Car Insurance

On an unfinished section of motorway - at the cobbled end of the network, comedians would say - it is possible to catch Carl Fogarty and Neil Hodgson training together for a duel which has become the talk of motorcycling.

Fogarty is the world Superbike champion, the life and soul of Ducati for the past two years. Hodgson covets his title, having leapt into the saddle “Foggy” vacated on the Italian factory team when transferring to Honda.

There is little evidence of the rivalry between the 29-year-old Fogarty and his 22-year-old challenger, however, as they steer motocross bikes over the makings of the M65 extension in East Lancashire. Hodgson even borrows one of Fogarty’s machines.

The sessions are a reminder of their beginnings riding over flat, muddy local fields as members of the Vale of Rossendale schoolboy motocross club. Darren Barton, 21, another graduate, recently joined the Aprilia 125cc factory team, so there are now three professional racers living within eight miles of each other. “It must be something in the water,” said Hodgson, who first rode motocross at the age of nine.

Since putting his 500cc grand prix career on hold to accept Ducati’s offer of a two-year Superbike contract, Hodgson has become the focus of attention. He is about to embark on a world tour to test the machine before his contests with Fogarty and the rest over the 14 rounds of the title race, commencing with the April meetings at Misano and Donington Park.

Linda C. Haneborg, vice president of marketing/public relations for Express Personnel Services, has received the International Mercury Awards’ highest honor in advertising.

The award was presented to Haneborg for Express’ “Got A Job” television commercial, the first under her direction.

The awards are given each year to honor excellence in advertising from companies worldwide. This year’s competition included 600 entries from companies such as Chevrolet Motor Division, Mobil Corp., the American Bar Association, IBM, MetLife Insurance Co., Coca-Cola Foods and ESPN Inc.

Architecture, construction

Cara Shimkus Hall has joined the Tulsa office of Stan Gralla — Architects. She will be responsible for design, production and management of services as well as new business and continuing client development.

She previously was development services manager for one of the nation’s largest architectural and engineering companies

THE MOTORBIKE is making a comeback. Last year motorcycle and scooter sales hit their highest level for 13 years, says the Motor Cycle Industry Association, with over 120,000 machines sold in the UK.

You might think that this is because more of us are buying trendy scooters, but the best-selling bike of 1998 was a whopping great 900cc Honda. The truth is that a growing number of thirty-something and forty-something professionals are splashing out on luxury high- performance bikes to ride in their spare time.

Ensuring that these bikers ride safely is now a concern for the insurance industry and the Department of Transport. The rise of the thirty-something biker led many insurers to think that biking was entering a new, safer era. Far from it. “The problem is that people are getting on bikes again maybe 15 or 20 years after owning their first bike, without realising that big bikes are a lot more powerful now,” explains Richard Alger, market support manager at Norwich Union. “A whole new set of riding skills are now required and many born-again bikers are having accidents because they don’t realise this.” So if you are thinking about joining this band of born-again bikers, you need the right insurance. Specialist insurance broker MC Edwards, which has put together a policy for Peugeot scooter owners, offers comprehensive cover at a flat rate of pounds 225. This is reduced to pounds 150 if you just take out third party, fire and theft cover. Insure a classic scooter (more than 20 years old) and your premium could be pounds 40. The premium for a high-performance bike is more expensive. Under Carole Nash Insurance Consultants’ Ultima policy, an office worker of 39 living in Milton Keynes with two years’ no claims and adequate security, riding an pounds 8,000 Yamaha YZF-R1 registered this year, would pay pounds 534. There are three ways to buy motorcycle insurance: through a specialist insurance broker, from a motorcycle dealer (usually arranged via a broker) or from a direct insurer. The only direct company actively selling motorbike cover is Hastings Direct. When the insurer burst on to the market a couple of years ago, it was offering some cheap premiums. They are not as competitive now but it is still worth getting a quote. Motorcycle Direct is also offering good premiums. Motorbike insurers have become more sophisticated but there are two basic things all of them look for: adequate security and evidence of safe and competent riding. Motorbike theft is a growing problem. A bike is stolen every 13 minutes, and for this reason insurers will require an immobiliser on many higher- value bikes. In some cases the owner will be required to garage the machine and secure it to the floor with a ground anchor. To encourage owners to take theft seriously, most insurers will offer discounts for security devices. For example, Cornhill offers a 7.5 per cent discount for garaging and between 5 and 7 per cent for security devices.

What ever became of the “service” in our much heralded “service economy?”

Try going to one of those multi-state banks these days. They love to advertise service, but check how long you have to stand in line.

Try calling any large company, store or government agency. Some computer starts out saying: “Your call is important to us.” Then, the firm shows how important you are by making you push a bunch of buttons and then wait.

Try getting a prescription filled at a large chain pharmacy, and see how the clerks talk to each other while you wait.

Try getting help to find something in a discount store, or getting help with a do-it-yourself project at super duper home center, or doing anything more complicated than showing your ticket and checking luggage at an airline counter, or calling a government agency for information, getting help over the phone when your computer refuses to listen.

Try waiting for a phone call from a big business broker to tell you when you should sell a stock, if you are not a big investor, but don’t hold your breath. Try going to a hospital emergency room, or a Health Maintenance Organization if you need help quickly. Try asking a chain restaurant waiter or waitress how to find a tourist attraction.

RED hair never looked this sexy on a man until Damian Lewis came along… Not red as in carrot- top, but a full-blooded red, a macho red-hot red.

Buttoned into his wing-collars, he even managed to smoulder as Soames in ITV’s reworking of The Forsyte Saga which returns to our screens tonight.

“Sexy? My hair? Well I never looked at it that way,” he says as if the thought has never occurred to him. “But if I’m striking a blow for red- haired blokes everywhere, good. We’ve been misunderstood. People always thought you had to be a bit kinky to fancy a redhead.”

And to add to his growing street cred, there are rumours that he wraps himself around Jennifer Lopez’s awesome curves in the new movie An Unfinished Life.

Can it be true? He’s not saying, although sprawled in his chair he looks like a ginger tom who got the cream.