2010 Race Calendar

During the 2009 season I thought it would be a great idea to create a race schedule in Google Calendar featuring different racing series. I was busy with accounts studies at the time and I never got around to taking it further. Early last month I decided it was worth exploring so I set up a trial with F1 and IndyCar dates. I'd add more later if I decided it looked okay. Again I let it drop when other things got in the way.

Christine from Sidepodcast recently created a calendar highlighting F1 events and the SPC / F1 Minute podcast schedules and she did a great job, enough to inspire me to get on and finish my idea.

Here it is!



My schedule includes F1, F2, GP2, IndyCar, Le Mans 24hr, ALMS, LMS, MotoGP, WRC, IRC and WTCC. I've also put in Dakar, Goodwood and a couple of other things. I'll add NASCAR Sprint Cup and DTM soon - there are categories already so if you add them the events will hopefully appear in your calendar automatically.

Christine's calendar is F1-specific and it includes Free Practice, pre-season testing and car launches. My calendar includes none of these things, only qualifying and race. I highly recommend adding Christine's F1 calendar if you would like this extra information.

Click the "+GoogleCalendar" button to add to your own Google Calendar account. I have split events by race series so you can just pick the ones you want. I think there is a way to get them into iCal and other systems, though I don't know how.


The calendar is set to UK time because that's where I am and that's most useful to me. I'm not sure but I believe when you import it, it will adjust it to your own default timezone. Have a play with it and see.

Race start times are estimates apart from F1 and Le Mans. This information is surprisingly hard to find. E.g. IndyCar.com only lists TV start times, not race starts. Many sites only give the dates and I've had to improvise. Then there's the issue of timezones which I may have got wrong. I plan to make each forthcoming weekend as accurate as I can, beyond that just use this as a guide.

I've included qualifying for F1, Le Mans 24Hrs and IndyCar (times estimated). I don't intend to include any more qualifying.

I hope you find this useful and please let me know if there is anything you would like to add. If the demand is there and I think it warrants adding, I'll do so. I'm already considering Indy Lights.

As you can see I've also added a list version to the sidebar. When I create the new site I will have a version similar to the one above on its own page.

Weekend Preview: 25-26 July 2009

Feature Events

FIA Formula 1 World Championship

- Formula 1 ING Magyar Nagydig
- (ING Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix)
- Hungaroring, nr.Budapest, Hungary
- (10/17)
- www.f1.com

F1 returns to the dustbowl of the Hungaroring, where as usual the forecast is for high temperatures. The dust of the surrounding area has a tendency to get all over the track and make grip very hard to come by, it is this in combination with the circuit layout itself that tends to prevent good racing at this notoriously boring race track - though the changes to turn one a few years ago have created a divebomb-braking opportunity for the brave/crazy (if not in the F1 race, definitely in the GP2 support races!).

I am not a fan of this event although it did bring F1 to Eastern Europe as long ago as the mid-1980s, and track improvements over the last two decades have improved racing.. a bit..

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on BBC One at 12.10pm Sunday, race starts at 1pm
(qualifying on BBC Two at 12.10pm Sat)
USA – HEAVILY DELAYED on FOX at 3pm ET.

IRL IndyCar Series

- Rexall Edmonton Indy
- City Centre Airport, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- (11/17)
- www.indycar.com

This is the second visit to Edmonton for the IndyCars but the 5th (I think?) running of the event, with this being a former Champ Car venue - but any advantage the CC guys had has now been erased and there should be a nice level playing field, apart from the actual track surface of this bumpy airport circuit!

Of note this year is the first visit to the circuit of the supporting Indy Lights series.

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on Sky Sports 2 at 10.45pm Sunday (directly after NASCAR)
USA – LIVE on VERSUS at 5pm ET Sunday

FIM MotoGP

- British Grand Prix
- Donington Park, Castle Donington, England
- (11/17)
- www.motogp.com

The final visit to Donington for the premier motorbike series, for now at least, as it moves in the opposite direction to F1 and will pitch up at Silverstone in 2010, with apparent mixed feelings from the riders. Some love Donny, some can't wait to leave. I think it makes a great motorbike track with the sweeping curves.

Living in the UK I know the forecast for the weekend. Saturday is due to be warm and sunny so qualifying should be representative - but rain is due to appear for the race on Sunday.

(I can never remember if DP is in Northants or Lincs)

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on BBC ONE at 3pm Sunday (directly after F1), race start 3.30pm
USA – SPEED claims 6pm ET, which is not possible because the race starts at 8.30pm ET.

Other Events

GP2 Series

- Hungaroring
- Budapest, Hungary
- (6/10)
- www.gp2series.com
- (F1 support with F.Master, FBMW Europe and Porsche Supercup)

TV Guide:
UK – Eurosport 2
- Race 1 @ 4.45pm Saturday (this may be slightly delayed due to MotoGP coverage)
- Race 2 @ 7pm Sunday (very delayed - I can't see any live coverage)

World Superbikes

- Brno
- Brno, Czech Republic
- www.worldsbk.com
- (with Supersport, etc.)

TV Guide:

UK – Eurosport
- Race 1 LIVE @ 11am Sunday
- Race 2 DELAYED @ either at 3.40pm or 6pm (Eurosport's website sucks)

NASCAR Sprint Cup

- Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana, United States
- www.nascar.com

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on Sky Sports 2 at 7pm Sunday
US - LIVE on ESPN at 2pm Sunday

NASCAR Nationwide Series
& NASCAR Camping World Trucks

- O'Reilly Raceway Park
- Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
- www.nascar.com

Firestone Indy Lights

- Edmonton
- Alberta, Canada
- (IndyCar support)

IMSA Atlantics

- Autobahn Country Club
- Joliet, Illinois, United States
(with Star Mazda)

FIA GT

- Total 24 Hours of Spa
- Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
(with European GT4 and British F3)
- www.fiagt.com

Super GT

- Sugo
- Sugo, Japan

Silverstone Classic

- Silverstone Circuit
- Silverstone, Northants, England, UK

A multitude of historic racing series at what used to be known as the Coys Historic Festival.
Featuring: GP Masters, Pre-66 F1, the David Leslie Memorial Trophy for 90s Tourers, BRDC Historic Sportscars, Classic Group C and a lot more.

TV Guide:
UK - LIVE all weekend on MotorsTV

* * * *

Sources:
Live Sport On TV
RaceFanTV
SkySports.com
Eurosport.co.uk
BBC.co.uk
SpeedTV.com

Weekend Preview: 27-28 June 2009

Feature Events

IndyCar Series

- SunTrust Indy Challenge
- Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Virginia, USA
- (8/17)
- 300 laps
- www.indycar.com

A Saturday evening race as darkness falls at the short oval where traffic will be an issue, it could cause problems or it could help the racing as the better drivers through lapped traffic will run well.

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on Sky Sports 1 at 1:30am Sunday morning
USA – LIVE on VERSUS at 8pm ET Saturday night for an 8.45pm green flag (why not a nice easy 9pm??)

Support races: USAC Silver Crown, USAC Sprint Car

MotoGP

- Alice TT Assen
- Assen, Holland
- (7/17)
- www.motogp.com

MotoGP is also on a Saturday as is the tradition at Assen.

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on BBC Two at 12:40pm Saturday afternoon
Delayed on Eurosport

Support races: 250cc and 125cc available on the BBC Red Button

Other Events

NASCAR Sprint Cup

- Lenox Industrial Tools 301
- New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire, USA
- (17/36)
- www.nascar.com

TV Guide:
UK - LIVE on Sky Sports 1 at 7pm Sunday
USA – LIVE on TNT at 1.30pm ET Sunday

(The Nationwide Series at Loudon on Saturday night, Trucks are at Memphis also on Saturday)

For all other events I will list the UK time (BST not GMT) and channel only, if you are elsewhere you will have to look it up (check their website).

World Rally Championship

- Rally Poland
- (5/10)
- Eurosport and Dave
- www.wrc.com
This is the first time Rally Poland has been a part of the WRC.

DTM

- Norisring
- Nuremburg, Germany
- (3/8)
- live web streaming: just before 1pm Sunday
- www.dtm.tv
The UK TV deal collapsed when Setanta Sports did, let’s hope someone else picks it up. Check the webstream if you can, Norisring is nuts!
(supported by F3 Euroseries)

Superleague Formula

- Magny-Cours, France
- (1/6)
- Eurosport 2: Race 1 at 10am, Race 2 at 1pm followed by the new ‘extra time final’
- there may be live streaming on the website? I refuse to look at it.
- www.superleagueformula.com
The whole idea is a bunch of hokum clearly, but it features interesting if unspectacular drivers such as Enrique Bernoldi, Giorgio Pantano, Antonio Pizzonia, Yelmer Buurman, Adrian Valles, Tristan Gommendy and Ho-Pin Tung, all in powerful V12 single-seaters.

(also on the bill: Euroseries 3000, this is the series which picked up the old Lola A1 cars, no telly coverage as far as I know)

FIA Formula 2

- Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
- (3/8)
- Eurosport: Race 1 live 12pm Saturday, Race 2 delayed 11:30pm Sunday night but there is live streaming online
- www.formulatwo.com
The first visit to Spa for this series should be a bit of fun!
(with the International GT Open and the Dutch Supercar Challenge)

Formula Nippon

- Fuji, Japan

Grand-Am Rolex Series

- Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, USA
- (6/12)
- www.grand-am.com

Super GT

- Sepang, Malaysia
- (4/9)
- www.supergt.net/en

* * * *

For those in the UK, don’t forget Top Gear on BBC2 at 8pm Sunday!

I will be quiet on the blog and on Twitter for a few days because I’ll be offline, if anything crazy happens I’ll text it in but won’t see responses until Sunday at the earliest. Enjoy the weekend!

Weekend Preview: 30-31 May 2009

Feature Events

IndyCar Series

- ABC Supply / AJ Foyt 225
- Milwaukee Mile, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
- (5/17)
- 225 laps
- www.indycar.com

Just one week after the Indy 500 the teams and drivers head to the traditional follow-up event at the Milwaukee Mile – this will be the 52nd time Milwaukee directly follows Indy in the schedule and the 3rd time under IRL sanction, it really is one of those long-time Indy-racing traditions. According to IndyCar.com the last driver to win both events back-to-back was Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000.

I like Milwaukee, it can be a lot of fun and it is a different kettle of fish to the 1.5 milers the IRL usually uses.

TV Guide:
UK - LIVE on Sky Sports 1 at 11pm BST
USA – LIVE on ABC at 3:30pm EDT

Support races: Firestone Indy Lights

Other Events

MotoGP

- Gran Premio d’Italia Alice
- Mugello, Italy
- (5/17)
- www.motogp.com

To Italy! I still haven’t caught up with MotoGP so I really have no idea what’s going on, but this track ought to sort them out.

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on BBC Two at 12.30pm
USA – Delayed on SPEED at 4pm ET

Supports: 250s, 125s, etc.

NASCAR Sprint Cup

- Dover 400
- Dover, Delaware, USA
- Charlotte, South Carolina, USA
- (13/36)
- www.nascar.com

TV Guide:
UK - LIVE on Sky Sports 1 at 7pm Sunday
USA – LIVE on FOX at 1.30pm ET Sunday

Support races: Nationwide Series (Saturday), Camping World Trucks (Friday)

DTM

- EuroSpeedway Lausitz
- Lausitz, Germany
- (2/10)
- www.dtm.com (news/results)
- www.dtm.tv (video interviews, live streaming)

The German tourers head to the road course layout at the EuroSpeedway. Turn one is always fun but to be honest this isn’t my favourite DTM race of the year because the huge stands make the place look empty and the track itself isn’t very interesting. There is always a bit of fun at turn one at the start, otherwise there isn’t much to be said.

The good news is that we in the UK return to live coverage for this event, so if you have Setanta be sure to check it out.

TV Guide:
UK – LIVE on Setanta Sports 1 at 12.30pm.
Worldwide – LIVE on www.dtm.tv from 2pm CET / 1pm BST / 8am EDT. When you follow that link it will ask you to choose one of two sites, pick the right-hand one. The live link is on the top right of the page.

Support races: F3 Euroseries

WTCC

- Valencia
- Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, Spain
- (5/12)
- www.fiawtcc.com

I’ve never liked this circuit. It can produce the odd reasonable race but I just don’t like it! In many ways it shares several characteristics with Lausitz. Lots of tight turns, a long straight, lots of seats that aren’t filled..

TV Guide:
LIVE on Eurosport at 11.45am (race 1) and 1.45pm (race 2).

Support races: International Formula Master

Formula 2

- Valencia
- Circuit de Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, Spain
- (1/8)
- www.formulatwo.com

The return of the F2 name to the contemporary motorsport scene, except this time rather than being an open formula it is a spec series run to a budget. It is pitched as a Formula 1 feeder but in all honesty it’ll find itself competing with FR3.5 to get people into GP2 with the odd guy getting a test & reserve deal in F1 - not to mention this is yet another fracture of the development ladder! Still, if it give opportunities to talented drivers who can't afford the alternatives then it will have served its purpose well, and perhaps it is other series that need to be cut back. Time will decide that one.

TV Guide:
Eurosport at 5pm Saturday (delayed race 1) and 12.45pm Sunday (LIVE race 2).
Note race 2 slots directly between the two WTCC races in the Eurosport schedule!
There is also live coverage on the series website at 2.20pm CET Saturday and 1.50pm CET Sunday.

BTCC

- Oulton Park
- Cheshire, England, UK
- www.btcc.net

Oulton Park is an excellent and deceptively tricky circuit which is a lot of fun to watch!

Formula Nippon

- Fuji, Japan

V8 Supercars

- Symmons Plains, Australia

British F3 & GT

- Rockingham, England

* * *
That’s it, if ever if you think I’ve forgotten something please point it out in the comments. Enjoy your weekend!

Weekend Preview: 2-3 May 2009

Feature Events

MotoGP

- Gran Premio bwin.com de España
- Jerez de la Frontera
- Jerez, Spain
- (3/18)
- www.motogp.com

MotoGP’s globetrotting is on hold for a while as the series begins a two month, 5-round European leg with the first of three(!) visits to Spain this season, just as with most seasons. I’m completely out of the loop with MotoGP this year because I haven’t had time to watch the first two rounds, I’m sure I’ll catch up at some stage though.

TV Guide:

UK - LIVE on BBC Two at 12:30pm with delayed coverage on Eurosport 2 at 2pm.

US – LIVE?? on SPEED at 6pm ET

Support races: 250cc, 125cc, Red Bull Rookies Cup

Other Events

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport

- Brands Hatch
- Kent, England, UK
- Configuration: Grand Prix
- Track map: Don’t be silly, you know what Brands Hatch looks like
- www.a1gp.com

This is the final round of the 2008/09 A1GP season, a very tumultuous season in which anything that could go wrong did go wrong. Cancelled events, reinstated events, reinstated events that were cancelled, trouble with the cars, trouble with the finances…
It has still be fun racing though and let’s hope they are able to hold a 5th season for next winter!

TV Guide:

UK - LIVE on Sky1 at 1:30pm
NOTE THIS IS SKY 1 NOT SKY SPORTS 1!

US and elsewhere - www.a1gp.com

Support races: Formula Palmer Audi, GT Cup, Lotus Elise Trophy, Formula Junior, Sports 2000, Heritage GT

NASCAR Sprint Cup

- Russell Friedman 400
- Richmond International Speedway
- Richmond, USA
- (10/36)
- www.nascar.com

This is a Saturday night race. According to AUTOSPORT (now in ALL CAPS!) there was a competition and the winner had the race named after him, hence the Russell Friedman 400. Only in NASCAR..

TV Guide:

UK - LIVE on Sky Sports Xtra at 12.30am Saturday night / Sunday morning, repeated on SSX at 5:30pm Sunday.

US – LIVE on FOX at 7pm Saturday

Support races: Nationwide Series (Saturday)

FIA World Touring Car Championship

- Race of Morocco
- Marrakech, Morocco
- (3/12)
- Track map
- www.fiawtcc.com

An all-new event on a street circuit which was only finished a few weeks ago, and which the 3-time touring car champion Andy Priaulx described on Twitter as being “like Monza without the runoff”!

TV Guide:

UK - LIVE on Eurosport at 1:45pm (race 1) and 2:45pm (race 2)

US and elsewhere try here - www.fiawtcc.com

Support races: local series

FIA GT Championship

- RAC Tourist Trophy
- Silverstone, England, UK
- Configuration: Grand Prix
- (1/8)
- www.fiagt.com

This is due to be the final year of FIA GT before the all new FIA World GT series kicks off in 2010, and some of the all-new-spec GT1 cars are on the grid for this race albeit some 3 seconds off the pace of the highly tuned current breed. I’m sure a lot of time will be clawed back as the new cars get into their groove.
I had hoped to attend this race because I’ve never seen a proper sportscar race in person, unfortunately other things have got in the way and I’m unable to make it. As always this will be a 2-hour event.

TV Guide:

UK – Same-day delay in full at 10pm on Setanta Sports 2, with 1hr highlights on Sky Sports on Thursday at 6:30pm and 30 mins on Channel 4 at 7am on the 17th.

Listings for Europe/Middle East.

Support races: FIA GT3 European Championship, FIA GT4 European Cup, Cooper Tires British F3 International Series

Formula Renault 3.5

- World Series by Renault
- Spa-Francorchamps
- Francorchamps, Belgium
- (2/9)
- www.worldseriesbyrenault.com

The series which is a bit like GP2 but not as good heads for the hills of Belgium this week. You need to know about it though because it discovered Fernando Alonso, Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel.

TV Guide:

UK – Race 2 LIVE on Eurosport at 12:45pm, no apparent coverage of race 1 so I’d expect short highlights of it just prior to the green light for race 2.

Support races: Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup, Megane Trophy

Grand-Am Rolex Series
- Thunderbolt Raceway
- New Jersey Motorsport Park, New Jersey, USA
- www.grand-am.com

UK – highlights on Five overnight in the week
US – 1pm ET on SPEED

Australian V8 Supercars (& F.Ford)
- Winton, Australia

Brazilian V8 Stockcars
- Brasilia, Brazil

Super GT
- Fuji, Japan

Spanish GT & F3
- Ricardo Tormo Circuit, Valencia, Spain

* * *
Do we like the sub-headers? Very Champ Car aren’t they?
These posts are becoming a great deal of work so you may find they are pared back to basics in future weeks.

On a personal note, my area finally gets the Digital Switchover on Wednesday! The wider area has it already but with my town in an aerial blackspot we rely on a repeater transmitter – that transmitter gets switched on the 6th. This should mean I get to play with the BBC’s red button service for F1 and MotoGP, as well as watch ITV4’s coverage of BTCC and Tour de France!

Weekend Preview: 25-26 April 2009

* * * *
Feature Event

FIA Formula 1 World Championship (4/17)
- Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
- Sakhir, Bahrain

Go to the F1 Preview!

Race coverage:
UK: Live on BBC1 @ 12.10pm BST
US: Live on SPEED @ 7.30am EDT

* * *
Other Major International Events:

IRL IndyCar Series
- RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 (3/17)
- Kansas City, Kansas, USA

Go to the IndyCar preview!

Race coverage:
UK: Live on Sky Sports 2 @ 11.00pm BST
US: Live on VERSUS @ 4pm EDT


MotoGP
- Japanese Grand Prix
- Twin-Ring Motegi, Japan

I can't say I find Motegi's watching road course any more enjoyable than its oval.

UK: Live on BBC Two at 6:45am with highlights at 2pm, and a re-run under the Red Button on a rolling loop overnight from 11pm. I expect British Eurosport will run their version as soon as the BBC coverage is scheduled to end.

US: Not sure, probably Speed.


NASCAR Sprint Cup
- Aaron's 499 (9/36)
- Talledega, Alabama, USA

The taxicabs are on the high banks at Talledega for a long restrictor plate race. What's the 499 about? It can't be the mileage because I can't make the numbers work. It's a 2.66 mile track. Anyway, restrictor plate tracks are boring, everyone is just waiting for the inevitible huge accident and that's not fun.

Race coverage:

UK: Live on Sky Sports 2 @ 7pm BST
US: Live on FOX @ 1.00pm EDT Sunday


FIA World Rally Championship
- Rally Argentina (5/12)
- Carlos Paz, Argentina

More dusty gravel.

UK: Eurosport / Dave


* * *
Other Events - check your TV listings:

Grand-Am Rolex Series
- Virginia International Raceway (2/12)
- Virginia, USA


HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship
- Thruxton (2/10)
- Thruxton, Hampshire, UK

The BTCC's 2nd meeting of the year is at the fastest track in the UK, if you don't include the Rockingham oval. There are always issues with punctures and pushing the limits at the ultra-fast Church corner out at the back of the track.

I was all set to attend this meeting but an overdose of college work has prevented it!

UK: Live on ITV4 and at www.itv.com/itv4 from 11:30am to 6pm, including lots of support races such as FRenault, the Clio Cup and those Ginetta things.


GP2 Asia Series
Sakhir, Bahrain (with F1)

NASCAR Nationwide Series
Talladega, Alabama, United States (with N-Cup)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Kansas City, Kansas, United States (with IndyCar)

Firestone Indy Lights
Kansas City, Kansas, United States (with IndyCar)

Star Mazda & FBMW NA
Virginia, USA (with GrandAm)

Weekend Preview: 11-12 April 2009

We get something of a breather this week and F1-focussed fans certainly need it after the barrage of news and drama of the last fortnight - add in the IndyCar season opener, sports and touring cars and it's been a very hectic opener to the season!

Time to relax with some motorbikes, if by relaxing you like clinging to the edge of your seat.

* * * *
Feature Event

FIM MotoGP
- Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar (1/17)
- Losail Circuit
- Doha, Qatar, United Arab Emirates
- www.motogp.com
- Track Map

** EDIT 13/4/09 - Nobody spotted the deliberate mistake - Qatar isn't part of the UAE, they are different countries! Okay, I got it wrong... **

The two-wheeled boys are back, the last of the big series to get going and the final signal that the 2009 racing season is truly under way. Qatar isn't always the best race in the world in terms of close action and again this year it is a night race. In the middle of a desert. Okay.. In any case this is one to watch to learn who everyone is (if you are new) and to get used to team changes, livery changes, and to play "spot the newbie" (if you aren't so new).

If you haven't seen MotoGP before, you should probably start now. The races are only 45 minutes long and it is the only form of motorbike racing I watch. It is the F1 of bike racing in terms of technology - and in terms of politics. I'm a very casual fan, reading very little about it between races or in the off-season. I like to switch on the TV at the appointed time and watch some close racing, then leave it until next time. It's a lot of fun in no small part due to that little Italian guy. When Schumacher won everything it was boring, when Rossi does it it's entertaining and highly impressive to watch.


UK TV: LIVE on BBC Three at 8.45pm. Don't worry about the channel choice, the rest of the season will be on BBC Two which is showing golf (The Masters!) this Sunday.
If you haven't got BBC Three yet the race is available live on the BBC website to UK users. Qualifying is available on Saturday via red button* and online and everything will be on the iPlayer for 7 days.
British Eurosport will have their version at 10pm, just as the BBC coverage ends.

US TV: DELAYED on SPEEDtv at 10pm ET. I have no idea why they delayed this premier class race by six hours in order to show back-to-back episodes of 'Bullrun', followed by Dave Despain trying not to give the result away on Wind Tunnel (don't read the ticker). This is the listing I found. You seriously need to write to these guys and complain at their handling of top class motorsport. This isn't the first incompetency I've seen from them this year and it's only April. They will be showing the 250cc at 8pm.

Support events:
125cc at 6pm UK, 250cc at 7.15pm UK with both live on Eurosport and BBC's red button*/online.

* BBC Red Button notes: If you are new to digital TV all you have to do is go to any BBC channel and hit the red button on your remote control (not the standby button!). This will bring up a sidebar. The menu changes name depending on what's on, though the live telly is usually at the top with the teletext options underneath. It may be called Sport Multiscreen, or there could be a MotoGP link directly. It can be quite slow but eventually it will load a multiple-choice screen - just press the number of the screen you want to see or pick it with your arrow keys and press Select. To exit press BackUp or Back at each stage until it goes away. *



* * *
Other International Events:

A1GP
- Algarve (Rnd 6*)
- Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
- Portimao, Algarve, Portugal
- www.a1gp.com
- Track Map

* I've given up writing the total number of events because it changes so often.

It'll be very interesting to see a race at the fantastic-looking new Portimao circuit, which looked great in the F1 winter testing photos. It's a very hilly track with a lot of gradient change and a lot of corners while also looking quite fast. This is it's first major international race for cars (has it held a bike event?).

I've lost track of A1's season because I'm about 4 events behind real time in my watching of the series, nonetheless it should be entertaining.

UK TV: Race LIVE on Sky Sports 3 from 1.30pm Sunday with repeats at 6.30pm and 11.30pm both on Sky Sports 2 (you can tell Sky have a financial interest in this one).

US TV: I think the answer is still 'none' so you'll need the live stream at www.a1gp.com (as will UK viewers without Sky).

Support races: Ferrari Challenge (not televised)


* * *
National Events
(according to FORIX (sub req.))

NASCAR Nationwide Series
Nashville Superspeedway, Tennessee, United States


Cooper Tires British F3 International Series
/ Avon Tyres British GT Championship
/ UK Formula Ford
- Oulton Park (F3: 1/10 GT: 1/8)
- Oulton Park, Little Budworth, Cheshire, England
- http://www.britishf3international.com/
- http://www.britishgt.com/
- Track Map

The 'other' top line British package (alongside BTCC) comprises the domestic F3, GT and Formula Ford series and they have their traditional Oulton Park Easter weekend openers this week. Each series holds 2 or 3 races but look out if you are planning to attend: the racing will be on Saturday and Easter Monday! There's no action on Sunday but racing on a holiday Monday makes for a great family day out.

UK TV: F3 will be on MotorsTV on April 18th in a 1hr show. GT will follow a week later. There is also a 30min show on Channel 4 but I don't know when that will be aired.

Further supports from the Ginetta G20 Cup and VW Racing Cup.


German F3 / ADAC GT / Procar / ADAC FMaster
Oschersleben, Germany

French GT / Porsche Cup France
Nogaro, France

Dutch Supercars
Zandvoort, Holland

V8 Brasil
Curitiba, Brazil

British Superbikes
Brands Hatch

* * *
There are a lot of other European junior series too including various Formula Renault national and regional series.

MotoGP back to Eurosport

Gotta love the about-face. First Dorna takes the rights from Eurosport to sell them to FTAs, then they do a deal with Eurosport France causing uproar among fans in the UK and beyond.

Autosport.com and others are reporting that Dorna have changed their minds due to pressure from fans (and Toby Moody) and will indeed once again show 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP races during 2009. The support events will be live and the main event will be delayed on British Eurosport. I don't know the status of the other local Eurosport services so I'm afraid you'll have to check that yourselves.

2009 MotoGP Coverage (UK)

BBC:
All MotoGP races are live on BBC2. These are followed on the Red Button by MotoGP Extra, an analysis programme. Also on the Red Button are the 125 and 250 races as well as qualifying for all classes. Commentary will be as before: Charlie Cox and Steve Parrish.

British Eurosport:
All MotoGP races are delayed on British Eurosport*. 125 and 250 will be live as will all Friday and Saturday practices. The big news: The Toby & Julian Show will return!

* I expect this to mean the main channel, not Eurosport 2.

Both broadcasters will make the races available online after the event, via BBC iPlayer and Eurosport Player respectively.

Bits and bobs

Just a few things you can expect from me in the next few weeks:

F1
Race notes on the remaining F1 races this year, starting with the Italian GP this weekend. If I think about it tomorrow or Friday I'll do a race preview but it won't be as good as the Belgian one. I liked that preview. I guess I could gloat about having been to Monza.. Nobody likes a show-off, least of all me, but everyone likes to show off.... so that sounds like a plan. Consider it done.

Then there's Singapore, Japan, China and Brazil. I think that's the right order. I haven't been to any of those so the previews would probably be a bit rubbish.

MotoGP Indy
A little after the Italian GP this Sunday is the MotoGP race at Indianapolis. If last Sunday's IndyCar madfest at Chicago and F1 craziness in Belgium didn't get you going, then how about back-to-backs at two of racing's most storied venues? Shit if these 8 days don't do it for you, you don't like racing, and if you don't like racing what are you doing reading this? Go away!

GP2
I keep promising to watch (and post about) some GP2 - and then I end up doing something else entirely. I'm not watching the races and ignoring the blog updates, I really haven't seen the races yet. Basically this means I'm like 8 weeks behind on GP2. So yeah I need catch up with that, now the IndyCars are done I should have an extra couple of hours a week for doing that. Any bets on when I'll *actually* watch the things?

A1GP
I said I'd do a series preview for A1GP. Their first race of the new season was due ten days from now but it got postponed, apparently indefinitely. I think there's a clear weekend in there somewhere so I'll see if I get time to knock something up but I'm not promising anything.

I've just realised I have no clue why I'm posting this, yet I'm going to hit Publish anyway. Does this mean I've become a Blogaholic? Is that a word? Help!

By the way, on the whole Lewis vs Kimi thing:
Both put in great drives and I'd have been happy for either to win - ON THE RACETRACK. Post-race decisions disappoint me, especially ones which make no sense at all.
Glock got the same penalty as Hamilton but I understand that, he passed under yellows, that's a No-No. Fine. Yet Hamilton backed off enough that Raikkonen was ahead by a nose. The position was returned in accordance with accepted precedent.
Hamilton was faster on the straight because he had been faster for the whole of the previous lap. The McLaren is just better in the rain on this type of track.
What about all of this did the FIA stewards miss? Even Charlie Whiting of the FIA told McLaren it was safe - twice! The stewards are independent of Whiting..
The FIA's structures are too rigid and old-fashioned, and they always have been. Time for a rethink.