MY wife Barbara drives a two-door sports convertible coupe. Now you might ask, what use is a convertible in our climate? Well, the roof is down on her car right through the year, giving great Sunday runs down to the coast in every weather, except rain.
Now the Ford Mustang California Special convertible has arrived in Europe for the first time. The car is only available as a convertible with a folding soft-top. This is a special edition with a distinctive style and Ford’s charismatic 5-litre 445bhp V8 petrol engine provides effortless cruising. And why, you might also ask, when everyone is taking about the demise of the petrol engine has Ford brought out a gas guzzling 5-litre car? The answer is simple: petrol heads love them. Inside, standard comfort technologies include heated and cooled front seats, a 12-inch customisable instrument cluster and advanced connectivity that lets drivers call up their favourite music or get directions hands-free.
This newest interpretation of the Mustang reflects the original with its honeycomb front grilleAerodynamic enhancements suggest the V8 performance, with a larger front splitter and optional rear side air scoops and unique five-spoke alloy wheels. The leather seats and door inserts are part-finished in grey suede recycled polyester. Seats and floor mats are embossed with the GT/CS logo and the instrument panel is finished in Carbon with a special Mustang California badge. Standard driver assistance technologies include Adaptive Cruise Control with Pre-Collision Assist and Lane Keeping Alert. This Mustang’s 5.0-litre V8 engine delivers 445bhp, providing a petrolhead performance with an exhaust soundtrack befitting a special-edition. Combined with Ford’s six-speed manual transmission, this version accelerates from 0-62 mph in 4.8 seconds, or you can have the 10-speed automatic which delivers 0-62 in 4.5-seconds.
I know what I want for Christmas.
Mind games as F1 returns
CHAMPION: Max Verstappen’s Red Bull set a hot pace in Bahrain
THIS weekend sees the return of F1 with round one in Bahrain over the weekend. Rumour and gossip fill the pit lanes, with Mercedes apparently on the back foot , experiencing problems with their W13 car, but we have witnessed sandbagging from Mercedes in the past, luring the opposition into a false sense of security.
Red Bull’s Christian Horner and World Champion Max Verstappen are not listening, they’re concentrating on their own race.
This season sees all new cars meet the 2022 regulations, the main purpose of which is to improve overtaking opportunities. Wheel sizes change from 13-inch wheels to 18-inch wheels, with newly designed tyres with prolonged life expectancy that will potentially reduce many races to just one-stoppers.
Sprint qualifying returns this year in Imola, Austria and Brazil but has been tweaked. There will be qualifying on Friday deciding the sprint grid, but now the quickest driver in qualifying will be credited with having taken pole position. The sprint race on the Saturday will then decide the grid for Sunday’s GP but, rather than just points for the top three, there will be points for the top eight, from eight down to one, making it worthwhile for all drivers to genuinely make a race of it on the Saturday.
In pre-season testing in Bahrain this week, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen set the fastest time at the International Racing Circuit. Second fastest was Charles Leclerc, third Fernando Alonso, George Russell was fourth, Valtteri Bottas fifth, Yuki Tsunoda was sixth, Sergio Pérez seventh, Haas's Mick Schumacher eighth, Lando Norris was ninth, with Sebastian Vettel finishing with the day's 10th quickest time. Lewis Hamilton was seventeenth although he had problems on the day, so we shouldn’t read too much into those times.
The 2021 season ended in chaos when decisions made by race director Michael Massey during the final race that ultimately cost Lewis Hamilton the race and the World championship were fought over in the courts for months. Massey lost his job, but the results stood, and Max Verstappen was crowned World Champion. Let’s hope this season brings racing that is tough, fair, competitive, entertaining and results in the world’s best driver becoming 2022 World Champion.
Jonny Greer dominates at Bishopcourt
HIGH-FLYER: Jonny Greer in his Citroen C3 
CARRYDUFF’S Jonny Greer secured his second championship victory in the Race and Rally-sponsored Bishopscourt Rally, which was round two of the McGrady Insurance Rally Championship.
The event was dominated by Greer from start to finish. In the space of just two stages Jonny built a lead of more than 20 seconds, a big lead on a single venue event. Settling in, he managed that early lead, powering home his Citroen C3 to eventually win by more than thirty seconds and in the process taking a huge step towards retaining his 2021 Northern Ireland Championship crown.
Aaron McLaughlin finished second after battling back from some early trouble, Derek McGarrity finished third, his Skoda outpaced by the faster Fiesta WRC. Joe McGonigle and Ciaran Geaney were fourth, Joe Hegarty and Ashleen Hegarty fifth ahead of Michael McGarrity and Damien Garvey in sixth, David Kelly and Dean O’Sullivan were seventh. Mark Massey and Alistair Wylie were eighth with Emma McKinstry making a return partnered by Kenny Hull in ninth, leaving Robert Erwin and Andrew Wilson to round out the top ten, also taking the two-wheel drive honours in their Toyota MR2. The McGrady Insurance Rally Championship now has a two-month break before the Maiden City Stages in Derry on May 21.
Motorcycle road racing has been dealt a terrible blow as the 2022 Ulster Grand Prix at Dundrod up in the Belfast Hills was cancelled after agreed funding from Tourism NI (TNI) failed to materialise.
TNI, an organisation responsible for the development of tourism and the marketing of Northern Ireland as a tourist destination, have once again taken their eye off the ball. A few months back you may have read in this column that a TNI decision was a major factor in the collapse of a round of the World Rally Championship coming to Belfast. Once again an organisation that is tasked with enhancing tourism in Northern Ireland have failed in their responsibility to improve our tourism appeal through motorsport.
The Ulster Grand Prix last ran in 2019 and now the question must be asked, has a lack of funding coupled with the Covid pandemic been the final nail in the coffin of the fastest motorcycle road race in the world? In a statement, the event organisers thanked the Department of the Economy and the Department of Finance both of whom had fully endorsed the proposal.
Shame on you, Tourism NI.
