At The Races

The Volkswagen Racing Cup is a pretty unique racing series. As well as being the best supported 'saloon racing series' the cup is the only single manufacturer series where different models of various ages are allowed to compete with each other.

Obviously a variety of Golf's have proven popular in the series in the years since it started in 2000, but the companies vans have also made a strong strong showing. The charm of the series is really that such different vehicles that each have their own unique strengths. The small cars like the Lupo have their light weight on their side. There are entrants with powerful V6 engines, such as the Beetle. Where the vans get their edge is, of course, the superior amount of torque that they are able to deliver from their turbo diesel engines.

There are very relaxed and consistent rules that make it an easy series to get involved with. Any VW that has either raced in one of the last two seasons or is less than ten years old qualifies for a Volkswagen racing log book and entry to the series. This means you can give one of their used vans the new life it always dreamed of!

It is the Golf derived Caddy that has proven to be most suited to life on the track, notably in the capable hands of Simon Elliot, who you can see in action in the clip below, showing that van drivers are a force to be reckoned with.




Eliot will be behind the wheel of an updated Caddy in this year's series - and it will be great to see what the new model can do. If you would like to win a pair of tickets to the double-header at Oulton Park in Cheshire on 25th April, then there is a prize draw you can enter.

Cyclists - Listen to the Van Man

Reading an article about the alarming increase of cycling accidents prompted me to point out one or two observations that I as a van driver have made when driving around doing my duties.

Cyclists are reminded that by observing some sensible practices they can remain safe on the road and are less likely to confuse other road users such as delivery drivers, have many other distractions - after all you don't want your expensice bike lookig like this do you?



So I thought I'd hunt out some authority information about road sense and share:

Solicitors from Access Legal's Cycle Accident Claims team include a number of cycling enthusiasts who are committed to spreading safe cycling messages to reduce the number of accident cyclists suffer - see regular updates about cycling issues on their blog. The following guide is from the blog's main website - www.access-legal.co.uk

Family and group riding tips from Legal-Access

• It is advised that the adults themselves ride behind the children to keep them in view. However if there is two or more adults present, then the ideal set up would be one at the front of the group and one at the back
• When in back you should only go as fast as the slowest rider
• Don't cycle any closer than 1 foot between your front wheel and the back of the wheel of the rider in front of you
• If cycling at the front, remember that you have people behind you, and will need more time to break then you will, increasing the danger. Try to avoid suddenly breaking or weaving
• Ride no more than in a row of two, allowed plenty of room for traffic to pass. If traffic has built up behind you, you might want to pull to the side and allow it to pass

You can download the entire safer cycling guide from the site.

Vantastic

Vantastic video about....you guessed it VANS