F1 » Alonso: We may not win, but I'm happier here.

I think Alonso is sensible to 'fear' Piquet senior...Alonso demands everything his own way and Neslon sr just shoots from the hip, says as it is ( as he sees it ). I do remember his attempts at destabilising Mansell, within Williams, calling his wife 'plain ugly'... Alonso being susceptible, I'd imagine Piquet sr will 'inform' the press of his thoughts at regular intervals..BUT I think Briatorre handled him well when he was obviously vying for a seat, for junior, over 12mths ago.

MOTOGP » 125: Smith targeting solid start.

NEWLY..if inclined to DIY solutions, throw up an old analogue satelite box \ dish and you can still get it for free ....eurosport, that is, you just get the 'europewide' feed on astra 1c, eutalsat and others and guaranteed 125's, 250's/ motogp and wsbk, all live, for free and in English. V v cheap ebay solution and no direct debits.

BSB » Haslam: I have to win title this year.

My idle thoughts are thus...given the fact that the new blade requires a complete stripdown to change gearing, even the much manned factory bikes would seem to be at a disadvantage. It's a funny one, to me... I was at a Honda '08 bike presentation last week and they just carried on about how much faster the new blade is, on given circuits against last years times..I suppose we discount the set up time to achieve this but much more than the hour here and there for official qualifying ?? Times have changed, everyone has moved on and for those honda mechanics and their usual quick changes about the gears ...it will hinder them. Looks good for the TT though this new blade ??

WSBK » Nieto opens account.

Surprise is the word that came to mind with Nieto getting on the rostrum, never mind winning.. but think on, the k7 \ k8 is such a well sorted machine and, as Neukirchner said, is worlds apart from the k6 he campaigned last season...'classy' he said. I think far more than any of the other manufacturers, the suzuki is pretty much 'sorted.' Problem is that it may well be nearing end of its development as suzuki look to an all new k9 for '09...make hay while the sun shines eh Fonsi.

IndyCar » US poised for unity at last?

Great news, full grids ( and even prospect of 'non qualifiers' !! ...lots of competition on the full range of primary US tracks !! I'm afraid I'd have to hope Sky get the UK coverage...I'm sorry Eurosport but I tired many moons ago of Champ Car being a poor relative when a bloody minor tennis show or beach volley ball or or or over runs. I'll never forget seeing barely 30mins of 'live champ car racing' from a two hour plus show when I had to sit through nearly an hour of 'live tennis trophy presenting'...if ANYTHING was live prior to Champ Car, forget it...you got what you got and not a lot of it...at least Sky show it all..they cater well for us American open wheel fans !

F1 » Spying protagonists to face global ban?

NASCARMAN, well thank you..I really should have checked affiliation to the FIA, although you point out some advantage to membership I should have assumed some historical link also.. I'd still like to think that employment chances must exist somewhere.. I guess they could just open private business and 'consult' through third parties ,as being 'unemployable' in your 40's is tantamount to any serious criminal conviction I can think of. Just idle thoughts.

F1 » Spying protagonists to face global ban?

I guess we have all the appeals, suing and counter suing to look forward too ..I guess it'll give F1 another few column inches in the off season til 2012 and beyond... but wouldn't a clever man, admittedly with an apparent lack of common sense, just take 'his wares' to N America where they couldn't give a monkeys toss about the FIA and its ban !?

WRC » Dakar leaves Africa.

Someone from the crash forum 'called this' around xmas time ( I'been looking for the post but to no avail as of yet )...to whoever it was, nice one !! Or, it's nice that we get just a tad of inside information here.. every once in a blue moon does nicely Dean.

MOTOGP » No quick fix at Suzuki's 'bogey track'.

Personally I'm not sure why anyone would 'winter test' at P.I...the winter times have always meant nothing come race weekend. Mr 'De Vries', I'll listen if you have a nugget or two to share about P.I ?? Dean.

F1 » FIRST PICS: Renault R28 launch.

I'm sure if Hugo Boss supported Renault to same degree as Mclaren, Alonso's hair would be decidedly different...corporate sponsors get what the corporate sponsor pays for, fact.