What do you mean you want a job doing in 10 minutes..?

With 14 inches of snow between the cars on the drive and our side-road, and then another 100 metres to the main road covered by almost the same amount of snow, a four-wheel drive on snow tyres would have been needed!

Roll on the summer...

Teesside Karting

As races go the one held Teesside Karting at the weekend, by some of the former rivals from the 2009 Warden Law Thunderkart series, was a classic.

Over a 40 minutes race our Hayden-Media and Karting Magazine driver, James Hayden, making a return to the track after a 12-month absence, became involved in a superb fight for the lead between eventual race-winner Daniel Laws, and 3rd placed finisher and Warden Law champion, Craig Brock. James was more than happy with his 2nd place after such a long absence. All three had led at some point during the last 10 minutes, with Daniel just taking the win over James by 1.272s, with James 0.161s ahead of Craig!

With my last race, because of injury, being two years ago now, when I took part in the Wembley 24-hour meeting, it almost made me wish I had been part of it..!

Cracking stuff guys!!!

Tristram and Lynsey

I had the privilege of covering the engagement party of former kart racer Tristram Oman, and his fiancee Lynsey Stoddart at the weekend, in an excellent gathering of friends and family in Stockton-on-Tees.

Back in 2004 I reported from Sharm-el-Sheikh in Eqypt, when I covered the Rotax World Finals, where Tristram had won all his heats and the pre-final, took pole position for the main final, only (as predicted...) for him to be 'taken out of the race' at the first corner. It was the only way he would have been beaten, because in a honest, straight-forward fight, he was unbeatable.

It has to be said that Tristram was the sort of racing driver who had the ability to achieve more success had he not become a team boss instead.

Andrew Lancaster

It is with immense regret that the death of Andrew Lancaster was notified to me on my return from Monaco. Andrew had been the victim of a building accident in Bradford, when he was buried under a pile of rubble at a construction site after a trench wall collapsed.

Andrew was one of those charming, unassuming characters, who once told me he was quite happy to take a back-seat, and stay out of the limelight, in his bid to help his younger brother, Jon, reach the highest levels within motor-sport. Jon, of course, competed in World Series by Renault in Formula 3.5 this year with Fortec Motorsport, and with his foot in the door of reaching his Formula 1 ambition, both he and his family have been devastated by this accident.

Words can mean so little during moments like this, but our thoughts are with all of the Lancaster family at this sad time.

Monaco 2010

The 14th Monaco Kart Cup got underway this weekend, and my 'room with a view' delivered the above scene when I opened the curtains this morning, after the Star Princess had moored on the jetty just inside the harbour during the early hours.

As far as the racing goes, qualifying and some of the heats were held under a hot, sunny sky, although the clouds that threatened rain after gloomily appearing across the top of the mountains, thankfully failed to produce the anticipated downpour. The evening forecast for the remaining heats and finals on Sunday (tomorrow) though leaves a lot to be desired...

Early indications in all three classes (Endurance/KF3/KZ2) on todays evidence remain too open to predict, although Jack Hawksworth in KZ2 looks very quick, as he bids to overcome a mechanical failure in the first of his heats. It was also pleasing to chat to Oliver Rowland, who is also appearing in KZ2. His dad was due to come to this race to watch Oliver in action and he will be sadly missed.

Dave Rowland

Details remain unclear, but the sad news this weekend would suggest the passing away of Dave Rowland, father of Oliver, the 'rising star' in karting signed by McLaren Mercedes, to follow in the steps of Lewis Hamilton.

Dave was a great bloke, very friendly, and obviously a strong supporter of Oliver's racing career.

We, as a family, used to race against Dave back in the mid-1980's in 100 National, and have followed Oliver's career closely ever since he was a young Cadet kart champion.

Our thoughts go to the family at this sad time.

Vicki Butler-Henderson

on behalf of Karting Magazine I had the pleasure of meeting Vicki Butler-Henderson at the weekend, who really was one of the most charming people I have ever met. With a true passion for motoring exotica, and the faster the better, Vicki is highly entertaining to listen to when she speaks of her work.

To car and/or motor sport aficionados Vicki does not need any introduction, but her time on leading TV shows such as Top Gear and Fifth Gear (the latter's latest series is due out in October next month), means she has been able to drive and race some quite exquisite cars. And from this she has brought out a new book for the Christmas market "100 Sexiest Cars - The Hottest Hundred" by Carlton [ISBN: 978-1-84732-638-6].

Her favourite? Well the Bugatti Veyron came 3rd, and the Porsche 911 Carrera S was 2nd. For her top car you need to buy the book, and with a signed copy on offer in a Karting Magazine competition next month (November issue), this is the chance to get a personlaised copy before opening any presents on Christmas morning.