2nd/3rd September 2023 The final round of the Scottish Sidecars and Knockhill Motorsports Club Championships was held at Knockhill on the 2nd/3rd September over a sunny but gusty weekend. I was only there for the second day which was punctuated by a number of red flags and long periods of inactivity. KMSC 300s The KMSC 300 race was red flagged and the later restart also ended in a red flag on the first lap. While leading the restart, Jeffrey’s bike locked up at the hairpin. Troy landed awkwardly and both marshals and medical staff were quickly on the scene and attended to him. Troy’s Facebook ..read more

I was late ordering my tickets for the mountain bike downhill event at Fort William and could only get admission without gondola on Friday. This meant I was effectively confined to the lower part of the course. Looking the bright side the weather and conditions were much better than on Saturday. During the Elite women’s qualifying session, Tahnee Seagrave had a nasty looking crash. As she approached the final stretch just metres before the finish line, she lost control while descending from a drop. This caused her to veer back towards the barriers, and as she went over the last step towards th ..read more

Scotland marked the coronation of King Charles with a ceremony to receive the Honours of Scotland known as the Scottish Crown Jewels. Driving into Edinburgh for an event like this always going to be a non starter so I opted for park and ride. Fast and hassle free I must do this more often! Rather than carrying my DSLR through the crowds I’d decided to rely on my iPhone and hope that I would be able to get close enough for some decent photos. The narrow Royal Mile was lined by crowds so I decided to watch the procession starting at Holyrood. This had the added benefit of being able to watch the ..read more

Images from the first round of the mountain bike Enduro World Series, 2022. The EWS Tweed Valley race event in Innerleithen, Scotland was held in perfect weather conditions ..read more

I could only make it for the first day of the two day event at Knockhill racing circuit. Thankfully the earlier light drizzle stayed away for the Scottish superbikes race. The race was a closely fought contest at the front between Greg Gilfillan (Suzuki GSX-R1000R) and Callum Grigor (Kawasaki ZX10RR). However it came to a premature end when they collided at the hairpin bringing the red flag out. Both riders fell heavily and awkwardly. As usual the marshals and medics quickly and efficiently attended to both riders. Unfortunately Greg Gilfillan sustained heavy bruising and has a suspected fract ..read more

Making use of the recent great weather I tried the short Three Lochs Run described on motorcyclescotland.com on my newly aqquired 650 Bandit. Travelling from Broughton, I joined the route at Tweedsmuir continuing along the A701 towards Moffat stopping briefly at Ericstane to take in the view. It’s nearly a year since I moved to Scotland and I still can’t get over the roads and scenery. A short break to take in the view at the Devils Beef Tub near Ericstane.The Grey Mares Tale. Walkers on the horizon give a sense of scale. Passing through Moffat I followed the signs for the Grey Mares Tail (A70 ..read more

A recent infotainment touchscreen fault is the only problem I’ve had with my 2014 Mazda 3 hatchback in 5 years of ownership. At a standstill the touchscreen would became erratic and take on a mind of its own, making random selections from the various menus. Typically it would repeatedly (and embarrasingly!) phone contacts by the bluetooth connection, change the audio source and make the satnav unusable. It was impossible to navigate away. The short clip shows a problem on the sound settings page. A search revealed that this has been a problem affecting some owners over the years. There was no ..read more

Cadwell Park. 2 July 2018. Well attended with plenty of strange and unfamiliar (to me) cars, Round 3 of the Vintage Sports-Car Clubs “Formula Vintage” event at Cadwell Park made a refreshing change from the modern stuff.  Mark Walker’s absolutely brilliant GN Thunderbug caught my eye with its unique appearance as I wandered through the paddock. It has a patina on it and it’s taken nearly 30 years to get that look with stubborn stains. I go over it with an oily rag and some WD40. There is a bit of paint missing on the top where I barrel rolled it at Phoenix Park about 20 years ago. Motors ..read more

Donington Park 26 March 2017 Sundays Thundersport GB event was held under perfect conditions with clear blue skies for most of the day with 394 riders competing over the weekend. I watched the first race infield at Redgate and decided to move to the Craner Curves for Race 2 – Golden Era Supersport and Steelsport. The race was hardly underway when there was a spectacular accident as Adam Darnell lost the bikes rear – the way it went down looked a little odd. I quickly started firing as the accident unfolded and more riders got involved. Sparklight team-mate Chris Hellewell had nowhere to go tak ..read more

My first trip overseas for a race event couldn’t have been easier. For anyone considering the trip I’ve included some detail. I wanted a hotel with good public transport links to Barcelona city centre, the airport and the circuit. I decided on the NH La Maquinista at Sant Andreu which is about 15 minutes walking distance from the railway and Metro stations. The airport, Barcelona city centre, Sant Andreu and Montmeló are all on the same line and trains are frequent so the hotel was ideal. Arriving at Barcelona El Prat we found that the train terminal is only a very short walk from terminal T2 ..read more