Road safety charity the IAM is offering weekly motoring tips from Britain’s top advanced driver, Peter Rodger. This week, with the clocks going back at the weekend, he is advising on driving in the dark.

• To improve your view as far as possible, keep your lights and windscreen clean. It’s easy to forget the inside of the windows, but keeping them clean helps prevent them from misting-up.
• Use main beam on a dark unlit road, but when other drivers or riders are approaching make sure you dip your lights to avoid dazzling the oncoming road users.
• Making sure you can stop safely within the distance you can see to be clear still applies in the dark.
• Look at how the traffic ahead behaves for clues to possible problems you can’t see yet – the way other lights behave can tell you a lot.
• Use the headlights of the car you are following to show you to let you see further ahead.
• Don’t look at any lights themselves, but at what they show – so you can make use of more of the light there is from any source, without losing your “night vision” any more than you have to. • Use the reflective road signs and lines to help you see where the road goes and where there are particular problems
• If an approaching car forgets to dip its lights, look beyond the lights to their left to avoid being dazzled as much.
• If it’s gloomy in the morning, don’t forget to put your lights on then too.

IAM chief examiner Peter Rodger said: “The risk of collisions increases in the dark as visibility is reduced1.  In poor weather remember that you still need to see things like large pools of water or fallen trees in the dark – so adjust your driving to suit all the conditions combined.”

www.iam.org.uk

Motorcycle Live 2013 is jam-packed with 30 manufacturers, over 150 exhibitors and 17 FREE live features and zones, but when your feet need a rest and you fancy being entertained by some of the biggest names in biking, head to the British Eurosport Entertainment Zone featuring the Blackhorse Stage.

Legendary racers-turned-commentators Steve Parrish and James Whitham will once again be at the helm of the Blackhorse Stage, hosting non-stop game shows, quizzes and celebrity interviews. Whitham’s rider Q&As will take place five times daily at weekends and four times daily on weekdays, giving an insight into the lives of some of the world’s top racers from MotoGP, World and British Superbikes and the Isle of Man TT.

Racers already confirmed to appear include 2013 World Supersport Champion Sam Lowes, 2013 British Superbike Champion Alex Lowes, 20-time Isle of Man TT winner John McGuinness, Honda SBK stars Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam, MotoGP rider Bradley Smith, 2013 Superbike TT winner Michael Dunlop and three-time BSB champion John Reynolds. The riders will also be taking part in the ever-popular Fast Bikes Question of Bikes quiz, which always brings hilarity and chaos to the British Eurosport Entertainment Zone as their competitive spirits takeover.

Throughout the day show goers will have the chance to get involved in the stage games and win a whole host of prizes. Oxford Products Dress Undress will reward those who can strip off and re-dress the quickest, while Dunlop Man of Steel will test the strength of its participants as they attempt to hold two tyres at arm’s length for as long as possible. The British Eurosport Memory Game is a challenge for the mind and Blackhorse Race an Ace provides an opportunity for a member of the public to compete against a celebrity rider on a virtual track.

Advance tickets for Motorcycle Live 2013 are just £17 per adult, £11 for Seniors and £7 for children aged 6-16* (kids five and under accompanied by a paying adult go free). Bike parking is free of charge and subject to availability. Reduced car parking costs of £8 – subsidised by Motorcycle Live. To book your tickets, call 0844 581 2345 or visit www.motorcyclelive.co.uk

Former Moto2 rider Kyle Smith ended his season on the ultimate high-note by taking his Honda CBR600RR to victory in last weekend’s final round of the 2013 FIM Superstock 600 European championship at Jerez in Spain.

It was almost a home race for the UK-born Smith, who has lived in Spain since the age of seven and who joined the Agro-On Racedays Honda team as a guest rider after splitting with the Avinta Blusens Moto2 team mid-season. After qualifying in fourth place at Jerez, Smith got a superb start in Saturday’s race, leading into the first right-hander. He was never headed and crossed the line 0.3s ahead of second-placed Franco Morbidelli, who secured the series title that was won a year ago by Pata Honda World Supersport rider Michael van der Mark.

Smith’s Agro-On Racedays Honda team-mate, Lukas Wimmer, finished in 18th place on his first visit to the 4.423km Jerez circuit in southern Spain.

“It was the perfect way to finish what’s been quite a difficult season,” said Smith afterwards. “I rode at Nurburgring as a guest rider for the Agro-On Racedays Honda team, who have been fantastic to work with. I managed to finish that race in sixth place,” continued the 22-year-old, “and then got seventh at Magny-Cours, but to win the last race of the year in Spain is just a dream for me.”

25th - 27th October

Celebrating this year's 75th anniversary of the cafe having originally opened in 1938, and teaming up with the 59 Club's official French Section, Ace Cafe London is privileged to be able to confirm attendance at the annual Salon Moto Legende Show, Parc Floral de Paris, Vincennes.    

The Ace presence and display at the show, will include  the 1958 Royal Enfield Constellation motorcycle that featured on the front page of the UK's national newspaper, The Daily Mirror, of Thursday 9th February 1961 together with an array of Ace Cafe, Rockers and StoMoCo items, alongside "Gear with Grit" from Red Torpedo, sponsors of the TT Red Riders (to include Guy Martin, Conor Cummins, John McGuinness and Maria Costello) together with the all new 132 page Ace Cafe London Bookazine and the critically acclaimed seminal, 312 page book, "Ace Times - Speed thrills and tea spills, a cafe and a culture", by author Mick Duckworth will also be available.    

For more information about the show and the French section of the 59 Club:

www.salon-moto-legende.fr

www.59legend.com

www.ace-cafe-london.com

2013 British Supersport champions Mar-Train Racing has confirmed that they will race in the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy and have announced that up-and-coming International Road Racing talent Dean Harrison will represent them.

Team owner Tim Martin has long been a road-racing supporter and 24-year-old Harrison will ride the team’s R6 Yamaha at the TT as well as the other international meetings - The North West 200 and Ulster Grand Prix.

Harrison recorded a tremendous victory at this year’s Southern 100 aboard an R6 Yamaha in one of the Supersport races, and his seventh place at the TT in the second middleweight encounter, as well as his first TT podium in the BikeSocial.co.uk Lightweight TT, sets him up well for a shot at a debut TT Supersport podium with Mar-Train in 2014.

Harrison was at Brands Hatch on Sunday to secure his deal and also watch Mar-Train Racing lift this year's British Supersport title with Stuart Easton. The affable Bradford man said of his new deal: “Yeah, it’s unreal to have tied up a contract with Tim and Sonya and the Mar-Train team for 2014."

Harrison added: “We had a good year on a 600 Yamaha this season, but hopefully we can do a better job on what is definitely a stronger package with the Mar-Train bike. I’ve always wanted to stick with the same bikes that I was on, so the Mar-Train deal is perfect for me as they have so much more data and experience. Yeah hopefully we can have a good season.”

Harrison will also take in the Southern 100 and Scarborough meetings with Mar-Train with some additional ad-hoc appearances to be discussed, and as soon as next week, the Northern Ireland team will be announcing his team-mate for 2014.

Team owner Tim Martin said of his acquisition: “The plan for 2014 was to spread our wings a little and get involved in the International Road Racing scene. We have dabbled before but with Dean on-board and another rider secured – who we will be announcing next week – I believe we can challenge at the sharp end next season on the roads with two very exciting and talented riders. It’s all about exposure and return for our sponsors, both old and new, and the road races that we have chosen will play an important supporting role to our 2014 British Supersport campaign as defending champions.”

TT and Motorsport Development Manager Paul Phillips commented: "Mar-Train are joining the TT paddock on the back of an excellent season and will be a welcome addition to the TT. It is another sign of the TT's growing strength that we are welcoming a current British Championship winning team. With Dean on board they will be right at the front of the pack and will contribute significantly to what is already building up to be hugely competitive Supersport races."