The weekend saw action from the BTCC, WRC, and MotoGP. On recent form, I would have put money on the BTCC providing the most exciting racing, but that was far from the truth.

There was a time when MotoGP practically guaranteed close, exciting racing. That’s not been the case for a while, and detractors have enjoyed pointing out that not since 2006 have we seen a rider overtake for the win on the last lap.

That drought ended in emphatic fashion on Sunday in Catalunya, with a quite stunning climax to the race, Valentino Rossi ultimately triumphing over Jorge Lorenzo after the pair fought magnificently to the line. It has to be seen.

Almost as remarkably, the result leaves Rossi, Lorenzo and Stoner tied on 106 points at the top of the championship.

The World Rally Championship is looking close now too, with Mikko Hirvonen’s victory closing the gap to Sebastien Loeb to just 7 points. That’s because Loeb crashed out spectacularly. Again, it has to be seen.

I was slightly traumatised to see that the guest on Dave’s coverage of the rally was going to be Ben Shepherd. But, contrary to expectations, he was by a country mile the best guest they’ve had. He was a lot of fun and – being a presenter himself – utterly relaxed chatting away in front of the camera.

It was left to the BTCC to disappoint. The first two races were completely dominated by the Team RAC BMWs, and the third was plagued by safety car periods, thanks to cars skating off the track in the wet conditions.

A quick word about ITV4’s Le Mans 24 Hour coverage. The last half hour of the race in the middle of the BTCC broadcast was a bit dull, but the podium is always a thing of joy at Le Mans. The hour and a bit of live coverage before the BTCC, however, was surprisingly worthwhile – it managed to cover the progress of the most important entrants, and many of the issues surrounding the race. Well done to the commentators – John Hindhaugh and Graham Goodwin.

The Le Mans 24 Hour is the big jobby this weekend. After extensive and impressive coverage of another legendary event this week – the Isle of Man TT – ITV4 has coverage of it. Sort of.

Qualifying highlights are on Saturday morning from 11.20am to 11.55am. The race gets under way on Saturday at 2pm UK time. ITV4 has race coverage only between 10.30am and 11.45am on Sunday morning.

After that Le Mans makes way for the British Touring Car Championship from Croft.

But it means that ITV4 won’t be showing the end of the race, either live or in highlights form. Unless it’s going to interrupt the BTCC programme, or highlights are going to be broadcast later than next weekend – which is when we have TV listings until. It’s all a bit odd.

In any case, Eurosport naturally has hours and hours of coverage.

And don’t forget that MotoGP is in Catalunya – for its second of three visits to Spain in 2009 – too.

Another busy weekend, then.

It’s hard to argue that anyone had a worse weekend than Sylvain Guintoli, who suffered a broken leg after Josh Brookes ploughed into him on the warm up lap for race one of British Superbikes at Donington Park. Photos of that here.

He’s now down to fourth in the standings, but far worse than that, he’s expected to be out for longer than the initially estimated eight to ten weeks. It’s obviously a massive shame for Guintoli and the Worx Crescent Suzuki team, but also the series and its fans – because it’s a very competitive rider out of the title race.

A far more positive loser, if you like, was Sebastien Loeb, who for the first time in the six rounds of this year’s World Rally Championship so far, failed to win a rally. I’m never a fan of a driver being dominant for too long, so it’s nice to see Jari-Matti Latvala taking the victory. It’s a shame for the championship that Mikko Hirvonen didn’t take full advantage of Loeb’s moment of weakness, but Loeb’s so far in the lead that it probably doesn’t matter.

Arguably the weekend’s biggest winner was Petter Solberg, who finished Rally Italy as top Citroen in his old, but not as old as it was at the start of the season, Xsara WRC. It was close though: Loeb initially finished 3rd in the C4, but a two-minute time penalty for a seat belt rule infringement promoted Solberg to a second season podium, a shoved Loeb down to 4th.

It was all about British winners in Monaco on Sunday. Obviously Jenson Button won the Formula 1 race, but there was also Oliver Turvey in Formula Renault 3.5 or World Series by Renault depending on your nomenclature preference, and Richard Westbrook in the Porsche Supercup.

Nelson Piquet was a definite loser in Formula 1, but I almost – almost – feel sorry for him. He was shunted out of the race by Sebastien Buemi through no fault of his own. Given that Piquet really needs to start proving that he deserves his drive with Renault, it’s potentially very harsh that an opportunity to do so was taken from him.

But it happens to everyone, and all sympathy went out of the window when he started talking about Buemi as one of “these young drivers” who “need to calm down”. That’s Piquet, about whom Falvio Briatore said after the Chinese Grand Prix: “this was kind of a contest: the more you spin the more points you have”.

People in glass houses, Nelson.

Piero Ferrari – Ferrari board member and sole surviving son of the company’s founder Enzo Ferrari – has been talking to The Guardian, and highlighted a massive contradiction in their argument about the future of Formula 1.

Ferrari’s problem is two-fold: the budget cap, and the two-tier regulations. Let’s ignore the budget cap. He told The Guardian:

“­Everybody on the grid has to start with the same rules, otherwise there’s no ­competition.”

Okay, that’s clear. Later, he said:

“I strongly believe that if you look at the past of Ferrari, today’s image is born from victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and sports and GT racing.”

It’s been widely suggested that Le Mans is something Ferrari would consider concentrating on in place of Formula 1.

But, in Le Mans racing, does everybody on the grid start with the same rules? LMP1, LMP2, GT1, GT2. Hmm. That’ll be a no then.

I’m being rather pedantic, admittedly – it’s not the same as classes in Le Mans – and I’m picking and choosing quotes. But I do think it demonstrates that Ferrari’s concerns aren’t really with the regulations at all, but purely the fact that the changes are being made outside of Ferrari’s control.

So my fantastic plan to tweet from trackside at Thruxton today failed miserably, for no discernible reason. What worked when I tested it on Friday, didn’t work today.

Ho hum, you didn’t miss a great deal. The highlight was pointing out that there was a man in an Orange Arrows fleece, and that there were McLaren caps with Alonso’s name on for sale. They didn’t seem to be selling well.

Fortunately my camera did work. And so it is that you are treated to the broadly acceptable photo of the Airwaves BMW, which is really quite a fetching car. The BMWs didn’t struggle as much in the BTCC races as expected, and Colin Turkington’s race two victory, secured on the final lap, went down very well indeed with the crowd.

The youngsters in the Ginetta Junior Championship were up to their usual exuberant shenanigans, getting excited and shoving each other all over the track. Car number 5 – Carl Stirling, apparently – was perhaps most exuberant, knocking the entire front of his car off. They do provide outstanding entertainment, and well deserved the strong crowd support they received.

I’m afraid I can’t put a name to the driver of car number 8 in the Ginetta G50 Championship, but the team’s attempt to convince everyone that their replacement door was the same colour as the rest of the car has earned my utmost respect and admiration. It certainly was black. Definitely.

So there it is. Today might not have gone entirely to plan, but I’m sure we’ll all get over it.

There’s a warm glow of positive news this morning for some of those people in motorsport who have been affected by the impact of the economic balls up.

First and foremost, Subaru casualty Petter Solberg started Rally Norway in the best possible way, winning the Oslo super special stage in his ageing Citroen Xsara WRC.

Admittedly he was down to 5th this morning after stage 3, but it’s still an impressive performance. At the front, as stage 4 times start to come in, Mikko Hirvonen has just taken the lead back from Sebastien Loeb.

In Qatar, Marco Melandri is keeping himself busy while he waits to see whether anyone will run Kawasaki’s bikes in MotoGP this season. He finished 5th in first practice for the Speedcar race there tomorrow.

In Formula 1, there are rumours that Honda Racing has found a buyer, and that the cars will be on the grid in Melbourne. It’s far from confirmed, but it gives us hope.

Things are even looking up for Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson, who were shut out of Formula 1 when Super Aguri collapsed last year. Sato is in talks to become the official reserve driver for both Red Bull teams, and Davidson is joining BBC Radio 5 Live’s commentary team.

See? Everything works out in the end.

Croft’s appeal against compensation awarded to three local residents over “excessive noise” from the circuit has been dismissed, and further an injunction has been granted limiting higher noise levels to 40 days per year.

There is, inevitably, anger from fans, blaming everyone and everything.

There are, from where I’m standing, four bits to look at: the motivation of the claimants, the legal principle, the judge’s individual judgement, and the precedent it sets.

I’m no expert, but I have read the Court of Appeal judgement. So this is my take on all of it.

Motivation of the claimants

Much of the anger is directed at the claimants: Derek and Julia Watson, and their daughter Jill Wilson. Jill Wilson is the ex-wife of Jimmy Wilson, one of the founders of the company which manages Croft. Much has been made of this.

The fact that Croft has hosted motorsport since 1949 is the other fact much shouted about in criticism of the claimants – basically they should expect and accept the noise.

But that argument rather falls down when you realise that the circuit’s history isn’t terribly consistent, and it’s only since 1998 that the number of days in use per year has ramped up.

But whatever questions there might be surrounding their motivation, and whether it’s right or wrong for them to make the claim in the first place, the claim is legally acceptable. We might not like it, but there it is.

Legal principle

Through a fairly complicated sequence of events, Croft had limits on noise levels adopted under planning regulations. These were 40 days at N1 to N2 noise levels (race meetings), and including those up to 110 days at N1 to N4 levels (testing and track days).

One defence is that these planning regulations changed the “nature and character of the neighbourhood” so that the noise levels set out should constitute reasonable use.

But the legal principle is that planning authorities do not have “jurisdiction to authorise a nuisance.” So noise even within those limits can be judged a nuisance.

However, planning authorities “may have the power to permit a change in the character of a neighbourhood.”

So it comes down to a decision on what is a reasonable use of Croft. And that’s down to the judge.

The judge’s individual judgement

The judge rejected the change of nature and character of the neighbourhood argument – and for what it’s worth I’d tend to agree. It’s hard to argue that the surrounds of Croft are not “rural”. Have a look for yourself.

Within the context of a rural neighbourhood, then, what is reasonable use? According to the judge, 40 days at N1 to N4 noise levels.

The claimants were after 20 days, and another 20 days with compensation; the defendants were after 110 days as above.

The defendant’s appeal called the judge’s threshold “perverse and insufficiently reasoned,” and I can see what they mean. The appeal judge didn’t, however: “It was a matter for his judgment, not for any further reasoning.”

My main problem is that in their initial submission, the claimants were not objecting to the race events at the circuit, which take about 45-50 days at N1 and N2 noise levels. But these have been impacted by the 40 day limit. And that strikes me as an injustice.

Precedent

A worry amongst fans is that this sets a dangerous precedent. But does it?

For Croft: clearly. The company is “extremely disappointed” with the decision which has “serious implications for the circuit and the motor racing industry generally,” and is “reviewing the position carefully.”

The future of Croft may depend on other local residents resisting the temptation to cash in, which would surely risk the future of the circuit – if indeed it can cope with the hefty compensation it already has to pay out.

I’m not sure how immediately applicable the case is to other circuits though.

Silverstone, Donington and Silverstone have surely changed the nature of their neighbourhoods to the point that reasonable use of the circuits would be sufficiently high to defend themselves.

Smaller circuits might be more vulnerable, but those with more consistent activity over a longer period than Croft might fare better on what constitutes reasonable use.

Only time, and the willingness or otherwise of other residents living near race tracks to make claims, will tell.

It’s a year since Jeremy Metcalfe entered Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack as one of the young talented housemates. Then he was a Formula Renault UK driver. With Celebrity Big Brother just getting under way, I thought it about time we checked what he’s been up to since then.

The quick answer is driving in the British GT Championship. Which I imagine to be of similar interest to me as the FIA GT Championship. But that’s not the point.

Metcalfe has been racing a Ferrari 430 for CR Scuderia alongside Luke Hines – a name best known to me for competing in the BTCC a few years ago for VX Racing and SEAT among others. Metcalfe’s website hails the pair as “British GT Vice-Champions” – i.e. they came second in the championship. Which, in all fairness, seems like a pretty good rookie season result.

In other news, Metcalfe has started a degree course at Nottingham Trent University, an institution which I will decline to pass comment on. According to another website, his chosen subject is Property Investment and Finance. You’ll need more than a degree to profitably invest in property at the moment.

There, now you’re up to date. But what will Metcalfe get up to in 2009? Find out here, same time next year! Maybe.

It’s not often that I’m in a Eurosport-enabled house, but I was this weekend – a good weekend for Eurosport, with World Touring Cars, British and World Superbikes, and live coverage of almost all of the Le Mans 24 Hour. I didn’t get to watch a lot of any of it, but at least it was there.

I saw a few minutes of Superpole for the World Superbikes, but with Jack Burnicle and James Whitham at the British Superbikes, the commentary was distinctly lacking pizazz.

I caught the odd bit of Le Mans, but five minutes here and there of an endurance race isn’t exactly a satisfying viewing experience. From reading reports today the final hour was excellent stuff, with Audi managing to hold off a closing Peugeot, so it’s a shame I missed that.

With Martin Haven on WTCC duty, there was plenty of Carlton Kirby at Le Mans. He’s generally hated in serious motorsport circles, but I greatly enjoy his bumbling commentary, and there’s something effortlessly likeable about his voice.

There’s not much on the internet about Carlton Kirby, bile-ridden forum comments aside. He’s only mentioned three times on Wikipedia. Two of them are the Dakar Rally page, and a German page about the 2007 LMS season.

My favourite, though, is this page, where a user called ‘Richard n’ has tried to create a page for Carlton Kirby, only to be told that he isn’t notable enough.

Poor Carlton Kirby. Why shouldn’t he have a page where people can spread malicious lies about him? Surely he deserves at least that.

GT racing is to motorsport what BBC Parliament is to broadcasting: it’s faintly interesting that it’s there, and it’s probably a good thing, but it’s awfully dull.

The FIA GT Championship is no different, despite ITV4 showing hours of the stuff, and Channel 4 having a half-hour highlights show.

Does anyone actually watch the ITV4 coverage? I skipped through both the Silverstone and Monza rounds. Richard Nichols and Graham Tyler are probably very well informed commentators, but they’re very dry, and certainly aren’t capable of making the racing any more exciting.

Channel 4’s coverage is at least brief enough to sit through, if only to decide whether it’s worth watching again. It isn’t, by the way. Possibly the most telling sign is that after the start of the race, with some actual passing on track, an awful lot of the highlights were taken from pit stops – drivers getting in and out of cars, wheels being changed, refuelling. Exciting! Or not. Then the last 25 minutes of the race were skipped entirely. That must have been good then.

It’s nice to see some familiar friends though: Nigel Stepney of Ferrari spy scandal fame at Gigawave; CR Scuderia with the same livery as their Formula Renault UK cars.

Drivers too: former GP2 and Minardi Formula 1 driver Gianmaria Bruni; Alexandre ‘Xandi’ Negrao, familiar from GP2 and A1GP; former WRC driver Luis Perez Companc; Ryan Sharp, who’s done bits of WTCC and GP2 racing.

It strikes me – probably unfairly – that they’re just there because they’ve got nothing better to do. Not even the Le Mans Series – which thanks to the LMP1 cars is slightly less dull.

Maybe the appeal of GT racing is in the cars – people who like Ferraris like watching them drive around. Because I can’t see the appeal in the racing.