I've been a Formula 1 racing fan for many years now, going back to my childhood in the 80's.
Fast women and loose cars; its what I do.
Anyway, I've been living in a country that doesn't have an F1 presence, for the last 15 years and even though I'm originally a Brit, none of the UK based drivers really excite me.
And then I found him when our eyes met over a YouTube video.
A driver who is hungry for a win, has proven himself in the past, is willing to push the boundaries slightly, and best of all, works for a British F1 team.
Lady and gentlemen, I present to you - Vitaly Petrov. My new Formula 1 driver.
And why the hero part in the blog title? Because as well as having to deal with the British media on a daily basis, garner sponsorship for himself and, it appears, fight for his drive every season, he still has to drive exceptionally fast around a track with other, like-minded nutters.
Sadly Dan Wheldon died in October in Las vegas whilst racing in IndyCar, so these guys are not just fancy hair and interesting accents. This is serious stuff.
So, what the gosh darned rooting tooting is that title all about then?
I am a fan of Formula 1. Any sport that can end in serious pain if you make a mistake gets my attention. Formula 1 has the added draw of having a large amount of information flowing throughout the year and not just on race day.
Crashes are not uncommon but generally do not alter the final result as they either happen at the first corner to some back markers or later on in the race to a couple of cars who are fighting for position and then take each other out.
There are some famous crashes such as Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton deSilva Senna's fatal crashes (in the same weekend), as well as Michael Schumacher taking himself or nearest competitor out, and a couple of beauties when cars went, literally, flying over others.
That's not the point though. The level of danger involved is the point.
Any crash involves pieces of car flying at high speed in all directions. This allows the energy in the crash to dissipate without harming the driver. But it also means that basically, bits go flying everywhere. Tyres have landed in the crowd killing spectators and we are coming to terms, in F1, with the fact that Felipe Massa is going to be out for the rest of the season because he was hit in the head by a piece of debris that fell off another car in front of his during a practice session.
He was hit in the helmet with a 800g piece of coiled metal at over 180mph that left him unconscious. He is recovering now and has a beautiful scar (above) to tell the tale.
And that is where today's revelations leave me with my mouth agape and my mind not comprehending what happened.
Nelson Piquet Jr.'s intentional crash, in the the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
Today it was revealed that one team, Renault, had asked one of its drivers, Nelson Piquet Jr., to crash on purpose. The FIA stated that Renault had planned and carried out actions:
to cause an intentional accident with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of their other driver, Fernando Alonso, who went on to win.
The team stated
“The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the F.I.A. concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix,”
Which is pretty damn shameful, dangerous and ultimately, suicidal for the careers of those involved.
So what also gets my goat here, and you may notice that I'm still very annoyed and shocked by it all, is that they actually thought that they could get away with it.
In an industry where millions of dollars hang in the balance for every point a driver can make people are going to be ruthless. And they are going to have very long memories.
The chap on the left, Flavio 'Flav' Briatore, has been in Formula 1 for a very long time. He helped to bring Michael Schumacher into the limelight. He was teh Team leader for Renault.
The chap on the left is Pat Symonds. He too has been in F1 forever and he was Flav's no. 2 man.
Today they both left their current (and probably last) Formula 1 team after the team admitted that these two individuals had in fact conspired with their no. 2 driver, Nelson Piquet Jr., to alter the outcome of the race.
