The Man with No Time

Earlier today I got back from my second holiday in three weeks, and my third trip to the Le Mans 24 hours. Now that I've recovered (I really needed a nap when I got back to the flat), I wanted to talk about it a bit. There was a new logo for the race this year. But the on-track action was definitely classic. (Credit: David Brown)

In something of a departure from previous years, I've actually managed to get to a race meeting before  I go to Le Mans this year! I suppose that's one of the benefits of living in the West Midlands rather than Fife - lots of tracks in easy range (there are four within an hour's drive of Coventry). Easter weekend is traditionally a busy time for motorsport, with the four day weekend allowing tracks and series to run events over various combinations of Friday to Monday, meaning that if you plan well you can get to see more than one race meeting. This year you had British GT at Oulton Park and BTCC at Donington on the Sunday (both of which I considered going to), and British Superbikes at Brands Hatch on the Monday. But with my love of sports car racing I was always going to go to the endurance double header at Silverstone - European Le Mans Series on the Saturday for four hours, and World Endurance Championship on the Sunday for six hours.  The new pit complex, kn...

Last weekend saw the third race of the 2014 Formula 1 season, and I thought it was about time I put finger to keyboard and articulated some of my thoughts on the direction that the series is going. 2014 is a year of massive changes, many of which will take some getting used to, and most of which have caused a lot of controversy. I don't have much new to add to the discussion, but want to get my thoughts out there. It's becoming a familiar sight at the front of the field - the silver arrows way out in front. They've only been this close to each other in Bahrain though, and it was spectacular. (Credit: telegraph.co.uk)

Yesterday had me doing something a little different to my usual weekend activities. Taking advantage of the fact that I'm back in the Midlands, I decided to go to Autosport International, the racing car show put on by Autosport magazine. My brother and dad thought they'd come along too, so it turned into a family day out, which was nice. I'd been to the show several times before, both when I lived at home and when I was a student in Coventry. It's held at the Birmingham NEC, so it's pretty easy to get to from here. But I haven't been in years, and was keen to see how it had changed, if at all.

Yesterday I made another visit to Warwick Student Cinema to see a film that I absolutely had to see on the big screen. When I first heard about this film, the combination of director and subject material made me incredibly excited. Ron Howard, director of films including 'Apollo 13' and 'A Beautiful Mind' (which I think are both brilliant pieces of cinema) was going to be making a film about the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, culminating in the dramatic 1976 F1 season.  Sadly, I wasn't able to see Rush at the 'real' cinema; it was released at an inconvenient time, just when I was in full-on finishing the PhD mode. But the Student Cinema came to the rescue once again. One of the character posters. (Credit: digitalspy.co.uk)

Part three of  my motorcycling season review will cover the top flight category: MotoGP. I've already written brief reviews of the intermediate categories,  Moto2  and  Moto3 , but these are the big bikes. (Credit: motogp.com) I used to enjoy watching MotoGP, but the 125cc category was always my favourite. When I lost interest in motorcycling as a sport for a while it was the top flight that really killed it for me. About mid way through the 2000s it sort of got a bit dull. Rossi was still great, and there was Stoner to challenge him. Then Lorenzo turned up, and between the three of them (plus Dani Pedrosa) the racing was decent every now and then. But on the whole it was turning into Formula 1 a little; the bikes quickly spread out along the track, and actual overtaking was often quite rare. Not to mention the fact that numbers were quickly dropping, with first Kawasaki and then Suzuki leaving the sport. So I stopped watching.

Part two of my motorcycling season review covers the Moto2 category. I've already covered Moto3 , and now it's time for the middle brother. (Credit: motogp.com) Moto2 replaced the 250cc category in 2010, and for the first few years provided the shot in the arm that the middle rung on the ladder desperately needed. The racing was close, unpredictable, and incredibly exciting. But over the last couple of seasons it's dropped off a little as the gap between the different chassis widens. This year was better than last, for a couple of notable reasons.

One of the forms of motorsport that has captured my interest in recent years has been MotoGP, not to mention its two support series Moto2 and Moto3. I used to watch MotoGP years ago, but in the early 2000s I lost interest. The top category became pretty dull, and the lower divisions were hard to find (although the racing in 125cc was epic). But over the last four or five years the BBC have started showing all three classes live, either on TV or on their website, so I've been able to start watching again . The quality of racing has also increased with new riders coming through, and some rules changes that have made a huge difference: the introduction of CRT bikes to MotoGP, and the replacement of 125cc and 250cc by Moto3 and Moto2 respectively. (Credit: motogp.com) This year I've managed to watch most of the races live, and I wanted to get some thoughts down on the page about the three seasons. I'll start with Moto3, and with Moto2 and MotoGP following in short o...

A week ago I wondered whether my trip to Le Mans this year would live up to my first visit, just over one year previously. Well it turns out that despite being a very different experience, it definitely could. The whole week seemed to fly by. Yet at the same time it seemed, particularly at the start of the week, to last for ages. I will also say that there are several reasons, both good and bad, for why I won’t be forgetting this year’s event in a hurry. Standing on the track looking down the pit straight towards the Ford Chicanes. Actually being able to get onto part of the track was magical. (Credit: David Brown)

Later today I’m off to Le Mans for the second year in a row. I’m very excited about it, having had such a great time last year, but I’m slightly apprehensive. Partly that’s because of the logistical issues I’ve already alluded to , but partly it’s because I’m not sure it’ll be able to live up to last year’s event. Not many events can be as good at the second time of asking to be fair though. Who's going to stand on top of the famous podium this year? (Credit: David Brown) In P1 the Toyotas look to be further away from Audi than ever, so I think the overall win could be a foregone conclusion.  P2 will be very exciting again though, with its huge field and close competition. The GT categories also look like they could be fun, with essentially five works teams fighting it out in the Pro class. Aston Martin look like they’ll be hard to beat though with their five car effort! We’re arriving slightly later in the week this year, just in time for the first practice ...

Yesterday I took my annual trip down to Knockhill for the British Touring Car Championship . This is one of the few big, live motorsport events that I can easily get to these days, or that fits in with my busy schedule at least. I’m sure that there are lots of club meetings at Knockhill that I could get to during the summer, but that’s also my prime time of the year for gaming events, what with the Autumn, Winter and Summer being full of livesaving. British Touring Car Championship race 1 gets underway at Knockhill. You've got to love the variety of cars entered this year. (Credit: David Brown)

WARNING: This is going to be a long post, even by my standards! I've got a lot to say about my trip to Le Mans 2012, so be prepared. But spoiler alert: it was awesome. This post has been delayed by quite some time, partly owing to its mammoth length. But I wanted to fully document my trip, and there's a lot to talk about! The famous podium and clock on the pit straight. (Credit: David Brown)

The last couple of years has seen a sharp increase in the number of films of a genre that I'm going to refer to as 'sports docu-film'. These are feature-length documentaries following either a particular sporting event from the perspective of a team or individual competitor, or following a particular sports-person through their career. Such features have typically been the domain of television, and where they have existed they have been very much focused on the documentary style, with a dry, 'facts-only' presentation style. The more recent style has tended more towards cinematography and the desire to tell a compelling story, with more emotional content. As such they fit much better into a cinematic setting than the more traditional version. The film "Senna" is probably the best known example of the genre, certainly amongst the general populace, owing to its relatively wide release thanks to the high profile of both Formula 1, and the legacy of Aryton Se...

When this is posted I'll be well on my way to Le Mans for my main summer holiday this year. My housemate John and I are going to the 24 hours of Le Mans this year; it will be my first trip, but John's 4th. I'm very excited about it. It's going to be very helpful going with a veteran. John already knows the schedule, the best places to watch from, where all of the facilities are etc. So there's loads of stuff that I don't need to worry about, which will (hopefully) let me enjoy the atmosphere and the racing. I'm looking forward to seeing the variety of cars on show this year, and to what I hope will be an interesting race. I've already listened to the preview shows put out by Radio Le Mans, which have really built my enthusiasm up for the entire trip. The race isn't for another week, but we're going for the entire week to catch practise, qualifying, scrutineering, the drivers' parade, and all of the rest of the events in the week leading ...

Part 7 of the time-sinks series is here, and it's time to talk about something a bit more stereotypically 'boyish'. Yep, that's right, I'm going to talk about cars (and bikes) of all shapes, sizes and speeds. But mostly the really fast ones driven (and ridden) by professional racing drivers.

Welcome to my blog! Let me introduce myself. My name's David, I'm 24, and I'm a hobby-holic. I have far too many of them for the amount of time that I have. In fact I frequently hear the phrase "how do you find time to do all of that?" What's that old saying? If you want something done, give it to a busy person to do? That's me all over. I'm currently at the University of St Andrews, studying (hah!) for my PhD in astronomy; specifically, in the art of planet hunting. I'm a member of the WASP consortium, which is one of the biggest transiting planet searches around, and has members from universities around the UK. So far our tally of planets is up to 82, but it's increasing all of the time. I mostly enjoy my work. Life every job, and make no mistake, it is a full-time job (albeit one with a great deal more flexibility than most others), it has its ups and its downs. Around that job I have many, many hobbies, hence the name of the b...