Festival of Speed review
We pick six of the best cars to grace Goodwood and speak to the stars

Aston Martin at Le Mans
Motor Sport joins the team in the pits; Sam Hancock reports from the cockpit

Ferrari P4 can-Am
This rarity started life as a successful sports racer before heading Stateside

The logistics of F1
Williams reveals just what it takes to get a team to 19 Grands Prix a year

Lunch with… Mika Hakkinen
His run-in with Senna, his Adelaide crash, and that pass on Schumacher

Stuart Turner
Former BMC and Ford competitions boss recalls a golden time for rallying

Turbocharged talk
F1 chiefs discuss proposals for a 2013 engine with worldwide potential

Road cars
New section includes Goodwood motor show review and Mercedes SLS test

Le Mans Classic
Maserati Tipo and Porsche 917 are among the greats racing at La Sarthe

Pageant of Power
Cholmondeley Castle showcases some of Tom Wheatcroft’s favourite cars

Classic Racing Cars
The Porsche 911 Carrera RS – a road car that redefined the sports car ideal

Not only have Kimi Räikkönen and American extreme driver Ken Block arrived on the scene, at the championship launch yesterday (Tuesday) series promoters North One Sport announced a whole host of new developments.

Things are already looking up for the WRC after last year’s Loeb/Hirvonen showdown at Rally GB attracted 61 million television viewers worldwide. This year, though, the coverage is expanding even more, with new deals with networks in Finland (no surprises there…), Australia, Italy, Scandinavia, Portugal, France, the USA (no doubt thanks to Kenny of the Block), China, the Middle East, Greece, South America and New Zealand.

Add to this live television starting at Rally Sweden, aerial coverage and onboard footage and things are starting to look particularly interesting.

So, 2010 WRC here we come. If the coverage is as good and comprehensive as they are making out, then I’ll certainly be watching Kimi and Ken trying to match the likes of Loeb and Hirvonen.

See below for the 2010 launch video.

The last few days have been spent meeting deadlines, standing in queues of other badly organised people and waking up thinking of another thing I’ve forgotten to do.

Now it’s time to put away the laptop, the phones and a hundred post-it notes reminding me to ask Lewis Hamilton if he really thinks it’s wonderful to have Mr Button as his team-mate.

To all our ‘bloggers’ thanks for an interesting and lively 2009 and I hope you have a great Christmas break whether you be in snow or sunshine, southern or northern hemisphere.

To get us all prepared for a new year here are my top five best and worst moments of the racing season just gone by.

Best five:
Valentino Rossi’s victory laps
The sight and sound of Aston Martin at Le Mans
Rick and Rob Hall in their Matras at Portimao
Jenson Button in the Brazilian Grand Prix
Fisichella chasing Räikkönen at Spa

Worst five:
Felipe Massa’s accident in Hungary
The whole Piquet Junior saga
The mess that Donington Park circuit has become
Mikko Hirvonen losing the WRC title by one point
McLaren’s Davey Ryan being sent home from Malaysia

How about yours? Merry Christmas, and have a great holiday.

This was my second experience of rallying with Tony, but the first for over a year. As you’ll see, it didn’t end well… But what a blast it was!

Since our little incident (which ripped the right front suspension off the car and left us stranded on a bleak Scottish hillside), Tony has finished a brilliant 18th overall with Daily Telegraph journalist Tom Carey on the Rally of Scotland, the final round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

The ProSpeed Motorsport Fiesta will be back next year – and despite what you see here, Tony has agreed to let me have another go. I bet he can’t wait.

Well, I decided that it’s all very well making predictions but what are the odds of any of these happening? I annoyingly agree with almost every point Rob made, but others have different views and I decided that the only way to sort it – apart from waiting for a year – was to find out the odds of everything happening.

So here you go, Rob did say that he wasn’t taking any bets but Blue Square are apparently…

Robert Kubica to win the 2009 Drivers’ Championship: 6/1

McLaren to win the 2009 Constructors’ Championship: 15/8

The BMW F1.09 will win in Melbourne: 3/1

Giancarlo Fisichella will retire at the end of 2009: 10/3

Jarno Truilli will retire at the end of 2009: 7/2

Kimi Raikkonen will retire at the end of 2009: 11/4

Toyota will stop participating in Formula 1 at the end of 2009: 10/3

KERS will be stopped at the end of the season: 5/1

Williams will score over 50 points in the season: 2/3

Fernando Alonso will move to Ferrari in 2010: 11/4

Sir Fred Goodwin will be the next FIA president: 12/1

And a couple of others that I couldn’t resist while I was there…

Sebastien Loeb will win every rally this season: 7/1

Valentino Rossi to win the 2009 Championship: evens

James Toseland to win the 2009 Championship: 80/1

One of the most surprising ones? Loeb winning every rally this season at only 7/1. It appears that we aren’t the only ones that think the Frenchman is nigh on invincible.

First, a confession. I make a lot of lists. I run a lot of my life from these lists. This is not so much because my memory is failing but more because these lists help me to achieve more, to be more productive each day. Sad it may be, but there is something satisfying about ticking off the tasks at the end of a day. To make matters even sadder, I never go anywhere without a pen and a notepad. Before this regime, many ideas and inspirations were forgotten, many important names and numbers consigned to scraps of paper that made no sense.

Here, then, is a list of the highlights of 2008:

1.    Sebastien Vettel winning at Monza
2.    Felipe Massa’s conduct after the Brazilian Grand Prix
3.    Allan McNish winning Le Mans
4.    Adrian Sutil heading for the points in Monaco
5.    Valentino Rossi in the rain at Indianapolis.
6.    The Goodwood Revival
7.    Fernando Alonso winning in Singapore
8.    Formula 3 cars in the rain at Pau
9.    The atmosphere at the A1GP race in Durban
10.    Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner at Laguna Seca

And the low points of 2008:

1.    The Grand Prix of Valencia. The race, not the place
2.    Kimi Raikkonen barging into Sutil in Monaco
3.    Subaru pulling out of the World Rally Championship
4.    The FIA announcing the move to Donington during the British GP
5.    Kimi Raikkonen hitting the wall in Singapore
6.    The whole weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix
7.    Penalties for overtaking
8.    Audi pulling out of the ALMS in North America
9.    GP2 races not broadcast on mainstream terrestrial TV
10.    Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton not sharing the World Championship

And I predict, here’s the risk, that these will happen in 2009:

1.    Sebastien Vettel will win a race for Red Bull Racing
2.    Robert Kubica will be in the hunt for the World Championship
3.    The Honda F1 team, in some different guise, will race in 2009
4.    Sebastien Loeb will race a Peugeot 908 HDi sports car
5.    David Richards will return to Grand Prix racing
6.    Toyota will withdraw its F1 team at the end of the year
7.    Jonathan Palmer’s new F2 series will be a success
8.    Peugeot will win Le Mans
9.    Fernando Alonso will win more than one Grand Prix
10.  Valentino Rossi will sign a Ferrari contract

So, three more lists. Well, it’s that time of year, and boy, we need a merry Christmas. Feel free to disagree with all of the above ramblings.

There were two main topics of conversation in the service areas, and around the bars, during the course of what is now known as Wales Rally GB. That’s the RAC Rally of Great Britain to you and me, except that the event is now staged entirely in Wales. Anyway.

Everybody wanted to talk about Honda’s withdrawal from Grand Prix racing and everybody was talking about the weather. These were not related but in their own ways were equally important.

Last Friday morning, very early last Friday morning (this is rallying, remember) we crawled out of our beds in the Marriott Hotel and stumbled to the door to grab our free copies of the Times newspaper. And there it was, right across the back page. Honda can no longer afford to stay in Formula One, the company is suffering from a slump in sales and so, sayonara Honda. Not a huge surprise, possibly, but a shock nonetheless when it came. Had the Japanese manufacturer just won the World Championship then no doubt it would be staying put.

But, clearly, the Grand Prix team has been going nowhere, and this despite the recruitment of Ross Brawn, oodles of cash and state-of-the-art technical facilities which are the envy of many a smaller team. It was inevitable, considering the slowdown in car sales worldwide, that something had to give, and it gave. Poor old Jenson Button, I thought, as I headed out to the service park in Swansea, he really hasn’t been in the right place at the right time, for a long time. But then, if he’d stayed at Williams, or at Renault, he probably wouldn’t have fared much better. Jenson’s a damn good racing driver and he deserves better. But, in Formula One timing is everything, just as in the real world.

David Richards, Team Principal at the Subaru World Rally Team and formerly the same at BAR Honda, expressed his disappointment and his sympathy for the staff facing an uncertain future. “I gather the team has been given three months to find a buyer,” said DR, wrapped up against the Welsh winter, “and they will probably find one, be on the grid next year. I don’t think this is the last we’ll see of Honda but it might not be the only team to pull out as a result of the global slowdown.” Would he be interested in dipping into his pockets one more time? “I won’t be rushing into anything,” he said, “ their overheads are huge, there are certain problems, and I will be watching to see what happens over the next few days and weeks.” Right then and there, the blue Subarus of Solberg and Atkinson were his primary concern – that and flying Japanese executives to the rally stages in his helicopter.

Then there was the weather. Why would that be a problem for rally drivers, you might ask? Surely they dance on ice, plough through snow and thrash through fog? Not now they don’t. New regulations drawn up by the FIA mean that gravel note crews are banned and only one type of tyre may be used throughout the rally. This in turn means that the stages have not been noted immediately before the start and that –if there is ice – the Pirelli Scorpion gravel tyre will not be as effective as it otherwise might be.

There was ice and the tyre wasn’t happy. Nor was multiple world champion Sebastien Loeb, first man out on the initial stages in the early morning frost. “There is no recce from the gravel crew any more,” he said, “and you just don’t know where the ice is, where the mud is, or what is round the next corner. I’d rather go home.” He didn’t go home of course – he won the rally with a sensational drive on the final two stages. It was frosty, it was sunny, the sky was blue and the Brecon Beacons looked more beautiful than ever. I hope those sheep know how lucky they are.

You can read lots more about the extraordinary Monsieur Loeb in the next edition of the magazine. Five times WRC champion, mighty quick in a Red Bull Grand Prix car, right on the pace in the Peugeot 908 HDi – this is a truly gifted racing driver.

Mikko Hirvonen, on his way to victory in last month’s Rally Japan, remarked that the weather on the final stages was a taste of things to come at the final round in Wales. As Leg 3 began there was ice on the opening stages, followed by torrential rain. On the opening day Special Stage 3 at Isepo was cancelled due to snow. Sapporo, at the southern end of Hokkaido Island, has huge amounts of snow in winter, the white stuff now – sadly – a rare hazard in the modern World Rally Championship.

“That rain was proper RAC-spec weather,” said the Finn, a man not much phased by bad weather. We know what he means and we can expect more of the same as we head for Wales later this week. I am packing a woolly hat, gloves and boots. Watching men like Loeb, Solberg and Hirvonen thrash through the valleys warms your heart, but not your feet.

Neither Sébastien Loeb nor Citroën have ever won this rally. The climate is more suited, as we have said, to the Scandinavians who have dominated the leaderboard in recent times. Spectacular Petter Solberg won it four years in a row, but only after Englishman Richard Burns upset the form book with a hat-trick of victories in the final years of the last millennium. If it is very wet this year we might expect the Fords of Hirvonen and Latvala to be at the front. In Japan Loeb took his fifth world title and he will be keen to finally get his name on the trophy that has so far eluded him. It should be noted, however, that in 2005 Loeb slowed deliberately to avoid winning the rally, and with it the title, following Michael Park’s fatal accident on the event.

There will be much attention focused on Wales Rally GB this winter. Valentino Rossi will be out in a Ford and team manager Malcolm Wilson reckons that the Italian has the speed, on asphalt anyway, to finish in the top 10. Then there’s Welsh teenager Tom Cave, tackling his first ever WRC event having passed his driving test only last month… yup, they get younger and younger. It’s always exciting to see a new talent, in any sport.

Look at what Vettel and Hamilton have done for Grand Prix racing, and you can only wonder where Arsene Wenger finds the likes of Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott. Blimey, his captain Cesc Fabregas is only 21, having gone to Highbury as a teenager. Exceptionally talented youngsters refresh and invigorate sport in a way that rule changes and other artifices never can.

While we’re on the subject of the weather, and yes we Brits talk of little else, how about running all Grands Prix in the rain? For a rally driver, it’s par for the course, but a little RAC-spec rain seems to bring an inordinate rush of excitement to a Grand Prix.

And finally, can you believe this? Earlier this season Monsieur Loeb was asked to cut his hair and shave his face. It was alleged that Morrie Chandler, who looks after rallies for the FIA, suggested that the World Champion’s long hair and stubble brought disrepute to the sport. I’m sorry? Can this be true? No wonder there are no beards in the FIA’s Formula 1, bar Nick Heidfeld’s of course!

I shall try and verify this with Loeb during my audience with the man in Swansea later this week. I haven’t told the nice people from Citroën, but I am driving down to Wales in my Renault. Vive La France et Vive Le Sport.

First, an operation on my right hand, with subsequent physiotherapy. Then came a rather nasty ‘lurgy’ which rendered me listless and spaced out, not to mention some aches and pains from a chest infection. Ah, the joys of winter in England.

Actually, it’s not cold here, not yet anyway, but lots of people are sniffing and coughing and generally moping around, groping for tissues. Yuk.

So, back on track and firing on about 10 of 12, I see that Mr Ecclestone is suggesting that we pin medals on racing drivers instead of awarding them points towards the F1 World Championship. And Messrs Kolles and Gascoyne have departed the Force India team. And McLaren has struck up a technical partnership with Mr Vijay Mallya’s valiant outfit. And Sebastien Loeb was very quick in a Red Bull Grand Prix car in Barcelona. And Rubens Barrichello may not be staying with the Honda F1 team which would be sad because he’s a great bloke. And on it goes… it’s all happening and the birds in the trees are whispering of a lively and controversial winter in the sport.

Let’s start with medals. Mr E thinks that Grand Prix racing should adopt an Olympian style of reward; a gold for the winner and well, you know how it goes. Apparently he is serious, though you never can be sure with such a bright, and mischievous, chap. Is it a good idea? Would it have made the final race of the season in Brazil any more exciting? I am not convinced. A more interesting wheeze might be to have an Olympic Grand Prix every four years, with the winner of this being given the gold. A new track in Athens perhaps? Great city, lovely weather and plenty of efficient infrastructure thanks to the Games themselves.

What is going on at Force India? I spent many hours talking to Mike Gascoyne (above) in Valencia this past summer and I am not so shocked to hear that he has left this gutsy little team. He is a highly intelligent bloke, is Mr Gascoyne, and I got the impression that, unless things went his way, he’d be on his way. He’s probably going to sail around the world before returning to dry land to parachute into another racing team that needs urgent help with making its cars go a lot faster. I am hoping to talk to him for the magazine soon.

In a couple of weeks time I am going to Wales. Not my favourite place at this time of  year but, hey, someone has to do it. I am going to talk to the amazing Monsieur Sebastien Loeb as he prepares for the oddly-titled event known as the Wales Rally GB. I was offered a chance of talking to the man in the South of France but my Editor wants me to go to Wales. He’s the boss, so that’s where I’m going, and because I can ask other rally folk what they think of the World Champion. What I think is that he is a truly impressive bloke – did you see his times in the Barcelona F1 test? Unbelievable. Wouldn’t it be fun to see Loeb and Rossi on the Grand Prix grid.

Meanwhile the A1GP teams are in Malaysia. I could have gone there too, but that’s all to do with being ‘laid up’ these past few weeks. I do like A1GP racing, and the people involved, very much, and I would have liked to have seen the pandas in China, and the elephants in Malaysia. It’s an interesting series this, combining some local cultures with the race weekends. Anyway, lots to talk about this coming winter, so I hope you will all be ‘on line’ as they say, and ready with some pithy and politically incorrect ideas.

There’s a nasty ‘lurgy’ infecting the global economy too. But, as Winston Churchill used to say, KBO.

The Frenchman tested at a damp Silverstone in order to acclimatise himself with the car and then took on a group of Formula 1 drivers and testers in Barcelona managing to post the 8th fastest time out of 17 drivers.