Hamish's Review of 2007

Hi, Hamish here reflecting on 2007 and what we can look forward to in 2008.

2007:

• The racing was a mixture of lows (Frankie's terrible accident at Hednesford in April) and highs (Frankie winning back his silver roof in the National Series Championship), with the highs and lows being interspersed with some great racing from all the drivers. Frankie bounced back from his accident to come 2nd or 3rd in most championships, his dad retired from F1 racing in November and Daniel (Frankie's little brother) started racing the same day as his dad retired. The racing season ended with Paul having his photograph taken with Frankie Senior at his retirement event at Sheffield, and Bev got a kiss from her favourite driver (FWJ), so both Bev & Paul had a brilliant end to the racing season.
  
• Bev & Paul had a great fortnight's holiday in Mallorca with the nice lady and Carlos, as well as Magnus and little Ted. In their roles as driver (Paul) and tour guide and navigator (Bev) for Whistle Stop Tours, they took Carlos and the nice lady to lots of interesting places on the island. Bev's iPod supplied the in-car entertainment as well as distracting Carlos from the scary views on the mountain roads.
  
• We got the new Peugeot 307 Sport, which is a joy to drive! This is a car that sticks to the road when going round corners at speed, has bags of grunt under the bonnet and has an iPod cable so that Bev, Paul and us bears can listen to loud House music on the way back from the racing. At the opposite end of the motor evolutionary scale is the misnamed Ford "Style", which Bev drove while the Peugeot was in for repairs. This scary car did some spectacular power slides round corners when Bev tried to drive it like the Peugeot 307. It drove like a dog and smelled like a damp dog had been living in it for weeks - my verdict on the Ford Style? YUK!
  
• Bev passed her Prince2 Practitioner exam despite being convinced that she had failed it.
  
• We acquired a gaggle of gadgets in 2007, including the new computers and the iPod. And the gadget highlight of the year was getting Bev's favourite music gadget (the iPod) working with her favourite speed gadget (the car). Bliss.
  
• We also had some interesting stop-overs for the racing, including the handbags at dawn at the B&B in Skegness, followed by Paul experimenting with brown sauce flavoured coffee. Other stop-overs come highly recommended, including the hotels in Sheffield and North Rugby, both of which had large, comfy beds and BIG breakfasts (yummy)!
  
• And we acquired a new addition to the family - Mr Chimp - who came with some very smart clothing and gadgets.

So, what do we have to look forward to in 2008?

• a Scottish holiday with the nice lady and Carlos in June 2008, as well as taking them to the racing at Cowdenbeath and Knockhill. Carlos will get to meet the real Carlos and see real white-knuckle rides, while the nice lady can drool over the cute young drivers.
  
• racing at Cowdenbeath in June 2008, and possibly the last season of racing at Knockhill as well.
  
• an exciting season of racing with Stuart Smith Jnr in the gold roof, Frankie in the silver roof and Daniel starting at the front in a white roof.

Roll on 2008!