The Red Bull Air Race World Series features the world’s best pilots in a motor sports competition based on speed, precision and skill.

Using the fastest, most agile and lightweight racing planes, pilots navigate a low-level aerial race track made up of air-filled pylons, reaching speeds of 370 kilometres per hour while withstanding forces of up to 12 gs.

This weekend the Red Bull Air Race World Series touches down in Docklands, London.

The Reuters Docklands Technical Centre is an excellent vantage point to view the race from. Below are some photos taken from the roof of our building. What these photos don't portray is how loud the planes are or how close they get to our building. The race takes place this weekend. The photos below are from today's pre-race practice.

The view from the roof at Reuters.

A plane navigating the course. In the distance you can see London City Airport where the planes take off and land.

A plane does a loop the loop.

Close up of a plane as it flies through a race marker.

As most of you know, Jez's Vauxhall Senator blew up on the Caterham bypass several weeks ago. Jez was overtaking another car and as he came off the throttle, the engine blew up destroying 12 of the 24 valves. As the cost of rebuilding the engine (approximately £700 without labour) is significantly more than the value of an equivalent car on E-bay, Jez really had no choice but to scrap the Senator. Hence, the new Saab 9000 CSE 2.3 Turbo...

The Saab 9000 CSE 2.3 Turbo

I was lucky enough to have the pleasure of being taken round the block by Jez at the weekend and it is one impressive motor - and very Jez. It's a large saloon with loads of boot space, comfy leather interior with heated, electric seats. And it's quick. I don't know how quickly it gets to 60mph, but it felt like about 7 seconds or less. And then there's that turbo and that dump valve. I think the car's been modified, because when you put your foot down, you hear the turbo whistle and then, when you come off the throttle, you get a very loud sound from the dump valve. We drove around for quite some time, with the windows down, just listening to the turbo whistle and dump valve!!

Saab 9000 CSE 2.3 Turbo Dasbboard

There are loads of gizmos and things to play with on the dashboard. The wood effect isn't my cup of tea, but I think it does suit the car. The stereo's not too bad either. First we played a Genesis CD, free with the Daily Telegraph, and the bass wasn't too hot in my opinion. I wasn't that impressed with the Blaupunkt, although Jez did say there was a powerful subwoofer in the car. Anyway, it turned out to be the quality of the CD. Once we switched over to Magic FM, everything sounded just brilliant - the bass, the mid-range and the tweeters all came to life.

All in all, a very nice car. I'm sure you'll all be looking forward to going for a ride in it soon!!

Last Sunday, Mum, Dad, Matt and Polly came round to celebrate Mum's birthday and see baby Noah. Everything was going well and we decided to take a group photo of everyone in the garden. Unfortunately, it was at that point that Maria decided to tell Noah she was going to vote for Ken Livingstone in the London Mayoral election on May 1st. Well. You can imagine. After that, it was impossible to settle Noah. Just look at the result...

Noah screams in family photo after hearing Maria will vote for Ken Livingstone on May 1st. From left to right, top to bottom: Matt, Polly, Mum, Dad, Mike, Maria and Noah.

A close up of Noah after hearing the news. We could only settle Noah after I told him I would be voting for Boris, hence cancelling out Maria's vote.

On a serious note, the midwife visited yesterday and weighed little Noah and it turns out he is too little. Since birth he has lost 10% of his body weight, so the midwife advised us to go to Accident and Emergency at Mayday Hospital. We were at Mayday for 6 hours yesterday and they did loads of tests. The good news is that everything is fine and all we need to do is top up Noah's feeding with a little formula. The trip also meant that Noah got a free MOT from the doctors at Mayday Hospital and passed with flying colours.

I'm glad to report that so far everything is going very well. Noah is normally very well behaved, does not get us up too many times during the night and is generally a very content baby.

Thanks to everyone who has sent cards and presents.

At 0612 on Saturday April 19th, Maria gave birth to Noah James Puddephat. Noah weighs 8lbs and 2oz and both mother and child are doing well. Maria and Noah were kept under routine observation at Mayday Hospital for 24 hours following the birth. Yesterday lunchtime, both were given the all clear and Maria and I took Noah home to Purley.

We are slowly getting the hang of changing nappies and feeding little Noah. We did try to give him a bath yesterday, but he didn't seem to like it very much. Apart from that, Noah is mainly sleeping, crying, feeding and enjoying all the attention he is getting! So far, so good. Maria and I are both very happy.

Noah (10 minutes old)

Noah (40 minutes old)

Noah (7 hours old)