What an odd way to start the week.

Well, time to get on with that ambition of actually writing something. And of keeping up with blog entries. And trying to make this into less of a Motorsport blog - since all and sundry have told me they don't generally read my motorsport entries. So yeah, I'm now trying to get back into the swing of things.

And prevent my blog becoming a glorified Livejournal.

So anyways, yeah, writing.

Gonna try and set myself a bit of a target - I'm gonna stop playing video games as much as possible through the week (other than the odd game of Assassins Creed multiplayer to keep my rep up!) And I'm gonna focus on writing... something each night.

Yet again, fuck knows what.

I think some novel tonight. Maybe a wee bit of fanfic. Maybe.

Writing. It's a funny old game.

I've come to a conclusion. It's not a particularly nice conclusion.

I cannot write when I have the actual time to write. See, I've been on Holiday for the last eleven days. I've Written about half a page of my new novel, and absolutely nothing of any fanfiction. Hell, the fact that I've started writing goddamn Fanfiction again should be enough to convince you that I like to write. No-one writes fanfiction with the intention of making money off it. Because lets face it, nothing screams bestseller like "Jesus and Hitler: A Romance."

I know it's a troll, but I had to work that shit into it somehow. Although, to be honest the Reviews are funnier than the fic itself.

Where was I?

Oh Yeah, writing.

Over the last week or so, I've done virtually no writing. I've sat down at times, thinking "I should write," But every time I've found something to distract me. I think I've figured out what my issue is.

I started writing fanfiction when I was at school, primarily as a way of escapism, and then because I simply started to enjoy writing. But I enjoy other things too, like gaming, watching movies, watching sport, and watching endless amounts of Top Gear.

Oh. And Webcomics. Let's not forget the webcomics.

Actually, lets, because much as I love webcomics, the last time I wrote about them, Doug TenNapel decided to hatefuck my blog on Twitter.

Anyways, I think the keyword in all of that was escapism. I tend to do my best writing when I get home from work, same as I tended to write prolifically when I got back from school at the age of 15. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean I wrote well, considering my most popular earlier piece of fanfiction was a Digimon flavoured Rip-off of Notting Hill.

I Don't even know why I linked to that. It's shit. But for some reason, people like it.

But anyways, I recently went back to writing fanfiction, and popped out two chapters and a half chapter of original writing in the space of a week.

Then I went on holiday, and I've written... Nothing. Nada. Zip. I've planned some bits and come up with ideas for my novel, but I haven't written shit. And I think it's entirely because I don't need to escape from my current scenario of dossing around, playing video games and getting lashed until I shout at Taxi drivers.

But I go back to work on Tuesday.

Better get the fuckin' notepad out, hadn't I?

Oh, and I'm gonna try and blog more. Again.

I Am Not Like Them.

This is probably going to be the single most personal entry you'll ever read on my blog. Bear with me.

So, It's 9:34pm on a Sunday night, I've spent the day watching the British Touring Car Championship and for the last 34 minutes, I've been staring at the TV with my jaw hitting the floor, because frankly I can't believe that such sheer hatred and belligerent disgust can come out of the mouths of such self righteous people.

I am, of course, watching Louis Theroux's follow up to his 2007 documentary "The Most hated family in America."

Now, I'm going to say this straight up: I am a Catholic. I am a Christian, and I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins to save me from hell. And the members of the Westboro Baptist Church make me feel thoroughly ashamed to believe.

I grew up believing that God loves everyone. I grew up believing that every single person on this planet, be they of different race, creed, gender and sexuality is beloved by god.

A couple of years ago I was sat in a car with one of my best friends, who is an Atheist. He asked me if I believed that he was going to hell.

This is the image people have of Christians thanks to people like the Westboro Baptist Church. They have this image that if we find out they're gay, or an Atheist, or a Muslim, that we'll tell them they're going to hell.

I told my friend no. I told him that he will still go to heaven.

Because that little event 2011 years ago? That's what that was all about. The fact that god loves everyone, regardless of race, creed or faith.

But what the Westboro Baptist Church says goes completely against that. Like many other Christian sects of that mold, their policy is that the only way to Heaven is if you do it their way. Unless you adhere to the strict guidance that they declare is the word of god, then you are doomed to burn in hell.

Yes, they believe that the people who picket the funerals of dead soldiers with signs proclaiming that "God Hates Fags" and "Soldiers Burn In Hell."

They try to justify this by saying it's gods love that compels them to do this. To Me though, all this is is hate. God said Love thy neighbour, not judge him and tell him that he will burn in hell. I certainly don't remember God saying that it was cool to tell the Jews that they deserved the holocaust because they crucified Christ, and I certainly don't remember the part of the bible when it said that it was okay to tell a Muslim man his wife died because he told the members of the church to eave him alone.

These people don't preach the word of God. They twist it into something that is simple and easy to understand: Hatred.

And I'm sick of being looked at like I'm one of them.

I am not like them. And I think it's about time that all peoples of all faiths stood up and said "I am not like them. I am not like Osama Bin Laden. I am not like Fred Phelps. I am not an extremist. I am willing to listen to you. I am willing to speak to you like another human being. And I want to be heard."

My name is Ben Myatt. I am a Christian. But I don't hate you if you aren't - because we're all human.

How about you?

The Rickety Ladder to Formula One.

A couple of months back, I wrote an entry about how Paul Di Resta was coming into Formula One from a different route by joining from the DTM ranks. Recently, I've been thinking about the various different rookies who'd entered the series from the more traditional single seater ladder. I have to admit, part of this line of thought has come because a couple of Formula 3 Drivers have suddenly started following me on Twitter.

It got me thinking about how the single seater feeder series, from Formula Ford right up to GP2 are bringing through some rookie drivers who never seem quite prepared for Formula One. Now, there is a very distinct ladder to the single seater pantheon, and at each stage, supposedly it is the drivers talent and ability that allows them to attract sponsors and ascend to the next level. It's like a pyramid of drivers, with the number of available seats decreasing at each level. This is, to be fair, the natural way of dispersing a limited amount of seats to the drivers who deserve them - HRT's policy of 'the guy with the most money drives' Non-withstanding.

So, with this filtering process and the amount of seats available, why does it seem that so many rookies coming through struggle quite so badly with the leap to Formula One? We've seen proof that these guys are talented. Nico Hulkenberg was unassailable in GP2, Before last year Bruno Senna's reputation as a race driver was excellent (And was still good enough to get him a test role at Lotus-Renault), Lucas di Grassi was a Macau Grand Prix winner and Karun Chandok had visited podiums in GP2. Yet of all of the 2010 only rookies - Kamui Kobayashi having debuted in 2009 - only Vitaly Petrov has managed to hold onto his race seat for the 2011 season. All of them have credibility, so why did they struggle so much when they stepped up that final rung on the ladder into F1?

As we've established, these are credible drivers - and Kobayashi also had a hell of a year and was probably the most sensational rookie of all, despite being an also-ran in GP2, with his biggest prize in the feeder series being a GP2 Asia championship.

So, realistically, one has to point the finger of blame at the cars. We know there are talented drivers, championship-capable drivers, coming up the ladder, but the problem is that the ladder is composed entirely of single-make series.

Formula Ford uses the same specification of Chassis, although Mygale, Spectrum and Van Diemen all manufacture them. These Chassis are virtually identical in terms of design:



Formula 3 overwhelmingly uses the Dallara F3 chassis for all the various series, although again there is a small output from some other manufacturers.



And when you get above the F3 level, there is literally no diversity in the cars used: the GP3 and GP2 series, which support F1 races directly, all use exactly the same specification of Dallara Chassis:




And yet, when you get to Formula One, there is a different design of car for each team. From Red Bull to HRT, each car not only looks different, they perform differently, drive differently and react differently. From a level playing field, lower tier drivers who get the opportunity to step up to the ultimate stage are then handed a box of tools that is completely different to the team in the garage next to you. All of the drivers in the lower Formulae can change setups on their cars, but at the end of the day, it's still exactly the same car.

Furthermore, with this leap comes the extra pressure that comes from being a Formula One driver. In the lower formulae, most of the sponsors tend to be companies related to Motorsport, but F1 is big money. None of those teams can afford to have a driver who isn't performing, and consequently the rookies coming through seem to only have the one season to sink or swim. And whilst there are more rookies coming through, the transience of these drivers means that the age of the F1 field is increasing season by season.

So what's the solution? the obvious one would be to encourage competing chassis and manufacturers in the lower formulae - but the costs involved in developing the different cars, which would then be passed to the teams, prohibits this. In the current climate, keeping costs down for the different series is paramount - Formula Renault UK only had 11 drivers turn up for their pre-season test a couple of weeks ago, and there are worries that the costs of the series are starting to drive teams out of competing since Renault introduced to newer-spec car, and thats for a single-make national competition. Potentially, the way to encourage difference in driving ability is to do exactly what Force India are doing and look to different styles of series like DTM for their drivers - but this presents its own brand of problems, seeing as Touring Car racing is a completely different style to Single Seaters.

Truthfully, there is no real solution - the system we have now works, because at the end of the day teams will always need drivers. When one retires, there has to be another one to replace them. But perhaps, as a reader for Autosport suggested in a letter that we have none-championship F1 races as well as young driver tests. This could work, but would the F1 teams be willing to shoulder the costs of running their cars for very little reward?

It isn't a problem now, nor will it mean the death of Formula One - but Formula One will not benefit from an increasingly larger field of inexperienced drivers who have been unceremoniously dropped in the deep end.

dammit

Bex wins. her album is way better than mine. curse your musical taste, wife of mine!

Formula One: The Album.

So, Bex and I were just having a... Strenuous debate over the potential perfect Formula One soundtrack album. So, being the douchebag I am, I just had to throw out a challenge. Bex and I are both going to create our own perfect F1 album, and see who comes up with the goods. It'll be me, of course. But I like to give her a sporting chance.

So, the two ground rules:

There will be duplicate entries. Contrary to popular opinion, Bex and I do have some similar tastes, and some songs just resonate. And of course, The Chain is THE Formula One song.

The Album shall be thirteen songs in length.

So... Here we go:

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1) Fleetwood Mac - The Chain.

Where else was this song going to go but as the first song on the album? It's been the BBC F1 intro for a long time, and I guarantee you that any F1 fan who hears that baseline will instantly perk up like a startled meerkat.

2) Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild.

Does this really need any explanation? Better known as the theme tune from Easy Rider, there are very few better driving tunes, and this is a rev-up special.

3) Linkin Park - Bleed it out.

This is my 'three red lights tune.' The buildup to that second when the clutches engage, the accelerators get floored and the cars scream away in a cloud of rubber smoke.

4) 30 seconds to Mars - Kings and Queens.

Simply an awesome power tune, and great for a mid-race adrenaline burst.

5) Embrace - Ashes.

Another one thats associated with the 2009 season for me, and specifically Brawn GP's phoenix like rise to both championships.

6) Oasis - Stay Young.

Not Oasis' most rocky track, but definitely one that fits into the racing music category. It's rhythm just seems to fit.

7) The Killers - When you were young.

A nice, Growly rock tune that Bounces along at a good speed with a bass line that sounds like an engine going. Perfect F1 music.

8) Rage Against The Machine - Bulls On Parade.

One Bex and I agree on: This is Red Bull Racings signature tune for us now.

9) Chris Cornell - You Know My Name.

I have to admit, this one was a toss up between this and Live and Let Die, and this won for me. Also known as the theme tune from Casino Royale, like a lot of Bond theme tunes, it has that Action Movie Adrenaline feel.

10) Carly Simon - Nobody Does it Better.

This one is perfect for a champion montage. Perfect for slow motion highlights.

11) Queen - We are the Champions

What else? Really, this is one of those tunes that would simply have to be on this album. Especially since it's tradition that the winner of the Japanese Grand Prix sings it in the circuit Karaoke bar after the race.

12) Florence + The Machine - You've got the love.

This song will always be associated with the 2009 season for me, since it was used as the outro. It would make a very smooth driving song as well.

13) Alistair Griffin - Just Drive.

Bex pointed out that this isn't exactly a classic song, but to me thats not the point - it's a song that will always be irrevocably linked with Formula One, since it was used by the BBC for their highlight video:



I will admit, it may be more of a testament to the BBC Team's editing skills than the song itself, but its still says 'F1' to me. And, if nothing else, it deserves it's place here for getting Eddie Jordan's voice onto the Radio One top 40.

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So, theres my perfect Formula One Album. Bex is going to do her own version, and if you want to comment with your own suggestions, feel free.

Bendanarama's alternative Motorsport Preview

SO, The Formula One seasons was Nearly upon us. Then It wasn't. Now it is again, so Yay!

But whilst every other blog, website and Twitter feed is blazing towards the F1 seasons with Bated Breath, I've decided to do an alternative Motorsport preview, hopefully pointing out some races you're missing out on.

WTCC.

The World Touring Car Championship is facing a difficult season, if we're honest. With SEAT Pulling out in 2010 and BMW throwing their toys out of the pram in 2011 (They didn't fancy adapting to new engine rules - in ANY touring car Series) The championship has been left with just two Works Manufacturers, four factory Chevrolet Cruze's and a single Factory Volvo. With the Chevrolet team riding high as champions, you could be forgiven for thinking that the blue boys are going to storm it.

That said, what this does do is open the field up for independent runners to really make a story of this season. All of the former Works SEAT Leon 2.0 Tdi's are now being run independently, as well as a handful of BMW 320si's - although the BMW field is arguably poorer without Andy Priaulx. But with the first race starting from a rolling start and the second from a traditional standing start, the Series is haphazard enough and full of enough Touring Car action - on Grand Prix Tracks no less - that you get some very good races. Last years championship was decided by poor stewarding, but I have high hopes for this year, even with the lack of factory entrants.

Where to watch.

Eurosport shows the races live, and will show the AutoGP support series races once they come into play at Monza. The first race of the season is this weekend from the Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba in Brazil.

Here's some highlights of last season for you:



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Superleague Formula

Football And Motorsport. I want you to think about that for a second. Football, combined with roaring V12 Single Seater Formula cars on fat slick tyres racing at some truly awesome Tracks. The Cars all sound fantastic, and the Racing is usually very, very good. Last years championship went very much down to the wire, with Tottenham Hotspurs' Craig Dolby undoubtedly cursing the fact that the Beijing round was a non-championship race due to the street track lacking the necessary FIA license, and losing to Anderlecht's Davide Rigon by just two points. The Series also seems to be very stable, so none of the teams seem to be scrabbling round for budgets or settling for drivers of limited talent who are willing to pay for their seat. It isn't quite a stepping stone to F1 yet, but it very much could be in the future.

The Race uses a similar format to a football match, with two main races of 40-45 minutes with the second race as a reversed grid, and a "SuperFinal" five lap shootout, with the top six drivers from the weekend racing for a prize of €100,000. The races feature rolling starts that are delightfully haphazard, since the cars can overtake from the moment the poleman reaches the start/finish line.

Where to watch.

While you can watch the races on ESPN in the UK or, rather oddly, on Bloomberg possibly the best way is to take advantage of the live stream on the Championship's Website.

And to encourage your patronage, here's the opening moments of the first round of the 2010 championship at Silverstone:



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FIA GT1 and GT3 Championships

Do I really need to sell this one to you? DB9's, Murcielago's Ford-GTs, Nissan GT-Rs, Corvettes and Maseratis go Head to Head on a packed grid in some of the best sportscar racing in the world. To top that, it's supported at the European fixtures by the GT3 series which features BMW Z4's, Audi R8s, and in the near future the McLaren MP4-12c. The only downside to this series is that is has robbed the Le Mans grid a bit, since the legendary 24 hour race is having to go without it's GT1 runners this year due to a fixture clash.

Where to watch.

Again, ESPN or Bloomberg show the races, with the series kicking off on the 27th March - the evening after F1's opening race in Australia in the morning. Some highlights of last years race at Silverstone:



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BTCC

And Last but not in any way least, the British Touring Car Championship.

Somewhat ironically, this national series is currently looking far stronger than the WTCC, with with at two strong manufacturer entries - Chevrolet Cruzes and Honda Civics - and a massive field of Independents with greater variety than the WTCC. Currently, as well as the BMW's and SEAT's of the world championship, the BTCC also features Protons Gen-2's, Chevrolet Lacetti's, Older Ford Focus STs, Vauxhall Vectras, Honda Integras, VW Golfs, Audi A4s, Toyota Avensis' and the new 'Global' Ford Focus. The Series has three races per weekend, as well as a full racecard of supports ranging from Formula Renault to the Clio Cup. Now in it's 54th year, the series is currently going to a new strength with it's new "Next-Generation Touring Car" rules opening the field up substantially.

Given the tight twisty nature of most British tracks, and that fact that a lot of the races tend to take place on the shorter variants of circuits, the panel bashing fun and close pack racing are a near constant.

Where to watch.

ITV4 currently shows the Entirity of BTCC race day, including all the support races. Here's some highlights from 2010!



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Well, this is far from a complete list of whats available out there, but they're certainly an alternative to Formula One, and can often be a lot more fun and frolicky. All of these series are relatively easy to find, along with other like the various Le Mans series, Formula 2 and the various Formula 3 series around the world. Hell, even Indycar and NASCAR are becoming more available through streaming, so theres plenty of choice to tide you over both before and during the F1 season.

-Bendanarama