was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (kimi)
I think it is worth underlining just how excited I am about Kimi Räikkönen's participation in this weekend's Rally Finland. Through the trees and over the jumps, with one of the world's best codrivers (Kaj Lindstrom) shouting at him the whole way through. Kaj is very impressed with Kimi's skills, and thinks they could do quite well. I think we'll have to wait and see how he does with the jumps and blind crests. There are a hell of a lot of them, and the drivers have to get them all right - get the line and speed spot on and be on the gas at the exact right moment or they'll end up in the ditch, up a tree, or with broken suspension.

Here is a photo of his Kiminess with Dave TV presenter (and general good egg) Neil Cole, post interview this morning. Interview will be on the WRC programme on Dave at 6 this Sunday.

Kimi is well up for it and I think it's looking more and more like he will come right over to the rally side. I bet Heikki is sulking awfully about the fact that Kimi is allowed to go rallying and he isn't.

In other Rally Finland news, Jari-Matti Latvala has promised to try very hard to be good. Or, on second reading, has said that he thinks he may be capable of being good. Which isn't the same thing. Quite sweet that he was surprised to be allowed to keep his job. I wonder, would someone less sweet-natured and adorable have gotten the boot? Seriously, it may have been a factor (I doubt the claims that he pays to drive. I do think that not wanting to lose him to another team was a factor in Papa Wilson's decision to keep him on for next year, though).

I shall be following the rally and the Edgbaston test throughout the weekend, with one browser window for wrc.com and one for cricinfo.com. Shame Birmingham is underwater today, so no play possible (thus far, but I bloody doubt the pitch will dry out by five-ish or whenever). It'll probably be a draw, but who knows.

EDITED TO ADD LINK TO SHORT Q&A ON wrc.com and also to say, well, play is going to start at Edgbaston at five after all. We have to try to take advantage of any chink in the Australian armour, and we must absolutely not be tempted into any kind of overconfidence. It'll still be a bloody draw, though.
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (yay)
He's back, back, BACK!

Jari-Matti Latvala is back to winning form. Latvala and codriver Miikka Antilla have won the 2009 Rally Italia Sardegna, putting an end to a run of bad luck, mistakes and crashes. Since lunchtime on Sunday I have been a very happy rally fan indeed.
read about it if you like )
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (Default)
Toni Gardemeister is the world's unluckiest rally driver.
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (kimi)
About 4 hours til gin and tonic time.

His Kiminess is doing rather well in the Arctic rally so far - currently 20th after 3 stages and 2 minutes off the leaders. Not bad for a first competitive rally with very little testing and no experience of notes. As one might expect the thing he is least good at is giving stage end interviews - the windows are staying up and nobody's getting a word out of him.

Toni G is 2nd in the Monte Carlo rally and nearly 5 minutes faster than the next Fiat. All v good. Really looking forward to the live night stages on Eurosport (Col de Turini! Live! In the dark! With big lights on!) The WRC and ISC (their broadcast partner) really have to take along hard look at what Eurosport and the IRC are doing. Live coverage. That's what we want to see. And to be able to see the whole of a stage. I know part of it's because of the low profile that rallying has here, but it didn't used to be that way - there used to be live coverage of the old Lombard RAC rally. And that's another thing - that was an event with very long stages, spread out over a large area, and with some night stages. The way the WRC have homogenised everything, all the rallies are getting to be the same, and while I love watching them, it could be more exciting. I also have to say that I do like the sound of the S2000 cars compared to the current WRC cars, and that kind of thing is important to spectators.
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (kimi)
Mika Häkkinen and Kimi Räikkonen are both going to be taking part in the Arctic Rally of Lapland, a snow rally (as the name suggests) in Finland which takes place in a fortnight's time.

Kimi's codriver will be the experienced Kaj Lindström, former codriver to Tommi Mäkinen. The car will be a Fiat Abarth Punto S2000.
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (Default)
Well now. Kevin Pietersen resigned, Peter Moores gone too.

We really have got ourselves in a right mess, haven't we?
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (Default)
I've kind of noticed this before, but over the Christmas hols I've really noticed it.

All the commentators/voiceover people on British Eurosport sound the same. All of them. The accent, the peculiar Eurosport intonation with pauses that make it almost sound like the feller is doing simultaneous translation from French (I think that the basic framework script for non-live programmes does start off as either French or German) or reading a rather sporadic autocue. Everything. You can go from women's slalom skiing to luge to men's ski jumping to the Dakar to five a side football to strongman to Greek basketball and it sounds like the same tireless, deathless, totally winging it, pauses in ... odd places, bloke.
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (Default)
Have just seen the best thing. Two blokes doing the Dakar* in a chip van. Not an ordinary chip van, but a Toyota LandCruiser converted to have a fryer in the back. They are competing in this thing, driving the day and then making and serving chips in the evening. Excellent!


*the Dakar endurance rally-raid. Not from Paris to Dakar this year, but through Argentina and Chile.
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (Default)
Blimey, David Beckham's going on loan to Milan. A Good Thing, I think.

Didn't India give Australia one hell of a beating at the weekend? I watched the highlights of the fourth day's play, and man, there was some bowling.
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (Default)
Hey there everyone. This is kind of a ragbag, because I don't have anything of any great import or interest to say, but at the same time I feel the compulsion to tell my bugger-all to THE INTERNET!

1) Made aubergine and courgette (zucchini) beer-batter fritters for dinner on Saturday, with tzatziki. Very very good, as ever, didn't make as much mess with the batter as I usually do.

2) What do herbs and delay pedal have in common? You can have too much of either; too much herb in a dish or too much delay pedal in a track. And yet, add more and more and more; use the herb like it was a vegetable or a salad leaf, go hogwild with layers and layers of delay pedal; and you can end up with something very pleasant. For example, one of my favourite starters is panir-o-sabzi, Iranian cheese with herbs. You get a little slab of Iranian cheese, and gurt big bunches of mint, tarragon, spring onions and radishes. You wouldn't use that much tarragon in a dish for eight people. But for one, as a salad leaf, it's just right. Same thing with bunches of methi and dhania in a stew. Use loads!

3) I feel really guilty for being slightly mean about Jari-Matti Latvala prior to Rallye Deutschland (that "sweepstake" comment I made last week). He had a complete nightmare, and he was just in tiny little bits on the Saturday and Sunday, and the poor boy does not need people sitting at home and making snide comments. He still needs to change a few things about his preparation, but I think at this point one should be encouraging rather than mean about it.

4) I feel really stupid about 3) above, but I felt I ought to say it anyway. I feel one should be in for a penny in for a pound with this "being a fan" thing. Or maybe not?

5) If y'all ever want me to post about Serious Shit Happening In The World, I, like, will, but I don't know how much good it'll do you to read it. There are better and more informed minds than mine out there. I have an always-simmering rant about the fetishisation of the countryside, but a) you can probably guess what it would be and b) it would probably enmire us all in a long and ill-tempered discussion of where privilege lies in the debate. So, best not to bother, I think.

6) Bit of a mare for Kimi Räikkönen, wasn't it?

7) Leicester have won two, drawn one so far. I guess we've found our level.
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (codrivers)
Gigi Galli's crash yesterday didn't just end his rally, it ended his season. He broke his femur, and he's had it pinned now. Poor bloke. the morning's stages )

the afternoon's stages )

Great to see our coxless four winning. I'd really thought that they'd left it too late to catch the Australian boat. They looked right fucked at the end of it.

Finally got to see the Adlington win her 800m freestyle - that was something else!
Didn't see Bradley Wiggins win his pursuit gold, because i've just been out for a nice walk. The sun came out, so I expect I will have picked up something of a farmer's tan.

edit: 100m men, OMFG. That bloke Bolt is just out of this fucking world. He broke his own world record and won by bloody miles even though he slowed down and started celebrating at about 80m. Has he, like, discovered flight or something and had to slow down in case he took off? Incredible.
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (codrivers)
The rally boys will be doing their recce for Rallye Deutschland today. Memo to Jari-Matti Latvala: if you should happen to see a large rock on a corner, or a lurking ditch, put it in your notes this time, there's a pet.

Perhaps we should have some kind of Latvala sweepstake when the rally starts - on which of the stages will Jari-Matti crash out? Pick a number between one and eighteen. Ah, I'm being mean. I shouldn't be mean.

On the TV this morning, they were showing some of the Olympic judo again. I don't understand judo at all, not even a little bit. There's a tangle of limbs, and then someone gets some points.
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (heikki)
The short version: Loeb won, Kovalainen won, South Africa won, Michael Vaughan resigned.

The REALLY long version (contains sickening scenes of hero worship, and video footage of a small yellow car on its side at about a hundred mph): Read more... )
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (cricket)
Can we NOT get a WICKET?

We can turn ANYTHING into a draw. ANYTHING.


eta: at last! a wicket!
Still going to be a bloomin' draw, though
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (Default)
Forthcoming weekends' sporting entertainment:
This weekend : Scottish Open golf (10-13) and the first Test (10-14)
Next weekend : The Open golf (17-20) and the second Test (18-22) and the German Grand Prix
Weekend after that : Twenty20 finals day
Weekend after that : Rally of Finland (31 Jul - 3 Aug) and the third Test (30 Jul - 3 Aug) and the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Open and a test match and F1 is too much sport for the one weekend, I think. We shall have to... watch the cricket on the telly, watch the golf online if there is live streaming coverage, and just follow the F1 via the online live timing. Or, watch the golf, follow the cricket on Cricinfo and follow the grand prix via the live timing.

These are the silly little things that bother one when one can't face up to the true horror that is The World Today.

I recommend "The Fantastic Expedition Of Dillard And Clark" for your listening pleasure.
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (Default)
Well done Mr Murray, sir.

That was good watching.

DAMMIT!

Jun. 21st, 2008 06:28 pm
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (heikki)
The bastards. The bastards!
It wasn't his fault, I was watching. What happened iirc is that Heikki was himself impeded by Kazuki Nakajima and both cars were in the way of Mark Webber. Heikki was trying to get out of the way. I looked at it and thought "with Heikki's luck, the buggers will give him the penalty" and they bloody have, the buggers.

I am... oh, really cross.
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (Default)
BLOODY HELL FIRE!

What a last half hour. I fear Petr Cech may never be the same again.

Started to fall asleep watching the US Open, saw Lee Westwood returning to his usual putting form (i.e. hopeless) to let Tiger back in it after Tiger's shocking first two holes. On waking I see there is a playoff.

There was some cricket in the middle of all that as well. I kind of feel sorry for the New Zealanders. Is it just me, or is KP acting as a kind of de facto captain?

yes!

Jun. 15th, 2008 11:42 am
was_tansu_now_badhedgehog: (codrivers)
Mikko first, Jari-Matti second, Seb third.
Everyone's tyres shredded to fuck and beyond.
Four Finns (two of whom, Miikka Anttila and Jarmo Lehtinen, you can see in this icon) going absolutely nuts right now.


Wow. This is the most exciting stage ever! Really! Truly the most excellent fight. Totally and completely flat out over 31k of mountain gravel track, everything to play for between the top three, hanging on every single split time. Wow.


(If Latvala hadn't made a mistake on the short stage this morning, he would have been able to win the rally, but we'll let that slide for now. Just lovely to see both Hirvonen and Latvala on the podium. Splendid)
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