Racing towards a conclusion – updated

For those of you who are sat at your desk in the City with your morning coffee your thoughts might be straying towards what to do this this Bank Holiday weekend. If you have any kind of interest in motor racing it’s the penultimate round of this year’s A1GP Championship at Brands Hatch from Friday to Sunday with the possibility that the Championship may be decided over the course of the two races. A1GP describes itself as “The World Cup of Motorsport” as each team represents a country rather than a commercial interest and it’s not always the same driver in the team car so it’s less about personalities than F1 is. Sunday is race day and there’s a “sprint race” in the morning followed by the longer “feature race” in the afternoon with both races scoring Championship points.

Team GB aren’t in contention after a difficult year but there’s a three-way battle between Switzerland, Ireland and Portugal with only six points separating first from third and with the identical Ferrari-powered cars there’s sure to be some close racing, and perhaps some tears before bedtime! Another thing to factor in is that with the current “swine flu” precautions across the globe it’s possible that the last race of the season, scheduled in Mexico City at the end of May, might not happen so this really could be the season finale!

Last year’s event was staged in the sunshine, unlike the cold and wet of the British Grand Prix, and with the weather for this weekend looking pretty good the petrolheads amongst you won’t need too much convincing to spend a warm day outside but if you have other family members in tow they might be suitably entertained by the A1GP Global Village with a variety of things to do such as the chance to experience freefall in the vertical wind tunnel, see the latest games in the EA Games hub or just sit back and relax with something to eat or drink from one of the many outlets.

If you order your tickets before midnight tonight you can get the discounted entry price of £29 instead of the gate price of £35.

Personally I’m going to be cheering for Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque, who I had the pleasure of being introduced to last year, so you may want to keep an eye on my Twitter feed on Sunday to see how it goes.

UPDATE – The planned race in Mexico City has now been cancelled making Brands Hatch  the season finale [@ 9.30am 29th April]

A1GP
http://www.a1gp.com/

Buy tickets
http://www.a1gpbrandshatch.com/

Jackie Stewart is still good in the wet

A crowd has gathered in the persistent drizzle to have their books signed by the legendary F1 driver Jackie Stewart at the Waterstones event I’d mentioned in my previous post.

If you’re reading this in real-time there’s still a chance to get one signed if you get your skates on!

Jackie Stewart book signing on London Wall

My only claim to motorsport fame is winning an international corporate go-karting event but I’ll be keeping quiet about that for the remainder of this week because former Formula 1 Champion Jackie Stewart will be at Waterstones on London Wall on the 16th between 12.30 and 1.30 signing copies of his new autobiography Winning Is Not Enough. I’ve never met him but have seen examples of his driving and also, more recently, seen him teaching James May to drive very quickly indeed on an episode of Top Gear. The book’s had some rave reviews and this event coincides with the release of the paperback version so if you turn up you won’t have to break the bank to get a signed copy.

Or you can go along and ask him how he feels about pocketing the RBS cash from Fred the Shred…

Book Signings at Waterstones, London Wall
http://www.waterstones.com/