Neal H

I wonder if the new lot will buy Elise rights? A Caterham Elise continuation model would be an interesting prospect. They could call it Caterham 111.

That’s just awful. A woman in her 80’s killed in her garden and what a terrible way to die. My Mum is in her 80’s - imagine how you’d feel if that happened to someone you love. Dog owners have to be accountable. That should be prison for the dogs owner, who is directly responsible for her death.

Perez is a great racer, no doubt, but he’s never been a great qualifier. It’s no good qualifying 10th and working your way through. By the time you do that the top three will be 20 seconds up the road. Being team mate to Hamilton or Verstappen has to be the toughest job in F1. There’s probably only two or three other drivers on that grid who could make a real fight of it.

Politicians do seem to be driven by social media reactions. Their number one priority is to protect their re-election prospects.

It still sounds like a local issue rather than a national one. My parents have their second jab appointment booked for Friday which is within the 12 week window. The local GP practice called them a couple of days ago to book it. So far I have nothing but praise for our local GP vaccination centre (and the national effort), who have been incredibly well organised and efficient in getting it done. I’ll report back if their appointment is cancelled.

Perez will be good for RedBull and score lots of points, some podiums and possibly the odd win. What he won’t do is overly trouble Max. Does that make him rubbish?

Ironically, the nhs Covid-19 self test kit I have received is made in China.

Bottas, while never quite in the hunt for the win was only a few seconds back until his botched pit stop cost him another 10 seconds and then they pitted him at the end so he could nick fastest lap off Max which cost him another 20 seconds. I still believe Bottas is a lot better than he’s given credit for. He does need to sort his opening lap out though, he loses places too often and the last thing you need is to give Hamilton a head start!

Masterful performance by Hamilton, he proved just why he’s a seven times champ. Max and Red Bull didn’t win despite having the faster car. Hamilton did the same thing to Ferrari back in 2017/2018. He makes the difference. Hopefully we’re in for a close fight this season.

Mental health and racism are brilliant cards to play, as anyone who questions their ‘sincerity’ on these issues will get crucified by the media and it will cost them their jobs, as has happened to a number of individuals. It is cynical in the extreme. I don’t believe that the Monarchy will suffer any long term damage from it though. Most right minded people (the usual silent majority) will see right through it.

Logical next step. Fabulous looking thing.

I had my first dose on Saturday. I also felt pretty rough from about mid-morning Sunday with what I would describe as mild flu like symptoms - tired, groggy and head ache which all lasted about 24 hours. Not bad enough to confine me to bed or anything, and a price worth paying for the protection it offers 👍

The aborted Type 96 Indy car. Shame that never got to compete.

Someone will pay good money for that. It’s ‘art’

I think you’ll find that the government already has enough information about you to not need your IP address.

“Poor dog”? It’s just an animal. We slaughter all sorts of far more intelligent creatures. Why should dogs be exempt? Dogs can and do kill people. edited to add- After being confronted by five of the little bastards last week who were clearly intent on trying to find a way to take me down, I have no sympathy.

Nasa to fly Ingenuity Mars helicopter in early April https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56505031 NASA plan to launch their drone in early April. Hopefully they’ll get pictures from it and of it.

In my view it should be compulsory for all dogs to be kept on a lead while out in public and all dogs should be chipped and large fines for owners who allow their dogs to run loose. Any stray dog found not chipped should be destroyed and chipped ones returned to their owners along with a larger fine.

Some colours just really suit some cars, and yellow always looks good on any Lotus. Love that picture above! Selling a yellow Lotus will be no problem.

I don’t believe ANY dog, no matter how well trained and behaved can be truly trusted. There are lots of occasions where you read reports of a ‘loving’ family dog that has turned on a child, not to mention the instances of family pets mauling sheep. Why do you think they maul sheep? It’s instinct. I would never leave a dog, any dog, alone with a child.

I actually quite like dogs. But I think a lot of dog owners seem to view them as little furry people (ahh, they’re so cute) and don’t appreciate the damage they can do. they’re not little furry people, they’re animals with small brains and they mostly act on instinct and if they get together in a pack their instinct is to be predatory. If I had been walking a dog on that embankment, I have no doubt that the dogs I encountered would have tried to rip it to shreds, which is what they would have liked to do to me, but I was a bit big. A friendly family pet can turn into a killer in an instant.

Okay dog behaviour experts, I had an unpleasant encounter with dogs this morning. I was out on official business and walking along a river embankment heading back to my car. Ahead I could see a small terrier type dog (Jack Russell?) barking at me. I kept going and as I got closer it started to charge at me all snarling teeth, just as I was about to try and boot it halfway across the river, it stopped and started backing up, still growling snarling and showing its teeth. I thought okay, it’s only small and I’m sure I can do it far more damage than it can do me if it comes too close. It was at this point I realised it wasn’t alone, I was now surrounded by five of the little bastards all growling and snarling at me with exposed teeth. I thought if I stop walking they may attack, or if I lash out at one it may provoke them to actually attack - one I think I could deal with, but five could do me some serious damage. I just kept walking at a steady pace. At any given moment one of them would rush at me but always back off just before it was in biting (or kicking) range. This continued for several minutes until they backed off and disappeared. There was a junk yard across the road and I assume they had found their way out. Quite scary really and it was hard to resist the temptation to make a run for it, but I suspect if I had they would have come in for the kill (or at least the biting).

Blimey, so cheaper than Current Elise & Exige! Let’s hope the sales figures are phenomenal to start recouping some of that investment.

I thought the plan was for Lotus move up market. You can spend £110k on an Exige now (well, not anymore I suppose) and you could probably have spent £120k on an Evora GT430. It’s not much of a leap.

I think a £150k car is going to be a hard sell if it has an engine that’s shared with a humdrum Toyota or Volvo, so it needs to be a bit exotic whoever the supplier is, which rules out Volvo. The Toyota V6 is bloody brilliant in the Evora, but it just gets derided as a “Camry” engine by the critics. AMG is probably best for credibility.