The formula one season begins in a matter of hours, with qualifying starting on Saturday morning. The two practice sessions held so far have yielded some interesting results.

24 racers were out on the course and it looks like it may well be back to the old order of things, with Ferrari and McLaren occupying 2nd and 4th each in the first and second practice sessions respectively. First place, however, was taken by Adrian Sutil, now of Force India, and Nico Rosberg, Michael Schumacher's team mate at Mercedes.

Bernie Ecclestone, in the run up to the start of the practice sessions this week, has predicted what he calls one of the most hectic championships yet. While a new points system ensures more rewards for first place, the middle of the pack, he says, will feature a road-raged Schumacher. Not used to coming outside the top three, Eclestone has said he will bring a frustrated competitiveness to a normally unwatched part of the race.

Jeep Patriot Production Begins Under My Helmet

The all new 2007 Jeep Patriot started production this month. Sporting a 2.4L 4Cy DOHC 16V Dual Variable Valve Timing Engine, a 5-Speed Manual Transmission and Electronic Roll Mitigation, the Jeep's almost cheep-ish plastic interior leaves something to be desired. That seems to be the norm for Chrysler of late. It seems they've decided to try and make affordable vehicles and gotten away from the 'go anywhere' mantra they've had [...] Read More


Tow In a Jeep, Pay More Fees? Under My Helmet

Tow or Trailer Your Jeep in, Get Charged Double Some people tow or trailer their jeeps to the trail, dunes or where ever they're going. Most of these are registered for street use as well. If you're going someplace like the ISDRA where there are fees for "primary vehicles", but none for the off-road vehicles (aside from the vehicle's registration tag fees), and your off-road vehicle is street-legal, like a jeep, [...] Read More


Review: 2007 Raptor 700 Quad Under My Helmet

I've spent about an hour or so tearing up my back yard (literally) with the new 2007 Yamaha Raptor 700R SE quad. (I say literally because I've been out there twice filling in the canyon in the keyhole caused by the tires.) There are ups and downs to riding on the back yard track: The up side to riding there is that I can ride on it when ever I [...] Read More


It's a Patriot and Yes, it's a Genuine Jeep carzz.org

It seems as though every editorial comment I've read concerning the Jeep Patriot, being launched at the 2006 New York Auto Show, denounces the vehicle for abandoning the real, honest-and-true Jeep image. "Crap," say I. If you're that hung up on history, then the only real Jeep went out of production after WW2. Using the Dodge Caliber platform, the Patriot (terrific name choice in these troubled days) looks like a [...] Read More


Jeep Starts The New Year Right carzz.org

True to its creed of taking the shortest path between two points (or was that hummer?) - even if that means scaling craggy cliffs to get there - the Chrysler Group's Jeep brand has gone from posting a fine sales record last fiscal year to explosive sales growth in the space of one month. The numbers are impressive. January sales rocketed skyward 134% over the same period one year ago! That's [...] Read More

Lewis Hamilton's father Anthony, who has become a familiar face in the technical areas of team McLaren during his son's time in the sport, has revealed he is retiring from his role as Lewis' manager, citing a need to build relations with his son and the rest of his family away from the sport as a reason.

Since his was eight years old Anthony has overseen his son's career, and was pivotal in keeping him focussed during the pressures of his second season in F1 racing, when he became the youngest driver to win the World Championship title.

Lewis has said that, although it had never felt right before to have anyone else as his manager, he looks forward to a refreshing step forward. He has also said that he can't wait for someone to take on the pressures of being his manager, while he can "just do dad stuff" with his father.

The first race of the F1 season kicks off in 17 days time in Bahrain, and the last pre-season test has yielded some intriguing results. While Lotus were disqualified and Button's new McLaren had problems, it was Nico Rosberg who set the fastest lap time on Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.

Mercedes, then, are looking like a very promising team to follow in the new season, and look like they may just get a good start like their ancestors Brawn did last year. It was this start that made Jensen Button un-catchable despite a few hiccoughs half way through the season.

Another of the promising outsider teams so far in testing is Lotus, and you can take a look at some of the pictures of Jarno Trulli in action in the new car. We wait with baited breath to find out whether the start of the season will tell if he will improve upon his seventh-place finish last year with Toyota, which was no easy thing in a car so blighted by problems the whole season.

The F1 season begins again next month, and all the teams and drivers are out in earnest preparing for the opener in Bahrain. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who had his best season to date last year, has said that "the teams are very close out there".

This stage in preparation is often one of the most fascinating which many fans don't pay attention to. It is often a precursor to the way the season will go, and we can expect Vettel to have as good a run as he did last year. This next season, however, will be one of the most unpredictable in recent memory with the arrival of new teams such as Lotus and Campos Meta, so I wouldn't be placing my bet on third and fourth yet.

Vettel has been very cagey about being dragged in to smack-talk, something which the journalists at this stage are desperate to get out of aggressive drivers like himself. He has only gone as far as to say "we have been able to concentrate on ourselves and move forward", and, on the car's balance, "it was okay".