Neil Hodgson - Honda Racing CBR 1000RR Superbike

The former British Superbike rider and double World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson, has been left without a ride for the 2010 season after the Corona Extra Honda Race Team pulled out of the AMA championship with immediate effect.

The team announced the news at the weekend saying;

“Corona Extra Honda race team participated in this series with our award-winning 2009 CBR1000RR in the AMA Superbike class, unfortunately participation in this series did not meet our racing goals and objectives.

Regrettably the current AMA/DMG racing environment does not align with our company goals. Effective today 9/18/09, AHM will not be renewing contracts with Corona Extra Racing and will be terminating the on-site Road Race operations by 9/30/09. All assets will be put into storage for future consideration.”

Hodgson is rumoured to be looking at returning to the British Superbike series after being spotted in and out of the pit garages at round ten of the Championship at Croft.

Hodgson said of his visit;

Nigel Mansell

The former Formula One Champion Nigel Mansell, is competing in the Silverstone’s Le Mans Series finale on 11-13 September, teaming up with his son Greg and Lawrence Tomlinson.

The 56-year-old, 1992 F1 champion, will be in the cockpit of the Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S which he is believed to have tested as far back as December 2008 and again at the Silverstone festival.

Retiring from Formula One racing in 1995, Mansell went onto race in the British Touring Car Championship in 1998 but was unsuccessful, finishing 18th out of 21 drivers.  In 2005, he had success in the Grand Prix Masters series by winning the inaugural race of the season, continuing by winning the season opening race the following year.

In 2007, Mansell made his debut appearance in the second round of the FIA GT at Silverstone, in a Ferrari 430 GT2 for the Scuderia Ecosse team alongside Chris Niarchos, finishing in 7th in their class and 21st overall.

Mansell is delighted to be back at the Silverstone circuit where he had some of his most memorable wins and is looking forward to racing alongside his sons.

Greg Mansell, 21,  is currently racing in the World Series by Renault while his older brother Leo Mansell, will be competing against the pair as he will be driving for the Ferrari GT2 team in the Le Mans Series.

Here’s a little clip of some of Nigel Mansell’s greatest moments;

Jenson Button

On Sunday, more than 55,000 spectators lined the London streets to watch the 10,000 entrants attempting to tackle the Mazda London Triathlon.

The British Formula One driver Jenson Button, was a competitor after taking-up a challenge from the 125cc MotoGP rider Bradley Smith after Lewis Hamilton pulled-out.

Button finished the event, which comprised of 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and a 10km run, in a personal best time of 2hrs 7min 2 sec, while Smith finished only slightly after with a time of 2hrs 13min 36sec.

After the event, Button said of Smith;

“He did very well, he’s a fit lad and so am I and it’s great to show that at events like this. Our performance demonstrates that we do have to train hard to be an F1 driver or a MotoGP rider and that when we aren’t racing, we aren’t just at home sitting around and that we do have to be very fit in order to race at our level.”

It is believed that an amount of more than £3 million was raised at the event to go to charities.

Henry Surtees

Henry Surtees, the 18-year-old son of former Formula One Champion John Surtees, was killed yesterday after suffering head injuries while racing in the Formula Two race at Brands Hatch.

During the second race of the day, Jack Clarke spun his car and hit the wall at Westfield bend, the wheel and tyre separated from the car on impact and struck Surtees on the head.  The youngster was knocked unconscious in the accident and his F2 ran straight off the track, hitting the barrier.

The race was immediately red flagged as medics rushed to the driver, taking him first to the on-site medical centre before transferring him by helicopter to hospital.

Sadly, it was later reported that Henry had died from his injuries after claiming his first podium place on the Saturday after finishing in third place.

One of my childhood hero’s Eddie Kidd, should have been walking by now but without the funds for regular treatment, the stunt rider has been pretty much put out to pasture.

Eddie started setting jump records at an early age leading to world fame and the name ‘The Black Knight’.  He went on to perform stunts in several films and TV programmes as well as being stunt double for the likes of Pierce Brosnan in the James Bond movie ‘GoldenEye’, Roger Moore and Michael Caine, to name a few.

On August 11th 1996, Eddie attended the Bulldog Bash at Long Marston Airfield near Stratford-Upon-Avon, where he was to perform a jump for his hundreds of fans.  However, on this occasion the landing went badly and Eddie suffered serious head and pelvic injuries.

After slipping into a coma, doctors warned his family and friends that he could be in a coma for years, but after just six-weeks this amazing man regained consciousness and although confined to a wheelchair since the accident, he continues to battle his disability and is determined to get back to perform jumps.

Nick Sherard, along with Eddie and Ray Winstone, have been filming a documentary on the stunt-man’s life, with the aim to provide revenue for regular treatment and a stable future for Eddie, who is only allowed to earn a certain amount of money, overseen by the authorities.

The documentary is half-way through filming but additional funds are needed and although production companies have shown an interest in buying the completed programme they will not invest in it.

There is a lottery film fund but they feel that the documentary is not cinematic or British enough, come-on, the man is a hero and it is a documentary that thousands of fans around the world can’t wait to see.

Eddie desperately needs physiotherapy to maintain his way of life, keep his dignity and his independence.  He also need speech therapy which until now he has been denied as the accident was twelve-years ago as well as a new wheelchair.

Money needs to be raised to help Eddie not only live his life but so he can begin once again to provide for his children.

Here is a trailer of the documentary, please help in which ever way you can;

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/video/video.php?v=42313900212&ref=nf