Supercars

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.

Sitting down to write this, I’m ashamed to admit, I feel slightly torn. Because La Mirande is like nowhere else I’ve ever had the good fortune to stay. And a big part of me wants to keep it as my little secret, my little escape, a place almost too good to share. Like an enormous warm chocolate fondant, lathered in fresh cream, ‘one spoon only, please’. But despite such selfish temptations, I can’t deprive you of what I have absolute conviction will be one of your favourite stays anywhere, ever.

Sometimes you wonder why on earth a hotel chose its name. Or what they were inspired by. Or who thought of it in the first place. And this is exactly what I put to the manager of Parenthèse Concept Room – a gem of a secret hideaway in the divinely terracotta city of Toulouse. “Parenthèses is the French word for brackets,” explains Jean-François. The perfect name for this boutique apartment, so it would seem. “It’s a secret place where time is suspended,” he told me. “When you stay here it’s as though you put your life in brackets, you put everything else on hold.

When I first got my hands on the Ford Mustang 5.0L V8 GT Convertible 10SP Automatic in Triple Yellow I took it round the track at Millbrook to see how it performed in test conditions. It was impressive on the bowl track, comfortable, steady and very powerful. It was less impressive on the hill track, but it’s not built to tear up and down shoddy roads with inverse cambers and blind hill crescents. In real life conditions it is wonderful. The Mustang, as its name indicates, is bred for the wide open spaces and long roads, ideal for cruising in consummate style.

Set in the province of Salzburgerland are a number of wonderful tranquil lakes so pure that the water is drinkable. I came to Fuschl and her lake called Fuschlsee. From its different angles I sensed the lake’s different character and characters. At night the very few lights emphasised just how underpopulated the shoreline is.

One of the classic races in solo ocean sailing – is set for a record entry this year as it celebrates its 40th anniversary.
Charting a 3,542-nautical mile course from Saint-Malo in Brittany to Point-à-Pitre on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, the Route du Rhum was first held in 1978 and has since established itself as one of the big targets for the world’s top solo ocean racers.