Pitstop: Ecclestone puts boot in

Formula One puppet master Bernie Ecclestone may have turned 80 but that hasn't curbed his caustic tongue. He has put the boot into this season's three newcomers as "cripples" the sport could do without, much to the surprise of the teams in question - Lotus, Virgin and Hispania (HRT) - and accused them of doing "nothing" for the sport. His grip on things may be slipping, as Ecclestone was the one who played a big role in getting them on board.

Teretonga action
Four racing categories will provide the action tomorrow when the second meeting of the season starts at Teretonga Park. Damon Leitch will continue preparations for his campaign in the Toyota Racing Series when he drives the same Tatuus Formula Renault he used to dominate the Sports & Racing Car Class at the October meeting.

Paddon chases placing
Young Kiwi international rally driver Hayden Paddon lines up for the final World Rally Championship round this year, the Wales Rally GB, next weekend, hoping to cement his third place in the PWRC championship. Paddon has been consistent all season and his results bode well for a drive next year.

Baird in title hunt
Kiwi Porsche pilot Craig Baird has decided to pull out of the final round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA) series that he led until the last round. The organisers decided, at the last minute, to add an extra race that clashed with the opening weekend of the New Zealand national race championship where Baird is keen to defend his two titles - NZV8 and Porsche GT3 Cup championships.

Busy month for karters
November looks to be a busy month for New Zealand's top karters with events in Japan, the United States and Italy. The action starts in Japan this weekend with the annual All Japan Yamaha Championship followed by the Grand Challenge the following weekend in Italy with 252 drivers from 60 countries vying for a place in the finals. At the same time more Kiwis will be trying to qualify in SKUSA Supernationals meeting on the other side of the Atlantic in Las Vegas.

Under the hood
Having not heard from former Formula One driver Gerhard Burger for a while may have proved to be a good thing. First up he's put Fernando Alonso in the same league as Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, but he outdid himself by suggesting Mark Webber deliberately crashed in Korea. No sane man would suggest a driver leading the world championships would fire himself into a wall in the hope of bouncing back on to the track to take out a particular opponent. Formula One drivers are pretty clued up, but you'd have to be a Nasa scientist to work out the angles for that to happen.