There’s something brilliantly wonderful and overwhelming about diving into a subject you don’t really know a lot about. I’ve done this a few times: with films, with music and most recently with sport – getting fully involved with tennis, and this month, jumping feet first into Formula E with a new podcast and everything. At first, it seems totally overwhelming. There’s so much you don’t know, an entire history that …

I have to say that it was a really fun couple of hours watching this but not because it was a particularly good film. The story was okay, although filled with plot holes and inconsistencies. It's hard to get fully on board with these guys, because ultimately they're hooligans, breaking the law constantly and putting themselves at risk before being horrified at the consequences.

This book, the first of three that he wrote, gives an insight into how the Professor got to his position, what kind of activities he got up to during his time in F1, as well as thoughts on various aspects of the sport from a position as a fan, and as a doctor. A big part of the book is detailing some of the huge accidents that Watkins dealt with, and the aftermath of such. Whether it was a tragic and fatal crash, such as Ratzenberger or Villeneuve, or one that the participant walked away from, Sid talks of them with the same clinical descriptions youíd expect from a doctor.

It's probably prudent to separate the F1 fan and the film fan in me apart. As a follower of F1, I thought it did a good job of putting across the story to non-fans, and was a good attempt at being interesting to people who don't give two hoots about the sport. Having said that, the racing scenes got a little repetitive and didn't exactly inspire. F1 is complicated and it's hard to tell the story of a season in just a few short sequences.

This book was recommended and loaned to me in physical format, meaning I've read it in gradual stages at work, as it was quite a hefty hardback and I didn't want to lug it back and forth. The tale inside is an incredible one though, with great insight into the troubles that Nigel Mansell faced trying to get his career off the ground. From near bankruptcy, through some horrific injuries, and then the steady progress towards the F1 World Championship, it's all documented in great detail, and honesty.

Mr C and I have watched this together on a previous occasion, but it was so long ago that I didn't remember very much about it. We set this up as a Sidepodfilmclub, in which we watch with lots of lovely people around the world, all pressing play at the same time and live commenting the film. These are my notes from the process. We chose the film before the sad news about Tony Scott's death, and it became a tribute to him as well as a regular film club night.

Matchett's three books follow distinct paths - the first an entire year with a championship winning team and the third a look at how to put together a fast race car. This second book focuses on life as part of the pit crew. From getting the job, through winning and losing as a team, to desperately trying to get out, the book expands on its predecessor with more experiences from the F1 paddock.

Life in the Fast Lane guides us through one single year in the company of Steve Matchett as mechanic for the championship-winning Benetton team. There are plenty of highs and lows to be covered through the year, though, as 1994 was one of the most tragic and troublesome seasons Formula One has ever seen. Matchett covers all the difficulties surrounding Michael Schumacher and a black flag, he talks candidly about the refuelling flash fire that occurred on Jos Verstappen's car, and briefly touches upon Ayrton Senna's death. As Steve quite rightly says, that race in Imola was just too personal to go into too much detail.

For those of us that watched the 2007 season, we already know how this story ends, but Hamilton uses his journalistic skills to delve behind the headlines we might have already seen and find out what made those involved make some of the decisions they did. It's a remarkably unbiased piece of writing, considering the high emotions and questionable actions detailed along the way, and there are no significant conclusions drawn at the end. That's by no means a bad thing, the book simply gives the reader the tools to make their own judgement.

Bower was alongside Ecclestone as he meandered through the Monaco Grand Prix last year, and that is where the biography begins, following Bernie as he hobnobs with the rich and famous. It's a jarring way to begin the story, a first chapter filled with assumed knowledge and irrelevant characters. As a glimpse of Bernie's presumably hectic and celebrity filled life, it does the job, but as a reader, it is about as off putting as a first chapter can be.

On his Facebook page, Franck takes questions from his fans and answers them. I'm not sure how long it's been going on, because I don't like Facebook very much and I'm annoyed that it's the only place FKM seems to exist anymore. However, in this month's Q&A, there are some startling (to me) revelations! Give or take dodgy translations: How are your baby already? It's not too hard to get …

A great video of highlights from the race this weekend. Plenty of dramatic music, some Eau Rouge action, and even a Michelin Man or two. Fun Franck-spotting as well. I particularly like the helmet shot at the beginning of the race, and the champagne afterwards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaTmoIYy7fw I may have misjudged him, as it seems FKM was happier than I first thought. Yay!

After all that worry, Franck came second: | Pos | Class | Drivers | Team/Car | Time | |---------|---------|---------|---------|---------| | 1 | LMP1 | Gene / Wurz / Davidson | Peugeot 908 | 6:02:03.799 | | 2 | LMP1 | Montagny / Sarrazin / Minassian | Peugeot 908 | + 42.965s | | 3 | LMP1 | Capello / Kristensen / McNish | Audi R18 TDI | + 1 lap …

So, this happened: Ortelli/Makowiecki Krohn/Jonsson Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian Belicchi/Boullion Peugeot were trying to be tactical, leaving it late before attempting a flying lap. And then there was an accident and red flags and Sarrazin didn't set a time. Boo. Just boo. People say it's a long race and Franck is starting and he'll overtake half the field on the first lap anyway, but still, it's not as good as starting in the …

Two practice sessions complete, with the results looking a bit like this. Practice 1 | Pos | Class | Drivers | Team/Car | Time | |---------|---------|---------|---------|---------| | 1 | LMP1 | Capello / Kristensen / McNish | Audi R18 TDI | 2:03.844 | | 2 | LMP1 | Bernhard / Dumas / Rockenfeller | Audi R18 TDI | 2:04.054 | | 3 | LMP1 | Lamy / Bourdais / Pagenaud …

Well, my goodness, it's time for more racing, is it? The 1,000km of Spa takes place this weekend, with two practice sessions today. There's another practice on Friday, plus qualifying, and then the race itself gets underway on Saturday. Franck is in the number 8 once again, and teamed up with Stéphane Sarrazin and Nicolas Minassian (phew, Lamy is in the other car!). Good luck Mr Montagny.

It's quiet in Franck-land again. I did enjoy looking at Google News for any mentions and finding they've done this: I think every webpage should have a Franck quote at the top.

It was a long, old race. 12 hours, I suppose. The challenge from Audi fell by the wayside quite early on as a coming together between Marc Gene and Allan McNish, plus some reliability issues, meant they fell far down the order and had to make their way back up. Meanwhile, Montagny, Sarrazin and Lamy spent a good while leading the race, swapping between the other Peugeot and the Highcroft …

Stephane Sarrazin did the business in qualifying for the 12 hours of Sebring, putting the Peugeot on pole position ahead of the race today. Talking about his day, Sarrazin said: We arrived here with new car and new rules so it was hard for us this week. We have been improving the balance of the car. Things were much better in qualifying than free practice because of the traffic. I …

I find it very tricky to follow the build-up to Sebring, so I will just leave it to Autosport to tell you how it is: Only one of the latest generation Peugeots ran today, but the Franck Montagny/Stephane Sarrazin/Pedro Lamy car set the quickest time of the opening day in the morning session with a 1m47.678s. Having said that, I am attempting to fire up the Factbyte Factbox (our live …

It's been officially confirmed that Franck will be the driver behind the wheel of the #8 Peugeot when the 12 Hours of Sebring race gets underway. Sharing duties with Stephane Sarrazin (who will be qualifying it) and Pedro Lamy (who will also be there), Frank will kick things off on the 19th March, which is not this Saturday but the one after. Technical director Bruno Famin reiterated what Peugeot have …

Franck!!! Taking part in a Peugeot press conference. And by taking part, I mean sitting looking a bit bored. Although he did get to speak for about ten seconds, so he was a bit less bored then. ♥

I'm rubbish at birthdays, okay? Many happy returns to Franck who turned 33 yesterday. I wonder what he did to celebrate, wherever he is hibernating away for the winter. The worrying news is that Franck's website is no longer working for me. Anyone else? I mean, it's not like it had been updated in forever anyway, but even so. At this rate, I will not only forget FKM's birthday, but …

So, last time I was here, we discussed the Thursday test, in which Peugeot dominated. The weather turned against the drivers during Friday practice, and the first session saw Bourdais' car on top again, with Franck and Sarrazin finishing slightly further down. # 1 Team Peugeot Total – Peugeot 908 HDi FAP – 1:28.751 # 7 Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R15 TDI – 1:29.389 # 8 Audi Sport …

Franck was out and about today, as he and teammate Stephane Sarrazin took to the track at Zhuhai for two test sessions. These are pre-practice sessions for the weekend, which seems a bit odd, but any testing time is good. The first session had Peugeot on top, but it was the other one, with Bourdais and Pagenaud. Franck's car was third, with a pesky Audi splitting the two of them. …

Franck's next assignment takes place at the beginning of November, when the LMP1 class of cars turn up at the Zhuhai International Circuit. The 7th November will see Franck partnered with Stephane Sarrazin, whilst a second Peugeot car will be fielded by Bourdais and Pagenaud. That's still a couple of weeks away, of course, so while we're waiting, here's a photo gallery (on Facebook) of Franck at Petit Le Mans. …

Another tiny quote from Mr M: We were the fastest on track again this year. We didn't steal this. Same car, same team, same results - the only difference was the rain! Last year's race clearly affected him more than it appeared!

Franck, along with Sarrazin and Lamy, won the 2010 Petit Le Mans yesterday. I didn't watch it but all I've seen suggests it was a great race, interesting throughout, and it wasn't until the final couple of hours that Peugeot seemed to have it in the bag. They took up two steps of the podium with Allan McNish for Audi in third. A snippet from the Autosport report: ...the Audi …

Not a lot, but at least it is something: I want to win at least one race with the 908 this year! But I’m going to have to hurry, because there are only two races left! I would especially like to win Petit Le Mans because the atmosphere is so special. It’s unique, and I like that!

He has seemingly disappeared completely. Still no word on his official site, he's not in the news for any rumours, and he's definitely not participating in Superleague - Girondins de Bordeaux went and found another driver instead. Silly people. I miss him. He will be back though! He is on the entry list for Petit Le Mans, which takes place next week - the race itself on the 2nd October. …

Ignore everything I said in the previous post about Superleague in Italy. Franck is not racing there this weekend. Supposedly the team withdrew because of financial difficulties. Probably a mixture of that and a rather annoyed FKM after the last race they did manage to attend. What a mess.

So, when you pick up a romance novel, you know exactly what you're getting and they are _not my kind of book_. It being set in the beautiful motorsport paddocks made no difference to this whatsoever. Romance novels are silly, this we know. They are nothing like real life, people don't ever talk to each other like that, and things like this don't happen to regular people. Even so, to bring motorsport into the mix is interesting to me, so I read it. Oh dear.

Franck has seemingly disappeared off the face of the planet, and so it is left to other drivers to preview the upcoming Superleague Race. I'm assuming FKM is still driving in the series, although last we heard he was a little bit peeved at the entire thing - his team included. This weekend the gang head to Italy, the Adria International Raceway for Round 8 of the 2010 Superleague Formula …

Quite a lot of people came to the conclusion that watching The Love Bug was like being on drugs for about 90 minutes. It was definitely a lot of fun but also quite confusing. There was a bear in the car at one point! It also went a bit too Wacky Races at points, which was a bit of a turnoff. I know green screening wasn't great back then, but it was slightly offputting as well. Good film but not as epic as I'd hoped.

In the ongoing saga of Montagny versus Superleague, it looks as though our favourite Frenchman is still not happy, particularly after events at Brands Hatch this weekend. In this week's Autosport magazine (available digitally here), they suggest that the team behind the football name Barazi-Epsilon gave priority to Tristan Gommendy when it came to pitstops. Franck said: We had good pace here, we were fast, but I think we gave …

As we established, Franck was back in the car for Girondins de Bordeaux for the Brands Hatch weekend, although we still don't know where or why he went away for round 6. Maybe he just needed a rest. I didn't get to see any of the action, apart from a few videos of the terrible crash for Chris van der Drift that overshadowed the entire day. It was an awful …

I'm officially confused. Franck is back with Girondins de Bordeaux for the next Superleague round at Brands Hatch. But why did he go? Why is he back? Why did he have to come back on a weekend when I can't watch it? So many questions.

There was no Franck Montagny at the Superleague race in Zolder this past weekend, and we aren't the only ones who missed him. Firstly, the team finished 12th in the first race and 10th in the third (which sounds better but is actually only second to last). Meanwhile, there's a post on the Superleague site today suggesting the team aren't happy without him. Apologies for the rather dodgy Google translation: …

Autosport is reporting that Franck Montagny won't be driving for Girondins de Bordeaux at Zolder this weekend, and it reads as though his time with the team and with Superleague has come to an end. Bourdais left the sport just a couple of days ago, and he said: I've stopped for the moment and I'm not pointing fingers at anyone or anything, but I don't see it getting any better. …

The Superleague Formula is back in action this weekend, with the football themed cars taking to the track in Belgium at the Zolder circuit. A brief intro from the official site: The 2.492 mile, 10 turn circuit has remained a staple of the championship since its inception in 2008. Indeed, it is the only venue to have been included on the calendar throughout Superleague Formula’s brief history to date. Don't …

Well, I didn't see it because someone scheduled it the same time as the European GP, but it looks like Franck came second. The report from Superleague says: Earlier in race 2, Alvaro Parente claimed victory for FC Porto after holding off a late-race challenge from Bordeaux’s Franck Montagny. Parente led right from the start after both he and Montagny got past pole-sitter John Martin (Beijing Guoan FC) at the …

Well it was nothing to write home about, was it? Franck started way down the grid, 16th. He stayed out longer than everyone else, which meant he was leading the race for a moment until he came into the pits. He wasn't about to win the race, but he might have made up a few places. Unfortunately, there was a delay in the pitstop which meant he finished the race …

Before you even have a chance to think about taking a breather, Franck is back in action again this weekend. The Superleague Formula rocks up at the Nurburgring in Germany. The intro on the official site reads: Superleague Formula by Sonangol journeys from central Spain to western Germany this weekend for the football-themed championship’s fifth round of the season at the Nürburgring. Nestled in the spectacular Eifel Mountains alongside its …

So, I missed out on the first race, and tuned in just in time for the start of Race 2. By all accounts, the first race didn't go so well. I know Franck started 12th, and he began the second race on the front row. With a reversed grid, that would suggest it wasn't a result to write home about, and after further research, I learnt they had to retire …

With the Le Mans disaster still fresh in our minds, we must turn our attention to the next event for Franck - Superleage Formula at Jarama. This weekend, FKM will be back in the car for Girondins de Bordeaux, and for the first time, the official Superleague site will be offering Qualifying streaming on Saturday, as well as all the racing action on Sunday. More information can be found here …

A Q&A with the man himself. On not anticipating any problems: We were not really pushing, we were very focused on the targets, not on qualifying. We just focused on one point, which was the win. We were just so relaxed and peaceful working together. I could sleep very easily this week, and during the race too. I was just checking the lap times and everything we'd said before was …

The race isn't over yet, but our dreams for a Montagny win really are. The #2 car was leading but... well, Autosport tell it best: Franck Montagny was on his out-lap from a scheduled fuel-stop when flames and smoke started pouring from the right side exhaust of his 908 at Tertre Rouge. He tried to get the car back to the pits, but was forced to park it up at …

But our driver is not at the top. Sadly, I didn't get to see any of qualifying either - who decided to put Le Mans on when I am just crazy busy? Still, according to the Autosport report on things: Stephane Sarrazin, who had taken the last three consecutive 24 Hours poles, was denied the opportunity to extend his streak when the final stint in the #2 car was given …

It's always exciting when I find a Montagny mention on Autosport, as I usually go there in search of F1 news - and he is pretty hard to find in that section! However, they're making a special Le Mans effort, and we have word from the great man himself. The word is: mega! During the transition between practice and qualifying, FKM speculated: I had 35 laps on the tyres, it's …

Ah, it is that time of year again, the race we have all been waiting for. None of that silly Superleague stuff, we're talking 24 Heures du Mans. We are hoping to live comment lots of the action over on Sidepodcast, and there will be threads popping up throughout the next few days so that we can keep an eye on everybody's favourite Frenchman. (And probably a few other people …