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Since the first Bathurst 12-Hour race in 1991, the overall winning cars have been from many different brands and among them, in the 2020 event, was the Continental GT3. That year, with Bentley’s biggest ever motorsport programme, the Continental GT demonstrated its breadth of ability on the road and on the track.

That memorable victory inspired Mulliner and Bentley Sydney to create a special edition in conjunction with the recent launch in Australia of the new Continental GT S. Focused on driving performance and visual presence, the Continental GT S shares a number of characteristics with its track-based counterpart, thereby providing the perfect foundation for the pair of specially-commissioned road cars.

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In 2021, Formula 1 gained Sprint races as an additional activity during a race weekend. As the name suggests, it is a quick race and just 100 kms long, and is run on Saturdays. At rounds with a Sprint, the schedule is altered where Free Practice (FP) 1 is run on Friday morning, with Qualifying in the afternoon. This determines the starting order for the Sprint which is held the next day, after FP2.

The Sprint races have been received well by both the drivers as well as spectators who get additional racing action to watch on Saturday. For the drivers, there are also points to collect for the top three finishers and more importantly, the finishing order of the Sprint determines the position on the starting grid on Sunday. So there is the possibility of getting a better spot for the main race.

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Frenchman Sebastien Ogier collected yet another victory – his ninth – at Rallye Monte-Carlo, the opening round of the 2023 World Rally Championship which ended today. Driving for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in selected events with co-driver Vincent Landais, Ogier powered the GR Yaris Hybrid on the twisty roads in the French Alps from start to finish.

His ninth victory makes him the driver with the most Monte Carlo wins. It joins 55 other WRC wins over 3 decades, during which time he has been with the Citroen Junior Team, Citroen, Volkswagen Motorsport, M-Sport Ford and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing teams. With 8 WRC titles, he has won twice as many championships as third-ranked Juha Kankkunen, and is just one short of Sebastien Loeb.

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The Lamborghini Urus super SUV has been a success for the sportscar maker right from the time it went on sale in 2018. Within the first four years, 20,000 units were sold, making it the company’s best-selling model in the shortest time ever. Last year, of the 9,322 vehicles Lamborghini delivered worldwide, 5,367 of them were the Urus.

For most people, owning an Urus (which presently has an 18-month waiting list) is already something special. But there will be some who still want their luxury SUV to be more unique and are willing to pay the extra money for personalisation.

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Ram is unlikely to be known to Malaysians as it is a brand presently mainly in North America. It used to be the name of a truck range in Dodge but got spun off in 2010 to become a brand on its own within the Fiat Chrysler Group. With the merger of Fiat Chrysler and the PSA Group in 2021, Ram became part of the enlarged Stellantis group.

Ram has always been a truck specialist and when it was a division in Chrysler, it focussed on delivering ‘real trucks’ and not the ‘lifestyle’ machines that have become common in recent times. It therefore has a solid niche in the market where capable trucks are sought for serious work.

At CES 2023 recently, Ram gave a preview of what it’s looking at further down the road in the age of electrification. It presented its vision in 3-dimensional form as the Ram 1500 Revolution Battery-electric Vehicle (BEV) Concept which also gives an idea of its design direction.

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Updating of the apps on your mobilephone can now be easily done ‘over the air’ and for your computer, an online connection can bring you the latest updates for your operating system. Thanks to wireless connectivity being widespread now, over the air (OTA) updates can also be done for the various computerised systems in your car.

For some years now, many manufacturers have started OTA updating which is convenient for customers as it means they do not have to visit a service centre to get the updating done. In many of the latest models, the updates will come periodically and keep the systems running at their best – or even better than when the car was first purchased. It’s great for owners who enjoy the benefit of improvements without having to buy a new car.

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Long before there were premium and luxury SUVs, there was the Range Rover. Flagship of the Land Rover range when it was launched in 1970, the Range Rover would be the choice of the rich and famous and be the benchmark for 4×4 vehicles as it was always a technological leader. And even when the luxury carmakers began to offer their SUVs, the Range Rover still held its position high in the segment.

Now, five decades later, the fifth generation has come out and as before, it comes with refinement and innovations that are in tune with the world of today. Progressively introduced in various markets over the past year, the new Range Rover (L460) will be introduced in Malaysia in mid-February.

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Two years ago, at The Quail in California, Bugatti presented a surprise to guests at the famous motorsports gathering. It was the Bolide, just a concept then but the carmaker announced that it would make the car in limited numbers. Response was instantaneous – within a week, all 40 units of the radically light track-oriented Bugatti machine were booked.

Each costing no less than 4 million euros (about RM18.55 million), the Bolide is the most extreme Bugatti ever created. One motoring writer went as far as the describe it as ‘a Thermonuclear Do-It-All Performance Machine’.

The Bolides are still on the production line in France and the first of the cars with the legendary W16 quad-turbocharged engine will be delivered to customers only next year. But you can have a Bolide at your home or office before them – and it will cost you only 50 euros (RM232) which is a lot less too.

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Hyundai’s largest model – the Palisade – arrived in Malaysia in December 2021, three years after it made its global debut. Just three months later, in New York, the updated version was unveiled but Malaysia continued with the pre-facelift model throughout 2022. Today sees the updated Palisade being launched by Hyundai Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) In Malaysia with four variants to choose from.

For the 2023 model, the features and equipment have been commonised so, apart from the powertrains and a few items, all four variants are similar. Incidentally, HSDM is importing the European model which probably best matches Malaysian Type Approval requirements.

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The Motorama was General Motors’ own motorshow, an annual event held between 1949 and 1961 which showcased its technologies in special models and futuristic concept cars. One of the concept cars at the 1953 show was the Corvette, a sportscar that excited enthusiasts and persuaded GM to make it for sale.

Exactly 70 years after that Corvette concept debuted at the Motorama in New York City, Chevrolet  introduces the first-ever electrified Corvette with all-wheel-drive and a powerful 6.2-litre LT2 Small Block V-8 – the Corvette E-Ray. Unlike that concept car in 1953, this one was developed with the intention of being sold.

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