KLM

It's not the end of an era. Honda have quit and returned several times in the past, as have Renault. They'll be back when things are better. They're one of the most successful F1 engine builders of all time, and they know the value of F1. They're only quitting because the money just isn't there anymore, and the board can't justify spending hundreds of millions on essentially a marketing program when their sales in their biggest market (North America) have dropped more than 30% year on year. It's not as if they have additional sponsors that pick up the entire tab either, so they really cant be blamed. They're classic victims of the current global financial crisis. Standard engines suck, IMHO. There is already an international series that limits development and uses standardized engines. It's called GP2. I'm all for cost-cutting ($400 million to race 2 cars 18 weekends a year is stupid), but you need to let the manufacturers innovate and try to get ahead of each other, within certain guidelines. Standard engines will kill F1 in its current guise.

No machan I was an official this time.

It's actually a 3-litre petrol. It ran T&J Open at Tissa if I remember correctly.

Janaka may have won the rally if he had stayed on track. He didn't finish 2 stages and taking the penalties (plus the slowest class times) really hurt him. I think he ended up winning more stages that Aravinda did, but then again, after he secured a comfortable overall lead, AP may have just conserved his car. However, on the final stage, both Aravinda and Janaka just went for it, with nothing to gain and everything to lose (especially for AP) - the result was the fastest stage times in the rally and the highest average speeds. It was brilliantly competitive, head-to-head stuff - Janaka did a 6:56 and Aravinda a 6:59. It must be said that most of the drivers were willing to run MORE stages, it was that much fun for them. I think (and hope) that for the MRA Pelwatte Rally 2009 at the end of January we have more participants - plenty of others who came to watch expressed an interest in entering that, so I hope those promises come to fruition. There was always plenty of action on this rally, lots of funny (and not-so-funny) stories and epic moments. One memory that I won't forget is standing in the gloom and drizzle behind Reyaz Farouk's car at the start of SS3 when he turned on his Anti-Lag System: it was as if gunshots were being fired, flames were spouting form the exhaust, and the deafening sound was forcing mivec.turbo (our starter) to mime the 10 second countdown because there was no way Reyaz and Srio could hear him over the crackling gunfire. Utterly spectacular. The Pajero Evolution did well (top 5 on SS1 and SS2) until Deepthi went into a canal on some seriously buttery mud behind the Sevanagala factory. He told me that he had almost extricated himself when Nigel Perera went off at the same place, hit him and sent him all the way back in. Frustratingly for Deepthi, the gathered spectators were able to push Nige out and he completed the stage in reasonable time (considering how bad it could have been). Unfortunately, the effort of trying to get out of the canal fried the Pajero's clutch and just after the start of SS5 Deepthi parked it and retired from the rally. Janaka's second off was at this exact same place when we ran the stage in reverse direction. The pictures are on the Sevanagala Rally ##### page, if anybody is interested.

Aravinda Premadasa won, followed by Javidh Wahab and Dinesh Senanayake. Janaka Dias was fourth, after recovering from 2 stage DNFs, Missaka Gamage was 5th and Manish Goonetilleke (co-driven by Fuzzo incidentally), was 6th overall. More to follow.....

Dev, this weekend a friend of mine was relating a story that included a vehicle he called a 'footrule model'. I asked him what the hell that was and he said it was a Defender 110. Why footrule? Because of it's simple, boxy lines that apparently makes it look like it was designed with a footruler.

A guy who recently did his lease through LOLC told me that the staff there had said that THEY had claimed the car and that it was at their yard. Either way it's quite an unfortunate scene, this.

Check out www.motorsport.com for the new-generation F1 cars. They look nasty, but I won't complain if it improves the racing. These past couple of years I thought the racing was pretty good, but if these ugly pieces (vaguely reminiscent of early aero-cars from the '70s) improve the on-track action, then I'm all for it. It's a sad farewell to the McLaren and the STR of the last few years, two of the best looking cars in the history of F1 IMHO. The slicks look great though.

Also check YouTube for Ken Block's 171 ft jump in a similar Impreza. The guy is a pimp and incidentally, a co-founder of DC Shoes, hence the sponsorship.

I saw the Accolade 70-series rolling through Matugama town and thought you had come as backup for one of the FWDC boys.

That's Luca Montezemolo, the President of Ferrari SpA. The 16M was originally conceived to celebrate their 16th F1 drivers title, but unfortunately Massa just couldn't pull it off. Luckily they won their 16th constructor's title, so the project went ahead.

Absolutely.

Come on guys go easy on Timo. There is no way a mid-field driver would give up a solid 4th place if he had a choice, and he genuinely couldn't keep the car on the road. However, Kubica may have had mischievous intentions when he passed Hamilton on the penultimate lap, even though he was a lap down - he and Lewis have had their run-ins this year and Kubica is a known ally of Fernando Alonso. "I was on dry tyres at the end of the race when it was raining quite badly and it was just impossible on the last lap," he reported afterwards. "I was fighting as hard as I could but it was so difficult to just keep the car on the track and I lost positions right at the end of the lap." - Timo Glock From Planet-f1.com... The Race Result Is A Clue 05 L. Hamilton McLaren + 38.907 06 T. Glock Toyota + 44.368 Glock lost over five seconds to Hamilton in the corner-and-a-kink that were tarmaced between the point where hos Toyota was overtaken and the McLaren crossed the line to crown Hamilton champion. Five seconds. There was nothing fishy about his late demise; he was simply sliding around on dry tyres completely unsuited to the conditions. http://www.planetf1.com/story/0,18954,3265_4445942,00.html I'm a Ferrari fan alright, and Massa is a classy individual, but racing being racing, Hamilton probably deserved the title. I'm still in shock - it'll take a while for this whole thing to digest.

Guys, this is a fan's artistic impersonation, not a Ferrari release. Some kid has taken artistic license with the original image, that's all.

240Z all the way. It started the import car revolution in North America, was quick for its day, has the racing pedigree necessary for becoming an all-time classic, drives great and is still beautiful to look at. The 260 and 280 were just uglier, bulkier, unwieldy versions of it although the 300ZX Turbo was a true supercar.

Yup, the 240Z was nice: brought back memories of my old car. But I agree, that colour was nasty. Another good looker was that Jaguar SS100. Definitely pimp status.

PS: If I had a vote, and cared enough to vote, I'd vote for Ralph Nader.

That's not quite right xXx. Dickipedia says he dated an exotic dancer while at Naval Academy while Cindy McCain is in fact President of a very large beer distribution company, and a very rich woman in her own right. Yes, I know, Dickipedia isn't quite a news source, but their facts are all correct (and quite damning). My favourite entries are for Michelle Obama, McCain and Simon Cowell. There are some seriously funny entries on this site guys, check them out. http://www.dickipedia.org/dick.php?title=Michelle_Obama http://www.dickipedia.org/dick.php?title=John_McCain http://www.dickipedia.org/dick.php?title=Simon_Cowell

HelRazor, Mazda own the title rights to the track and it is officially known as 'Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca', hence the testing there. Similarly, Infineon Raceway used to be known as Sears Point, a far better name IMHO.

That was a horrible excuse for a show. The only cars worth seeing are the Mustang and the GTV Veloce. Both of those are stunning and I never tire of seeing them at these shows.

Do this guys, seriously. Watch the video of the car at Laguna Seca and turn the volume up. Phenomenal engine note.

LOL I totally remember this episode! That was some funny shit.

LOL we're now beating a dead horse and should agree to disagree, but there were no key incidents during the race that helped him. He was the quickest on the day in those conditions and that was that.

Kobe's Lakers were not unlucky - they were completely outplayed by the Celtics in every department, but I digress..... How can you say he was lucky that it rained? Like I said, rain is part and parcel of F1 qualifying and racing, so in my book he completely earned the win.

It was the same for everybody. He earned the pole the hard way and would have had a clear track and thereby been able to lead comfortably down into Turn 1. The drivers in those faster cars had the exact same opportunities as he did in qualifying, and they squandered them. This is usually the advantage that pole-sitters gain. That's why the mad rush on Saturdays to be fastest. Again, the weather was the same for all the drivers through each of the 3 qualifying sessions. It's not as if he set quicker times when the track was drier. They had faster cars, they dicked around, and they paid the price. Rain is a huge part and parcel of Formula 1, and you can't claim to have an off weekend because the track was wet. It is the same challenge for everyone and usually, the best drivers shine in the rain. History will bear witness: Ayrton Senna, Stefan Bellof, Michael Schumacher and indeed Lewis Hamilton now. Nope, he wasn't lucky. Kubica winning after Hamilton taking out himself and Kimi in Canada is lucky. Heikki winning after Massa's car breaks down 2 laps from the end is lucky. Alonso winning after the SC phase in Singapore is lucky and Alonso winning after Hamilton destroyed the races of the 4 leading drivers in the field is lucky.