The Transsyberia Rallye 2008, in which most of the top racers seem to be sponsored by Porsche, has finished its 11th leg, and the Team France is in the lead, follewed by Team Germany. Team Qatar ran into a rock and damaged their vehicle, and may not be able to continue to the 12th leg. A few days ago, the original points leaders were Team Middle East, but on the 9th leg, driver Said al Hajri drove into a hidden pothole and injured his spine. Read more… »

The little-known Transsyberia rally from the Russian capital of Moscow to the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar is being heavily promoted by Porsche, so much so that they custom-built a set of Cayenne S Transsyberia models to compete in the rally. Unlike the WRC, these road-legal vehicles are closer to their showroom counterparts. Though some other vehicles are also running the rally, the Cayenne-driving teams are getting the most publicity through international Porsche online advertisements (though none on this website). Unsurprisingly, they are also currently leading the 2008 rally, which has already reached its fourth leg. Read more… »

The controversial Toro Rosso STR2 was brought to the UAE and was briefly displayed in front of the Yellow Hat auto accessories superstore at Times Square Mall in Dubai. The STR2, brought in to showcase Advanti Racing wheels, was only shown over the weekend of June 5 to 8. Read more… »

I usually don’t bother responding to racist jerks who send me insulting comments while assuming that I am “Indian.” I am a Muslim first, but I am also a Bangladeshi, and I won’t deny my heritage if asked. The forward-thinking nation of Bahrain has banned issuing work visas to all 90,000 Bangladeshis in the country, because one of them murdered a Bahraini a few weeks ago, and another killed a woman last year. Since we are such serial killers, this probably means I will not be able to go to the Bahrain F1, or any manufacturer events that might be held there, even if I wanted to. Read more… »

The Dubai Grand Racing Weekend has drawn to a close. If you are interesting in the highlights, attached is the press release from the Dubai Autodrome providing a good summary. Read more… »

Auto accessories superstore Yellow Hat is giving away tickets to the finale of the five-round Grand Racing season, which is taking place on April 11 and 12 this month at the Dubai Autodrome. All customers who buy Dhs 100 worth of products from their Times Square Mall store will receive an invite to the Grand Dubai Racing Event. Read more… »

The Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG will be used as the official safety car for the 2008 season of Formula 1 racing. The SL63 is one of those Black Edition models, with lightened panels and a fixed roof. In addition, the official medical car will be a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG station wagon. Read more… »

Lexus unveiled their 2008 LX570 luxury 4WD in Dubai yesterday. The vehicle is largely based on a Toyota Land Cruiser, but includes a unique front end, a detuned 362 hp 5.7-litre V8, special trim and a totally different interior design. Interesting features include front, rear and right-side parking cameras, as well as active cruise control, variable suspension and a pricetag of Dhs 325,000.

Meanwhile, at a recent press conference in Dubai for the Gulf Air-sponsored Bahrain F1, it was mentioned that flights are getting full for the April 4-5-6 racing days, and it is advisable to book right now. A second grandstand has been built to double the spectator capacity for this latest event. Apparently the availability of hotel rooms has also improved this year.

And Honda must’ve put their new Accord coupe on sale by now in the GCC, if plans to release on March 1 have been followed. The Accord coupe comes hot on the heels of the new Nissan Altima coupe, which was put on sale locally just two weeks ago. Read more… »

The Grand Racing weekend makes its international debut at the Dubai Autodrome on the 24th, 25th and 26th January 2008. The Autodrome will be hosting the Speedcar Series, the GP2 Asia series, the Gulf Radical Cup championship and the Lumina CSV championship during those dates. Last night at the Dubai Press Club, the Qi-Meritus.Mahara team unveiled their new drivers and their latest car for the GP2 Asia races. Their main talking point was that they are a fully Asian team, with ownership split between a Malaysian and a Saudi camp. Read more… »

November is going to be an exciting month for car enthusiasts in Dubai, as the Dubai Motor Show is going to kick off during November 14th to 18th, bringing with it the debut of many new cars to the region. Also to be held during that time frame, on the 16th and 17th, will be the Dubai Motorsport Festival, featuring two days of various racing cars. Read more… »

Dubai Autodrome invited us to a press conference to introduce some of their new “experience” offerings, namely involving driving their cars on their track with some instruction thrown in. One of us went to try it out. Sort of. Read more… »

The Dubai Autodrome has announced the Dubai Motorsport Festival that will take place on 15, 16 and 17 November 2007. Basically, they plan to host various types of racing all in three days. Read more… »

The Suzuki SX4 is a bit of a non-starter in the compact market around here, but to spruce up it’s image, Suzuki has developed a WRC rally version of the car. Read more… »

Seat is a major player in European touring car racing, and their motorsports division has come up with a driverless system to race their car for them. Unbelievable stuff.  Read more… »