Back in October, we blogged about Nick's cool Cafe Racer that took first prize at the Melbourne Mods v Rockers event.

As I was in the workshop grabbing a few shots of Craigs A model, I thought I'd get Nick to drag the bike out to pose for a few shots before I left

A stunning creation, you have to agree.

Luke.

It might be a miss match of Porsche bits, however it is still something that Porschephiles would drool over....unless you are a completely fastidious nerd that is!!

Phil

Well here we go...another awesome exclusive from Stephane and the team at Clash Production. This time in HD!!

This is the first collaboration with a great band called Team Ghost that composed the music of the video. You can find them on myspace > http://www.myspace.com/teamghostmusic

Hold on tight, it's going to be a wild ride!!

www.titan-movie.com

Our region is a little short on what would be described as decent driving roads – unless you really get your kicks on vast swatches of arrow straight motorway. So we’re (www.carmiddleeast.com) highlighting some of the best roads – and want your help in finding more. First in the series is perhaps one of the most famous roads in the region – Jebel Hafeet.

Situated on the Jebel Hafeet mountain on the border between the UAE and Oman, this 12.3km stretch of tarmac leads to the highest point accessable by a regular car in the UAE. And what great joys await at the top of a mountain? A crappy little restaurant at 1016m above sea level. However, the Mercure Grand Hotel a few kilometres down the mountain is good for tea and cake around the pool.

Set the sat-nav for Al Ain – basically follow the E66 until it ends. Once there, follow the brown tourist signs to the Hafeet. Beware, if you’re visiting at the weekend, arrive early to avoid the traffic. Better still, stay overnight at the Grand Mercure and you can play all night – there’s little else to do in the area. Make sure you fill up in Al Ain itself though, as it’s a very long walk down to get fuel.

Jebel Hafeet can be a killer – we’ve had plenty of cars throw up all manner of warnings due to overheating. If it’s your first time, take it easy – some of the corners are very deceptive and the scars on the concrete crash barriers bear the marks of those who’ve overcooked it en route to the summit.

Don’t worry about holding anyone up, it’s two lanes up and one down. Just leave the gawping at the view for the numerous parking areas on the way up. Enjoy!

24°3’ 30” N 55°46’ 40” E is your end goal

Tom...
www.carmiddleeast.com

So after a long day and no sleep I’m back at Sepang to capture the action and gather a bit of an insight into 2010's MotoGP happenings.

The second day of testing saw Valentino Rossi remain on top of the time sheets on the new factory Yamaha YZR-M1 prototype. The Italian was closely followed by Casey Stoner and team mate Jorge Lorenzo.

Morning session saw heavy rain with most of the riders choosing to hang tight in the pits...however by the time track dried out Rossi headed out and started dropping some super quick laps. Rossi improved his time to 2’00.925, the fastest overall from Day1 and Day2.

Although Rossi was happy with the result, he was cautious as the Yamaha always fares well at Sepang...he concluded that Qatar will be the true yardstick.

Take the JUMP for more pics....

A stunning Turbo charged Acura NSX running a 458hp/350lb-ft at the rear wheels, Sorcery widebody kit and WORK Meister S1 wheels....All shot by the super talented Jeff Creech!

Worthy shot of the day..

Phil

I know we can get a bit Motorsport intensive here at crankandpiston...I make no apologies of that fact especially when we get to see some cool on board footage from our local track in a Porsche 997 Cup Car. So as I just mentioned here is a video from Round 4 of the UAE GT Championship on board with Falcon Racing's Ibrahim Salloum chasing down Cabell Fisher in the orange and black #35 Porsche GT3 cup of Khaleji Motorsport.

I can't get enough of the noise a GT3 Cup Car makes...so turn it up and enjoy the Dubai Autodrome layout.

Phil

Falcon Racing - Prepared and Supported by ARM @ www.armotors.ae

After celebrating its 1st year anniversary the GTZ club UAE managed to follow up the event with another big bang - the AutoCross. As a friendly car club we also threw open the doors to the guys and gals from the Renault Owners club and the crowd from Evolve club.

We put our cars into their natural habitat, and our skills to the test. The result was pure fun....

I managed to let go of the steering wheel and run out of my Z to shoot a few pics.

Here is a few of them...

Dexter

The Zenvo ST1 is the fruit of five years worth of hard work by Jesper Jenson and Troels Vollertsen and the rest of the small team that works for Zenvo - Denmark's first supercar company. It's an all-new model built on its own platform and is powered by a bespoke 7.0-litre GM V8 engine.

The alloy lump is turbo- and supercharged to a heady 1104bhp and 1055lb ft of torque. This twin-charging setup is similar to what VW does on the Golf GT - though naturally, with a little more potency.

What this means in real terms is that the V8 doesn't suffer from any lag - plant the throttle and away it goes. With all of that power on tap, it's really not recommended trying any sort of rapid getaway in first gear - you'll roast those fat 335mm Michelins in no time.

There's still plenty of wheelspin in second if you're not too careful with the power. To try and make the ST1 a little easier to live with on the day-to-day grind, Zenvo has set up the car with three power maps - 650bhp for wet conditions, 850bhp for normal, and the full 1104bhp in Sport mode.

JUMP on for this great article from www.carmiddleeast.com

Well the 2010 MotoGP season is here..well, Sepang in Malaysia to be exact! Thanks to Muaz we will be bringing you some cool pics from the track as the weekend unfolds.

So to get things started reigning Champion and last years Sepang winner, Valentino Rossi topped the timesheets on the first day of testing. Rain had hampered track action near the end of the session however the overall the day was typical Malaysian scorching weather.

Rossi set almost predictably set the fastest time of 2’01.411 ahead of 17 riders that took part in the test. Weirdly though his fastest lap was slower than his pole time at Sepang last year by about a second....A sign there is more speed in the track as it rubbers down.

On you click!

Just a quick post to say that Jaguar Cars with the help of Paul Gentilozzi and RSR Racing have been given the nod by the ACO to enter this years 24 Hour Epic of Le Mans...

A Jaguar Sportscar blatting down the Mulsanne again after all these years will be a truly wonderful sight...and from the sounds of it the noise coming out of the side exits on the XKR will reverberate all around the French Countryside!

Phil

Hodgie's 1956 Chevy Sports Coupe Gasser is a sight (and sound) to behold. You wouldn't believe the fun we had on the photo shoot. It's a great atmosphere when you are with a cool guy who builds cool cars, just ragging around with a massive smile on his face for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

For more on this awesome beast, check out the full feature in Issue 03 of Fuel Magazine.

Luke.

Take one super talented guy - Jon Sibal! Then take the work of another superbly talented guy - Andy Blackmore! Then marinate with a car that I personally think is stunning and of ageless design.

So to explain, Jon Sibal sat one day and thought what an MP4-12C might look like if McLaren bite the bullet and take their baby racing in the GT Championships around the world. To make it evocative he decided rather than make up a new look and feel, he would take the ageless livery designs that Andy Blackmore came up with all those years ago when the McLaren F1 “GTR” ruled the tracks around the world. Instant awesomeness...

I thought I would take a different direction to some of the other blogs around the world and show you the one that, as a kid growing up I thought was just perfect...Follow the link to see the rest!

Phil

http://jonsibal.com/blog
http://jonsibal.com/blog/2010/02/mclaren-mp4-12c-gtr/

Though not a fan of the ubiquitous banker-bling Rolex watch, I was recently drawn to a television advert, slicing evocative shots of prototype racers at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, prompting me to reflect on how far we have come regionally. Maybe one day Rolex and others will be interspersing dawn cityscapes of the Sheikh Zayed Road with a battle-scarred DXB Racing LMP1 winning “Dubai Arba’ Wa Ashroon Sa’a”.

I’m especially proud of being part of a motorsport scene here in the UAE from which locally based talent was not only able to compete head on against high quality drivers and teams from around the world, but beat them in the recent Dubai 24 Hours.

And what really puts the icing on the cake, reminding me we are living through a golden age of motorsport in this country, is the camaraderie and genuine club mentality we still have in the paddock on national race days, even when our race face is on.

And so to race day.....

www.thecitizensfoundation.org

I dropped in to the workshop tonight where some buddies work on their projects. It's good to pop in and grab some shots every now and again.

The car I always anticipate seeing the most is Craig's Ford Model A. Not just because he 'Fueled' it up with the logo on the door, but because it's such a sweet car.

This was the first photo out of the box tonight but it's late so I'll get some more up online another time.

Luke.

With all the new F1 cars looking decidedly ugly, I thought it best to remind you just how good F1 cars used to look!! Automotive porn on an unquestionable level...

Phil

We like Joshua Herron and the superb work that he does behind a camera....This is a slight reverse in that he is the man in front of the camera...Josh was approached by deathmachines.net to do an interview about himself, in which he agreed to with no hesitation.... "I've never really had the opportunity to be on the other side of the camera, so this was pretty awesome to be involved in something like this. Thanks to everyone for the support over the past year, I wouldn't be where I am without you guys!"

Enjoy!

Shot by Will Roegge....

Nothing more than a little tease.....

If you like what you see, you can head over to our sister, www.fuelzine.com and buy yourself some DVD's...just here - http://fuelmagazine.bigcartel.com/category/dvds

Nothing more to say than...OH MY!!!!