The Heritage Motor Centre is delighted to have reunited a wedding ring with its owner ten days after it went missing and amazingly still intact after its ordeal.

Owen Burdekin, from Leighton Buzzard was visiting the HMC for his works conference on the 16 & 17 January during the heavy snow. On returning to his car he had to clear the windscreen with his hand as it was covered in snow. Only when he returned home did he realise his platinum wedding ring was missing. Realising that it must have fallen off by his car, he telephoned the HMC and explained its possible location.

Staff from the HMC searched for the ring but there was no sign of it. Meanwhile tractors had been out in the same area clearing the snow. Dudley Carter, one of the Security Officers, kept looking out for the ring and nine days later decided to have one final look. Amazingly he discovered it lying in the car-park still intact!

Dudley, who has worked at the HMC for 20 years, stated “I couldn’t believe it when I found the ring on the tarmac. I’m amazed that it wasn’t crushed by one of the tractors! We were delighted to phone up the owner and arrange for the ring to be reunited with him.”

Owen Burdekin stated “This is the second time I have lost my wedding ring; the first was on a pebbled beach and I’m amazed that on both occasions it turned up against the odds! The staff at the HMC were incredibly helpful and I’m so grateful that they found it. The ring barely has a mark on it and is now being professionally polished as a special reward!”

www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk

Austrian rider Horst Saiger will make his Mountain Circuit debut in June when he competes in the 2013 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy. The vastly experienced Saiger, Swiss National Champion for the past two seasons, will contest the Superbike, Royal London 360º Superstock and Senior TT races on a 1000cc ZX-10R Kawasaki.

Saiger, whowill run his own team with support from Kawasaki Switzerland, already has considerable road racing experience having been a regular at the Macau Grand Prix over the last few seasons, including a superb fifth place at last year's event, a career best result.

In addition, he made a sensational debut at the 2012 North West 200 road races where he competed in the two Superstock races. Having taken a solid 16th place in the first, damp race, he really proved his road racing credentials in the second race on Saturday with a stunning 10th place and 117mph+ lap, finishing ahead of star names like Gary Johnson, Adrian Archibald, Ian Lougher and Stefano Bonetti.

Hailing from the town of Knittelfeld, Saiger also has vast experience in the Endurance World Championship, having competed in the series for over a decade for high profile teams including YART and former TT competitors Bolliger Kawasaki. An almost ever-present in the top 8 of the Championship, Saiger's results include second overall in 2010, third in 2009 and fourth in 2004 and 2006 with podiums and numerous top five finishes at the Le Mans 24- Hour, Bol d'Or, 8 Hours of Oschersleben, 8 Hours of Qatar and 8 Hours of Albacete.

An International rider of great pedigree, Saiger has also competed in the World Superbike Championship and at the Daytona 200 and his appearance adds further spice to the entry list and reaffirms the status, and appeal, the races again hold.

Commenting on his TT races debut, Horst Saiger said:

"The TT has a very large profile in Austria and Germany and I have already had lots of interest from media and fans in my debut. The Mountain Course is one of the world's most famous race circuits and I am looking forward to testing myself on the track."

Paul Phillips, TT and Motorsport Manager, commented:

"I'm delighted that we have secured the signature of Horst Saiger for the 2013 TT Races. He is a proven international competitor with widespread experience and a great track record. He's already shown his road racing credentials and will be an exciting addition to the 2013 line up who will, I'm sure attract a lot of interest not only in his homeland but also from TT fans around the world."

The 2013 Street riding range of KTM PowerWear is now available through UK dealers.

Consisting of 39 items, the official Street riding collection from the Austrian brand covers everything from head-to-toe (and even underneath) for sports, track, supermoto, urban, commuter, adventure and travel riders.

Along with something to suit all riding disciplines and climates, garments in the collection that aren’t made by KTM have been exclusively transformed ‘Ready to Race’ by leading brands, including Arai and Alpinestars - such as the KTM RX-7 GP helmet (£686.81) and S-MX 5 Boot (£164.17).

With a choice of nine jackets, seven trousers, three leather suits, four helmets, six gloves and four boots, new editions to the Street range include the Urban (£246.68), Pegscratch Evo (£246.68) and Vented (£164.17) jackets. These are available with separate matching trousers or can be zipped to existing ‘riding pants’. The jackets offer huge amounts of functionality and come supplied with CE approved armour.

The 2013 PowerWear catalogue is available from KTM dealers or can be downloaded here. Along with the functional riding equipment, there’s a huge array of casual clothing for men, women and children, as well as a vast assortment of accessories for the true KTM fan.

The government has cut spending on road safety campaigns from £19 million in 2008/09 to just £4 million in 2011/12 – a cut of nearly 80 per cent. 

The figure was revealed after a freedom of information enquiry by road safety charity the Institute of Advanced Motorists.  

The DfT is planning on spending £3.7 million on road safety in the 2012/13 financial year which will see:  

•£53,000 spent on cyclist safety
•£78,000 on child and teenager road safety
•£50,000 on research into young drivers
•£1.275 million on motorcycle campaigns
•£1.685 million on drink-drive campaigns.  

In 2011 the total cost of fatal road accidents was £3.2 billion, with immeasurable emotional and social costs.  

IAM director of policy Neil Greig said: “Right across the public sector road safety is being cut too hard and too quickly, despite the huge returns on investment.  One life saved, saves the economy £1.7 million.  £53,000 is a derisory amount to spend on national cycle safety campaigns. Until we have the right roads infrastructure in place, publicity and education campaigns are one of the few tools we have to help us save cyclists lives.  £78,000 for children’s safety campaigns is virtually insignificant.  If the government is serious about safety for these groups, these amounts must be increased. The successful drink driving and biker campaigns have raised awareness of these issues and they both appear to be working. The government needs to match that kind of expenditure and take the safety of children and cyclists seriously,”

Seatbelt laws were first put into place thirty years ago but we still face issues with their use. One in five (19%) motorists claim to know someone who doesn’t use a seatbelt in the front of their car.  

Today will see the anniversary of the introduction of compulsory wearing which came to effect in 1983. Latest figures show 95 per cent of drivers and 96 per cent of front seat passengers wear a seat belt; 89 per cent of rear seat passengers use one.

Yet every year, not wearing a seatbelt is still a contributory factor in more than 220 deaths and serious injuries.

A higher number of younger motorists know someone who does not wear a seatbelt compared to the older age group.  

• In the back of the car, 41% of 18-29 year olds know someone who doesn’t wear a seatbelt compared to 25% of 45+ year olds whilst for in the front of the car, 36% of 16-29 year olds know someone compared to 11% of 55+ year olds.
• Drivers and passengers aged 17-34 have the lowest seat belt wearing rates combined with the highest accident rates.
• Yet 14 per cent of adults still admit to being inconsistent seat-belt wearers.  

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “In the past three decades seatbelts have made a fantastic contribution to road safety success in Britain helping to save thousands of lives. But the ongoing message needs to be reinforced to all age groups. All the modern technology in a new car assumes the occupant is wearing a seatbelt.  Younger drivers know that not wearing a seatbelt is dangerous, but they must still be reminded that no matter where you are sitting in a car, a seatbelt will save your life.”