Who says motorsport stops for winter?

Government enquiries, Formula 1 fairytales, and giant-killers. It’s all go in November

It’s a big week in world motorsport. Despite the season essentially now being in shut-down mode and cars being covered with blankets for the winter, there’s a heck of a lot still going on.

Firstly, we have the results of the Fatal Accident Inquiry, which the rallying community has been nervously awaiting for months. Well, finally it seems we can breathe a sigh of relief. Sure, a findings document in excess of 100 pages is no light reading, but its key points are good news for the sport. Rallying is cleared to continue. Yes, there will undoubtedly be changes, but overall it seems a benefit for the sport and we should thank ourselves lucky that Sherrif Maciver clearly understood the many facets of what can be considered as a niche activity to the wider world. There will no doubt be even more work head to ensure such tragedies never occur again.

The F1 fraternity will have all eyes on Williams this week as Robert Kubica looks to finally seal a fairytale grand prix return. A good performance with no complications during Abu Dhabi testing and the Pole could well be back where he craves to be.

Then there’s M-sport. Retaining Sebastien Ogier is just the start for Malcolm Wilson’s team to try and follow-up on its immense 2017 campaign. World rallying rarely slows down. Now the hard work begins to make sure the best driver of his generation gets the best car in the field in the shape of the Fiesta WRC. Rob Ladbrook, Managing Editor (Twitter: @Laddersmn )