Like everybody in the UK, I’ve been watching the Olympics, cheering on and celebrating the success of the UK sports men and women.  For once, it’s a great British success story and rightly, the entire country is behind each and every athlete as they strive for success. 

One of the interesting things it highlights to me is the power of the media to create overnight celebrities from competitors in what would normally be considered niche sports.  Under normal circumstances, nobody would pay any attention to the World Cycling Championships, or the World Rowing Championships, or whatever both are actually called.  However, because the Olympics commands the world’s focus for a fortnight, hero’s are created.  I guess that it also helps if you’ve got a good British name like Bradley Wiggins – you simply couldn’t make that name up.

Now I started this by saying that it is right that we should get behind our competitors and celebrate their success, but don’t you think this should apply across the board.  The reason for saying this is the competitors outside of Olympic sports, some of whom are the most anonymous World Champions the UK has.

Andy Priaulx is the best example of this I know.  If Touring Cars was an Olympic sport, you’d see his face in the Olympic highlights television programme and on the front cover of every newspaper.  But clearly it’s not.

Who’s Andy Priaulx I hear you say.  That’s exactly my point.  Andy Priaulx is the three-time FIA World Touring Car Champion having previously been European Touring Car Champion the year before.  He’s the only Brit ever to win three consecutive FIA Championships in a row and has, in the past, been called the Michael Schumacher of Touring Cars, such has been his success and domination of the sport.  And yet very few people have ever heard of him and he never gets stopped in the street and asked for his autograph.

Why? Television coverage or, in his case, lack of it.  Although it’s the most entertaining form of motorsport I know, coverage of World Touring Cars is relegated to Eurosport rather than prime-time BBC so you’ll never stumble upon it or him.  Which is a shame because unlike any Olympians, racing drivers actually risk their lives every time they get in a car, such is their dedication.

So when you’re watching the sailing, or rowing, or BMW biking for that matter, spare a thought for the UK’s unsung Champions.  Better still, tune into Eurosport and cheer on one of the UK’s greatest champions that you’ve never heard of.

Yesterday the internet was brimming with news of an impending recall of over 200,000 BMW cars, including 2006 model year 3 Series, 2004-06 model year 5 Series and 2004-06 model year X3 vehicles.  Engineers had found that the passenger seat sensor mat may have become damaged during vehicle use.  In essence, if the air bag warning lamp, and the passenger air bag “on-off” lamp are illuminated simultaneously, there may be an issue that needs addressing.

However, what wasn’t clear from any of the reporting was that this issue is isolated to US and Canadian-specification cars. For those of you reading this in the UK, this doesn’t affect UK cars so you needn’t worry.  Cars built to an American and Canadian specification have a different airbag system fitted and the components affected by this recall aren’t fitted to UK-specification cars.

So there you have it, clarification just in case you own one of these cars outside of the Americas and might be starting to worry….

Back from two weeks holiday and you’ll be pleased to know that I’m not going to moan on about how difficult it is to get back into your work after a period away, or about the state of my desk when I returned to it.  It looked like Armageddon had struck by the way, but that’s by the by.

However, having spent the best part of two weeks driving through France, I’d like to pose a question.  Why is it that when you leave Folkstone and arrive in Calais, driving is suddenly pleasurable and conversely, when the White Cliffs come into view, driving instantly becomes stressful again?  It never ceases to amaze me how the two experiences differ. 

I know that I’m starting to sound like my a miserable old man but leaving home, the M3 is unpredictable at the best of times followed by the good old M25 that is as predictable as our current August weather – always bad!.  Traffic jams, start stop traffic, dirty and inefficient service stations and a general lack of consideration for other drivers.  Arrive en France and the roads are empty, free flowing and pleasurable.  And then there is their road surface.  They dig up and replace the sort of surface that we’d be proud of in the UK – it’s almost farcical. And once you’re ready for a break, pull into one of their frequent service stations and, while at lunchtime they may be busy, you’re greeted by a wide selection of reasonably priced food. 

Some argue that it’s better because of the Peage road charging system in France.  I suspect it’s a contributing factor but certainly not the only one because over half of our journey was done on non-payment motorway.  I suspect that the size of France is also a contributing factor.  The fact that it’s five times as large as the UK and has approximately the same population should mean that the traffic is less dense.  However, I was travelling on the first Saturday of the French get away when most of northern France travels south.  This, combined with the number of English registered cars that on occasion out-numbered French registered cars, probably puts the kybosh on that argument too.

I’d love to know what the answer is – if you’ve got a theory, please let me know.  Then we’ll do our best to try and apply it in the UK and make it a pleasure rather than a hassle to drive on this side of the Channel.

On top of the excitement of the British International Motorshow, this week has also seen yet further recognition of both BMW and MINI’s green credentials, both from highly-respected independent sources.

The start of the week saw the release of survey findings from leading greener motoring website www.cleangreencars.co.uk that found that BMW Group's products – BMW and MINI – are the cleanest premium products on the market.  Thanks to the much-talked-about EfficientDynamics technologies, BMW’s average emissions rate fell 11.34 per cent in the period between January and June 2008 while average MINI emissions fell 9.44 per cent in the same period.  This means that average emissions from BMW’s model range now stands at 161.6g/km and MINI 139.6g/km – inside the all-important 140g/km target.

By comparison, BMW’s competitors – Audi, Mercedes Benz and Lexus were well off the pace, with Audi recording a 177g/km average and Mercedes 192g/km.  Even Lexus with their hybrid-based model line-up could only manage a 194g/km average.  Proof, surely, that you can have your cake and eat it.

And following on from this, the end of Press Day at the Motorshow saw What Car? magazines inaugural Green Awards in the Green Car Pavilion.  Having had contenders in almost every category, BMW and MINI walked off with three of the 10 awards – Best Sports car for the MINI Cooper S, Best Executive car for the BMW 318d ES and a special Editors award in recognition of the range-wide benefits that EfficientDynamics technologies have brought.  To underline the range-wide effects, the winner of the Green Executive Car category was a bit of a foregone conclusion – all three nominees were BMW models – the 318d ES, the 520d and the 530d!

And that’s all for a couple of weeks – holidays beckon.  Why not subscribe and you’ll be notified as soon as I’m back in the chair.

Another British International Motorshow Press Day has passed, and normality is returning.  So what’s the verdict?  Well that’s going to have to wait until the final visitor numbers are in and the fat lady has well and truly sung.  However, as far as Press Day is concerned, there seemed to be a genuine buzz around the place, the lack of which had been one of the main criticisms two years ago.

Many months ago, the SMMT, the organisers of the show, decided they’d create a little more atmosphere by adding a sprinkling of the public via a high-priced entry ticket.  Uproar in the journalist ranks ensued with the hacks suggesting that these potential customers would somehow get in the way of the media who were trying to do their job.  Well, thankfully, it didn’t turn out that way.  Both happily co-existed in the halls together, one able to do their job, the other able to see new product reveals at close hand and hoover up as much corporate hospitality as they could to justify their £100 ticket price.

And it’s a good show, on the whole.  True, it’s not the size of the A-grade shows of Paris, Frankfurt, Detroit and Geneva that the London show aspires to be but that does make it easy to navigate.  And with a good number of genuine world reveals, outdoor interactive events, concerts and a boat show too, there is plenty for the potential buyer or the family on a holiday day out to see.

So, a personal highlight?  Well, that’s a difficult one bearing in mind the diversity of the manufacturer offerings and the other attractions.  On the new cars, the Peugeot 308 RCZ’s an interesting car – very unusual to look at but interestingly quirky at the same time.  The Focus RS is sure to sell well too… to a certain type of customer!  Also great to see a good smattering of super cars, both new and old.  They’re sure to be popular with the younger visitors.  A lot of the new, greener technologies are also very interesting too – more of that in tomorrow’s instalment.

My lasting memory though? Having stood up for 12 hours on the trot, the best bit is walking out of the exit leaving behind the DJ-inspired music blasting out at too many decibels, taking my shoes off and allowing my ever-so-painful feet to recover and realising that we’ve got another 730 days before we’ve got to do it all over again.  I’m getting old!