The Finishing Straight - Singapore (by HappyDude88)

ONE point is all that is needed now for Sebastian Vettel and if he doesn’t win the championship, I will flush my head down the toilet seat and film the embarrassing moment on YouTube!  The only man who can now deny the inevitable is Jenson Button and on their driving standards this season, these two have been a class apart from anyone else.

     I have given Vettel so many accolades this season, so it’s only fair for me to praise Button in this blog.  Since his sensational last-gasp victory in Montreal back in June, Jenson has been driving out of skin.  For me, he is in the best form of his career, driving that even outdoes what he was achieving in his championship winning campaign of 2009.  He has put in more consistent and stronger performances than Lewis Hamilton throughout the campaign and has now made himself the default no.1 at McLaren.  Button had a couple of shaky moments at the start of the championship; no-one should forget him driving into the wrong pit when leading in China and he had a dismal weekend at the Nurburgring, but more often than not, he has delivered when the task is set to him.  Once again, he elevated himself to high status in Singapore last weekend, outperforming what the car was capable of.  Late on, he put in a spurt to almost give the viewers a tasty finish and although it never looked like he could usurp Vettel at the front, he kept fighting until the end.  The Red Bull/Vettel combination looks like it could dominate Formula One for a number of years, but carry on with this momentum into next season and Jenson Button does have a chance to win the world championship again. 

      Whilst we continue to see the brilliant from Jenson Button, the bad continue to overweigh the good from Lewis Hamilton.  He got into some unnecessary scraps throughout the Singapore weekend with his nemesis from Monaco earlier in the year, Felipe Massa.  In the dying moments of Q3, Ferrari and McLaren stupidly sent all their cars out together at the same time, which left them squabbling for track space.  Massa and Hamilton took their grudge a bit too far, dicing in a position where an accident was a silly possibility.  On this occasion, Massa looked to be deliberately holding up Hamilton, who wanted to clearly get on with his one qualifying attempt.  There was no need for games for the Brazilian, as he re-stirred a pot that has been brewing all season.  24 hours later, I predicted a potential clash in the race between the two and ultimately, they delivered.  The contact at turn seven damaged a tyre on the Ferrari and left Lewis needing emergency front-wing repairs.  Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty for causing a collision.  Although he has his platinum card from the race stewards, which at this rate, might be upgraded to gold class, I felt the penalty was a bit harsh.  The turn-in point was clumsy from Hamilton and Massa didn’t deserve to have his wheel punctured.  However, it wasn’t an incident that was deliberate, malicious or idiotic, just daft.  Hamilton was penalised just as much as Massa at the end of the day, so the stewards could have let it be as a racing incident.  Says a lot for Massa doesn’t it; he finishes ninth and Hamilton fifth, despite the McLaren driver making five trips into the pits during the race. 

     Felipe took it badly and showed his emotion in an unsavoury moment in the driver’s interview pen afterwards.  Hamilton was talking about his race to the German television station, RTL when Massa applauded him saying ‘well done,’ and shoved him.  Hamilton said ‘don’t touch me; pal’ twice, before concluding his interview and going off to cool down in the hospitality lounge.  There was no need for Massa to do this and his conduct was frankly, appalling.  If he’d been a bit more aggressive, he might be up for an FIA charge against assault and have his racing license taken away.  For me, Lewis did the right thing by not responding aggressively and walking off without murmuring a frustrating word, like his Monaco rant.  If Massa wanted to talk, leave it until behind closed doors and I think Martin Whitmarsh and Stefano Domenicalli need to speak to their drivers and thrash out their differences.  There is no need for this rift; and it’s damaging the reputations of both drivers.

UNDERPERFORMING: Massa is not doing enough

     To conclude this issue, Massa needs to take a hard look at his own performances.  Once again, he hasn’t delivered the results this season.  True, he had an excellent start to the campaign and produced some solid races, especially in Malaysia, China and the Nurburgring.  However, he hasn’t collected a podium finish now since Korea last October.  That is an appalling stat for a Ferrari driver, even Eddie Irvine was a more trustworthy no.2 driver.  No wins in three years, I have had my symphonies for the position that Massa is in on many occasions, but you can’t qualify and finish sixth every weekend and think its okay.  It is probably best he moved onto another team, because his championship challenging days are only a distant memory.  Every time I hear Rob Smedley on the radio, I sometimes think he is wasted as a race engineer and could be a decent driver.  There is more chance of Ed Miliband ever becoming Prime Minister of this country than Felipe Massa has of winning another Grand Prix for Ferrari.

     Other topics of interest over the Singapore weekend and the decline of Lotus Renault alarmingly continued last weekend.  Vitaly Petrov, who has had a very impressive second season in the sport, finished 17^th in the race, having been outraced fair and square by the Team Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen.  Eliminated in Q1, Petrov must be wondering whether this is a nightmare.  He was on the podium at the season opener in Australia and that must feel like last century, not six months ago!  Eric Bouillier can’t use Nick Heidfeld now as his scapegoat anymore either.  This car should be put in the scrapheap, it’s quite possibly the worst ever Renault that has ever been designed.  How can you go from being the third strongest team in the opening two races, to fighting with the class B team’s five races before the season’s end?  Robert Kubica’s impact on the team has been severely felt by his enforced absence this season and whilst I hope he regains full fitness, I sincerely hope Renault pull their finger out next season and actually give the drivers a car that they are capable of delivering the required results.

     The three Formula One rookies in midfield teams this season all put in stirring efforts in Singapore.  Once again, Pastor Maldonado narrowly missed out on points for Williams, but pulled off a classy overtake on his team-mate Rubens Barrichello in the dying laps.  He has had his moments on insane behaviour this season and other events where he has been attempting to make alterations to the circuit design.  However, he has performed credibly in a dismal car and in difficult circumstances.  I actually do hope he gets another season at Williams to see just how good he really is.  Whilst on the point of Williams’s drivers; Barrichello was laughing and so was I when I heard about the story of Kimi Raikkonen coming back to F1 next season as Rubens’s replacement.  Get a fax message through to Sir Frank Williams; you are better off with Rubens, Kimi’s only going to turn up, drive the car and go home.  He couldn’t give a flying monkey’s about all the technical development and although he might bring more points than what Rubens car, I can’t see where the team would go with Raikkonen onboard other than stagnated progress.

HOT: The humid conditions didn't affect di Resta, who scored his best finish

    Back to the rookies and Sergio Perez finished a solid tenth and earnt a deserved point for a weekend where he proved his street fighting capabilities.  Perez’s season will be sadly remembered for that horrific qualifying crash in Monaco, but I think he has performed solidly throughout the season, despite the tendency to get into some unnecessary accidents.  Sebastian Buemi can vouch for that.  However, it is Paul di Resta who continues to take all the headlines in the rookie department.  He drove like a man on a mission in Singapore and finished sixth; his best ever career result.  Backed up by an eighth place result for Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil and the team now look odds-on to finish sixth in the constructors championship.  As the year has gone on, Force India have made drastic improvements to their package, so credit to Vijay Mallya and the technical team back at Silverstone for finding the change in performance.

      However, we must finish this edition of the Finishing Straight talking about Sebastian Vettel.  Nine wins, eleven pole positions, countless fastest laps, immense ability on the first lap, dynamic overtaking, flawless pitstops, his driving at the moment is like poetry in motion.  Once again, Vettel was my Driver of the Day and Driver of the Weekend in Singapore and don’t count on him not winning all the remaining races.  He has destroyed the opposition in Japan, Korea and Abu Dhabi in previous years and will want to finish his dominant season in style.  Michael Schumacher’s almost insurmountable tally of 13 wins from 18 in 2004 is looking incredibly vulnerable now, especially with this new German great in the pound seat now. 

HappyDude's Inspirational People - Alex Zanardi

By Simon Wright - Human Interest Piece

FOR many, they will have never heard of the name Alex Zanardi.  However, he is one of the most inspirational people I know and is a perfect example of battling back from shocking luck and still being determined to succeed at the top level.  Zanardi, 44, switched sports last summer from motorsport to hand biking, which is a form of Paralympics cycling.  He aims to win gold for Italy at next summer’s Paralympics in London.  If he does achieve this incredible feat, it will complete a remarkable and brilliant story.

     It was ten years ago this month that Zanardi suffered his shocking moment of grave misfortune.  Four days after the terrorist attacks in the United States, Zanardi was competing for Mo Nunn Racing in the ‘American Memorial’ event on the Lausitzring circuit in Germany; CART’s first European event for years.  In 2001, he had struggled for consistent form, but came through from 21^st on the grid to lead the race, setting fastest lap in the process.  After a late fuel stop, the former double CART champion spun on the pitlane exit and back onto the racetrack.  He was narrowly avoided by Patrick Carpentier, but Alex Tagliani wasn’t so lucky.  The impact was absolutely horrific, with Zanardi’s car ripped apart.  In the incident, he tragically lost both his legs; one above and one below his knees.  Tagliani luckily only suffered back pain in the crash.  For a while, it looked like Alex had lost his life, but rapid medical intervention from the Champ Car doctors and Zanardi’s ability to fight on saw him survive one of the worst crashes ever in the history of open-wheel racing.

UNSUCCESSFUL: Zanardi's 1999 season with Williams was a disaster

    Before Lausitzring 2001, Zanardi had achieved immense success in the US Champ Car series.  He raced for Chip Ganassi between 1996-1998, winning the ‘rookie of the year’ award in 1996 and two titles in 1997 and 1998.  His Formula One career was sadly less successful.  He raced for Jordan, Minardi, Lotus and Williams over two different stints, but only ever scored one championship point for sixth place in the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix.  After his first stint in CART, Zanardi went back to F1 with a high reputation, but he had a nightmare 1999 season with Williams.  Seventh place at Monza was his best finish, with 11 retirements from 16 events.  No points against Ralf Schumacher’s 35 saw Sir Frank Williams terminate Zanardi’s contract in preference to 20-year old British sensation Jenson Button.

    Following a determined rehabilitation programme, Zanardi felt he wasn’t finished with racing after the accident and had unfinished business to conquer.  Two years after his crash, he returned to Germany to compete the final 13 laps he was unable to do in 2001.  Had he raced in the 03 event, he would have qualified a staggering fifth on the grid!  A year later, Alex returned to motorsport full-time, by competing in a hand-controlled BMW touring car in the European Touring Car championship.  In 2005, he won a reverse grid event in France in a series that had now been renamed as the World Touring Car championship.  Always a popular figure in any motorsport paddock, he went onto win events in Istanbul in 2006 and back-to-back triumphs in Brno, Czech Republic in 2008 and 2009.  At the end of the 2009 season, having proved his point and showed triumph over adversity, Zanardi decided to retire from all forms of motorsport.

CHALLENGE: Zanardi is one of those people who loves a challenge

    In between his racing, Zanardi did compete in the handcycle division at the New York marathon in 2007, finishing a stunning fourth, having only trained briefly for the event.  He has since turned this into a new sport, rather than an excessive hobby.  In the last two years, Zanardi has won the Venice and Rome City marathons in the wheelchair category and is now aiming high at competing for Italy at next summer’s Paralympics in London.

     Alex Zanardi is one of the most inspirational people I have ever heard of.  His desire and willingness to not let a crushing incident like he suffered on that overcast, German afternoon in September 2001 deserves full recognition.  I am inspired by his story, and I really hope he gets to achieve his new goal of competing at the Paralympics next summer.  This is the ultimate story of bravery and courage against total adversity.  

Tevez suspended for refusing to play

MANCHESTER City have suspended star striker Carlos Tevez for a maximum of two weeks.  This follows the extraordinary incident, which seems to highlight that the wantaway Argentine forward refused to come off the bench during City’s 2-0 defeat in the UEFA Champions League at Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

    Early on in the match, the former Manchester City captain was seen warming up alongside fellow subs Pablo Zabaleta and James Milner.  They had to witness a dismal first half from the English side, falling two goals behind to tap-ins from Mario Gomez.  On the hour mark, the disappointed Edin Dzeko was replaced by Nigel de Jong.  With the game looking out of the reach, it initially looked like a negative move by Coach Roberto Mancini to restrict the damage of a heavy defeat.  However, more met the eye by the argument Tevez seemed to be having with one of the coaches.  Whether the instruction was ignored, misunderstood or misheard, he sat on the bench for the rest of the match, arms folded, looking just as miserable as he did when Mancini decided to bring on Mario Balotelli rather than him in Saturday’s Premiership success against Everton.  Only after the final whistle did Mancini confirm to the media that serious attitude problem that Tevez had shown;

“If I have my way, he will be out.  He is finished with me.  If we want to improve as a team, Carlos can’t play with us.  With me, he is finished.  He refused to come on the pitch.  What I said to Carlos is between me, him and the team, but I am really disappointed because it is Carlos.  I decide the changes.”

     Yesterday morning, Tevez released a statement, denying that he had refused to play in Munich hours earlier;

“I would like to apologise to all Manchester City fans, with whom I have always had a strong relationship, for any misunderstanding that occurred in Munich.  They understand that when I am on the pitch, I have always given my best for the club.  In Munich on Tuesday, I had warmed up and was ready to play.”

     Last night, the club released this statement on the matter;

"Manchester City can confirm that striker Carlos Tevez has been suspended until further notice for a maximum period of two weeks.  The player's suspension is pending a full review into his alleged conduct during Tuesday evening's 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich.  The player will not be considered for selection or take part in training whilst the review is under way."

FINISHED: Tevez's career at Manchester City is surely over

     Personally, I can’t see how Tevez can ever play for Manchester City again, no matter who is telling the truth.  However, for someone who is earning at least £200,000 a week; a ridiculous salary for a football player to apparently refuse to play.  I was shocked to hear how the relationship has disintegrated between Tevez and Mancini and City are now in a very tricky position.  No club will surely want to buy a player who doesn’t have the mojo to play for all potential occasions and even a loan move would be tricky, due to his wages.  The club can’t really sack him, as it will cost them the best part of £40million and even for Manchester City; that would be an immense fortune to write off a contract for.  Player power in the game has now gone way over the top and this is a dangerous precedent.  What happens next in this saga is anyone’s guess.     

Rugby World Cup 2011 - Favourites begin to show their class

WITH the pool stages at the 2011 Rugby World Cup coming to a close, the quarter-final line-up begins to take rapid shape.  In the last week, we’ve seen evidence that the cup favourites have taken their game up a notch and some more landslide results as a consequence.  Although to the neutral, this can be seen as disappointing in light to a true contest, the underdogs know that barring a disaster, it’s four games and then an early flight home, whilst the heavyweights play out the latter stages. 

RETURN: Cueto made a successful comeback, with a hat-trick

     Having scathingly criticised England for their opening two performances, Martin Johnson’s men finally arrived at this Rugby World Cup with a ten try whitewash of minnows Romania in Dunedin.  The 67-3 scoreline didn’t flatter the English either, with signs that their A game has now been brought to the pitch.  Mark Cueto marked his return to the test side, with a devastating hat-trick in the first 30 minutes.  The flamboyant Chris Ashton also crossed for his own hat-trick, as Romania simply couldn’t cope with the onslaught.  To not concede a try and only three points in total also underlines that the defensive work in training is beginning to pay off.  Let’s not forget that Romania is a lower-ranked side, but the performance was much better than the one witnessed in beating Georgia six days earlier.  Only against sterner opposition, like Saturday’s crunch encounter with Scotland in Auckland can we truly assess where England are at in comparison to the other favourites.

TORMENT: Scotland have to look on, as the Pumas celebrate

       Sadly for the Scots, it will now take a miracle to qualify for the quarter-finals.  In conditions more akin to rallycross, they were narrowly beaten 13-12 by Argentina in Wellington.  It was a game of few chances and that was always going to be the case between two well-matched sides.  The crucial, game breaking moment came with nine minutes remaining.  Dan Parks had come off the bench to kick Scotland 12-6 ahead.  The Pumas response was absolutely scintillating.  Lucas Gonzalo Amorosino weaved his way past three Scottish tackles, before diving over for the pivotal try; one of the best individual ones of the World Cup so far.  Stalwart Felipe Contepomi, playing in his last World Cup kicked over the conversion.  In the dying stages, Contepomi looked blatantly offside during the final Scottish attack.  Rather than wait for the certain penalty, Parks attempted the drop goal which wasn’t even close.  The advantage went and with it, so did Scotland’s hopes in cruel fashion.  They now must beat England, score four or more tries and prevent Johnson’s side from gaining any points.  It has to be considered as a long shot.

      If they don’t underestimate Georgia, Argentina’s prize for escaping Pool B will be an exhilarating quarter-final clash with the favourites and the hosts.  New Zealand dispatched France with consummate ease in their Pool A decider at the weekend.  In fact, they were so clinical; the bonus point was wrapped up shortly after the interval.  Israel Dagg was the star man for the All-Blacks, crossing for another two tries.  They won the match 37-17 and by five tries to two; one of those being an intercepted try for the French.  Dan Carter looked back to his best and it was a celebration for Richie McCaw, who was playing in his 100^th test match.  As for France, they will have to seriously improve if they want to advance past the quarter-finals.  However, knowing the French, they have the capabilities to turn in a performance of magic at some point.  England still has to be prepared for the quarter-final bruiser that awaits them.

       In the battle of the Pacific Islanders, Samoa beat a desperately poor Fiji outfit 27-7.  However, they failed to score a crucial bonus point in the match, when it was there for the taking.  Although they will give South Africa a physical and bone-rattling test on Friday, expect the South Africans to finish their hopes off and progress as Pool D winners.  Wales looked impressive again, especially in the second half of their 81-7 destruction of a very tired Namibia yesterday.  Namibia’s tournament has been forgettable, but they did play four games in sixteen days, which is a big ask for a second-rate, amateur team. 

      Pool C is the one pool that looks very interesting going into the final weekend.  Australia had been expected to coast past the USA and did so on Friday morning, dispatching the Americans 67-5.  Adam Ashley-Cooper highlighted their clinical approach, with a hat-trick as the Wallabies ran over 11 tries.  The match was overshadowed by what looked to be a horrific injury to Anthony Faingaa in the closing stages.  He went off on a stretcher, with the likelihood of not only his tournament being finished, but the possibility of his rugby career being in severe doubt.         

     Finally, both Canada and Japan may be going home, but they provided those who got up at 4.30am this morning with a cracking match.  In a keenly-fought contest in Napier, a late penalty from Ander Monro was enough to earn a 23-23 draw for the Canadians.  It is only the third draw in RWC history and incredibly, these sides couldn’t be separated in 2007 either, drawing 12-12 on that occasion.  For me, Canada and Japan have given us plenty of memories in the pool stages and look to be the two most improved teams in world rugby.  Hopefully it won’t be long before they can begin to seriously threaten the real rugby elite.  With one more weekend of pool matches remaining, all rugby fans will be looking forward to an intense final weekend, some emotional farewells and then the real fun begins.   

THE WEEK’S RESULTS: Australia 67-5 USA, England 67-3 Romania, New Zealand 37-17 France, Fiji 7-27 Samoa, Ireland 62-12 Russia, Argentina 13-12 Scotland, Wales 81-7 Namibia, Canada 23-23 Japan, Italy 27-10 USA

National Television Awards - The 2012 shortlist

BACK: Dermot O'Leary will host again in January 2012

THE lengthy nominations list for the 2012 National Television Awards was released this morning.  Many TV favourites have been included on the list in one of the most glamorous ceremonies on the TV calendar.  New reality hits The Only Way is Essex and Made in Chelsea will make the ‘Reality’ award one to watch, as they have been nominated against the more familiar shows, The Apprentice and I’m A Celebrity.

     Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton will go head-to-head over the ‘Talkshow’ award, whilst Australian soaps Home and Away and Neighbours join the heavyweights from EastEnders and Coronation Street in the ‘Serial Drama’ category. 

     Fans can vote for their favourites at the official website; www.nationaltvawards.com.  The ceremony will once again be at London’s 02 Arena and hosted by X-Factor anchor, Dermot O’Leary.  The long list will be knockdown into a smaller shortlist in December, with the prestigious ceremony shown live on ITV1 in January 2012.

THE NOMINATIONS

TALENT SHOW

The X-Factor, Strictly Come Dancing, Britain’s Got Talent, Let’s Dance for Comic Relief, Dancing on Ice, Popstar to Operastar, Got to Dance, So You Think You Can Dance

COMEDY PANEL

Celebrity Juice, Pointless, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week, QI, Have I Got News For You, Odd One In, Would I Lie To You?

DRAMA

Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Waterloo Road, Glee, Wild at Heart, Casualty, Lewis, Shameless, Holby City, Law & Order UK, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Midsummer Murders, Silent Witness, Monroe, New Tricks, Spooks, DCI Banks: Aftermath, Scott & Bailey, Inspector George Gently, Whitechapel, Doc Martin, Merlin, Waking the Dead, Luther, Hustle, Above Suspicion: Deadly Intent, Lark Rise to Candleford, Case Histories, Kidnap and Ransom, The Shadow Line, Silk, Vera, Torchwood: Miracle Day, Upstairs Downstairs, South Riding

TALK SHOW

Loose Women, The Jonathan Ross Show, The Graham Norton Show, Paul O’Grady Live, Alan Carr: Chatty Man, Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, The Wright Stuff, The Rob Brydon Show, The Alan Titchmarsh Show, That Sunday Night Show

FACTUAL PROGRAMME

MasterChef, Top Gear, This Morning, The One Show, BBC Breakfast, Who Do You Think You Are?, Antiques Roadshow, Countryfile, Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, Billy Connolly’s Route 66, Crimewatch, Daybreak, DIY SOS: The Big Build, Strangeways, The Biggest Loser, Watchdog, Britten’s Hidden Heritage, An Idiot Abroad, Ocean Giants, Lost Land of the Tiger, Inside the Human Body, Turn Back Time- The High Street, Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention, Royal Navy Caribbean Patrol, Human Planet, Long Lost Family

SITUATION COMEDY

Benidorm, Trollied, Not Going Out, Come Fly With Me, My Family, Miranda, Outnumbered, Candy Cabs, Friday Night Dinner, Whites, Reggie Perrin, In With the Flynns, Mrs. Brown’s Boys

SERIAL DRAMA

Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Neighbours, Doctors, Home & Away, Hollyoaks

REALITY PROGRAMME

Come Dine With Me, The Only Way is Essex, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, The Apprentice, Made in Chelsea, 71 Degrees North, Coach Trip, Peter Andre: The Next Chapter, Don’t Tell The Bride

ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME

The Cube, Harry Hill’s TV Burp, Ant & Dec’s Push The Button, Live at the Apollo, All-Star Family Fortunes, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, Total Wipeout, The Million Pound Drop, Take Me Out, John Bishop’s Britain, Celebrity Mastermind, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Tonight’s The Night, Red or Black, Lee Mack’s All-Star Cast, University Challenge, The Magicians, Sing If You Can, New You’ve Been Framed, The National Lottery: In It To Win It, Dynamo: Magician Impossible    

ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTER

Ant & Dec, Davina McCall, Dermot O’Leary, Harry Hill, Graham Norton, Jonathan Ross, Tess Daly, Vernon Kay, Paul O’Grady, Michael McIntyre, Alan Carr, John Bishop, Keith Lemon, Cat Deeley, Myleene Klaas, Bradley Walsh, Paddy McGuiness, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Steve Jones, Lee Mack, Holly Willoughby, Chris Tarrant, Piers Morgan, John Barrowman, Phillip Schofield, Dale Winton, Alex Jones, Adrian Chiles, Rob Brydon, Lenny Henry, Richard Hammond      

NEWCOMER

Chris Fountain (Coronation Street), Jacqueline Jossa (EastEnders), Jimmy Akingbola (Holby City), William Beck (Casualty), Chelsea Halfpenny (Emmerdale), Danny Mac (Hollyoaks)

SERIAL DRAMA PERFORMANCE

Jessie Wallace (EastEnders), Danny Miller (Emmerdale), Alison King (Coronation Street), Simon Gregson (Coronation Street), Pauline Quirke (Emmerdale), Nina Wadia (EastEnders), Jane Danson (Coronation Street), Lucy Pargeter (Emmerdale), Steve McFadden (EastEnders), Jake Wood (EastEnders), Jeff Hordley (Emmerdale), Chris Gascoyne (Coronation Street), Emmett J.Scanlan (Hollyoaks), Katherine Kelly (Coronation Street), Claire Cooper (Hollyoaks), Charley Webb (Emmerdale), Lindsey Coulson (EastEnders), Kieran Richardson (Hollyoaks), Andrew Lancel (Coronation Street), Jonny Clarke (Hollyoaks), Nitin Ganatra (EastEnders), Rachel Shenton (Hollyoaks), Steve Halliwell (Emmerdale), Stephanie Davis (Hollyoaks)

FEMALE DRAMA PERFORMANCE

Karen Gillian (Doctor Who), Amanda Redman (New Tricks), Laila Rouass (Holby City), Georgia Taylor (Casualty), Suranne Jones (Scott & Bailey), Freema Agyeman (Law & Order: UK), Dawn Steele (Wild at Heart), Sarah Parish (Monroe), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Maxine Peake (Silk), Sally Carman (Shameless), Eve Myles (Torchwood), Caroline Catz (Doc Martin), Kelly Adams (Hustle), Nicola Walker (Spooks), Emilia Fox (Silent Witness), Lesley Sharp (Scott & Bailey), Jaye Jacobs (Waterloo Road), Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey), Kelly Reilly (Above Suspicion), Brenda Blethyn (Vera), Tara Fitzgerald (Waking The Dead), Katie McGrath (Merlin), Julia Sawalha (Lark Rise to Candleford), Keeley Hawes (Upstairs Downstairs), Anna Maxwell Martin (South Riding)  

MALE DRAMA PERFORMANCE

Stephen Tompkinson (DCI Banks), Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Martin Clunes (Doc Martin), Bradley Walsh (Law & Order: UK), Laurence Fox (Lewis), James Nesbitt (Monroe), Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey), Idris Elba (Luther), Bradley James (Merlin), Martin Shaw (Inspector George Gently), Kevin Whately (Lewis), Alun Armstrong (New Tricks), John Barrowman (Torchwood), Guy Henry (Holby City), Phil Davis (Whitechapel), Colin Morgan (Merlin), Adrian Lester (Hustle), Peter Firth (Spooks), Dennis Waterman (New Tricks), Ben Turner (Casualty), Stephen Rea (The Shadow Line), Jason Isaacs (Case Histories), Alec Newman (Waterloo Road), David Morrissey (South Riding), James Bolam (New Tricks), Ciaran Hinds (Above Suspicion), Rupert Penry-Jones (Whitechapel), Trevor Eve (Kidnap and Ransom), David Threlfall (Shameless), Ed Stoppard (Upstairs, Downstairs), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Neil Dudgeon (Midsummer Murders)              

F1 2011 - Computer Game Review

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

WHEN Codemasters released F1 2010 this time last year, it quickly received wide praise and applause as it was really the first game that actually captured the imagination of the sport.  This therefore put a lot of pressure on Codies, a company with a rich history of producing award-winning racing games, to deliver and most importantly, take it up to the next level with F1 2011.

     To start with, the essence of the game remains the same, built again upon the Career mode with its tagline, “Be the Driver, Live the Life, Go Compete.”  Starting with the standard pre-season interview with a member of the world’s press (David ‘Crofty’ Croft from BBC Radio 5 Live is used again on the UK version), the player has a much wider choice of teams to start their life in the sport with.  Obviously, all the options are midfield/backmarker teams, including the three ‘B’ teams, Team Lotus, Virgin Racing and HRT but it does gives the option to either begin the path to the front of the field quicker or longer for those new to the game.

     Essentially, the pit garage design remains the same from F1 2010, with constant reports from your race engineer both in the garage and on the track.  Team to driver reactions after qualifying and race are now implemented to give more a feel as to whether the chemistry within the team setup is strong or crumbling massively.  The agent that was featured in F1 2010 has been unceremoniously and thankfully, dumped.

     In game modes, two new modes have joined the setup this year.  Multiplayer returns after a year away, in a classic split-screen format.  Most exciting is the introduction of a co-op championship which allows 2 players to race as team-mates, so finally, an equal way to battle it out and see who the best is.  Online mode is also enhanced with it now being able to hold up to 16 players in one game session at a time.

     In the game itself, all of the 2011 rule changes in real life have been adapted into the game.  KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) and DRS (Drag Reduction System) give the player a boost to improve their performance.  Also the new Pirelli tyres are featured and have modelled to act in realistic form with a set of tyres only lasting 10 to 15 laps, depending on the circuit, until they “fall off the cliff.”  Although a promise was made to reintroduce mechanical retirements on the game, no evidence has been shown yet so it’s hard to prove whether it is possible.

WELCOME: The Safety Car makes a much anticipated return

     However one aspect that has been welcomed by many is the return of the Safety Car, which was last featured in an F1 game back in 2001.  It is not known yet if it can be deployed for any AI incidents on track but it can be deployed during heavy rain conditions.  In addition, red flags have returned for the first time in an F1 game since 1998 for instances when a crash is so severe, the Safety Car can’t get round the track.

     Another new feature is ‘Race Director.’  Accessed via the pause menu during a race, it allows the player to not only look at the latest race standings but browse through each driver’s lap times and see whether they are performing upto standard or starting to drop off the pace.

GUARANTEE: More wheel-to-wheel combat is expected

     Finally, not just Singapore and Abu Dhabi (in its day-night element) can be played in night conditions as some circuits are also playable as night races.  The new Indian GP circuit is also featured but not the cancelled Bahrain GP despite rumours that it may still feature on the game despite its axing earlier in the season.  Improved modelling in the AI has also promised to make the game more challenging for experienced racers.  The blogger founder Simon Wright asked John Boden for his thoughts on the game via Twitter; “It’s very good, but very hard at the same time.  They’ve tried to make it as close to life as possible.  It is quite rewarding though and I’d go as far as to say it’s the best ‘pure racing,’ game I’ve played.”

     Overall, my verdict of F1 2011 is that there is plenty more to offer for the next edition.  It beats F1 2010 quite comfortably in terms of the game style but it still hasn’t quite made the next leap forward in gaming levels.  Nevertheless, this is definitely another hit F1 title for both the sport and Codies in general.

     F1 2011 is available now for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows. Handheld editions for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation’s new Vita handheld console will be released at a later date.

2011 Singapore Grand Prix - Only one more point needed for Vettel

TOAST: Only Jenson Button can stop Vettel's title charge now

THE dominant Sebastian Vettel now only needs one more point to wrap up the inevitable and retain his Formula One World Championship.  He took the flag in a fascinating Singapore Grand Prix to record his ninth success of a 2011 season in which he has crushed the opposition.  Only 2009 world champion Jenson Button can stop him now winning the title and if he does, then I will flush my head down the toilet seat!  Vettel only needs a single point at the next race, the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in a fortnight to become only the eighth driver in history to win back-to-back world championships and the youngest of that crop.  When you think that only Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Alberto Ascari, Ayrton Senna, Sir Jack Brabham and Mika Hakkinen have achieved this feat, it just underlines the fact that Vettel is one of the legends in the sport’s established and colourful history.

     Once again in Singapore all weekend, the Vettel/Red Bull combination was simply untouchable.  Although Button got to within 1.6secs at the end of the two hour event, Sebastian had the race under control once again.  On pole position by nearly half a second, he simply left the competition standing at the start and had a 25 second lead before a scary crash for Michael Schumacher brought out the Safety Car.  However, in the spectacular nightline scenery, he made a mockery of the restart and before Button could think about closing again, 12 seconds had disappeared in three laps!  Problems with backmarkers, especially with the duelling Williams of Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello wrecked any hopes of Button catching Vettel right up in the final laps.  It would have been an unlikely repeat of the Canadian Grand Prix, but the closing laps could have been even more gruelling than what they were.

      As Vettel had his traditional Sunday stroll, others toiled in the humid conditions.  Once again, Mark Webber made his customary slow start, baulking a flying Lewis Hamilton.  Webber dropped to fourth from the front row of the grid, as Button and Fernando Alonso took full advantage.  Hamilton fell to eighth and his afternoon was compromised even further by another run-in with his childish partner in crime, Felipe Massa.   

PUNCTURE: Another run-in with Hamilton ruined Massa's evening

     After their incidents in Monaco earlier in the season, it became clear that neither has learned their lesson from those events back in May.  The pair blamed each other for a near-miss in Saturday’s pole position qualifying shootout.  On Sunday, they had a collision at turn seven, that ruined their races.  Having just exited the pits from their first stops, Massa defended the inside line into the corner and was ran into the back by a rather clumsy turn-in attempt from Hamilton.  Massa collected a puncture and could only fight back to ninth by the finish.  Hamilton earnt his traditional drive-through penalty for causing a collision, but other smart overtaking, combined with good timing in the Safety Car phase meant he recovered to fifth.  Afterwards, Massa sarcastically congratulated Hamilton in the driver’s interview pen for the clash and it remains to be seen how far this bitter dispute goes between the 2008 title rivals.

     Whilst Hamilton was making headlines, Schumacher made a dramatic exit stage right on lap 29.  The seven-time world champion was involved in a feisty dice for position with team-mate Nico Rosberg and the Sauber of Sergio Perez.  The trouble began when Rosberg ran wide onto the marbles in the final corner on the previous lap, lost position to Perez and then aggressively claimed the place back with some force into the first bend.  Moments later, Schumacher tried to catch the rookie off-guard exiting turn seven, but misjudged Perez’s rightful braking distance and launched himself over the Mexican and straight into the barriers, narrowly missing Rosberg.  Luckily, Schumacher was unhurt, whilst both Rosberg and Perez went onto score points.

     Massa wasn’t the only Ferrari driver to have a tough day, as Alonso fought all day with tyres that simply didn’t like the set-up of his car.  His promising long race pace in Friday practice turned out to be a flash in the pan.  Twice, he got outmanoeuvred by Webber on the track, once after the Safety Car restart into the pathetic turn ten chicane.  Webber’s clever moves earnt him a deserved rostrum finish, behind Button.  Alonso had to settle for fourth, once again achieving the maximum his car was capable of on the day.  Vettel’s only minor scare was when Team Lotus released Heikki Kovalainen into his path during his final pitstop.  No damage was fortunately done, with Lotus expected to receive a fine for the incident.

     Scottish rookie sensation Paul di Resta had another outstanding event and ran as high as third briefly during the first round of pitstops.  Sixth place, two positions ahead of experienced team-mate Adrian Sutil confirms his standing as rookie of the year.  Rosberg held off Sutil, Massa and Perez in the final lap to finish seventh.  It was also a good day for Team Lotus, with Kovalainen finishing 16^th, notably outracing the Renault of Vitaly Petrov.  Once again, 15^th and 17^th place results sum up Renault need Robert Kubica back ASAP.  Their weekend was simply forgettable.

      However, Sebastian Vettel had another unforgettable weekend.  As he coasted across the line to take the delirium from his Red Bull mechanics, the fireworks exploded on the Marina Bay harbour, to complete another perfect day for the young German.  He now has two hands on the title and is aiming for more records in the final five races of the season.  Suzuka will end up seeing him crowned as youngest back-to-back world champion and knowing the way he has set his standards, he will go to Japan not for one point, but the maximum result and complete the mission in style.  

Ginger McCain - A grand legacy

HE ALWAYS had something to say, however controversial or funny it might have been.  However, there aren’t many trainers around in horse racing like Ginger McCain, and it is unlikely that we will see any more like him again.  McCain’s brave battle with cancer ended as he passed away peacefully in his sleep on Monday morning.  He was 80, just two days short of his 81^st birthday.  Ginger’s dedication into saving the Grand National in the 1970s and the relationship with legendary racehorse Red Rum will always be fondly remembered.  Sadly, he is no more.

     Mick Fitzgerald, who won the Grand National on Rough Quest in 1996 and rode for McCain on many occasions, summed up the feelings of many when hearing the news.  He told Sky Sports News; “Everytime anyone had anything negative to say about the Grand National, you could almost see Ginger’s blood boil.  He would fight for the National – as far as he was concerned, it was the world’s greatest horse race.”  Few could argue with that sentiment.

     Ginger McCain will always been best known for being the trainer of the greatest horse to have ever lived, Red Rum.  Although there have been great jump horses in more recent times, such as Desert Orchid, Best Mate and Kauto Star; none can hold a candle to Red Rum.  McCain would train Red Rum on a beach near Liverpool and the fond relationship between the pair would end up culminating in the greatest combination to have ever graced the Grand National.  Red Rum won the world’s greatest steeplechase three times for McCain, in 1973, 1974 and 1977.  He finished second in the same event in 1975 and 1976.  They still had a close relationship until 1995, when Red Rum was put down and buried on the Aintree racecourse.  There will only be one Red Rum, as he once famously said; “Losing the wife?  There are 2.5million women in this country – what a daft thing to say – but there was, and always will be, only one Red Rum.”

     Legendary retired horse racing commentator Peter O’Sullevan summed up the relationship, telling the BBC of the legacy between the pair; “Red Rum had very delicate, tender feet and had been with several skilful trainers before Ginger bought him.  Of course, he trained on the sands at Southport.  I don’t think we’d ever have heard of Red Rum if he’d gone anywhere else.  He will always be remembered for Red Rum – and rightly so because he and the horse appeared absolutely at the right time and were very much instrumental in saving the National at a period when it was very much in peril.”

     Red Rum wasn’t McCain only success in the Grand National and his legendary status was ensured when he won the race for the fourth time with Graeme Lee onboard, taking the spoils on Amberleigh House in 2004.  Only Fred Rimell can claim to have had as much success in the training stakes at the National.  Two years later, Ginger trained three horses in his final National before handing over control of his racing license and stables to his son, Donald.

      This April, a rather frail Ginger McCain would make his final appearance at Aintree, but would see success as Donald won his first National as a trainer.  Ballabriggs and Jason Maguire took the honours.  After the race, he said this about his son; “He’s bred to do the job and he’s done it, so why should I be proud of him?  Of course I’m very proud; he’s a bloody good trainer.”

     Despite never winning an event at the Cheltenham Festival, it is the Grand National that will always be remembered with Ginger McCain’s legacy.  Top jockey AP McCoy wrote on Twitter his thoughts on the sad loss of a racing great; “Sad to hear about the death of Aintree legend Ginger McCain, trainer of the great Red Rum.  My thoughts are with his family.  R.I.P.”

Ginger McCain - 21 September 1930 - 19 September 2011

     Born in Southport in 1930, Ginger McCain began training horses way back in 1962, using small stables behind his used-car store in the area.  He didn’t do bad then to win four Nationals and be part of some of Aintree’s greatest memories.  Horse racing has lost one of its most colourful figures and it now feels fitting that Ginger was there this year to see his son continue the proud McCain tradition of success at the Grand National.  He will be sorely missed by everyone in horse racing and next year’s Grand National meeting won’t quite feel the same without the presence of Ginger McCain – A Grand Legacy.

Ginger McCain – 21 September 1930 – 19 September 2011 - RIP

The Welsh mining tragedy

AN INQUIRY has begun into the tragic death of four miners in Wales last week.  The tragedy has not only left a community in shock, but a nation reeling.  Pictures were released this week of the four miners who perished after an alarm was raised last Thursday of trouble at the Gleision Colliery mine in the Swansea Valley.  The shaft flooded in the mine, which trapped the four victims.  Three of the seven miners working at the time managed to escape, with two of them even managing to help with the ultimately fruitless rescue mission. 

     Unfortunately, it was too late for Garry Jenkins, 39 and the youngest of the miners.  David Powell, 50, Charles Breslin, 62 and Philip Hill, 45 also died.  Throughout the week, floral tributes have been left at the site and the stunned Swansea community has pitched in to help the families of the victims.  By Monday afternoon, a fund that was set-up to help the miner’s families had already raised £50,000.  Swansea City paid respect to the miners by holding an impeccably observed one-minute silence before last weekend’s 3-0 win against West Bromwich Albion, the club’s first in the Premiership.  The Welsh rugby union team also dedicated their hard-fought 17-10 victory over Samoa at the Rugby World Cup to the miners.

      Investigations are continuing a week on into what caused the deaths.  The mine, which was privately-owned, is understood to have had problems before with flooding since it reopened in 2009.  However, Swansea’s local MP Peter Hain has admitted that he received no reports of any safety fears for the mine.  The tired, but brave workers may not be reacting with the adrenaline used in the efforts to help the trapped miners, but they continue to work hard in an effort for the investigation to give the answers into why such a tragedy could hit this community.  Specialist equipment has been brought in to help out with the investigation.

TRIBUTES: Have been left near the site of the tragic deaths

     The South of Wales is popular for its mines and the Swansea area has been steeped in tradition for generations.  For such a tragedy to occur has rocked Wales and has seen many open their hearts to the brave miners, who sadly couldn’t be rescued in time.  Peter Hain, the chief constable for South Wales summed it up when he confirmed the deaths to media outlets last weekend;

“We’ve been humbled by the community spirit that’s been shown during this most tragic of incidents.”

     My thoughts also go out to the families of the mining victims.  You did Wales proud and the community is doing you proud for the immense support that is being shown in the light of such heartbreaking tragedy.

More changes for Facebook

PROMOTION: Zuckerberg is hoping for more registered users

MARK Zuckerberg, the lynchpin of social networking giant Facebook has announced a sweeping set of changes to his powerful website.  However, it has received a mixed response from regular users of the site.  Under pressure from the public launch of Google+ this week, Zuckerberg has confirmed a new profile will be launched called ‘Timeline,’ in the next few weeks.  Already, new changes made this week have been criticised as too ‘compact’ and ‘confusing.’

     At a conference in San Francisco yesterday, Zuckerberg gave a speech about the changes and showed a video of how ‘Timeline’ will work.  He said; “The first thing you will notice is that it is a lot more visual.  There will still be a section for news stories and your wall page will just look a lot nicer.  All your stories, all your apps, it’s a new way to express your life.”

     ‘Timeline’ will allow users of the site to plot out their lives back to when they were born, through photos and events.  Users will also be able to share photos, videos and links without having to click the popular ‘like’ button. 

      Google+ went public on Wednesday and is hoping to capitalise on those Facebook regulars who are bound to react with disapproval at another rafting set of changes.  25million users worldwide have already been attracted to Google+ via invitation and it will be interesting to see how they can do in an area that Facebook and Twitter have dismantled the other competition in recent years.

     As for Facebook, the evolution continues. . . 

A brief video of how ‘Timeline’ will work is shown here from YouTube.

F1 special - The Renault crashgate saga (2008-2009)

By Simon Wright (Feature piece)

AS FORMULA One returns to Singapore for its fourth night race, I thought it would be time to comment on one of F1’s deepest scandals, when cheating went to a new, ultimate low.  Years before, some had seeked technical clarifications to eliminate those trying to bend the rules.  There was the Brabham ‘fan’ car of 1978, which was banned after one race.  Benetton’s alleged illegal traction control device used during the 1994 season, but never totally proven and McLaren’s extra brake pedal at the start of the 1998 season, declared illegal after they whitewashed the opposition in that year’s season opener.  However, no-one had stooped so low to attempt at fixing a Grand Prix result.  In Flavio Briatore, Pat Symonds and Nelson Piquet Jnr, Formula One was about to go down a very unsavoury path.

BUILD-UP TO THE INCIDENT

     It is the autumn of 2008 and Renault has underperformed for a second successive F1 season.  The team may have double world champion Fernando Alonso back on their driving roster, but they are a long way behind Ferrari, McLaren and BMW Sauber in the constructors championship and struggling to hold off Toyota for fourth spot; a poor reward for the team that conquered the sport in Alonso’s previous successful spell with the team two years earlier.  Alongside the Spaniard is Brazilian rookie, Nelson Piquet Jnr.  Son of the three-time world champion in the 1980s, he struggles throughout his debut season, outqualified by Alonso in every Grand Prix and only collecting sporadic point’s finishes.  Although he picked up a fortunate second place thanks to a well-timed pitstop at the German Grand Prix, Piquet’s drive is under severe threat.  Alonso looks frustrated at the car’s lack of ability for the best in the business to test the likes of Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton, both in superior machinery and fighting for the title, but nowhere near Alonso’s standing as a racing driver.  As Formula One arrives for its first ever night race; the Singapore Grand Prix, noises from the paddock suggest that Renault are considering their long-term future in Grand Prix racing.  With a crippling recession affecting America and Europe directly on the horizon, it seemed logical to walkaway from a business that was seeing results not being delivered.

     Alonso is mighty around street circuits and looks quick in Singapore all weekend.  In fact, his strong practice times suggest he has a great chance of qualifying in the top three for only the third time this season, on a genuine fuel load.  However, a fuel line works loose and his car coasts to a halt in the opening moments of the second qualifying session.  The reaction of the Spaniard when he climbs out of his broken down car speaks volumes.  A great opportunity has just gone and rather than take on Massa, Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen for the race win, Alonso is doomed in 15^th and set for a long race behind the likes of Sebastian Bourdais’s Toro Rosso and Jenson Button’s Honda.  With Piquet being eliminated in Q1 and starting one position behind Alonso, Renault’s chances of any success in Singapore are looking bleak come Saturday evening.

THE INCIDENT

The race begins and Alonso has been placed on a light fuel load by Renault’s director of engineering, Pat Symonds.  Symonds believes that a standard one-stop will get Fernando nowhere on raceday and going aggressive on the strategy might put him in contention for some solid points.  Although he moves up to 12^th on the opening lap, Alonso gets stuck behind the ridiculously slow Toyota of Jarno Trulli, who is on a heavy fuel load and lapping five seconds slower than the race leaders.  Piquet made a dreadful start and runs 18^th, gaining a place when Bourdais has an early spin down an escape road.  On lap 12, Alonso comes in for a scheduled pitstop, relegating him to the back of the field.  All hopes seem to be lost until two laps later.

COWARDLY: This crash sparked a chain of ugly events for Renault

     At first, it seems like just a normal racing incident, just another crash for Nelson Piquet and another blemish on his dismal first season in the sport.  On lap 14, he gets out of shape at turn 17 and hit the barrier on the outside.  As I’m watching the race live on ITV, even I think it looked a rather elementary mistake to make.  However, I quickly dismiss it as a mistake because the driver involved had made several driving errors which had seen him chalk DNF’s up.  The car looks a mess, but the impact with the wall is fairly light.  The Brazilian is thankfully unhurt, but his car needs a crane to be removed, so the Safety Car is dispatched.  Both Red Bull’s and Rubens Barrichello’s Honda have pitted in time, but lost track position to Alonso.  With the pitlane closed until the pack forms up, the frontrunners will face a similar consequence.  Once Trulli and Nico Rosberg pit, Alonso moves into the lead and dominates proceedings from there.  He beats Rosberg and Hamilton to the chequered flag to score an unlikely win from 15^th on the grid.  Once out in front, he drove superbly like a champion and after the year he has had, he deserved some fortune.  It is Renault’s first win since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix, also won by Alonso and the Spaniard’s first since Monza 2007. 

TAINTED: Alonso's victory was lucky to say the least

    In the cooling down room to the podium ceremony, Alonso is joined by Renault team principal, Flavio Briatore.  Alonso brings up the subject of the Safety Car, admitting his surprise at the success and he got a lucky break.  Others such as Nick Heidfeld, who finished sixth for BMW Sauber already, suspect something amiss with how Alonso benefited, because of Piquet’s crash.  For now, the incident is put to bed, but a year on, the actions of three men come out into the open and this incident will go down as one of the biggest cheating scandals in sporting history.

THE REVELATION

The summer of 2009 sees the Renault team struggling again for results.  When Alonso loses a wheel and drops out of the Hungarian Grand Prix, TV images catch Briatore, who manages the career of Nelson Piquet Jnr catching an early flight home.  This is seen as an insult in Piquet’s lack of race performance.  He finishes 12^th in Budapest and still has yet to score a championship point in ten outings during 2009.  On August 4, the Brazilian is dropped by the Renault team for the rest of the season, to be replaced by GP2 frontrunner, Romain Grosjean.  In a statement on his website, Piquet blamed Briatore square on for his abrupt departure;

“The conditions I have had to deal with during the last two years have been very strange to say the least.  There are incidents that I can hardly believe occurred myself.  A manager is supposed to encourage you, support you, and provide you with opportunities.  Flavio Briatore was my executioner.”

     On September 4, 2009 – the following statement was released on the FIA website, which suggested that Renault were in serious trouble;

"Representatives of ING Renault F1 have been requested to appear before an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Monday, 21 September 2009.  The team representatives have been called to answer charges, including a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code, that the team conspired with its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of its other driver, Fernando Alonso."

    Four days after his sacking by Renault, Piquet had given evidence to the FIA about his part in the race-fixing scandal.  He said that he had crashed on purpose in Singapore to bring the Safety Car out, having been told to do so by Symonds and Briatore.  He claimed he did what he was told, as it would assure his seat at the team for the following season.  A Brazilian TV station made allegations about the claim during August’s Belgian Grand Prix.  At the next race in Italy, Alonso claimed that he knew nothing about the ‘plan,’ whilst both Briatore and Symonds claimed Piquet had made it up as a pack of lies.  On the Monza weekend, Renault who had initially declined to comment until the WMSC hearing were furious to find out that Piquet’s damming statement had been leaked to the worldwide media.  Briatore announced he would be launching criminal charges against the two Piquet’s.’

"I feel really, really upset and sad.  What you see today - everything was against Renault, and there was a big damage already for us.  This takes the sport into disrepute.  I feel Nelsinho is a very spoilt guy, very fragile.  We tried everything.  All I wanted from him was only performance.”

     Four days after the Italian Grand Prix, Renault confirmed that they would not be contesting the charges put against them from the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.  They also confirmed that both Briatore and Symonds had left the team, effectively admitting their guilt to one of the most outrageous fixes ever seen in sport.  It beggared belief that someone could even think of hatching a plan like this, especially when you consider the threats of safety to other drivers, track marshals, photographers and spectators.  F1 2009 had already gone through a bumpy ride, with Lewis Hamilton having been disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix for lying to the race stewards in Melbourne.  A threatened breakaway in the summer had taken the sport to the abyss, Massa had suffered head injuries in a freak qualifying crash in Budapest and BMW had become the latest manufacturer to withdraw from F1.  This was the latest line of dark stories to batter its reputation and by far, the most damming and ugliest.

THE VERDICT

BACK: Pat Symonds is still playing a minor role in the Virgin team

On Monday 21 September 2009, Renault was given a two-year suspended ban from the FIA Formula One world championship.  There was no fine for the team and with no immediate expulsion; it felt like the team had got off lightly.  Pat Symonds was given a five-year ban for his role in the incident and is still serving that, although he is currently allowed to be working as a consultant away from the racetrack with Marussia Virgin Racing.  Flavio Briatore was given a lifetime ban from all forms of motorsport, which has since been quashed in the appeal courts.  Although he has been seen fleetingly in the paddock since 2009, it is unlikely that Briatore, who has now also relinquished his position as main owner of Premiership club Queens Park Rangers will ever return to the sport.  Remarkably for giving evidence to the prosecution, Nelson Piquet Jnr was granted immunity and would be allowed to race in Formula One again.  However, no team has ever found the runner-up in the 2006 GP2 series worthy to race in the sport again and rightly so.  Renault lost Alonso to Ferrari at the end of the 2009 season and the team reduced its stake in the team, selling up to Genii Capital and handing former DAMS boss Eric Bouillier the opportunity to rescue the ailing team.  Three major sponsors, including Dutch insurance company ING, pulled the plug on lucrative deals as they didn’t want to be associated with a team that clearly had produced an act of recklessness. 

MY VIEW

SORRY: Piquet regrets his actions, but his F1 career is over

Formula One has moved on from this dark incident gladly and the politics have died down in recent seasons.  I still can’t believe that a plan could be hatched to produce such desperation to win a motor race.  Although Renault and Alonso have moved on, Nelson Piquet’s career ended for his idiocy, whilst the memories and trophies that Briatore and Symonds won in their time together at Benetton and Renault will always be tarnished.  The Singapore Grand Prix lives on and is still one of the most dramatic and glamorous races on the calendar, but I doubt it will ever shake off its unfortunate tag of the race that saw a sheer act of cynical behaviour in risking the lives of hundreds to win a race!  I just hope no-one would ever think of doing something so cowardly again.