Eighties excess: when Autocar pit the Ferrari F40 against the Porsche 959
There was another side to all this, however: 'The F40's advantage is clear when the sky is blue and the Tarmac fairly smooth, but the 959 is a car which permits massive acceleration and deceleration even on wet surfaces, slush or gravel.'
You see, while Ferrari had compromised everything else in order to be as light and as fast as possible, Porsche had given its supercar a complex four-wheel drive system, computer-controlled power distribution, self-levelling suspension, power steering and advanced anti-lock brakes, not to mention rear seats within its plush cabin, in an effort to demonstrate a new concept within the world of supercars: everyday usability.
We elaborated: 'The Italians say they never intended to construct a high-tech cathedral; they simply wanted to build the world's fastest sports car. They seem to have succeeded.
Porsche, on the other hand, wanted to build a car that contained the ultimate in driveline technology and showed how easy and manageable very high power outputs could be made in the hands of any driver in all conditions. Anyone who has driven a 959 in a range of weathers knows that it too has succeeded.'
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Daily Mail
15 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The 10 most shocking dash cam crashes and dangerous driving incidents caught on camera in the past year
From dozy drivers ploughing into the back of stationary vehicles to motorists on the wrong side of the road causing head-on collisions, these dash cam clips showcase some of the most dangerous motorists in Britain. A montage of 10 videos showing incredibly careless and reckless driving - all captured in the last 12 months - have been exclusively shared with the Daily Mail. They've also been sent directly to the police in the hope of securing prosecutions. The footage displays thoughtless overtaking on country roads, hasty antics on motorways, and terrible judgement at busy junctions. It shows how some individuals are risking the lives of others to save seconds on their journey, by driving well beyond their vehicle's limits, or simply switching off behind the wheel. All but one result in crashes, with the exception being a near miss that leaves one driver screaming in fear. The videos have been released by dash cam brand Nextbase to mark the seventh anniversary of its National Dash Cam Safety Portal (NSCSP), which allows road users to upload incriminating footage caught on recording devices directly to police forces to be used as evidence. The ten videos show some of the 'most shocking crashes and scary near misses' recorded on dash cams over the last year. The first - which took place in April this year - shows a preoccupied young driver in a bright yellow Fiat 500 who fails to stop when approaching a stopped car in front, with the rear-facing camera capturing the sickening point of collision. Despite being at relatively low speed, the impact thrusts the female driver forwards into her deployed airbag, while the windscreen on the passenger side of the car smashes on the force of the airbag going off. The second clip plays out a head on collision involving a foreign registered supercar captured in Peth in Scotland. It shows the driver of a £260,000 Aston Martin DBS - either from Netherlands of Luxembourg, given the yellow front number plate) - on the wrong side of the road crashing head-on into an unsuspecting driver entering a blind bend in the wet. Video three involves a Highway Maintenance tipper truck pulling out of what looks to be a dual carriageway slip road or emergency refuge area, with the luckless driver unable to take evasive action and flipping their vehicle into its side after striking the side of the lorry. Another clip from March this year shows a queue of traffic formed behind a slow-moving tanker. When a fast-approaching driver is unable is unable to slow down in time, the footage shows them running into the back of another motorist, their car flipping onto its side and deflecting into the path of the dash cam user, who is unable to take evasive action. The next video shows the moment an unsuspecting driver in Wales turns a corner on a country road to find an out-of-control Mercedes-Benz swerving towards them. Clearly travelling too fast for the wet conditions, the luxury German motor skids off the road into a grass verge before shooting back onto the road into the path of the shocked motorist. The dash cam user manages to steer out of the way of disaster, though only just. Other clips show a transporter carrying a car ploughs into the back of a van entering a roundabout on a dual carriageway triggering a domino effect of crashes, an Audi driver reversing into another road user at a set of traffic lights, and an HGV changing lanes on a motorway and side-swiping an unfortunate motorist. The last of the videos, recorded just last month, is arguably the scariest of all. It shows a motorist attempting to undertake slow-moving traffic on a stretch of smart motorway with no hard shoulder. However, when they move into lane one, they are quickly faced with a van and car already involved in a collision and the drivers out of the vehicle. Unable to avoid the crashed vehicles, the reckless motorist smashes into the back of the van at the moment a women can be seen trying to open the rear doors of the stricken car in front. The clips represent the kind of videos used in many cases that have helped Britons to report dangerous driving as well as prove who is fault for an accident when making an insurance claim. Videos captured on dash cams and recording devices of other road users - like cyclists' helmet cameras - can also be uploaded to the National Dash Cam Safety Portal to help the Police catch dangerous drivers. The portal - which launched in July 2018 - has received nearly 30,000 submissions already in 2025, a 25 per cent increase on the same period last year, indicating that drivers are increasingly capturing and reporting instances of reckless driving. Some 35 UK police forces are using the portal, and other are currently in discussion to utilise it soon. In the year to date, the top five regions processing the most uploads include: West Midlands, West Murcia, Northumberland, Surrey and South Yorkshire. These five regions have already received over 22,000 submissions in 2025, more than the total number submitted across the UK in the whole of 2021. In the last seven years, a whopping 185,000 dangerous driving clips have been uploaded. And 70 per cent of submissions have resulted in further action, whether than be warning letters or the issuing of penalty points and prosecution. By streamlining the process of submitting evidence, the portal is estimated to have saved over 169 years of police time. Bryn Brooker, Head of Road Safety at Nextbase, commented: 'These videos highlight the serious incidents that Britons see on a daily basis on our roads, many of which would be difficult to explain or prove fault in. 'People submit these types of clips to us on a daily basis and even more are using video evidence to help take dangerous drivers off the road through the portal. 'Dash Cams are increasingly seen as an essential bit of kit for a motorist looking to protect themselves and their no-claims bonuses.' The report comes after official DfT stats published in May showed a 1 per cent increase in people killed on Britain roads - 1,633 last year, up from 1,624 in 2023. With 2020 and 2021 statistics considered outliers due to pandemic-related lockdowns dramatically reducing traffic levels, this is the first increase in annual road deaths recorded since 2017. Motorcyclist deaths increased most dramatically by 9 per cent last year with some 343 motorbike riders losing their lives in crashes in 2024, up from 315 during the previous 12 months. As such, motorcyclists made up a fifth (21 per cent) of road fatalities last year. There was also an increase in pedestrian deaths, up 2 per cent from 405 in 2023 to 413 in 2024. Bryn said the increase in road users uploading incriminating evidence of dangerous driving highlights the demand for 'technological solutions to improve road safety'. He added: 'We are pleased that almost all forces across England and Wales now accept video evidence in this way, making it easier to take dangerous drivers off the road, something that has undoubtedly saved lives.'
The Independent
44 minutes ago
- The Independent
F1 2025 mid-season awards: Best moment, worst race and biggest shock
Fourteen down, 10 to go. The 2025 F1 season is in full swing and it's neck-and-neck at the top of the world championship. After Lando Norris ' victory in Hungary following a thrilling finale, holding off a late charge from Oscar Piastri, the Australian's lead in the drivers' standings is now just nine points. Away from the McLaren title fight, Ferrari are second in the constructors' standings but have not won a race – with star signing Lewis Hamilton yet to secure a top-three finish – while Red Bull (twice) and Mercedes (once) have managed to finish on the top step of the podium. And what about the rest of the pack? Williams have shown signs of improvement, while Sauber have made massive progress in the last few months, ahead of their entry as Audi in 2026. As F1 rolls into the four-week summer break, with the next race in Zandvoort on 31 August, The Independent takes a look at the most memorable moments so far. It shouldn't be forgotten that Norris was the clear favourite at the start of the season, ahead of a campaign where McLaren's superiority was widely foreseen. Yet Piastri's consistency in just his third F1 season – he has been off the podium just once since the season-opener in Australia – means he leads the world championship and deservedly so, regularly outshining his senior teammate. Six wins, 12 podiums – it's been immensely impressive. Other shoutouts go to George Russell, who has eked out the maximum from this capricious Mercedes car, with one win and six podiums to his name. Max Verstappen 's wins in Japan and Imola were also mighty. Best team: McLaren What a job team principal Andrea Stella has done at the papaya-clad team, alongside CEO Zak Brown. In the space of a year, McLaren have overtaken Red Bull and overseen a period of dominance not a million miles off Verstappen's neat-perfect team in 2023. A lot of credit should go to chief designer Rob Marshall (formerly of Red Bull), who has carved out a car lightyears ahead of the rest of the field for Piastri and Norris. And with two genuine No 1 drivers, it has been rare for McLaren not to capitalise on their superiority. The team's 200th win on Sunday in Hungary is indicative of an outfit revitalised in a way not seen since the Ron Dennis era. Biggest disappointment: Lewis Hamilton There can be no sugar-coating it. Without a podium, let alone a win, in his first 14 races for Ferrari, it has been a dismal start to life at the Scuderia for the seven-time world champion. The last race in Hungary – beyond the disqualification in China – was perhaps the new nadir, with Hamilton at his most despondent in the media pen afterwards, describing his performance as 'useless' and even mooting that Ferrari should replace him. That won't happen. Team principal Fred Vasseur has signed a new deal and both parties are desperate for improvement, with focus firmly shifted on 2026's new regulations. Yet for a team who narrowly missed out on last year's constructors' title, and a driver desperate for an eighth title, it has been the most painful of struggles for the 40-year-old in red. Most improved team: Sauber Ex-Red bull chief Jonathan Wheatley's arrival in April has coincided with a dramatic revival for Sauber, who were firmly rooted to the bottom in 2024. Since round eight in Monaco, Sauber have scored points in every race with both rookie Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg regularly in the top-10, with the team now a respectable sixth in the constructors' standings. Which brings us nicely to…. The dramatic round of applause in the Silverstone media centre spoke volumes for the feel-good story that was the 37-year-old's first podium in Formula One, after 239 races. And what a podium it was, storming from 19th on the grid, perfecting every decision in a chaotic wet race and holding off a charging Hamilton to take third place. A real win for one of F1's most consistent performers – and more momentum for the outfit morphing into Audi in 2026. Biggest shock: Christian Horner's exit A few days on from Silverstone, a departure many would have anticipated at the start of last year came with a rapidly penned statement from Red Bull's parent company. Twenty years on from spearheading the energy drink outfit's foray into an F1 juggernaut, Horner was out as F1 CEO. Perhaps inevitably, the embattled team boss finally lost the long-running power struggle within the upper echelons of the team. Not long after, Verstappen committed his future to the team for 2026. But will Horner's exit trigger a turnaround on track? That remains to be seen. Best rookie: Isack Hadjar Out of the five (six if you include Liam Lawson) rookies on the grid this season, Racing Bulls' Hadjar has impressed the most. Sitting 13th in the standings, with just Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli ahead of him in the rookie race, the 20-year-old Frenchman's most impressive statistic is that he is yet to be eliminated in Q1 on a Saturday. His raw pace in a field of the world's best comes as a surprise and he may well be thrust into the second Red Bull seat next year as a result. Bortoleto has also recently come to the fore, while Ollie Bearman's form has dropped after some early-season promise. Most worryingly, the Briton is already two penalty points away from a race ban. Biggest farce: Liam Lawson dropped after just two races The poor New Zealander was hung out to dry by Horner and Red Bull, dropped to the sister team after just two rounds of the 2025 season. The shortest full-time seat stint in F1 history, it's perhaps understandable that Lawson has struggled for consistency at Racing Bulls in the weeks since. What is more indicative of Red Bull's struggles – and proves that Lawson was far from the issue – is Yuki Tsunoda's poor results in the RB21. The Japanese driver has scored a measly seven points since stepping up, and is without a top-10 finish in the last seven race weekends. The similarly uncomfortable handling of Jack Doohan at Alpine - with replacement Franco Colapinto without a point in the eight rounds since - deserves a mention too. Young drivers deserve more time to shine. Best race: Australian Grand Prix Melbourne's first wet race in 15 years brought meant the 2025 campaign started with high-octane drama. Norris claimed an impressive victory ahead of Verstappen, after Piastri slid off the racetrack to the dismay of the home fans. Hamilton, in a sign of things to come, was audibly frustrated with his Ferrari team as a potential podium slipped through his fingers. If nothing else, with nearly half a million fans attending throughout the weekend, it proved that Albert Park should return as a permanent host of the first race of the season over Bahrain, which it is at least for 2026. Worst race: Monaco Grand Prix No surprises here. Monaco's attempted rejig with two compulsory pit-stops was futile in the end, as Racing Bulls and then Williams manipulated the rules – and the circuit's 'no-overtaking' configurations – to slow down cars behind, creating a gap where both cars could score points. Back to the drawing board for the sport's traditional crown jewel event.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Iveco has closely coordinated Tata, Leonardo deals with Italian government
MILAN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Iveco ( opens new tab has closely coordinated with the Italian government deals to sell its truck business to Tata Motors and its defence unit to Leonardo, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Monday. India's Tata Motors ( opens new tab last week agreed to buy Iveco in a deal valuing it at 3.8 billion euros, while the Italian truck and bus maker separately agreed to sell its IDV defence business to Leonardo ( opens new tab, giving it an enterprise value of 1.7 billion euros.
