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**SeCSaT™** · 21-05-2008, 16:30

F1 Hamilton fully focused

Lewis Hamilton is adamant he won't get distracted by the glitz and glamour of Monaco during this weekend's race.

The Formula One circus is in Monte Carlo this week and the stunning location means celebrities are lining up for an invitation to the paddock.

Hamilton, though, says he is 100 per cent focused on the task ahead.

"It is not a distraction in any way, as with any race I am just fully focused on getting the job done," the 23-year old said.

"Monaco weekend more than any other is about being 100% in the zone and so I just keep myself to myself."

Hamilton finished second behind former McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso in last year's race around the streets of Monte Carlo.

The Brit, who rates the race as his favourite, knows he will have to be at his very best if he wants to win his maiden race in the Principality.

"It is the Grand Prix that every driver wants to win. Being a street circuit it is very exciting to drive, there is no room for any error all weekend," he said.

"You are on the limit the whole time, there are no long straights where you have a moment to think. It is so tight and narrow, and when you consider how quick you are driving it is unreal.

"To be quick you need to use every centimetre of the circuit, this even includes touching the barriers at some points."

**SeCSaT™** · 21-05-2008, 16:30

F1 Honda TV channel snaps up Goodman

ITV's Louise Goodman has joined Honda's online TV channel, HondaRacingF1.com, as a guest presenter.

Goodman's debut show in which she spends the day with Rubens Barrichello at a celebratory golf tournament to mark his record-breaking 257th Grand Prix is already online.

"Louise will be presenting a number of features with Honda Racing TV over the course of the 2008 season to give our fans a unique insight into the passion and commitment of the Honda Racing F1 Team," said David Butler, marketing director of Honda.

"Her enthusiasm and knowledge will be an invaluable asset to our website. We look forward to further editorial and on-site improvements at HondaRacingF1.com over the season."

**SeCSaT™** · 21-05-2008, 16:31

WRC Subaru confirms debut event for new car.

The Subaru World Rally Team has announced that the new Impreza WRC2008 will make its debut on the Acropolis Rally at the end of this month, the seventh round in the World Rally Championship.

The new car, which has been billed as the most 'radically different Subaru World Rally Car in 15 years', will be officially launched on Wednesday May 29 - one day prior to the ceremonial start of the Greek event.

It is based on the latest road going Subaru Impreza, which was introduced back in June 2007 and while it features 'radically new styling' it retains the 'well proven Subaru horizontally-opposed turbocharged engine combined with Symmetrical All Wheel Drive'.

Furthermore the Impreza WRC2008 will also sport a 'dramatic new livery', apparently 'created around the Subaru corporate identity but at the same time preserving the iconic blue identity familiar to rally fans worldwide'.

Subaru team boss David Richards meanwhile has revealed that the car is being rolled out earlier than planned.

"We are very excited to be able to launch the all-new Impreza WRC2008 ahead of schedule," he confirmed.

"It is testament to the dedication and commitment of the team behind the scenes in the UK and at STi in Japan. Just as the latest Impreza road car represents a new era for Subaru so the WRC2008 represents a new era for all of us at the Subaru World Rally Team and I am confident that we will arrive in Greece able to fight competitively."

Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson both had their first familiarisations run aboard the all-new Impreza WRC2008 prior to last weekend's Rally d'Italia Sardegna and the results were obviously positive.

"The team's objective has always been to launch the WRC2008 as soon as the testing confirmed that good steps forward in overall performance had been made," added the team in a statement to the press.

"We are confident that introducing the car in Greece will enable the team to be highly competitive in the second half of the season and give Petter and Chris the best opportunity to win in 2008."

**SeCSaT™** · 21-05-2008, 16:31

BTCC Thruxton race 3: Plato strikes back

Jason Plato has won the third of today’s three HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship rounds at the Thruxton circuit in Hampshire.

Plato, who’d had a problematic opening two races, got his title bid back on track with what in the end was an unchallenged victory in his diesel-powered SEAT Leon TDI.

However, the early stages had been led by Gordon Shedden’s Team Halfords Honda until – just as in race one – his car suffered a punctured tyre.

Finishing second, after avoiding several skirmishes around him, was the BMW 320si of BMW Dealer Team UK driver Mat Jackson and third the Vauxhall Vectra VXR of championship leader Fabrizio Giovanardi.

Second for much of the race, though, and putting Plato under pressure had been impressive 18-year-old Andrew Jordan until his John Guest Racing Honda Integra cruelly retired with an engine problem.

The result means that Italian Giovanardi, the reigning champion, continues to lead the standings ahead of Plato but up to third is Vauxhall’s 21-year-old signing Tom Onslow-Cole who finished this race in seventh following two wins earlier in the day.

With eight different race winners from the season’s opening 12 races, the BTCC next heads to the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire for its next three rounds on Sunday 1 June.

Points leader Giovanardi said: “It has been a very unpredictable three races today – in race two I was leading until I had a puncture and race three I saw Jason moving away in the lead so knew I had to get the best result I could. I think Croft will be stronger for the SEAT but we have improved our car a lot. All I know is that it will be another very big fight.”

Meanwhile, race three's top six was completed by Vauxhall's Matt Neal, Team Air Cool driver Adam Jones - whose SEAT Leon had, at one stage, made it three abreast with Jordan and Jackson through the daunting Noble corner - and Colin Turkington, his team RAC BMW 320si getting the better of Onslow-Cole in the closing stages. SEAT''s Darren Turner would surely have been among this group had he not needed a pit stop to replace a punctured tyre and slumped to 16th.

Eighth, giving the John Guest crew at least something to cheer, was Mike Jordan, while Steven Kane's Motorbase BMW 320si and Harry Vaulkhard's Robertshaw Chevrolet Lacetti - depsite contact with one another at the final corner - rounded out the top ten. Vaulkhard's tenth place is his first points finish in the BTCC.

There was six retirements during the race. BTCC returnee Gareth Howell was the first to vanish with suspected suspension damage to his BTC Racing SEAT Toledo. Team-mate Chris Stockton's car then crashed out at the Club chicane in a collision with Stephen Jelley's Team RAC BMW 320si, the latter also stopping two laps later with accident damage to his car.

Like Shedden, who at least recovered to finish a distant 17th following a pit stop, team-mate Tom Chilton also suffered a punctured tyre but was forced out. And with two laps to go, Alan Taylor's Robertshaw Honda Integra slithered straight on into the barrier at the chicane. But at least he'd started the race - unable to make the grid had been Michael Doyle's In-Tune Honda Civic which had suffered engine troubles earlier in the day.

Result, Thruxton BTCC race 3 (provisional):
1. Jason Plato (GBR), SEAT Sport UK/SEAT Leon TDI, 16 laps in 21m37.731s
2. Mat Jackson (GBR), BMW Dealer Team UK/BMW 320si, +1.546s
3. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA), VX Racing/Vauxhall Vectra VXR, +2.300s
Fastest lap: Plato, 1m18.945s (107.42mph)

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