Belatedly , an update for regular readers .It’s early June , I started writing Refuge of the Roads on 1 January 2017 and today I passed the 80,000 word mark . That doesn’t mean I am anywhere near finishing as not only do I have  a lot more events to go to and write about , I still have another five or six chapters to finish , then I need to start the editing process to remove all those embarrassing typos and repetitions and  then I need to find  a suitable candidate to write my foreword  . That’s a challenge in itself as the bigger the name the easier it will be to find a publisher and the more books I can sell. But the bigger the name , the less inclined they’ll be to  write a foreword for some sixty something bloke nobody very much has heard of and so yes, I am coming to terms with the fact that it isn’t going to be Beyonce ......

But I have been  mixing with what red top papers call ‘slebs’ of late as I had the privilege – and it really was a privilege too -  of interviewing Sir Jackie Stewart last week and it was a fascinating conversation . Not for the book , but for the   Lotus   Seven Club’s Low Flying monthly magazine  ; the Club has just linked up with Sir Jackie’s Race Against Dementia charity and we hope to be able to help raise funds for the disease which will affect one in three of us – more on raceagainstdementia.com .

Part of the book is an account of the variety of motor sport events I will attend this year – and probably early next year too as I want to make up for missing the Goodwood Members’ Meeting last March . I made it to West Sussex but my malfunctioning back let me down and showed me that range anxiety isn’t just experienced by Leaf and Tesla drivers . My personal range was down to about ten metres at one point and although things are getting better, it’s a slow recovery . But being temporarily disabled is a source of good copy – there’s a hell of a difference in the customer care  provided by Motor Sport Vision (uniformly excellent) to some other motor sport promoters – they can be nameless for now but I won’t be pulling punches in the book .....    

We have a massive range of motor sport in the UK and so far in 2017 I have seen rallying , rallycross , drag racing , autograss, speed hillclimbing and  circuit racing at half a dozen different venues  . The quickest car was probably a 650bhp Gould hillclimb single seater , the slowest a Nissan Leaf (possibly the only one used in competition ?)  and the oldest a pre war – First World War-  ten litre Theophile Schneider .  Next weekend I will be observing the BTCC tribe at Croft , the week after that I’ll be at Cadwell Park to see the Wolds Trophy  (always a treat ) and a week or so later I hope to make my first visit to Shelsley Walsh hill climb in Worcestershire, one  of the world’s oldest motor sport venues. Then it’s Donington for the Lotus Seven’s 60 th birthday party , then Silverstone Classic and then ...lots more .

And finally – my Caterham was Mot’d in early March but my sodding back kept me out of the driver’s seat until two weeks ago  .  I am now finding out all over again just how life affirming a long drive in the purest , rawest sports car of them all can be .

Watch this space – and don’t be bashful ; I’ve had a lot of visits to the website so far but nearly everybody is too shy to sign the guestbook . Thanks to the handful who have and if you’re reading this do sign up and tell us who you are and what you’re up to.