On March 11, I’m running the Silverstone Half Marathon to raise money for the Richard Burns Foundation.

The Foundation was set up following the British WRC legend’s untimely death. It’s a genuine honour for me to represent it in the annual Silverstone run.

Richard Burns and the RBF

Richard was the 2001 World Rally Champion – indeed, England’s first WRC title-winner.

He scored 10 WRC victories with Mitsubishi and with Subaru, the team with which he won the championship. He also gave his name to one of the greatest road-going cars of all time, the Subaru Impreza Turbo RB5 pictured above.

He died in November 2005, following a long battle with a form of brain tumor called astrocytoma. He was 34.

Since being set up in his name, the fund has raised tens of thousands of pounds: it has made numberous donations, such as £47,286 to the Teenage Cancer Trust in 2008 and £35,781 to Make-A-Wish in 2009.

The Richard Burns Foundation has also donated £26,157 to the Lewis Hamilton Foundation.

Silverstone Half Marathon

By running the Silverstone Half Marathon, I aim to add funds. I’ve pledged to raise £500. As always, every donation is welcome: I’d be delighted if you could help me.

My JustGiving Page tells you how to donate. My Twitter feed will also update you on progress, via the hashtag #runsilverstonerbf

And to find out why I’m doing it, watch this:

Back in the days when we could watch rallying on TV, and the Lombard RAC Rally was actually called the Lombard RAC Rally, millions of us would await William Woollard and Steve Ryder every night of the multi-day epic.

The BBC Lombard RAC Rally nightly report show was brilliant: proper rally cars in a proper rally, reported on my men with big microphones, big coats and big hair, within big rally HQ centres full of people in the background busily shuffling reams of paper.

And how was it announced within the nation’s living room each? With The BBC Lombard RAC Rally music, which every petrolhead in the land knows by heart. You know the one…

Fast-forward to today, and cue wistful reminiscences from me each time I hear this song on BBC 6 Music. No, they’re not taken to playing the RAC Rally theme tune with gloriously oft regularity – rather, it’s an actual song, written by an actual band.

Check it out, and tell me you’re not back in 1991 within the first few bars.

Propaganda were, a well known internet resource tells me, a 1980s German synthpop group. Duel was their second single, released in April 1985, and was also their highest-charting UK single (it reached 21).

It was performed on their one and only Top of the Pops appearance too. But, far more significantly, it also became the theme tune to those wonderful rally reports of the 80s and 90s.

Well, almost. Thanks to some music geek brilliance inspired by BBC 6 Music presenter Chris Hawkins, it seems the theme tune was actually a hybrid, of both Duel and its B-side, Jewel. As explained more fully here – with links for you to indulge yet further.

Apparently, Duel was also used as the theme tune for the 2005 WRC TV reports, too. But, as by then, most people had stopped watching rallying, mainly because they were (and still are) unable to, this passed me by. Such a shame: check out all the links and tell me you don’t miss rallying.

How about this for a scenario, then: The BBC grabs back the rights for WRC in 2012, and once again starts showing nightly rally reports, plus a Sunday evening highlights show to, say, follow Top Gear.

Timed to fit in with the start of the full nation-pleasing MINI WRC campaign, it would be absolutely perfect. Particularly if it follows the F1 model, and revives the iconic theme tune.

An epic thought, no? Grown men would cry. Me amongst them.

+ Rover Vitesse and Tony Pond: back in the news (but only one is amazing)

+ Blyton Park: F1 on Britain’s newest racing circuit

+ Walter Hayes feedback from Richard Hayes

Lotus is the car company that wants to be associated with everyone at the moment. 

Or should it be Lotus is the car company everyone wants to be associated with?

Either way, it’s great PR for the long-fledgling Norfolk brand, which suddenly has worldwide exposure it could never have imagined a year ago. If Lotus is eager for a bigger share of the limelight, it’s certainly getting its wish.

But given how every day seems to bring some sort of new Lotus linkup, it’s perhaps time for a recap: just what are the car firms whose name Lotus sits alongside today?

Well, here’s a list. Some are stronger than others, but all are focused on one thing – maximising the value of that world-famous Lotus roundel.

Colin Chapman would, I’m sure, be chuffed to bits.

Lotus

Lotus road cars is the focus of huge investment, activity and interest. Parent company Group Lotus wants to become a supercar rival to Ferrari and Porsche: after the clumsy way it launched these intentions at the Paris Motor Show 2010, it is now slowly winning acknowledgement that the plans could have merit – and COULD actually work.

Lotus-Renault

Renault, faced with falling market share, has pulled back on its F1 exposure in recent years. After selling a stake in the team to Genii Capital, Renault sold its remaining 25% stake to Group Lotus. The F1 cars are thus called ‘Lotus Renaults’.

Lotus-Caterham

Entrepreneur Tony Fernandes purchased the rights to use the ‘Lotus Racing’ name in 2009, successfully running the team in F1 last year. The team was renamed ‘Team Lotus’ for 2011. Group Lotus brought a court case against Fernandes this year, which culminated in the ruling that Fernandes can continue using the Team Lotus name. In the meantime, Fernandes also bought Caterham Cars. Team Lotus is now thus carrying ‘Caterham’ branding, just as the Renaults carry ‘Lotus’ branding.

Lotus-Proton

Proton owns Lotus, and has used its British sports car division’s name on several models in the past. ‘Engineered by Lotus’ has graced the back of models such as the Proton Satria GTI, after it commissioned Lotus Engineering to re-engineer the cooking budget hatchbacks.

Lotus-Youngman

Youngman, a Chinese bus manufacturer, entered passenger car production with a new brand, Europestar. These were rebadged Protons, which Lotus Engineering developed into Chinese-market models with a series of revisions. Youngman, drawn to the allure of the Lotus brand, has been increasingly associating itself with (and marketing itself as) Lotus, despite the link being with Lotus Engineering, not Group Lotus.

Lotus-Saab

Youngman-Lotus, in alliance with car distributor Pang Da, has secured a €245m equity stake in Saab and signed Memorandums of Understanding for further alliances subject to approval by authorities. Chinese interests in Saab are thus likely to grow, as further investments are made in the Swedish brand.

The Lotus name has links with yet more makers too: these are a bit more tech-specific but are still a rare public showcase of Lotus Engineering links with another manufacturer. Here’s a few examples:

Lotus-Tesla

The most well known recent Lotus collaboration: Lotus provides around 40% of the overall content of a Tesla Roadster, the world’s first electric sportscar. It doesn’t wear Lotus badges but even casual observers know the link.

Lotus-LTI

Lotus Engineering was part of a collaboration that’s developed a hydrogen fuel cell taxi, led by cash from the government Technology Strategy Board. Lotus designed the full propulsion system, including the fuel cell engine.

Lotus-Jaguar

The two worked together on the Limo-Green project that created a Jaguar XJ EREV. Lotus provided its 1.2-litre range-extender engine, created with funding from the TSB. This has three cylinders, 47hp, simple construction and weighs 56kg. It’s been designed specifically to drive an alternator, to generate electricity – and is thus better than the Chevrolet Volt’s car-derived 1.4-litre range-extender motor.

Quite a list. And these are just the public ones. Group Lotus’ consultancy division, Lotus Engineering works with many other car manufacturers besides, on below-the-line solutions to specific needs, most obviously in vehicle dynamics.

Lotus Engineering, for instance, is said to have worked on the latest Nissan GT-R, and also has long associations with GM/Vauxhall (the excellent Vauxhall Corsa VXR was Lotus Engineering-developed, and thus way better than the Vauxhall Corsa SRi it was derived from).

Frankly, Lotus is everywhere. It always has been – but the fact it’s so omnipresent hasn’t always been advertised so well. Finally, both the allure of and expertise behind the name are gaining recognition, which means lots are now keen for some of the Lotus limelight.

Not all these collaborations are perfect, but all of them DO have some genuine Lotus link in some way. Question is, which are the lasting Lotus links and which are the Lotus liabilities?

UPDATE

Lotus-Top Gear

Group Lotus Motorsport designed the original Top Gear test track, which stars in reasonably priced cars have competed with The Stig upon for years. Now, the link is being reinforced: Lotus is designing the new Top Gear Live test tracks. Well, the links don’t have to be literal car ones…

+ The Lotus position: confusing

+ Renault Energy dCi 130: F1 on the road

+ Pirelli tyres: a key into F1

@toyotapr pointed it out: how nice it is to see the Rover Vitesse back in the news.

It has hit the headlines once again thanks to the efforts of Mark Higgins in a Subaru WRX STI. He’s just beaten late legend Tony Pond’s lap record around the Isle of Man TT course, a whole two decades after Pond blitzed the isle.

Cue an excuse for me to hit the archives and remind myself of the big barge Pond pedaled to an improbably mighty average speed. And it’s quickly clear Pond did something even more amazing than Higgins’ latest star runs.

The Vitesse was, see, blessed with just 177hp from its 2.7-litre V6 Honda engine. 177hp! A VW Polo GTI with an engine half the size beats that nowadays, and is a whole 2.8 seconds quicker to 60mph, too.

Yes, this new ‘fast’ Rover 800 took a yawning 9.7 seconds to reach 60mph, and could only reach 132mph all-out. How on earth did Pond do it? Thankfully, by 1990, Rover had at least fitted a manual gearbox, rather than the yawning four-speed auto of the launch car.

Even so, with such limp power and pace, watching Pond’s 100mph lap becomes all the more amazing – and that’s without considering what mighty challenges the soggy, rolling handling threw in too.

Higgins, by way of contrast, has a near-bona fide rally car for the road. To take nothing away from him, is it any wonder he was able to push the average speed record up to 113mph?

Pond, I salute you. This Rover reads, on paper, like a boat. You did the impossible, and turned it into a 100mph recordbreaker. You, not it, deserved the record to stand for so long.

Rover 800 Fastback

What the Fastback Rover XX itself? This was the hatch version of the 800, launched in 1988 with the new Vitesse as the fanfare range-topper.

Rover expected to eventually share a sales split with the saloon. As no extra production capacity was installed at the Cowley plant (which now makes MINI), it wouldn’t actually do much for overall volumes. So what was the thinking?

Apparently, to ensure no SD1 drivers were lost. The youngest SD1s were, by 1988, coming up for two years old and were pressing dealers for something new. Rover wanted to cash in with these existing hatchback-loving customers.

Roy Axe led the styling. Changes were made aft of the C-pillar: new roof, rear quarter panels and the hatchback itself. This was set at 18 degrees, the same as the Rover SD1. Good for aero, apparently.

Remarkably, Rover managed to carry over the rear doors, bumper, lights and numberplate surround. That’s why it was a hatchback with a letterbox-like slot opening: good old British design consideration meant the rear lights ate into the boot opening, restricting ultimate practicality.

There was one quite cool addition, though – an electronic boot release switch. Familiar to Japanese car drivers, this was something new for a big hatch Rover, and served as a ‘surprise and delight’ feature salesmen savoured.

The Fastback saw the introduction of the Vitesse model, which sat alongside the saloon Sterling at the top of the range. This was the £20k Rover, to compete with same-price BMW 528i SE.

However, Rover also introduced a new entry-level 820, with a headliner £11,995 list price. With a miserable 100hp, it was going nowhere fast, but it did reduce the 800 entry price by almost £1000.

A Montego 2.0 HL, for comparison, cost £9995: a Mini Mayfair sold for £5000.

The ongoing story of the Rover 800 is fascinating, and boasts intrigue deep into the mid-1990s. What’s most satisfying is the achievement of Tony Pond behind the wheel of one, though. Subaru now has the record – ironically in a saloon – but Pond’s achievement remains remarkable nonetheless.

It’s only reading how comparably archaic the big Rover was that you realise just how impressive it was. Vitesse sounds impressive, but it really wasn’t. Pond added that bit for them.

+ MINI helps UK economic deficit

+ The surprises of the Rover 400 rotter

+ Mini brochure makes fascinating reading

This week, a brand-new motor racing circuit opened in the UK, with a fanfare that included laps by an F1 car during the opening ceremony.

OK, it wasn’t quite Lewis Hamilton doing things that shouldn’t be possible in a McLaren MP4/26, and its driver wasn’t fully on it, but the Larrouse Lola SC88 that graced the launch party was still a damned impressive coup that sounded the business. See?

Called Blyton Park, the new circuit is, as are most UK racetracks, a former airfield: in the second World War, it was a US bomber base. For the past half-decade, though, it’s hosted local grass roots motorsport for Gainsborough locals.

Business entrepreneur Richard Usher is the man behind the transformation into a full circuit (complete with corner names and everything): he paid for the 1.5 mile of fresh asphalt, and has done plenty more besides with the £500k he’s reportedly invested into the venue. All to help both trackday fans and lower-formulae racers.

First on his priority list is to attract Rallycross and Supermoto: within days of opening, Blyton had already hosted the second round of the MSA Rallycross Championship, and Usher is hopeful it will be sanctioned for Sprint meetings in time, too. (TOP TIP: general circuit bookings can also be made, car makers, if ever you’re in need of a press launch location.)

That May 4 launch day certainly showed a few more variations: the mix of cars was enormous. Such as? Try Lancia Stratos, Nissan Silvia S15 drifter, original rally Escorts and a Chevy-powered Vauxhall Firenza. Oh, and some bikes. Oh, and a Suzuki Swift rallycar. And, well, you get the idea. A bit of all sorts.

But not full-on racing cars, says Usher. He doesn’t want track competition there: against-the-clock sprints are his idea”. “The UK already has enough race tracks.

“I hope the wide range of vehicles that we saw here today will reflect the range of vehicles we attract to Blyton.” If this just so happens to include BTCC testing, then so be it – but actual wheel-to-wheel racing is not on the agenda.

Speaking of BTCC, it was designed by former BTCC driver Eugene O’Brian, in collaboration with one of our own, Evo journo John Barker. (His mythical mega-money Capri was actually at the opening day event, too). According to Evo, they were approached separately to design a track, but both came up with spookily similar designs. Merging the two created Blyton Park.

It’s not every day you can write about a new circuit in the UK, so I wish Blyton Park all the very best. Every motoring journalist’s dream is to earn enough money not only to buy the dream garage, but also to invest in somewhere to drive them all. Richard Usher has done just that: power to him.

Looks like I need £600k, then. The dream garage won’t cost much, given my tastes… but I now know the circuit is going to be a fair bit more on top. Best do as Usher did and get entrepreneurialising, then.

+ How F1 links BRDC to GOMW

+ BTCC: the anger behind the anguish

+ Jason Plato: real world racing car superstar

Jason Plato is one of the most dramatic, characterful and successful British racing drivers of recent times, and THE most successful British Touring Car driver ever.

63 wins have come from a staggering 333 BTCC starts (and counting), beating another hero, Andy Rouse, in the most wins stats.

Such success doesn’t mean he’s too busy to speak with a motoring journalist, though. Just after breakfast on the morning of the 2011 Donington BTCC round, he, I and the PR man gathered for a chat.

We spoke in the Chevrolet tent behind the garages in the Donington paddock: no hiding away in the motorhome for JP. We sat at the front, enjoying the sun, the fresh air, the gazes, nudges and cameraphone snaps of a wowed public.

Hundreds got to see a BTCC legend thinking, chatting, signing autographs, from 10 foot away. They could hear him. They could even wait to get the perfect shot of him (i.e. by waiting for said journo to lean back out of the way).

Real world, see. He could be an aloof primadonna, but he’s not. Making the 15 minutes of JP’s fame I enjoyed in a chat prior to the first round just that little bit easier.

So what did he say? Plenty…

Jason Plato on the BTCC fans

Plato’s respect for the BTCC fans and followers is huge. TOCA has organised things so fans can get up close to the stars at every round and at every point in the day: Plato is one that thrives on this.

“It’s great, isn’t it? This is a proper family day out. People are not caged up like wild animals, but are free to turn up and mingle with the stars. They can get in thick – it’s a unique sporting experience.”

Does it get a bit much, though? “Almost never. I’ve got so much respect for the fans: they’re knowledgeable, they follow what goes on, they’re avid readers of news, they chat online and contribute to forums.

“You don’t get lots of ‘how fast is it, mister’ questions: the intelligent, clued-up fanbase really is great.”

Jason Plato on F1 and football

Plato never did F1, despite being signed to BTCC by Frank Williams. Does he miss it? Maybe: “it would be nice to have done F1 – but there’s no racing there. In BTCC, the racing is just so dammed good. This is why I’ve been in it so long.

“It’s aggressive, proper racing.”

Plato also recognises the sheer scale of BTCC in the UK. “For the final round at Brands Hatch last year, we got 46,000 people through the gates. The only other sport that gets similar figures is football – and that has the benefit of massive national coverage.

“We get next to no coverage in the mainstream media, yet we still get tens of thousands of people visiting each round. This is what makes the series so fantastic.”

Jason Plato on turbos in BTCC

This year, Plato’s Chevrolet Cruze uses an S2000 non-turbo engine. Virtually everyone else uses the new 2.0-litre BTCC turbo engine. This has created a performance disparity.

“TOCA said at the start of they year they would equalise performance between the turbos and S2000 cars. They knew what had to be done.” As we spoke at Donington, Plato was contemplating a qualifying time 1.2sec slower than polesitter Matt Neal.

“It’s ridiculous – you may as well put an F3 car on an F1 grid, the difference is that big. Without wishing to speak out of turn, I’m not racing against the people I should be.

“It takes no skill to drive down a straight fast, but that’s where the turbos’ extra speed is.” And to equalise the Cruze on weight to match the turbo’s pace? “You’d have to take 200kg out of the car.”

Plato, though, prefers a reduction in turbo boost, to equalise the grid. “They’re running 1.8 bar – that’s effectively a 3.6-litre engine against a 2.0-litre.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really mean that – it’s far too simplistic – but the turbos do still have a clear performance advantage that’s getting them ahead of us.”

(TOCA has, for the Thruxton round, reduced boost pressure by 0.1bar. This might not be enough for Plato – he had in mind a bigger reduction, down to 1.2-1.3bar…)

Jason Plato on RML

BTCC is the pinnacle of British motorsport that, says Plato, “attracts very good people and very professional teams.” One team stands above all others to him though – RML.

“RML are the best in the business. There is a passion about the team, and they also both employ the right sort of people and pay them accordingly.

“Everyone works in an accurate, precise, engineery-type way: you walk in the garage and can ‘feel’ the engineering vibe there. This is how I work and, believe me, it makes a big difference.

“There is only one ‘proper’ team on the grid, and it’s RML: the people behind me are the best, and I know I can count on them.

“If we do make a mistake, we’ll only make it once…”

A few hours later, the RML boys rebuilt a Chevrolet Cruze in hours that, by rights, should have taken days. With such skill that Plato then raced it from the back of the grid to 6^th place in the final round. The impossible became possible: incredible.

Jason Plato on how BTCC can help car manufacturers

“The BTCC is not just about on-track success. It can also really help car makers who are new to market or who want to change perceptions and build their brand.

‘With my previous team (SEAT), BTCC racing helped turn their model mix towards a sporting one. From 90% of their sales being cars under 150hp, they doubled their higher-end sports-series sales in four years.

“This was with no expensive TV advertising, either. Motorsport did it.” For comparably much better value and with much more far-reaching results.

“Done right, it can help a manufacturer not only sell more cars, but sell more of the profitable ones in the model mix. Selling the right-spec cars is how you build successful car businesses and BTCC really does aid things here.

“It’s motorsport as a marketing tool. It engage people and means you can show them what you’re about.”

It’s not simply about spraying the Champagne, either. “The old ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ saying is true: a win is a fantastic tool for the brand. However, the real success comes because it’s not all just about the track.

“Harnessing what the spectator ‘feels’ about the racing, and maximising opportunities here, is how you alter perceptions and images.”

Jason Plato on the BTCC

Plato genuinely loves the BTCC. “It’s the best in the world, full stop. I had offers for Europe in the late 1990s, but I declined.

“Reason? The racing. That’s why I’ve been in it for so long.”

And, by the sounds of it, will continue to be so, too.

+ BTCC: the anguish behind the anger

+ The most amazing save of 2009

+ Internet Of Things joins motorsport

BTCC hero Jason Plato was asked today, by a fan of Chevrolet’s BTCC Facebook page, what his best and worst races were.

The ‘best’ was easy: winning the title last year at Brand’s Hatch. And the worst? Well, to be honest, he explained, there haven’t actually been that many.

“But today’s shaping up to be a bad one…”

That was after race 1 of the Donington 2011 BTCC round: an aggressive setup led to a puncture, as the team fought in vain to battle with the 1.5-sec-a-lap-faster turbo cars.

All eyes on race 2, then – and, by a quirk of Chevrolet’s PR man Craig being amazing, I watched it from the comfort of the Chevrolet BTCC garage. For one corner, too, it was a treat.

Flickswitch fortunes

And then, what you saw on TV: Jason gets hit, the car slews sideways, then falls into a sickening series of rolls.

Ugly and scary. Even uglier and scarier if you’re in the garage of the team that built the car. Standing behind the mum and dad of the guy in said car. The silence that descended was instant, the atmosphere immediately switching from excitement to stomach-churning anxiety.

Suddenly, I felt uncomfortable just being there: what the rest of the team was thinking doesn’t bear thinking about.

Quickly, the very worst of it was quelled: “He’s OK,” shouted the guy in radio comms with Jason. “He’s shouting and swearing: he’s OK, he’s OK…”.

Wife Sophie rushes in, terrified. “He’s OK – Sophie, he’s OK.” Could’ve cried for her: can’t imagine what she was feeling. Nobody wants to see that. Being a motor racing wife is, at times, insanely emotive.

Barrel roll

More anxious minutes of ethereal quiet followed as the replays were shown: the barrel roll from various angles, the initial incident from on-board and off, the aftermath of Jason storming away, as if to confirm his good health and bad, bad mood.

So, what DOES a team do when their car is out? Well, there’s not a lot they can do: they watch the rest of the race in glum turmoil. They know they’ve either got an early bath or a whole hill of work ahead of them: being racers, they relish the latter, but fear the former.

They’re seasoned pros, too. So, when Jason strides back to the pit garage, they know not to speak to him. We public, quickly educated, also know not to approach him. This would be a BAD time to ask for a photograph.

So they stand, and watch, and don’t speak, and each ticks over what they’ll have to do. Jason had already said the engineering brilliance of RML is what makes the team so great: moments like this, where each is planning each scenario and their required reaction for it, is proof of that.

To see it first hand brilliantly illustrated the power of motorsport, the intensity of it, the highs and lows it inflicts on all those who take part. It’s not for the faint-hearted, not for the overemotional. In motor racing, you need to think fast, not lose your head, be a consummate pro and always, always come back for more, no matter how heavy the lows are when they occur.

The power of motorsport

Losing your star driver and your prize car, on which you’ve toiled for days, barely two corners into the second race of the day, is sickening. But whereas normal people will kick the cat, cry, or shuffle off to the bar, proper motor racers use the anguish to their advantage. Lord knows, it’s hateful. So, if it’s there, they’ll certainly not magnify it, and instead try their best to turn it around.

Electric emotions were alive and well in the Chevrolet BTCC garage today. Witnessing them has definitively proven to me why motor racing is a way of life for so many.

Power to ‘em and all.

UPDATE

It is impossible, but true. TML have fixed the car: Jason Plato is out for Race 3! This should not be possible. It has been, though. RML, you’re amazing.

Not only that, but Jason also came in 6th place for the last result. His best result of the day. In a car that should not have been racing. Now, if ever there was something to celebrate, it’s that.

Lewis Hamilton’s brother Nicolas Hamilton starred in his first motor race last weekend – in the family tradition, on live TV.

Also in family tradition, he had a stellar first lap, with a great start and some tenacious diving-for-gaps earning him a good few places by the first corner. Remind you of anyone?

Nic Hamilton’s racing in the cut-and-thrust of Renault Clios. As an ardent fan of the championship, I wouldn’t wish it on any beginner – yet Nic lined up on Sunday for his first race, after just 3 months driving a race car.

Before then, it was Gran Turismo and Forza: like Nissan/PlayStation star Lucas Ordonez, Nic’s been turned into a real life racing driver courtesy of the finest coaching. Power to him, as well.

There’s a local interest for me here, though. See, over Christmas, I went jogging, on a slightly different route around the Wednesbury home of my girlfriend Tam. And what should I see, but the metallic grey trucks of Total Control Racing – complete with fluorescent orange ‘TCR’ logo bouncing off the snow I was pretty foolishly jogging upon.

I thus found out more: discovered they’re a team that competes (or has competed) in the Renault Clio Championship, Porsche Carrera Cup ,Ginetta G50 Cup and SEAT Leon Championship. Quite a role call.

And, now, I’ve also found out they’re running the boy Hamilton in the Clios this year. A chap down the road has even probably stuck on the Vodafone logos that caught the attentions of so many at Brands this weekend (not least big bro Lewis).

That’s quite cool. Hence, I’m going to find out more. I’m off to Donington next week, for both some BTCC action and a catch-up with the TCR boys.

More anon: for now, make sure you watch ITV4 next Sunday, for the latest in installment in the Hamilton racing dynasty.

+ The most amazing save of 2009

+ How fast would your car be with more power?

+ BMW LCI not ASAP for M

Pirelli is bringing colour into F1 with a great example of a quickly-recognised cognitive key.

6 different colours of tyre sidewall markings are to be used – enabling fans to visually identify which grade of tyre the driver is running on.

The colours will take some learning, but it’ll be worth it for those who love ‘reading’ races. They are:

• Orange: Wet
• Light blue: Intermediate
• Red: Supersoft
• Yellow: Soft
• White: Medium
• Silver: Hard

Orange and blue will be used in wet races, meaning most F1 races will see a mix of red, yellow, white and silver.

Remembering which is which will at first require a mnenomic, though. Any thoughts?

I’m musing: pointers include silver/metal/hard, white/in the middle/medium and red/raw/soft (as they’re likely to, ahem, be ‘rubbed away’ rapidly)… maybe, even, ‘hot laps on the reds’…

Good lord. Please, do you have a better one?

Comment below and vote for your favourite!

BRDC members have a prime spot to watch the Silverstone Grand Prix each year.

The famed building, right next to the pits entry, is a Silverstone landmark and THE place to be if you’ve earned the right to be one of Britain’s motor racing elite.

Today, Damon Hill will preside over a cast of hundreds – including Sir Jackie Stewart, Nigel Mansell, Derek Warwick and umpteen other fan’s favourites.

I was able to have a peek on Friday night, too, as the BRDC hosted members of the press, including GOMW members. So, to see from where they’ll be watching, check out the gallery below.

It shows the three-storey building’s smart chairs, live-feed TVs and panoramic roof balcony from where most will be packed come 1pm today.

There are more images on my Facebook Page too. Oh, to be a Brit motor racing star and earn the right to apply for membership…