Supercars

I’m back in the luxury five star Quinta Do Lago resort in the Algarve, Portugal, to meet up with Judy Murray who is there running kids tennis camps in partnership with The Campus, Europe’s premier sport and wellness resort.

If you’re looking for an extraordinary Christmas gift for someone special this year, it might surprise you to know that you could buy a share in a racehorse for as little as £100, making it a Christmas gift option that is not only unique, but also affordable.

The Audi S5 Cabriolet arrived at my door in a striking Daytona Grey, that added even more gravitas to this already impressive convertible saloon. It has a soft rounded bonnet with four creases that slope up from the Audi grill and logo, tapering flatly back to the rear. Designed to be discreet and fast, it is the most powerful four seater convertible in the Audi range. It is also a car I know well, having driven the early model in Spain for years, including many summers spent touring around Western Europe.

McLaren Automotive have revealed the stunning, streamlined form and sensational specification of the McLaren Speedtail at a special event in London. The next chapter in McLaren’s Ultimate Series, the Speedtail is the first ‘Hyper-GT’ from the pioneering British company recognised for producing luxury sportscars and supercars that deliver extraordinary driving experiences.

As a little girl, with an imagination larger than my wildly untamed hair (my hairbrush refusal was my mother’s morning battle), I often wondered what it would be like to skip right into a kaleidoscope. An imagined sugar-rush, spinning-tea-cup-ride surge of delight as every kind of colour and shape danced their flamboyant, unrehearsed, flamenco routine.

Ferrari’s Corse Clienti division is pleased to announce the launch of the Ferrari Challenge UK series for 2019, with the Ferrari 488 Challenge to race on four UK circuits. This is the first time in the history of Ferrari that the brand has offered a one-make racing series dedicated for a single market.

Coming back from the summer break with recharged batteries and a suitcase full of souvenirs and good intentions, September always seems to do its best to challenge this with a tsunami of shows. For myself and my colleagues at Quarterre, a transport and product design studio based in London, this has centred around two things this year: The London Design Festival, when the world and its soft furnishings comes to our doorstep and the Paris Motor Show, a veritable Grande Dame of the automotive industry whose glory days might be behind her now but who still knows how to put on a class act.

When it comes to madeleines, I must admit, I never really got France’s obsession with the humble, plainly inoffensive little cake. A walnut-sized golden sponge synonymous with writer Marcel Proust. Indeed, for Proust, the powers of the madeleine go far beyond satiating the sweet tooth. In his novel he recalls how, as a child, his aunt gave him small madeleines dipped in tea - decades later, this crumbly delight resurrecting long-forgotten memories. One bite, a sensory trigger, containing the most powerful of ingredients – nostalgia.

The McLaren 570S Spider stands out like every McLaren for its intricate and elaborate design ethos. Or to put it another way, it just looks incredible both from afar and close up. The styling and detail that goes into the body work is innovative and daring employing the latest technology in modern materials and computer aided design software. The head of design at McLaren is Robert Melville who has a passion for cars and believes in pushing boundaries and testing new ideas as a matter of principle.

We drove the McLaren 570S Spider to the Vineyard Hotel, a 5 star Relais & Chateaux hotel in Berkshire, an ideal stopover on any luxury tour, particularly designed to appeal to wine lovers everywhere.