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As you may have noticed, the price of fuel is on the up. Obviously the knee-jerk reaction is to burn some sheep, organise an ineffectual ‘Don’t Drive Day’, or just sigh heavily. However, I have resolved to do something practical about it this time.

Previously I have got huffy and joined the Battery Vehicle Society a few times. I also looked into those on-board hydrodgen plants that cost £500, and those rather cheaper jam jar based ones that probably start to corrode your manifold and cylinder heads prematurely. Yes, I even read up about those daft magnets. Indeed, I was with a mechanic the other day when he found some on a E39 525i, and he couldn’t stop laughing.

Welcome to the DAFTAs (Deserving Awards For Transport And Science).

In no particular order, this week they are:

Goodwood’s launch day is a bizarre, yet brilliant experience. All the key bits are there – the house, the hillclimb, the sunshine, sounds and scenery – but there are not many people, no PA system, no stands, and no queue to get in or out.

That’s the bizarre. The brilliant is the prospect of what awaits us at Festival and the new Moving Motor Show this summer, which you can read about in Steve Cropley’s blog.

At yesterday’s launch of the McLaren supercar I got the chance to sit and have a chat with Lewis Hamilton.

Predictably he thought that the new MP4-12C supercar was terrific, but admitted that his experience has been limited to half a day at the Goodwood circuit for a promotional video that was shown yesterday. Unlike Schuey’s much heralded input into Ferrari’s road cars, McLaren drivers it seems are just instructed to get on with winning world championships.

A fourth day at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and a closer-than-ever link between the world’s greatest car festival and our own Autocar magazine, the world’s most venerable and authoritative car publication!

This is the mouth-watering prospect that will confront visitors to Goodwood’s first motoring event of 2010 in July.

UK PLC should think itself lucky to have been awarded a contract to build the Nissan Leaf.

Although the government has been pressing the industry flesh and waving around the country’s chequebook, the whole plan was nearly torpedoed.