Ex Stig, Ben Collins takes the toughest drive of his life with a 9.25 mile downhill Alpine Ski Course drive.

• Ultimate luxury performance SUV tackles the legendary Inferno downhill ski course in Mürren, Switzerland
• “Toughest ever route” for British racing driver and ex-‘Stig’, Ben Collins
• Fearsome 9.25 mile test completed in 21min 36sec at up to 96mph
• 510hp 5.0-liter V8 supercharged Range Rover Sport the king of the hill
• Watch the challenge here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzNOXjpr_i4

Speeds of 96mph, 75 percent gradients and a 7,119 ft. descent, the Range Rover Sport has conquered it all on an Alpine ski course that has been the downfall of many skiers (1).

The Range Rover Sport is the first-ever production vehicle to attempt the fearsome ski run. Piloted by renowned race and stunt driver Ben Collins, the all-terrain super-SUV tackled the treacherous terrain on the 9.25 mile downhill route at Mürren in Switzerland, completing it in 21min 36sec.

During the 7,119 ft descent, the Range Rover Sport followed the route used by skiers on the tough Inferno Mürren, one of the oldest and most challenging downhill races. It tackled snow, ice, loose rock, mud, broken asphalt, grass and gravel, helped by Land Rover Terrain Response ® technology (2).

Introduced in 2013, Range Rover Sport is a genuine Land Rover success story; delivering all the refinement and capability expected from a large SUV, with the performance normally associated with a sports car. In August, Land Rover introduced its latest infotainment system -- InControl Touch Pro -- and Advanced Tow Assist technology to the nameplate.

British racer Collins, famous for his role as ‘The Stig’ on Top Gear was pushed to the limit by hairpin bends and the danger of sheer drops.

Collins said: “This was genuinely one of the hardest tests I’ve faced in my driving career. The route was insane and certainly the toughest course I’ve ever completed. It challenged you with every kind of obstacle this side of molten lava and as conditions go, it was about as bad as it gets – torrential weather mixed with cliffs, trees, all kinds of stuff you don't really want to crash into.

“There could only be one winner in the challenge - the mountain or the car. The key to the run was precision: being able to maintain speed and carry that speed down the hill in the way the skiers can do, carving through the turns.

“The Range Rover Sport gave me so much help. I had to use the Terrain Response because the grass was like an ice rink and it really got me out of trouble. I believed in the car and it meant we could shed a lot of time over the runs. To be honest I abused it and it just kept on going - I couldn’t have asked for a better machine to do the job.”

The treacherous, yet beautiful, mountain course tested the capability of the Range Rover Sport with ice and sleet at the top, where Collins reached 75mph, and fog and wet grass at the bottom, where he hit 96mph.

The Terrain Response technology features six modes that will adapt the vehicle’s settings to the appropriate surface. For example, in Dynamic mode the Anti-Roll Bar is stiffened to reduce body roll; the Grass/Gravel/Snow mode reduces under and over steer by engine braking; while in Mud and Ruts, the rear differential is locked to allow controlled wheel slip for better traction.

On its way down the Range Rover Sport tackled perilous gradients of up to 75 percent - steeper than many black diamond runs at famous ski resorts such as Chamonix - in freezing temperatures.

The feat was achieved in a Range Rover Sport with a 510hp 5.0-liter supercharged V8 gas engine (3).

A film documenting the epic challenge is available to view here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzNOXjpr_i4

The challenge follows Range Rover Sport feats including its record-setting hill-climb for a production SUV at Pikes Peak in 2013 and its record crossing of the ‘Empty Quarter’ desert in the Arabian Peninsula in the same year. These global driving challenges, in which the Range Rover Sport is pushed to new limits, can be seen on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzNOXjpr_i4

(1) Vehicle was driven by a professional driver on a closed course. Please do not attempt.

(2) These systems are not a substitute for driving safely with due care and attention and will not function under all circumstances, speeds, weather and road conditions, etc. Driver should not assume that these systems will correct errors of judgment in driving.  Please consult the owner’s manual or your local authorized Land Rover Retailer for more details.

(3) The vehicle was modified to deactivate safety features and add a roll cage, a driver's seat safety harness and reinforced tires.

Legendary Audi racer Frank Biela will be reunited with the A4 SuperTourer at Knockhill’s SuperTouring Festival.

Legendary Audi racer Frank Biela will be reunited with game-changing A4 SuperTourer at Knockhill’s SuperTouring Festival this weekend

• Audi race ace Frank Biela to be guest of honour at Scotland’s Knockhill Circuit for celebration of touring car racing on September 11
• Biela will reacquaint himself with all-conquering A4 quattro SuperTourer on the circuit where he won and set the fastest race lap for Audi in the BTCC twenty years ago
• Dominance of A4 quattro SuperTourer in 1996 season led to further weight penalties in 1997 and an eventual ban on all-wheel-drive from 1998
• Thoroughbred touring cars from the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties will go toe-to-toe in STCC finale during the weekend

Twenty years after he drove the governing body of the British Touring Car Championship to distraction with his all-conquering Audi A4 quattro SuperTourer, racing legend Frank Biela is to be reunited with the outlawed all-wheel-drive sidekick at this weekend‘s David Leslie SuperTouring Festival.

The 52-year-old, who can reflect on five Le Mans 24-hour wins and a host of Touring Car race victories in international championships, will be the guest of honour at  the evocative festival, which will bring legendary Touring Cars from across the decades to Scotland’s famous Knockhill Circuit.

At the Knockhill round of the 1996 BTCC, Biela recorded the fastest lap in his A4 quattro SuperTourer, and went on to win one of the two races staged that weekend. That year he contributed six further fastest lap times to the total of eight achieved by the A4 in the 26-race series, and took pole on no less than six occasions. Eight race wins secured the Drivers’ Championship title for his heroic efforts and, ably assisted by his team-mate John Bintcliffe, the Manufacturers’ Championship title for Audi.

Versus a field of front-wheel-driven competitors, the A4 SuperTouring with its game-changing Audi quattro all-wheel-drive technology undoubtedly held the trump card. In all, the A4 quattro SuperTouring entered seven national championships on three continents in 1996 – and won them all.  

As a result, the configuration that was believed to have facilitated the  virtual whitewash by Biela and Bintcliffe in the BTCC was taken to task by the championship organisers. They imposed various weight penalties on the car for the 1997 season, and this encumbrance meant that Biela initially struggled to make headway in the series that year. Midway through the race calendar, however, the weight penalty was halved, and Biela was again given his head, fighting back to take second place overall in the Drivers’ Championship, and helping Audi to achieve second place overall. In 1998, all-wheel drive was largely banished from European touring car competition.

Audi UK is proud to number an A4 quattro SuperTourer among the many cherished gems in its Heritage Fleet, and this car will be on static display at Knockhill, as will an Audi 80 GLE replica car in Stirling Moss colours which campaigned in the 1980 British Saloon Car Championship. Mr Biela will, however, have ample opportunity to take a blast down memory lane in the 296PS, 2.0-litre A4 thanks to a private owner who has kindly entrusted his ex-Audi Sport car to the German race ace for parade laps of the circuit.

Biela’s evocative sortie will be one highlight of what promises to be an exceptional spectacle for fans of Touring Car racing. The Historic Sports Car Club will also be staging the thrilling finale of its Super Touring Car Championship as part of the event, bringing thoroughbred Touring Cars from the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties back to the grid for classic bumper-to-bumper racing in the best traditions of this much-loved competition format.

The legacy and dominance of quattro in the SuperTouring championship and a multitude of other motorsport disciplines from the 1980s to the present day continues to drive unwavering demand for the legendary all-wheel drive system. 

Today, a quattro variant is available to order in every single one of the 13 Audi model silhouettes and a third of all Audi road cars sold in the UK are equipped with quattro all-wheel drive, comfortably ahead of the German premium competition.

The legend that is Norman Dewis O.B.E. goes to get kitted out before he arrived on set at last weekends Top Gear.

Legendary Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis OBE made his first appearance on BBC Top Gear television in the UK on Sunday 26 June. In preparation for his debut on the famous show set, Dewis was fitted for a bespoke suit – complete with special Jaguar lining – at Savile Row’s Henry Poole & Co., with British supermodel and car collector David Gandy on hand to offer style advice.

On the same day, Norman Dewis OBE visited Jaguar Stratstone Mayfair to see the retailer group’s recently purchased Jaguar Lightweight E-type – one of the ‘Missing Six’ manufactured in 2015 to complete the original run of 18 allocated in 1963 - when Dewis was the company’s chief test driver. 

Norman Dewis OBE said: “I visited London thanks to my friend David Gandy who kindly introduced me to his tailor, Henry Poole & Co., who made a suit for me ahead of my appearance on this week’s episodes of BBC Top Gear and Extra Gear.  It was also an opportunity for me to visit the Jaguar showroom on Berkeley Street just around the corner from Savile Row – so David joined me to take a look at their ‘new’ Lightweight E-type.  A car very close to my heart.”

David Gandy said: “When I learned Norman was going to be on TV I thought it would be great to have him fitted for a new suit so he can look his best in front of the cameras.  Our friends at Henry Poole & Co. stepped in, so we came in together for a fitting.  Norman also kindly invited me to join him to take a look at a couple of really wonderful Jaguars from his era with the company – a stunning C-type and Lightweight E-type.  To hear about these cars from the man fundamental to their development was a rare treat for a petrol head and Jaguar enthusiast like me.”

In their latest episode, the BBC Top Gear team recreated Norman’s infamous drive from Coventry to Geneva in 1961, where the Jaguar E-type made its world debut 55 years ago.  BBC Top Gear presenter Rory Reid completed the same journey this year in a new 575PS, 200mph-capable Jaguar F-TYPE SVR.  In 1961, Norman drove E-type ‘77 RW’ from Jaguar’s then HQ in Browns Lane Coventry, to the motor show in Geneva, driving for 11 hours (plus three hours for the ferry crossing from Dover to Ostend).  In this episode Rory is given a warm welcome by Norman to Geneva, 55 years on. Norman is also interviewed on the Extra Gear show, which is available now on BBC iPlayer.

Recalling his drive in 1961, Dewis said: “I left Coventry at 7.45pm for a 10pm crossing from Dover, and it seemed the heavens were looking down on me, as every traffic light I came to, even on London’s Edgware Road, showed green.  The gates had just closed when I arrived at Dover and the boat was ready to sail, but the security guard shone his torch on the car and asked me what it was – I explained it was the new Jaguar E-type and I just had to make it to Geneva for it’s world debut at the motor show – he agreed, and ushered me through.”

Norman continued: “I arrived in Geneva just in time for a 10am press conference the following morning, and Sir William Lyons looked at his watch and said, simply ‘I knew you’d make it, Dewis’.  The press went berserk for the new E-type – it was a relative bargain at £2,000 and could reach speeds of up to 150mph.  The news spread around the world like a prairie fire.  We had to lay down a new production line at Browns Lane to cope with the demand.”a

Renault Sport have unveiled a new concept car on the streets of Monaco’s famous Grand Prix circuit today.

• Concept car celebrates Renault Sport’s 40th anniversary and return to Formula 1
• Clio R.S. 16 grafts the Renault range’s highest-performing engine into a Renault Clio and features the colours of the 2016 R.S. 16 F1 single-seater
• Clio R.S. 16 to be unveiled at the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix
• Press Kit on Clio R.S. 16 available to download

Renault Sport have unveiled a new concept car on the streets of Monaco’s famous Grand Prix circuit today driven by Renault Sport Formula One Team’s Kevin Magnussen.  The Clio R.S.16 is the highest performance Renault Sport road-going vehicle ever and its reveal in 2016 celebrates both 40 years of Renault Sport and Renault’s return to Formula One as a constructor.

Developed in record time

“Our aim was to produce a concept car with genuinely outstanding performance credentials,” notes Patrice Ratti, Managing Director of Renault Sport Cars, leader of the project which particularly inspired the development team’s specialists. “On paper, producing a Clio R.S. powered by our most potent engine – namely the 275-horsepower two-litre power unit which delivers peak torque of 360Nm – was an extremely appealing idea, but we had to make sure it was feasible.”

Thanks to new working procedures involving teams from the worlds of motorsport and road cars, the development of the highest-performance road-going Renault Sport car ever took just five months from start to finish.

A variety of technical challenges

Finding the ideal way to house the engine, transmission and cooling system of the Mégane R.S. 275 Trophy-R was a significant challenge. The exhaust system was also revised as a function of the engine’s potential, while the suspension was engineered to match the car’s outstanding performance characteristics. Careful attention was paid to the sound produced by the car, too, and an Akrapovič twin exhaust system was selected.

Performance-led design

The design and development team dealt successfully with the constraints inherent in the Clio R.S. 16 project (body widened by 60mm, 19-inch wheels and optimisation of the engine cooling system) to produce an expressive, sporty stance. The result is enhanced by an LED R.S. VISION chequered-pattern lighting signature featuring exclusive multi-faceted reflector technology.

Renault Sport’s trademark Liquid Yellow has been combined with gloss black details to mirror the livery of Renault Sport Formula One Team’s R.S.16 F1 single-seaters.

After today’s first public airing in the streets of Monaco, the car’s next official appearance will be the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 23-26.

Renault launches a special Clio R.S. at the Monaco GP, to mark the 40th anniversary of the Renault Sport division.

To mark its fortieth anniversary and celebrate Renault's return as a Formula 1 team, Renault Sport will be unveiling a special version of Clio R.S. at the legendary Monaco Grand Prix.

Patrice Ratti, Managing Director of Renault Sport Cars, said: "We successfully completed the project of a slightly crazy car. It was a joint effort by the Renault Sport Cars and Renault Sport Racing teams. This Clio R.S. refines the expertise of Renault Sport engineers whilst exploring new avenues for the future."

The entire Renault Sport team will be in Monaco on Friday, 27 May to demonstrate how Renault makes the connection between the racetrack and the road and to reveal what is behind the design of this very special Clio R.S.