Prodrive

Had a good weekend last week accompanying my brother, Brian, on his Prodrive day at their circuit near Warwick. He actually had to put his Mazda RX8 through its paces on skid pans, a slalom course, a high speed circuit and a notorious 'adverse handling' circuit which is very twisty and has adverse cambers to make it more fun. 40 cars took part and a fun time was had by all. We stayed at a hotel near Rugby the previous night and a room had been set aside by the RX8 owners club with Scalectrix and Ninetendo Wii. Some of the participants on the day have already posted films on YouTube. See:-

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7pwbjVBtlTI

AND

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nB-qp5SAoTo

Tehran

I have been neglecting this page for some time, possibly because I've been a bit too busy to bother. Anyway, I did get out to Tehran to see the trouble and strife last month. I was pleasantly surprised to find a safe and friendly city. That is apart from the traffic which is hellish. No need for a theme park when you can have just as much of a thrill on a simple taxi ride.

There are good restaurants and shops, with no booze for sale of course, and a few sights worth seeing. Women, including the wife, have to cover their heads when out and about but very few wear the complete burkha as in Sunni Moslem countries. In fact it is obvious that the majority try to look informal with jeans under a short coat and a headscarf. Hopefully the stringent rules relating to the Islamic dress code will soften given time.

Anyone worried about visiting Tehran should not do so - as long as you have the correct visa of course :)