As someone who is not only a motoring journalist but also a content writer you might expect I spend more time writing than talking. You would be wrong, sadly I am one of those people that simply wont shut up, it’s mainly down to the simple fact that I am enthusiastic about most things and this means I love banging on about anything and everything. Even at school, every single report I ever had said “talks too much”..well who cares, I like communicating and it hasn’t done me any harm, I don’t think.

Last week all this chatter finally came into it’s own when I was invited to talk on the Danny Pike show on BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey about my feelings on driverless cars. My feelings on the subject are mixed, as is the subject. It really isn’t a simple yes or no situation, the technology is at such an early stage we simply cant tell what form it will end up taking. Of course, small automated taxis for the city centre are not a bad idea at all, until they go a bit wrong of course. But at the speeds being suggested I don’t think it will be too much of an issue. My concern comes when we talk about motorways, or even A and B roads! That is a long long way in the future and, as such, should not really be speculated about. The other point that is no minor issue for me is that I get car sick when I am not driving. Yes, I know that is hilarious, but it is a fact, I think that’s why I love driving so much and developed such a passion for motoring.

So unless driverless cars come with a sick bag I am not going to be getting involved for as long as I am able to drive myself, but that doesn’t mean others wont benefit. In terms of talking on the radio, I loved it, I did very well by all accounts and have been asked to be available for future appearances…keep your ears out!

Its not long now until my first season of DMAX Karting begins with the Daytona Motorsport group. I am super excited but also very unsure of quite how badly I might be beaten! Some of the people in my “light” category are likely to be very good indeed, so watch this space to see how I do!

I will be writing up each race for www.motor-heads.co.uk so tune in to watch my highs and lows and eventual defeat!

I am actually really excited, to be part of a race season involving points and weigh ins etc is going to be fantastic…I can just about pretend I am a racing driver! I have also been training for this so if nothing else I am fitter than I was last year and hopefully a bit lighter too!

As you might imagine, I get asked to help people buy a second hand car quite a lot. I love doing it, I find the world of used car buying one of almost limitless choice. Its so much more fun than buying a new car, but people do fail to grasp some of the basics.

One of the biggest things people don’t get is this, If you cant afford a new BMW, why do you think you can afford to run a second hand one? I use Beemer as a example, but it stands for any high end car. Just because it was once a reliable and luxury car does not mean it will still be as good when it has done 140,000 miles. Thanks about it…someone sold that car because it had done too many miles, and they could afford to run it and buy it new! You cant, but still you take it on hoping you can have a slice of luxury for none of the price.

There are lots more ramblings on this topic in my head but this one makes for a simple point. Only look at cars you could see yourself buying new at some stage, the cost of the  parts and servicing etc often sit at the same level as the original cost. They don’t get cheaper to run…

I love winter, I even like challenging driving conditions so as the season changes I always get excited. However, I always forget the spectre of de-icing the car in the morning, it drives me mad. My wife insists on throwing boiling water over the windscreen of her car every morning which leads to me wincing and waiting for a bang and a visit from autoglass. I tend to be a “scraper” and rarely have gloves on so I get freezing cold hands and a long face!

Then once you are in the car its still freezing until the engine warms up, thank god I don’t really like diesels as they take an age to warm up, but still, the 5 minutes or so before I start to be able to see the road and feel my hands is always too long.

Such is life I suppose, until I can afford a car with a heated steering wheel!

I am really pleased to announce I am know a regular contributor for www.motor-heads.co.uk It’s a great website that is gaining some serious recognition, I hope to add to the already great content being written over the coming months.

My first post is one I put together in the light of being asked to join the Daytona Motorsport DMAX championships next year. This is my first competitive UK karting and certainly my first karting involving weight categories. I am really looking forward to entering and meeting all the other racers, but I wont lie, it’s going to be tough and I may well come last every month!

Keep an eye on motor heads for lots of great content and from Feb…my tales of woe from the back of the grid.

I think we are all looking forward to seeing a new track on the F1 one calender this weekend! I think its amazing the Marussia are only running one car out of respect to Jules Bianchi, however I wonder if there are some other motives. This is the team that pretty much binned off Max Chilton for cold hard cash only a few weeks ago, so perhaps it might just be cheaper to run one car!

Lets hope we have a safe but exciting race, new corners, new straights and lots of other unknowns will certainly make for an interesting weekend. I do love hearing past drivers waxing lyrical about legendary corners but it certainly mixes things up to have fresh turns and twists to test everyone!

Let’s go!

Clearly everyone even slightly interested in motorsport is thinking about Jules Bianchi and there is very little I can add. However I felt the need to simply say we all know motor sport is dangerous and often people who know nothing about it like to make comments about risk and choice, these people should choose their moments to say this and not pass judgement at times like this.

I cannot profess to have met Jules but by all accounts he is a wonderful guy and I personally want to wish him and his family the very best and hopefully he can look forward to a speedy recovery.

Forza Jules!