Are friends electric?

Goodwood.

Whenever I think of the motor circuit, I smile. My mind drifts to images of grand prix cars of yesteryear, beautiful burbling Bugattis, melodious Maseratis, and the smell of oil, engines, fuel and rubber from burnouts on the track. Memories of the Festival of Speed and most recently, the Revival. Last weekend I witnessed a wholly different event at Goodwood. 75 entrants on the grid, a national title at stake, there were spins, tussles on the track, rivalry, unfettering comradery, car breakages and heaps of drama. But not the roar of an engine could be heard. This was a six hour endurance race, unlike anything I’d seen previously, it was truly compelling. The atmosphere was simply electric…literally.

I had been invited to attend the Greenpower 2005 national final by a motorsport friend of mine; it’s a race series with a very special difference. Greenpower is a not for profit company, funded by a number of sponsors, that is dedicated to promoting engineering and technology as careers in both secondary and primary schools in the UK. In recent years there has been a distinct demise in school leavers taking up engineering careers. To try to redress the balance and to capture the children’s imagination and enthusiasm for engineering Greenpower uses a unique medium in the form of electric car racing projects. It also promotes the importance electrically powered vehicles will have upon the future of motoring and focuses upon the environmental benefits.

A technical specification is issued to the schools along with the all important 24 volt electric motor and 4, 12 volt lead/acid batteries, just like those you'd find in your car. The children then get down to the nitty gritty of designing and building their cars with the help of teachers, parents and sponsors. The cars are then used to compete in Greenpower formula marathon and sprint events nationally at some of the country's most prestigious circuits.

Back at Goodwood, the race had reached the half way point and there was drama when the heavens opened to tip rain of monsoonical proportions on to the track turning it quickly into a skid pan. Cars spun off, there were near misses, the teams were running about to call their cars in. The drama continued throughout the race as cars that broke down were ferried back to the pits on the back of trailers for the children and their teams to commence all too urgent repairs to get their car back out on the track. Teams were connected up via tandems to dynamos to recharge batteries, pedalling for all their worth to get the batteries ready for the next pit stop, tactics were discussed and changed minute by minute. This was possibly the most exciting form of motorsport I'd witnessed all year.

There was a storming victory for the 2nd year running from the bubble like car entered by Furze Platt School in Maidenhead, 'Turbo Tortoise'. It can top speeds of 42mph and achieved the fastest lap time in the Greenpower formula last year. It's futuristic design proving aerodynamically efficient and their engineering design making suberb use of the motors provided.

If there had been an intiative like Greenpower around when I'd been at school I most certainly would have wanted to get involved. It's a fantastic opportunity for children and as well as the engineering experience there's a whole wealth of benefits from team working to just having a good old giggle.

I'll be following next year's series with great interest.

For more information visit: the Greenpower website

Beautiful Bugattis

Upon a recent clean up of my laptop computer, I took the time to organise my photographs and those a friend took of this year's Goodwood Revival. I thought I'd share some here and these are by no means the entire collection but I have picked out a choice few. From those I have chosen there appears to be a somewhat worrying trend...it would appear that I'm obsessed with Bugatti's!

Bugatti 35T grille

There's a muppet in here somewhere

Take one shabby looking Bugatti and a muppet with a twitchy cheque book...

I'm sure it'll be fine on my daily London commute

all engine and its a big-un

my ideal garage

yet again an unrequited love - we make a good couple no?

but for now this is just fine

Click here for more information about events at Goodwood

Bye Bye Brunstrom

Richard Brunstrom, Chief Constable of North Wales, will announce today at the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) that he is standing down as head of roads policing.

Full story from The Times here

Be gone the nemisis of the motorist, and take those eyebrows with you.

But let's hope the next one is better

Glass on the Roadside

Glass on the roadside; the hard shoulder of the motorway glittering in the piercing morning sunlight. A sea of red brake lights, some amber hazard lights; like vivid flowers in a sea of grey. The familiar slowing of traffic until it’s barely moving. In the distance a siren, blue lights, emergency services. Another life wasted.

It is an all too familiar experience for a London commuter.

I’m not usually a morbid character. I don’t dwell on death or any sort of life altering devastation, I’m a strong believer in fate. If you’re there when the sticky stuff hits the metal oscillating object, it was meant to be. That’s not to say I go about my life thinking what will happen will happen, I do err on the side of caution.

I once had a coffee with Louis Theroux and whilst chatting he said something which spurred me on to do, amongst other things, write this website. His advice to me was; if you want to do something, just give it a go, regardless of whether you screw it up or humiliate yourself or it all goes horribly wrong. It might not, and it may end up being the best decision you ever made. But if it does end up dropping on you from a great height, take it on the chin, dust yourself off and move on, start again.

I’m sure you’re wondering, well it’s not very much concerned with motoring. And you’d be right initially, however it was this caveat which was a contributory factor to me learning to ride a motorcycle. Actually getting out there and just doing it.

But following the events of the past few days, I’m scared. In fact I’m quite petrified.

Let me rewind slightly I have spent the past two weeks embroiled in a seething pit of frustration. Traffic jam after traffic jam after traffic jam ad infinitum.

Toward the end of the week I was unfortunate enough to witness two road traffic accidents and the aftermath of another. I’m a rather sensitive soul and have found that I always have the events of my journey branded on my conscience for the rest of the day if not longer, be it frustration from the delay or the poignant images of an accident.

The last accident I saw involved a motorcylist and a van. The motorcyclist didn't make it.

When I told colleagues and friends about my decisions to get a bike to commute to work to solve the financial burden and lack of parking issues, the majority were encouraging and supported my decision knowing that it also appealed to my petrolhead side. However there were a select few, my father included whom upon telling them of my decision retorted with a dismayed 'Oh dear'. I was then subjected to recounts of the most horrendous stories of motorcycle crashes leaving death and destruction in their wake. Not quite what a fledging biker wants to hear.

Now I'm fully aware being a car driver, just how vulnerable bikers are. When I do go out on my little bike I'm lit up like a christmas tree, I'm more lurid than Jordan's wedding dress. But the events of the past week have frightened me. The one thing I can't apply Louis' advice to is actually riding a motorcycle as a means of transport, all well and good thinking I'll give it a go to learn, but if I balls up my everyday riding, I probably wouldn't be around to dust myself off and go and do something else.

However, despite all this and my fear I have remained positive. I got back on my bike yesterday when it came back from receiving some much needed electrical repair. I ambled around for 1/2 hour or so and fell in love with the feeling of freedom all over again. I will remain undeterred.

Thoughts of biker's vulnerability led me to this site Sorry Mate I Didn't See You (or smidsy for short). It's called SMIDSY as this is often what the driver's of vehicles that have hit bikers say to the injured biker. This campaign has been set up encouraging car driver's to be more biker aware and reducing the amount of 'look but failed to see' collisions a contributory factor being the design of car A pillars . The site also campaigns for overall road safety and has some very interesting facts and figures relating to speed cameras . I urge you to go and take a look.

Back to SMIDSY, there is a video clip of a driver approaching a roundabout, it makes for shocking veiwing. There are a few seconds where the biker, already making his way around the roundabout is obscured from view by the windscreen pillar of the car. It's like the biker isn't even there. I'm sure the vast majority of car and van drivers don't even give this a second thought.

I'm 101% behind the sentiment of SMIDSY and hope that its message carries across to the main public arena, perhaps with 'celebrity ' endorsement as help, campaigns such as these which are increasingly important as the amount of traffic increases, but all too often fall by the wayside due to lack of funding or government support.

When I'm driving my car I will always adopt the 2nd look for bikes and scooters from now on, I hope you will too.