'll go with a few things regarding rules. Firstly, everyone knows that NASCAR likes to portray themselves as big and brash and have to do things bigger and better over all other series...so what would happen if they tried to do something similar to what they have in F1 to cut down the costs by making teams use the same engine for two consecutive races?

Well, they'd have to go one better and say that all teams have to use the same car for two races in a row without being able to repair them in between...hope they can refuel the pace car 'on the fly' since we'll be having constant yellows for debris.

Now the Chase, where...and I'm doing this for the sole prupose of annoying JJD...it's working brilliantly this year.

Only have one suggestion to improve it; take the 12 cars to the infield before the race and let the other 31 drivers at them for an hour with a sledgehammer...that way, drivers like Denny Hamlin can find out what it's like to be driving in a junk car and constantly being lapped.

Oh, if you're wondering where the TNRC for Dover is, I'll do it tomorrow since I've been just like that lizard at work this week...let's see how long it takes for someone to figure that out! *laughs*

All right, the court has made their decision regarding the spying scandal that has threatened to rock the 2007 Formula 1 season...actually, you can cut that 'threatened to' out now since here is what they ruled against McLaren;

- fined US$100 million (no, that isn't a misprint)
- lost all points in the 2007 Constructor's Championship

That's it...so let's see how this will affect it starting with the fine. Now, not being involved in Formula 1 except as a fan, I can't say if this is true or not, but the accepted practice is that if you want to compete at the top level in the sport, you need around $400 million a year so a quarter of that is a big deal since McLaren still have to pay their employees for the rest of the year.

The points...honestly, McLaren got lucky with this. Yes, they can't win the Constructor's title, but the FIA could have hit them much harder; the Driver's Championship.

Yet they didn't, both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso get to keep all their points and that gap between them and the two Ferrari drivers remain the same as it was after Monza last week. Now, if the FIA really wanted to make a statement, they'd have cut that title as well, but they didn't...and one must wonder why.

For, if McLaren actually did use the stolen data, then the drivers have benefitted from it as well. The reason is very simple; Lewis Hamilton is leading the Championship.

Yep, you heard me, I reckon that the FIA didn't want to do anything that could further damage the sport since Lewis has dragged a lot more people into the sport this year due to his amazing performances. And why wouldn't he? I mean, it's been a long time (1996) since England has had a consistant winner (David Coulthard is Scottish remember) and he's a rookie to boot so there was always going to be huge interest in how he was doing, particularly since he was going to drive for a premier team.

It will be interesting to see whether McLaren appeal the result (as Ferrari did a couple months ago leading to this court hearing) and how it affects their performance in Belgium this weekend.

One thing is certain though...$100 million makes those NASCAR fines rather pathetic doesn't it.

Ok, after being inundated with a single comment asking me to write another one of these, I figured I might as well give a soap opera style thing a crack with it this time.

**WARNING, SARCASM AHEAD!**

Saturday night (my time) saw the Formula 1 boys back to their misbehaving best as Fernando "Fred is easier to write" Alonso and Giancarlo "I'm very 'appy" Fisichella decided their best chance of starting up front was to ruin their fellow competitors laps instead. Fisi might have had a case against Mark "I'm better at breaking cars than Kimi is" Webber but since Fisi and Mark were both on their out laps, the big wigs decided Mark didn't have a case to answer.

Fred on the other hand figured that what worked for Michael "I didn't see him on the inside of me" Schumacher would work for him...and it kind of did. Michael got sent to the back of the grid at last years Monaco GP while Fred only got demoted to sixth. Lewis "I'm here and gonna kick all your butts" Hamilton was quite rightly upset with his teammate but handled the situation very well. The FIAWHEUYF (Federation of International Automobiles Who Hate Everyone Unless You're Ferrari) decided to flex their flab by saying that McLaren couldn't score any points for the Constructor's Title...no, they're not really biased. It's just pure luck that there's that whole spying case going on...and McLaren are leading Ferrari in that championship...honest!

At least there wasn't any controversy over the finish of the race...unlike in Montreal. Patrick "I get sympathy from Tez since I drove Greg Moore's car after 1999" Carpentier had a great run and wound up finishing second behind Kevin "I'm happy again" Harvick in the first Canadian Busch race. That didn't really tell the full story though. Marcos "I'm still smiling, mate!" Ambrose had the best car and to all those people saying Robby "I barely touched him" Gordon deserved the win were obviously smoking some serious stuff since Marcos was the class of the field the whole day.

We then arrived in Ponocchio...uh, Pococch...####, that track that doesn't have a fourth turn (there we go) where, shockingly, there were a few crashes. Unfortunately, they all appeared to involve Jamie "I need to get me a horseshoe" McMurray who is seemingly destined to be punted out of the way by anyone and everyone...Ganassi should give him the sponsorship from Target actually. At least the guy with the best car won...even if it was Kurt "I'd like to thank Sharp...er, Miller" Busch.

So there we go, two of the three races were won by the best car but the action in the one that didn't was much more exciting. What's next for the racing soap opera...me getting a MIB? Oh wait...never mind.

I didn't even mention the IRL crashfest either. It would appear that whoever finishes that race will win...great time to be a panel beater, eh? Whoops, sorry, they weren't racing in Canada this week, my bad.

If you can't stomach sarcasm, then you probably should have heeded my warning at the top...but here's a card for you anyway.

Yep, that should cover it.

Now obviously I can't speak for everyone on here so I'll just have to go with letting you know why I watch the racing series I do...well a short version of why anyway. 

Formula 1 - the one series that a lot of people can't get into since "the only overtaking happens in pitlane". I admit, F1 does throw up some rather dull races...but it makes the exciting ones (like last weeks one in Germany) simply brilliant. I don't care what anyone tries telling me, but when there's a race like that, you then know why F1 is the best series on the planet...end of story.

NASCAR - another series that doesn't appeal to everyone as "they just turn left". Again, some races I wish I hadn't bothered taping as watching the grass grow in winter is more exciting, but it is the closeness of the racing that I like. It doesn't really matter where you qualify (unlike in F1) since the cars are that evenly matched and it's the driver/crew combination that makes the difference.

V8 Supercars - well that's a rather easy one to explain; I'm an Aussie. Lately though, the series has suffered a little bit since the cars are evenly matched that it's virtually impossible to pass on the track...unless the weather plays a part which we've had a couple times this year.

IRL - it's kind of like the best of both worlds really; F1 style cars racing on NASCAR tracks. I'll freely admit that my interest will probably only last as long as Scott Dixon races in it since that will be when the coverage of it stops here.

A1GP - a mini F1 series really, these guys tend to produce more exciting racing than F1 since they have that funky little 'power-boost' which gives you eight shots of extra revs to use during the race. Again, like IRL, this series is only popular here in NZ due to the TV coverage showing the racing on free-to-air instead of pay TV. It also helps when Team NZ goes well and we have a race here I guess.

So there we go, five series that I like to see. The main point I think is that no matter what series you watch, there will always be races that put you to sleep. You can argue over which is better (like Dave and ccr are currently doing...which is real interesting as both are passionate about 'their' series yet don't mind the other anyway) but at the end of that day, it all boils down to personal taste.

I will always rate F1 as the best since I hang out for those rare times it produces an absolute pearler of a race like last week. Oh, and also for the sheer speed, acceleration and under braking (which is more impressive actually), those things can go...there's just nothing else like it in my opinion.

up, up and away!

The old CART series (now Champ Car World Series) no longer holds the appeal for me. It was the series responsible for getting me into oval racing so I have to give it a mention on here, but my interest in it died right after a handful of laps of the final race in the 1999 season.

You're a multi-millionaire.

You've got your headquarters in a prime location.

You've hired the best Engineers, Designers and have a killer pitcrew.

You've got sponsors lined up down the road, all wanting to be a part of your new team...but now comes the hard part; who are you going to pay the big bucks to deliver the result on the track?

To figure that out, you'll have to see who's been hot lately and who hasn't. Not as easy a choice as you may think since you're trying to headhunt the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the one guy who you would want driving the car if your life depended on it right now.

A month ago, the guy at the top of your list was Lewis Hamilton. The rookie F1 driver had won the Canadian and US races and was sitting pretty with the Championship lead. Six weeks ago, it was Martin Truex Jr...that guy won his first Cup race at Dover and has since been a factor in pretty much every race. Two months ago, another name; Dario Franchitti. He'd just won the Indianapolis 500 and leapt to the top in the IRL standings. Prior to that it was Jeff Gordon...see how hard this choice has become?

Well, you can cross all those names off since I'm going to tell you who the hottest driver going around is...hands down. He's been riding a huge crest this past month and I have to wonder what this guy has to do to get the recognition he deserves.

Give up? Have no idea who could possibly blow those guys out of the water with his performances?

I'll give you a hint; he's from New Zealand.

Yep, that's right...the best driver in the world right now is none other than Scott Dixon.

Scott piloting his #9 Ganassi Honda IRL beast

You disagree with that? Let me give you some statistics then.

Scott just won his third straight race in the IRL series and has closed the gap to Franchitti from 60 points to 24 in that time. He finished second in the Indy 500 (behind Dario) and probably would have won the race had it not been cut short due to the weather. He won the IRL title in 2003 (in his first season I might add) and is the youngest winner of an internationally recognised 'top level' motorsport event (cars anyway...no idea about bikes) after he won his third ever CART (now Champ Car World Series) race at Nazareth when he was just 20 years old.

You want more proof? He's won the last three IRL races at Watkins Glen...big deal you might say. After all, he's from a country where road courses are the norm. That's all well and good but he won the 2005 race with Toyota power. So what? Toyota had the least powerful engine (by as much as 50 horsepower) yet Scott still whipped everyone...mighty impressive I think you'd agree.

Scott has nine wins in his IRL career...his last 3 have come in the last 3 races

I can see that you're slowly starting to believe me so let me give even more information. He also finished runnerup to Sam Hornish Jr in last years IRL Championship, outscoring his more highly fancied teammate, Dan Wheldon. And his record doesn't stop at open-wheelers either. Last year, Scott teamed up with Wheldon and Casey Mears to win the Daytona 24 hour race.

And he's no slouch with a roof over his head either

He may not have the high profile that a lot of drivers have...but he also doesn't have the baggage those guys carry either. He'll give it 100% every time he steps behind the wheel and anything less than first will see him work that little bit harder next time...that's the kind of driver I want. Oh yeah, and he's only just turned 27...so plenty of years left in his career.

Ok, I can see that you're nodding your head now so my work here is done...Scott Dixon is now at the top of that list.

Mind you, you'll have a fight on your hands to nick him off Chip...but Scott will more than pay you back.

The 2007 German Grand Prix held at the Nurburgring shall be remembered for a few things; being red flagged a half dozen laps in due to torrential rain, rookie driver, Lewis Hamilton, storming through the field to finish one place out of the points, and the wheel-to-wheel battle between Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso for the win with a handful of laps to go...but for the Red Bull team, it shall go down in the history book as their best ever result thus far.

David Coulthard and Mark Webber both finished in the points; 'DC' in fifth while 'Webbo' scored only his second ever Formula 1 podium.

This wasn't the first time a RBR car had visited parc ferme though...David finished third in last years Monaco GP, but it was easily the teams' most convincing performance to date. Several people raised eyebrows when Adrian Newey announced that he was leaving McLaren to go to Red Bull, and the 2007 car was the first he had designed for his new team.

Some people also questioned Mark's move from Williams to Red Bull, thinking he would have been better off going to Renault, taking the place of the double World Champion, Alonso, who left the team for McLaren in 2007. I think Newey's arrival swayed his decision...his track record is mighty hard to beat.

"So Michael, when I come up behind you to take the lead, you just pull over for me, ok?"

Newey has a reputation of producing the goods when it comes to F1 design; he was responsible for the Williams and McLaren domination of the 1990's so both David and Mark were eager to get behind the wheel of his latest creation.

Alas, there were a few teething problems as the team switched from Ferrari to Renault power and also went with a seamless shift gearbox; Webber in particular has had a torrid time with reliability.

But the racing Gods smiled on them in today's race...and they were one of the few that it did.

It's times ike this I'm glad I'm not an F1 driver...keeping it on the track in those conditions? No thanks!

Webber's last (and until today, only) podium came in the 2005 Monaco GP when he was in his first season with Williams. His teammate was current BMW driver (and the vastly underated in my opinion) Nick Heidfeld who outfoxed Mark in the pitstops to get in front of him. Both drivers were then caught behind the Renault of Alonso who was struggling with his tyres.

Nick was the first to dive past Fernando under braking coming out of the tunnel, with Mark following suit a couple laps later. Alonso didn't give it to him very easily though...he shot across the chicane and went back in front of Mark but didn't have to give up the spot since Mark overcooked the corner as well. However, that didn't bother Mark as he tried the same move on the next lap and barely managed to keep it in the 'lines' so Alonso had to yield to him.

Since then it has been a rather frustrating time for Webber; frequently showing how quick he can be by planting whatever car he drives consistantly in the top 10, he just couldn't turn his Saturday pace into Sunday results. Many a time has Mark been running strongly only to be let down by the gearbox...or the engine...or the electronics, you get the idea.

Considered by many to be the fittest guy on the grid, Mark must have started to wonder if his hard work would ever pay off. But the Red Bull does have raw speed and they do say that it's easier to take a fast car and make it reliable than the other way round...Webbo will certainly be hoping so as the season goes into its second half.

The hopes of a nation...Webber is Australia's only current F1 driver.

ITV-F1 article