Pitstop: Better luck this time, Scott

Kiwi IndyCar driver Scott Dixon gets a chance this weekend to get his campaign for a third IRL title back on track after a disastrous start to his season in Saint Petersburg last month. The former Indy 500 winner was involved in an early race accident that resulted in him finishing 16th. This week he is at Barber Motorsport Park for round two of the series, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, in which he finished second last time out.

Permission to race

Former world MX2 motocross world champion Ben Townley was back in Europe recently getting a feel for the MX1 championship he's to race in this year. Townley has recovered from his most recent accident, a broken jaw, but because he also had severe concussion he has to receive clearance to race before he starts his MX1 campaign.

Scholarship winners

Open wheel racer Richie Stanaway, and rally driver Hayden Paddon, and his co-driver John Kennard, have been awarded the first MotorSport New Zealand president's high performance scholarships. MotorSport NZ president Shayne Harris said the scholarships had been introduced to give off-track support for racers competing in one or more international competitions.

Scott penalised

BNT V8 driver Kayne Scott has had his points from the last six rounds removed because of a technical infringement in the engine cylinder heads on his Ford Falcon. Scott's team intend to protest the decision. Championship leader Angus Fogg now goes into the final round in two weeks at the ITM400 with a 32 point lead ahead of Craig Baird with John McIntyre a further 12 points behind.

Vatanen's NZ comeback

Former world rally champion Ari Vatanen has dusted off his overalls and is competing in this weekend's International Classic Rally of Otago, part of the opening round of the NZ Rally Championships. It's the first time Vatanen has competed in New Zealand since the 1998 Rally New Zealand round of the World Rally Championship. He'll be racing a locally owned Escort RS1800.

We hear the phrases understeer and oversteer a lot when reading road tests or listening to race commentary. But most people don't really know what they are.

Under the hood

Understeer, also known as "tight" or as a "push" describes a condition in which the front end of the car has a lack of mechanical or aerodynamic grip. Oversteer, also referred to as "loose" describes a condition in which the rear of the car is unstable because of a lack of aerodynamic downforce or mechanical grip. Oversteer may be caused by a lack of rear downforce, too much front downforce or insufficient rear grip.