crankandpiston catches up with two of Monster Jam’s most popular drivers – Chad Fortune and Bari Musawwir – to discuss the series’ first sojourn to the Middle East, the key aspects of competing with a 1500hp monster truck, why track preparation is so critical, and why a dab hand at radio controlled cars can prove [...]

crankandpiston catches up with Motorsport Solutions’ Mohammad Al Falasi and his very busy Blackberry to discuss the motor racing situation in the Middle East. RING The impeccably dressed gentleman sitting across the desk from me apologises as he looks at his Blackberry and asks whether we’d mind if he took this call. Naturally we don’t, [...]

crankandpiston grabs a quick word with nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb to discuss his full-time GT racing career in the FIA GT Series and THAT assault on the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. I don’t mind admitting that I’m pretty nervous. It’s not everyday that you get to spend time with Sébastien Loeb, a [...]

crankandpiston grabs a few words with current Caterham F1 Team driver Charles Pic at Renault’s Al Qiyada showroom in Dubai, and discuss the goals he’s laid out for his new team, the efforts involved in his debut season with Marussia, how much influence former Grand Prix winner Olivier Panis has had on his career, and [...]

crankandpiston grabs a VERY quick few words with Dany Torres, former Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour champion, former Madrid X-Fighters outright winner, and the 2013 X-Fighters in Dubai. It’s late, and a bleary-eyed Dany Torres is clearly knackered. And rightfully so. For the past two days he has been throwing his KTM SX 250 towards [...]

crankandpiston grabs a few words with three-time EnduroCross Champion – and current KTM and Red Bull rider - Tadeusz Błażusiak at the main KTM Showroom in Dubai to discuss his first assault on the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and a hectic 2013 calendar. This past week we have seen competitors from across the globe take on [...]

crankandpiston sits down for a quick chat – in the main KTM showroom in Dubai, UAE – with three-time Dakar winner Marc Coma before his assault on this year’s UAE Desert Challenge. At the moment I’m sitting in a leather-backed chair, surrounded by seemingly every KTM product imaginable and attempting to do my best Michael [...]

The chequered flag has only just dropped on the 2012/2013 Formula Gulf 1000 season, but its drivers are already preparing themselves for a long year ahead. GulfSport Trophy winner Natasha Seatter for instance is set to take on the best the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia has to offer, while Rahul Raj Mayer heads UK-wards for [...]

crankandpiston grabs a few words with official Ferrari test driver Marc Gené to discuss the importance of driver tuition, why V12 engines give an experience like none other, and why Fernando Alonso’s Formula One aspirations are looking a lot rosier for 2013. It’s been a busy weekend for crankandpiston at Ferrari Racing Days 2013, with [...]

Yas Marina Circuit, UAE. crankandpiston catches up with Guinness World Record holder Abdo Feghali shortly after he completes his historic 11,180-metre continuous drift in a Chevrolet Camaro SS. The Chevrolet Camaro SS pulls to a stop having completed 43 laps of the 260-metre course set up behind us, 18 laps more than required. Soon after, [...]

Tom Kristensen – winner of the world famous 24 Hours of Le Mans a record eight times, a winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring six times, and currently competing with Audi Sport in the World Endurance Championship – speaks with crankandpiston about his early career, his brief tenure with Formula One, the joy of [...]

Mika Salo has proven a difficult man to track down during the course of the Dubai 24hrs weekend, though that’s hardly surprising. The key to endurance racing is rest, which Mika has made sure to get plenty of. And it’s inadvisable to wake a man who’s about to take a race-spec Ferrari 458 for a [...]

It’s not often that an opportunity presents itself like this. crankandpiston managed to wangle itself an invite to the regional launch of the all-new Cadillac ATS, and who should turn up on the night but hill climb legend – and Cadillac Commercial Director – Jeff Zwart. I imagine a fair few of you have just [...]

We grabbed Red Bull Racing‘s reserve driver Sebastien Buemi for a quick chat during the final of an Infiniti-sponsored virtual racing competition during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend. The conversation ranged from Formula 1 and Le Mans to computer games and motorsport in the Middle East, as well as the 2014 F1 rule changes. As a reserve [...]

We had a very quick chat with the double Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel at the Abu Dhabi launch of his signature new Infiniti FX Vettel Edition, ahead of his very turbulent weekend at the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. And we asked him your questions, submitted on Facebook and Twitter. Are you still [...]

We catch up with former Formula 1 driver and current F1 commentator Martin Brundle at the Dubai unveiling of the Infiniti FX Vettel Edition and talk about his past, present, future, and what Bernie Ecclestone is really like. You seem to have worn a lot of hats since your racing career took a slight back [...]

With a world-class Formula One venue pretty much on our doorstep (and three or four motorsport anoraks in the office), crankandpiston was keen to make the most of the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend. Now while we were unable to wander liberally from garage to garage and try each of the cars on [...]

One would have thought – considering the amount of action on-track in Jordan recently – that there’d be little time to roam the paddock and check out the lifestyle. Think again. Whilst chatting with the Muath Al-Essas and Ra’fat Harounds of this world, the crankandpiston voice recorder also happened to stumble across Auckland’s own ‘Mad’ [...]

A few weeks ago, the Dubai Autodrome Motorsport Club (DAMC) announced its calendar for the 2012/2013 season, with the usual suspects lining up front and centre. Not wanting to be left out, the Yas Marina Circuit today released its own calendar for the upcoming motorsport year. Chief among the events was, of course, the Abu [...]

It’s been a while since we covered the opening of a manufacturer showroom, what with deadlines lurking steathily around every corner. Fortunately though, when an invite to the opening of only the second Ducati showroom in the UAE arrived in the crankandpiston inbox, I found myself with a spare morning to fill, and decided a [...]

His first championship victory had been a hard fought affair, with four drivers still mathematically in with a shout at the final event of the season, each of whom had tasted race victory during a season some were hailing the best ever. The following though was a different story, the reigning Champ scything his way [...]

It’s not often crankandpiston gets a media invite to cover a café opening. Throttle response and suspension settings rarely meld seamlessly with cucumber sandwiches and OJ, after all. Still, since the Ducati Caffe (more on which to come) is the Italian marque’s first ever restaurant  – and in our own Dubai Mall no less – [...]

We’ve seen a lot of ups, downs and a few bumps and bruises on the road to this year’s UAE Touring Car Championship, and the final round of the season produced easily the most nail-biting finish we’ve seen in a while. As ever, crankandpiston was on-hand at the Autodrome to scope the news and check [...]

In a career spanning nearly 25 years, Allan McNish has done the rounds a few times. Though his Formula One aspirations may have stalled, he has since become a formidable name in endurance racing. Not only is he a three-time American Le Mans Series Champion, but he’s also taken two victories at the Le Mans [...]

‘In at the deep end’ could be on Oryx Racing’s letterhead. Established at the end of 2010, the team made its competitive debut just three months later at the daunting Dubai 24Hrs. And finished second in class. Soon the team (then named HMR) joined the Speed Euroseries, and almost took a podium at their first [...]

News fresh in from Doha, where Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Al Faisal has just wrapped up the 2011/12 season of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East. This is the second time in three years for the young Saudi, who was also the first Saudi to win a round of the FIA GT3 Championship, aboard the Team [...]

Recently crankandpiston was invited to/found a gap in the fence at, the Yas Marina Circuit for some on-track seat time with the Ferrari California. Yep, pictures and swooning to follow. Even though we were prepared for some tyre-squealing hot laps with our illustrious instructors, we did not expect one of them to be current-Ferrari Formula [...]

Khaled Al Mudhaf is the enigmatic, softly spoken, true gentleman CEO of Kuwaits G-FORCE AUTOWORX. As the holder of National Racing License ’001′ for Kuwait, he holds the responsibility of a man that is breaking new ground within the Middle Eastern Motorsport world. In the past, he has had successful outings in the UAE GT [...]

Pirelli’s launch of their new-for-2012 Formula One tyre compounds was news-worthy in itself, but the Italian manufacturer felt a curve ball would liven things up even more. Recently released-Renault nee Lotus driver Vitaly Petrov made a surprise appearance at the event, his F1 experience proving useful as wide-eyed journalists and photographers alike were shown life [...]

While at the ongoing Dubai Motor Show, we managed to collar Red Bull Racing‘s team principal Christian Horner for a quick chat ahead of the weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Here’s how it went. C&P: Thanks for talking to us Christian. What brings you to the Dubai Motor Show? CH: I’m here to unveil the [...]

Joe Ghanem burst onto the scene at the start of the 2010/2011 UAE racing season as a breath of fresh air. Young, committed and surrounded by a dedicated team aimed at maximising the young Lebanese driver’s talent on the local scene. A stranger to GT racing ‘the kid’ – he had just turned 21 at [...]

We are beginning to feature more and more from a great company that goes by the name of Clash Productions. Benini Stephane the man behind Clash Productions is seen here being interviewed by the guys at DeathMachines, going into detail regarding his five plus years as a motorsport videographer. At last you get to see [...]