Martyn was hoping for a better meeting at Thruxton – the fastest circuit in the BTCC calendar, after he was caught up in someone else accident in round 4 at Rockingham two weeks previously. This time he was shunted from behind by Eoin Murray causing heavy damage to the rear of the car and the suspension.

After qualifying 18th on the grid Martyn made a fine start in the first race of the day, taking 3 places before he had even reached the first turn. Further progression was halted as the set up of the BMW made it impossible to keep up with the main pack. Despite this Martyn managed to take 13th place while holding off Fiona Leggate for the last few laps.

Changes were made to the car for the following race and the team was confident of a top ten place, with the HW sponsored BMW starting 13th on the grid. Again another flying start saw the car move quickly up through the ranks. An eventful race saw the BMW damage after the aforementioned contact with Murray. The team chose to retire the car early in order to have more time for repairs before the final race of the day.

After a sterling effort by the team Martyn started 16th on the grid. Despite another steaming start, 15th place was the best Martyn could manage with the repair car still not handling to his liking.

“We were suffering with oversteer through the complex in the opening race and the car was a real handful,� Martyn reflected. “I had to settle for 13th which was a good place to start the second race and I made up some positions again at the start before Richard Marsh tried to make the BMW a compact going into the complex.
 
“The car was wrecked at the back and it’s quite annoying as it’s the second time it’s happened to me – he did the same last season at Knockhill. The boys got me out there for the last race and got the car as straight as it could be, but understeer was a problem and I also made a silly mistake out the back of the circuit and got on the grass – meaning I dropped off the back of the pack. You can’t get back onto the train again when that happens and I was praying for a Safety Car to help me catch up, but it never appeared.�

However, Martyn and the team remain upbeat going into a small break before the fourth round of the season at Croft next month, when he hopes for luck to finally be on his side.

“The end result doesn’t reflect our efforts and our best lap in the second race was only 0.2secs off Tom Onslow-Cole (in a newer-spec BMW 320si),� Martyn added. “It’s a tribute to the team to be able to do that.
 
“We know that we have made progress this season with the car and we know that that progress isn’t reflected by the championship standings. We aren’t feeling down, we are just getting our bad luck out of the way in one go!�

Last year my wife finally persuaded me that we needed to make the 3 hour drive to Wales to visit her welsh family. I agreed as long as we could find a suitable hotel that had a swimming pool so that we could entertain our 18 month old son when we weren’t out visiting relatives.

After an extensive search on the net we finally settled on a small 4* rated bed & breakfast in Wales  that happened to be 5 minutes drive from everyone we needed to see. I am not normally a B&B person as I like my 5* hotels, however, as this one was well located and had a pool I was willing to give it a shot. When we arrived we were both stunned…

As we approached ‘Castell y Graig‘ along the tree lined lane which comes up from the road, we were welcomed by Sian, Allan & their son Rob like family they hadn’t seen for years. Allan instantly took to our youngest and whisked him off to show him some animals while we unpacked the car.

The interior of the recently converted farmhouse is spectacular. A sweeping staircase leads up to the 3 stunning bedrooms, all ensuite. Downstairs, Sian has a kitchen to die for and I am sure every visitor that stays falls in love with it. The breakfast room come conservatory has a door down to the heated swimming pool, complete with Hot Tub, Sauna and changing rooms. The lounge is very welcoming and it doesn’t take long till you feel right at home.

Although the farm isn’t a working farm, there are plenty of animals to see and with over 40 acres you can take some lovely walks. Just watch out for Patsy the Pig!

The area has plenty to do if you are planning more than a couple of nights away. There are more castles than you can shake a stick at, fishing, golf, lots of walks, the national botanic gardens are only 5 miles away and if you need some retail therapy you will find everything from small market towns to the larger cities like Swansea all within a comfortable drive.

Baby Ella Claire Elisabeth made her entrance at 3.54am on last Tuesday morning after Claire’s waters broke rather unexpectedly late the evening before. Unfortunatly, when Claire started calling to me that her waters had gone, I had just taken 2 Night Nurse and some Nurofen Plus to ease my man flu and help me sleep. I think it was these pills that actually kept me very calm and relaxed during the labour and birth. When I eventually got home the next morning, the tablets finally took hold and I slept solid for 4 hours, despite neighbours and friends calling at the house and ringing the phone to try and wake me up.

As Ella is just over 3 weeks early she weighed in at a wee 5lb 10. Due to the ‘Doll’ like size I have had to attack Mothercare in search of Early Baby clothes that fit. What a nightmare. I think there is a website in premature baby colthes.

Our son Jack is nearly 2 now and I have say, it’s not until we arrived home with Ella, did we realise how BIG Jack has gotten. He now seems huge in comparision. We are trying to teach him what ‘Gently’ means as he enjoys giving his new baby sister ‘Big Cubbles’.

 

Despite overall finishes of 13th, 13th & 11th. Martyn took 10th, 9th & 7th in the independents. With over 25 cars on the grid, these are great results –the disqualification of Turner in race 3, saw Martyn rise a place from 12th/8th to 11th/7th.

Two other drivers that grabbed my attention at the weekend were Mat Jackson of Team Jackson in his former WTCC BMW 320 and Rick Kerry of AFM Racing who took to the track in a BMW 120 Diesel!

Racing a BMW 320 like Martyn’s, Mat Jackson had a flying first round taking a podium which was sadly taken from him after he was disqualified for ignoring an orange flag ordering him to come in after smoke started pouring from his car. He took some minor damage having come off the track on to the grass. Round 2 saw Mat pushed to the back of the grid and starting from the Pit. He managed to go on and take 8th place. Round 3 started with Mat fighting the ‘Big Boys’ at the front and saw him go on and take third - another podium. Outstanding. He also posted the faster lap time in this round of just under 50 seconds. Not a bad start for someone new to BTCC.

The 120D of Rick Kerry caught my attention from the moment I saw it on the entry list. A diesel in BTCC ?! Kerry may not have taken any points this weekend but I am sure he got himself some new fans. With some track time behind it and 3 finishes I am sure we will see this car and driver get batter every round.

Next round is on the 22nd April at the Rockingham Circuit, Northamptonshire.

 Ah well, just me, the little ‘un and his projectile vomit to enjoy then. Marvellous. Pass me the bucket again someone…

Yesterday evening we had nearly an inch of snow overnight and as it was unexpected it made for slippery conditions. Well it did for all those people who leave the house to go to work :)

Shortly after 9am I get an IM on gtalk from Jon telling me that due to that fact he was snowed in, he couldn’t make it too work. Had it not been for the fact that he actually works from home, I might just have believed him! I give him points for trying (it on) though.

 

I have just read that Thomsonfly, Thomson Holidays low cost flight airline, is to offset the hike in APD against it’s accommodation bookings by offering the equivalent amount as a discount off holiday accommodation booked on it’s website. The arrangement applies to travelers with pre-booked flights on or after February 1 who will be required to pay the additional £5 APD before they travel.

Although I expect many of it’s passengers will have already booked hotel accommodation, this is still a nice gesture. Especially when you compare it some other airlines who are just charging the additional tax to customers credit cards without contacting them first.

In addition to the three days planned on the 29th, 30th & 31st Jan, two further three day strikes are also threatened. These being the 5th, 6th & 7th of Feb and the 12th, 13th & 14th Feb. Joy.

BA is planning to speak to workers today to try and avert mass chaos. BA is quoted as calling the industrial action “totally unjustified” and is likely to affect thousands of passengers.

Whenever I fly I always try and book with BA as I like the service and find their flights very comfrotable, however, you have to ask yourself. If you go and book a flight now - which is peak holiday booking season - for the summer, how annoying would it be to have your summer holiday trashed at the last minute by the Airline and it’s staff. Makes you want go book with someone less volatile.

Latest update from BA - 26th Jan 07:

It now looks like the owners of the former company have fled the country and flown to Pakistan reports the watchdog website. Thames Valley Police is investigating, and says that if you bought a ticket from MAS Travel, contact the airline to see if it’s valid. If there’s a problem, call its Economic Crime Unit on 0845 8505 505.

Although MAS Travel had an ATOL number, ATOL has made it clear to Watchdog that it was only relevant for the company’s package deals. In cases like this, where a travel agent issues tickets straight away, your contract is with the airline and ATOL protection isn’t required.

Now does this all sound a bit familiar to some people? Back in August of this year Thousands of people were scammed in a similar incident involving a number of websites set up and all ran from a call centre in Islington. Many hundreds are still fighting Credit Card companies and Banks to recoup their monies. There is an extensive post on the HW forum detailing how best to go about claiming back your ‘stolen’ money.