Diamond studded helmets for Hamilton and Kovalinen

The two main Mercedes-McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen will race with two very special helmets. Both helmets have a Forevermark diamond encrusted Steinmetz (the Geneva Switzerland base diamond company) logo. The drivers signature on top of the helmet are lined with hundreds of handcrafted diamonds.

Audi TT Clubsport - we want this one!

The first three pictures are those of the Audi TT Clubsport concept shown at the Essen show. Audi was tight lipped about making this concept a production reality. But now, Car magazine (www.carmagazine.co.uk) has shot some spy pictures of a functional car in South Germany. The white coloured car above is not an illustration, it's an actual, spied car!
According to the magazine's website, the Audi officials are making ambiguous statements about the production possibility of the new car. But the spy pictures suggest a strong possibility of the car making it to the production line. The car, if ever it becomes a production reality, will an ultra-low volume exclusive.
The Clubsport looks squat and aggressive. The track is 80mm wider and is accommodated by flared wheelarches. The original Clubsport had the 2.0-litre TFSI producing 300bhp. The power is sent to all four wheels via a six-speed S-tronic gearbox. There's is no roof on the speedster, so save for the second car as well - for a rainy day!

Jorge Lorenzo crashes in Le Mans before the race

Jorge Lorenzo suffered a second practice crash on Saturday morning at Le Mans, but is still expected to take part in qualifying. Having injured himself a fortnight ago in China, where he suffered fractures in both ankles, Lorenzo has taken another battering this weekend with a crash yesterday afternoon, followed by this latest accident, midway through the second lap of a run during FP3.
Lorenzo suffered a high-speed lowside at the end of the back straight approaching turn nine, which is one of the hardest braking points on the French track, with the riders hitting the brakes around 200 meters before the apex of the turn.
An immediate medical check at Clinica Mobile revealed that he had escaped any serious injury, despite taking a heavy blow to his already damaged right leg – and he will continue to immobilise his ankle by use of a wheelchair to get about when he is not onboard his Yamaha M1.

Aprilia planning a comeback in MotoGP?

Aprilia are testing traction control for a possible MotoGP return. 250cc riders Alex Debon and Roberto Locatelli have been working with a new Aprilia traction control system, which may see the light of day in MotoGP form.
`We are using traction control with Alex Debon and Roberto Locatelli only in practice, as we don´t want to take risks on safety in the race,´ said Gigi Dall´Igna from Aprilia. `We tested with Roberto at Estoril, and most recently with Alex in Shanghai. We are trying it with this bike because it the machine with which we feel most comfortable, but we are using it also to help the Superbike and possible MotoGP bike development.´
Aprilia´s 1000cc machine has recently been tested by ex-MotoGP rider Alex Hofmann, with a view to entering production championship competition in 2009. As for any MotoGP bike seeing the light of day, Dall´Igna is refusing to mark a timeline.
`I can´t say whether it will be definitely in 2010 or 2011, but we are looking at developing a MotoGP machine,´ he confirmed.

Nissan 370Z - pictures, video and info

This is a slide show video of the artist's impressions of the Nissan 370Z, due to be launched in the next six months. The company has kept the car under wraps, while officially releasing some teaser pictures too at the same time. The artist's impression in the slideshow suggests a more compact, more sporty car than the current 350Z. The front sports a futuristics headlamp cluster featuring LED lights and forms a diagonal V facing the sky.
Power for the new car will be produced through the 3.7-litre, 330PS V6 borrowed from the Infiniti G35. The stubbier, sportier car will be more appealing than the 350, while still managing to be fairly priced for a major chunk of performance car fans.

Car magazine reveals the new Audi A6

This is the image released by www.carmagazine.co.uk of the new Audi A6, due to be released in the year 2010. The magazine says they've talked with the insiders at Audi and made this artist's impression after having a discussion with he techies at the Ingolstadt based company. Even though the car has the trademark Audi classy lines and stateliness, it's not probably different or dynamic enough to excite us much. People want change, but Audi seems to refuse to agree to the theory. The German brand has retained the goatee grille for the car, but headlamps are new, and probably the only new bits that adds a bit of excitement to the package.
The car will be the first to be produced through a new construction technique developed by Audi to cut down weight while not compromising rigidity. The new car will feature aluminium and alloy construction along with some new welding and bonding techniques. The weight of the frame with the new technique will be 50% less than an all-steel construction while still having 50% more torsional rigidity.
The second generation of Aluminium Space Frame or ASF as Audi calls the tech, will be introduced to the A6, A8 and the A7 first. The list of probable engines for the new car is as under

PETROLS 2.8 V6 FSI, 190bhp, 2.8 V6 FSI, 224bhp, 3.2 V6 FSI, 265bhp, 4.2 V8 FSI, 350bhp, 5.2 V10 FSI, 420bhp (S6), 5.0 V10 FSI Biturbo, 580bhp (RS7)

DIESELS 2.7 V6 TDI, 185bhp, 3.0 V6 TDI, 238bhp

Is this the new Ferrari F430

The Ferrari F430 has seen quite a few special editions ever since it was launched in the year 2004 as a replacement to the Ferrari 360. The car is due for a replacement or a design revamp soon. Here are a few rendered images by Italian designer Luca Serafini who's let his imagination loose on how the new Ferrari F430 replacement may look like. Even though a lot of thought has gone into making sure that the images are as close to the replacement car as the Ferrari designers could ever think of, it's better we don't get serious and just relish Luca's brilliant imagination and execution.
Picture Courtesy : www.worldcarfans.com