HossC

I made a point of getting up for 8am yesterday to watch the Bahrain Grand Prix from Malaysia live. Unfortunately, due to heavy rain the start was delayed. When the cars finally left the pits they only managed two laps behind the safety car, and some didn't even get that far as they stopped on the circuit due to the low speeds causing software glitches. The FIA (the governing body) provided software patches and the cars finally made the grid at just after 9.30am UK time. The track appeared to be drying quickly, but about two thirds of the drivers, including pole sitter Max Verstappen, chose intermediate wet tires. Lewis Hamilton in second went for slicks. At the start, Kimi Antonelli and George Russell both passed Max, but the cars with slick tires quickly dropped back, and Lewis was back in 17th place after just three racing laps. While some drivers pitted for grooved tires, Lewis told the team that they might as well gamble on the track coming to them. On lap 9, Valtteri Bottas went off the circuit bringing out a safety car. The leaders all took this opportunity to get slick tires, but Lewis stayed out on his. At the restart, Kimi went from first to third as Max and George passed him. By lap 22, Kimi had retaken the lead and Lewis had scythed his way up to fifth. There were some good battles in the mid-field before a breakdown for Alex Albon on lap 46 brought out another safety car allowing for another round of pit stops. Before the cars could restart, George's car also broke down while he was in a strong third place. There were only three laps to go by the time they restarted the race, and Lewis made his final pass up to third. At the front, Max took his first win of the year ahead of Kimi. Fernando Alonso scored four valuable points for Aston Martin in eighth. You can see the race highlights here. Kimi has now extended his lead back to 84 points. It's only a week to the Singapore Grand Prix and 350km, which Valtteri Bottas is cycling!

I hope to get around to the Bahrain Grand Prix review tomorrow, but for tonight just a quick congratulations to Elfyn Evans. Earlier today the Welsh driver became the first British winner of the World Rally Championship for 25 years after Swedish rival Oliver Solberg crashed near the end of the final stage in Italy. Elfyn has previously been runner-up on five occasions.

I'm still getting used to the new layout and mainly use my laptop to view HazzardNet, so I missed the "Unread Content" icon on the bottom-left of the phone screen. That'll give you a third option.

I see they're making 510 Generals and 300 Sheriff cars. and the Generals come with "an optional roof flag decal". We don't use cubic inches here, but I thought the 6.1 Hemi worked out at 370 cu in rather than the quoted 392. The recent Chargers and Challengers are certainly fast (some with over 700hp), and seem to be used by the police and criminals. From the chase videos I've watched, sometimes the criminals get away, but they're just as likely to wind up in a wreck after a PIT maneuver, especially if the police are Arkansas State Troopers. The General reminds me of this Challenger mock-up I posted over 10 years ago. I added a few inches to the length and changed a few other details like the grille. Of course, Dodge are now making the 2026 Charger as a 2-door, and even show it in orange on their website:

I'm not sure which screen layout you have: computer (laptop/desktop) or phone, but the instructions are very similar. On a computer, you'll have an orange menu bar at the top of the page under the HazzardNet logo. On a phone you'll have icons across the bottom of the screen. Click/tap the Menu icon (three horizontal lines) on the right and you'll get the same options as the computer menu bar. From here, click/tap "Latest Posts & Activity". If you only want to see unread posts, click/top "New Posts". If you want to see all recent activity, i.e. recent posts, reactions, new members joining etc., then click/tap "All Activity". That's the one I go for.

Here's another video I've just watched a reaction to. This Brazilian lady had been living in the UK for 10 years when she made the video, although she doesn't seem to have posted much lately. I'm happy to elaborate on any of the topics she mentions. The only one which wasn't explained well was Yorkshire Pudding. It's not bread/dough, it's actually batter like a pancake mix, but it's baked in a very hot oven. As she says, delicious as part of a roast dinner.

For some reason, despite having a speaking part, he's not credited in that episode, so I missed it. That makes four appearances.

I've just read that Dennis Haskins died on Sunday. He was 75. Best known for playing Principal Richard Belding in 'Saved by the Bell', he also appeared in three episodes of Dukes spanning seasins 1-7. They were 'One Armed Bandits', 'The Late J.D. Hogg' and 'Cale Yarborough Comes to Hazzard'. The image below is from 'Cale Yarborough Comes to Hazzard' where he played Elmo alongside Al White as Eddie.

I watched a reaction to this tongue-in-cheek video earlier, and the guy watching it, who is from the US, said that while kids in the US are taught about Christopher Columbus, they are not taught about Amerigo Vespucci. Is this true? The last 2 minutes are an advert, so there's only 6 minutes to watch.

For the complete series it would be. The biggest Irish chain of music/DVD stores still wants €90 for the whole series (although the Blu-ray set is now the same price), and it's €58 at the second hand store. It comes down to €18 on eBay.

I've mentioned the Knight Rider Historians channel on a couple of other threads. I have to admit that I haven't had time to watch many of their recent videos until this one popped up on my recommendations. Over four years after tracking down the screen-used semi and trailer, the restoration is complete. The trailer has a working ramp at the rear, and although the show was filmed on a sound stage, they've recreated the office and lounge at the front. They've replicated most of the props and borrowed a couple from a museum. The truck was unveiled at RetroCon '26 where it was displayed alongside one of the five surviving screen-used KITTs. They were joined at the show by Knight Rider stars Rebecca Holden (April Curtis) and Peter Parros (RC3). If you watch carefully, you'll spot a couple of Dukes T-shirts among the Knight Rider ones. 🙂

Unfortunately, Carlos Sainz got a 5-place grid penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags in qualifying, so started in 14th. George Russell kept his first place at the start, but Oscar Piastri got past Charles Leclerc to take second. Red Bull also showed their pace from earlier in the weekend as both Isack Hadjar and Max Verstappen quickly made up places. When Max caught Isack, the team got them to swap positions. Meanwhile, Kimi Antonelli actually lost a place at the start and took a few laps to start moving up. Aston Martin's boost a few races ago didn't last long, and both cars retired by lap 20. Lando Norris' race pace was more like practice, and he was down to seventh when he locked up at the first corner on lap 30 and lost another two places. Just one lap later, Alex Albon hit the barrier which brought out the safety car and allowed most of the field to pit for tires. At the restart, Max passed Oscar for second, but behind them Franco Colapinto hit his Alpine team mate Pierre Gasly and also took out Lando. Alpine were on for a double points finish, so the crash proved costly for the team. Arvid Lindblad also hit his team mate, Liam Lawson, but both cars were able to continue. The incident brought out another safety car. A lap after the restart, and under pressure from Isack, Oscar locked up going into turn one. Due to the field being so close together, he slipped nearly to the back of the field from third. George spent the first half of the race building a big lead, but after the restarts, Max pushed him all the way to the flag. With the leaders on the last lap, Valtteri Bottas hit the barrier, but no safety car was called. Slowing for the yellow flags, George lost turbo boost, and managed to stay ahead of Max by less than 0.2 at the finish. Isack matched his best result of the season with third. Kimi's recovery drive saw him finish fifth, splitting the Ferraris of Charles and Lewis. Kimi still has a 66 point lead over George. The race highlights are here. The next race is the Bahrain Grand Prix, but due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East it will be held this coming weekend in Malaysia.

It turns out that the race weekend is a day early because Sunday is Azerbaijan’s national Remembrance Day, and they didn't want the two events to clash. George Russell looked quick through the practice sessions with Max Verstappen and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton not far behind. Lando Norris thought the McLarens were off the pace. In the first qualifying session, championship leader Kimi Antonelli hit the wall at turn 1 and will start tomorrow's race in 15th. Williams have finally got the upgrade they've been waiting for and Carlos Sainz will start in 9th. At the flag, George took pole by over 0.8 seconds. Charles was second just 0.001 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri, who finally found some pace in his McLaren. Isack Hadjar returned after missing three races and took 4th, four places ahead of team mate Max who didn't get a great lap. The qualifying highlights are here.

You normally announce your absences, so I figured it was more likely to be something technical. 😉 As I'm writing this, I've just turned on my TV in time to see the end of 'Road Pirates'. Episodes with dirt bikes always remind me of you, Roger.

I've just posted a new video that came up full width. It looks like the forum upgrade converted the existing video links to embedded links. The first link below is after the upgrade and the second link is what I originally posted. Strangely, if I try to post the first link, it only shows up as a link and not a video. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/o3TQnkLHOOs?feature=oembed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3TQnkLHOOs