Credit: Gavin Brown
This boat ain't sailing any time soon!
Hello there. How’s your Wednesday going so far, eh? Good, let’s get to the links then…
The Big Announcement in F1!
So there was some big news in F1 today! After lots of speculation, tweeted hints and rumours, there’s been a big change in F1 commentary… That’s right, HRT’s Top Tweeter Tabatha Valls has joined Virgin Racing! I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a great move by both parties, as Tabatha’s tweets have been very good and she has helped F1 get a little closer to the fans – which the same can be said for Virgin Racing. `
What this means for HRT, well, who knows? But to be honest, I don’t see them getting to Bahrain myself. I think the fact they can’t even pay to stay in FOTA speaks volumes for me…
Also “Speaking Volumes” this year will be Martin Brundle… who I am sure you have heard by now has replaced Legard as BBC’s lead TV commentator in F1. What’s equally surprising is that his role will be taken over by David Coulthard. Now I can’t see that working myself, but if people are prepared to give them a shot, good luck to them. I think that BBC missed a golden opportunity here – Crofty and Ant should have been promoted, but even if they were ruled out, I can think of many decent Motorsport commentators who would have done a great job. Typical BBC, eh?
Dank and James Allen have some thoughts on the matter … and Jake has promised a blog post with his thoughts too. Legard is philosophical about the whole thing, and I wonder what he will do now? Start a blog, maybe?
In other news, Derek Gardner has died – he was the man who designed the first Tyrrells – including the six wheeled P34, which is one of my favourite F1 cars…
Trulli is moaning again. Poor chap. Will someone please give him a hug?
Speaking of moaning, it seems the teams are crying ‘unfair’ at Red Bull again because they think they have overspent their budget this year. Andrew Benson has a blog post about it but I haven’t seen too much else on it. Still, it has some useful info on the RRA and the limitations of it?
Finally an interview with Mark Webber from the Melbourne Age – which talks about how he got into the sport, what gets him motivated and what kinds of sports he enjoys. I’m interested to see what his 2011 will be like.
Rally News
Apparently there is a further inquiry into the Colin McRae helicopter crash … but I’m not sure what the point of it is?
Kimi Raikkonen has signed for another season of WRC – in a Privateer Citroën DS3 WRC. Let’s hope he rolls a little less this season ;)
Here’s a great video profile of Ari Vatanen from WRC.com – love the footage of the old Mk.II Escorts and Group B Peugeots!
Finally, an article linked to in the comments about the Dakar Rally, which the close battle continues between Nasser Al-Attiyah and Carlos Sainz continues to fascinate. Love this quote from the article:
Jones admits that the only thing that kept her going was "the fear" that she would have to return in 2011 if she did not finish the race.
Wow!
From The Blogs…
Firstly, VivaF1 have announced their Bloggers’ Swap Shop pairings for round 3, which looks really exciting! I’m looking forward to these posts for sure ;)
There have been two posts here that have appeared lately: a guest post from Brij lamenting that Bernie Ecclestone is not a Humorologist and Christine’s post about Patrick Head’s recently started series of articles in MotorSport Magazine – which is also well worth checking out!
Speaking of MotorSport Magazine, Nigel Roebuck has been answering some reader’s questions – here’s a couple of great ones about the Finale of the 2010 season and who might have won the 1982 championship if fate hadn’t intervened…
F1 Big Picture has been resurrected and I must admit I do love the pictures – but this one is my favourite. *Sigh* – I miss Renault already!
Here’s a great blog post from F1Lite about Rubens Barrichello’s career – I am sure Lukeh will give it two thumbs up! (Sadly F1Lite won’t give the page a permanent address until it is archived, so this link may only work for today)
Joe’s visited Madonna… Di Campiglio the ski resort to report on ‘Vrooom’ – and has a quick wrap up of some of the last few day’s F1 stories. You know it’s a quiet week in the off season when Joe can write one post for multiple stories!
Peter Windsor blogged today that he is going to start a live Motorsport TV show on the internet called ‘The Flying Lap’ – it sounds a bit like TWiT for Motorsports fans. I’m really excited about it and I am going to try and tune in for it – it’s tonight at 1800 UK time and it’s going to be really interesting to see what it becomes…
Lukeh blogged about Theme Hospital – which I have never played but it has got a lot of love in the comments. I have recently got back into the Sim series of games, starting Sim City on the iPhone.
Finally, there have been rumours of a revival of A1GP called ‘A10 World Series’ – I’ve heard nothing other than the rumour that it will be using the old equipment, which I last heard was in a storage hanger at Dunsfold Aerodrome (where they film Top Gear).
The Funny Stuff
Firstly some bad news – apparently Sir Richard Branson has injured himself skiing, so the much anticipated Air Asia flight he will a hostess on has been delayed. Shame. One wonders if he attempted this maneuverer? Get well soon Sir Richard!
Now how good is your Michael Caine impersonation? Is it as good as Sir Michael Caine’s? Also, here’s a double whammy for you – have you ever imagined what the cafeteria scene from “When Harry Met Sally” would have been like if it was with Sir Sean Connery and Sir Michael Caine? Well, wonder no more! (Possibly NSFW, but very funny)
Here’s a great game for all you fast typists out there – a shoot ‘em up that requires fast typing skills – it’s great fun!
How about a musical Interlude? Kamui ‘Leeroy’ Kobayashi overtaking at Suzuka to the tune of ‘Kung Fu Fighting’? HA!
Tim’s been tweeting again – this time I think he’s playing Jeopardy :D
This might make you feel a little old – a French film giving kids technology that’s only 25 years old – and they have no idea what it is! Very interesting though.
Speaking of old technology, how’s this? A 2,000 mechanical computer for calculating orbits recreated in Lego. Awesome!
Well that’s all from me. Have a great day and don’t forget to visit the homepage every now and then – who knows what you may find, eh? ;)
PS: I can't write the Daily next week - does someone want to sub in for me?