Latest news with #LeMans
Press and Journal
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- Press and Journal
The Drive at Haddo: First look inside car café near Methlick
The Drive at Haddo, the much anticipated car café near Methlick, will be opening in the next two weeks. That's according to director James Evans, who has been leading the preparation efforts at the Aberdeenshire café. Since the news broke of the cafe's opening, social media has erupted with excitement. 'It has gone mental,' James says, 'It has blown up. 'On a daily basis we've got people coming here to ask when we're opening.' The café is kitted out with three flat-screen TVs to display Formula 1, MotoGP and Le Mans. There is also a gaming station for children – and adults – to brush up on their Gran Turismo racing simulation skills on PS5. The cafe, owned by Haddo Estate, is situated on the B9170 near the Tarves turn-off. The site was formerly known as Formartine's Shop and Eatery, which closed in 2021. The renovated space is now fully decked out with tables and chairs at around 100 covers, plus new flooring and décor, and will be ready to open in the next fortnight. The car café, one of the few of its kind in Scotland, has gained 3k Facebook followers in a matter of weeks. It will be a space for car meets, where automotive enthusiasts and car clubs can congregate to display their vehicles. One Instagram user said: 'Can't wait, great to see more car enthusiast locations!' While another added: 'Exactly what Aberdeenshire needed! Can't wait for this to open.' While it is certainly a hit with car enthusiasts, James insists that the café will be a space for everyone. He adds: 'I want people to understand that they don't have to like cars or motorbikes to come here, it's not just for that – it's for everyone. 'I know we're trying something new here – it's not what people are used to – but I think the area absolutely needs it. 'It is different, I understand that. But I hope everyone loves it. 'I want the local community to know they can come here at any time and enjoy the space. 'I have tried to be as inclusive for everyone as I can: dog owners, café lovers, coffee lovers, food lovers.' James shared further details on the cafe's menu, which will feature a wide variety of burgers and racetrack-themed loaded fries. Each plate of loaded fries will depict a different racetrack. For example, Knockhill Racing Circuit in Fife will be represented by haggis loaded fries, and the German Hockenheimring circuit by a currywurst-inspired loaded fries. Huntly family-run business Rizza's will be providing the cafe's ice cream, with dairy-free and dog-friendly ice cream also available. Milkshakes, coffee, cakes, pies and pastries will also be on offer. It will be counter service at the new café, which will be open 8am-6pm every day when it opens. The sleek interior of the café is paired with outside seating perfect for the summer weather. The team are considering adding awnings later in the year too. The café will be dog-friendly outside and in the lounge area, but not in the main café space. Dogs can get fed too, as there's a little treat station and water bowls for your furry friends. The outside play area at The Drive at Haddo is shaping up, with tyres donated from local farmers. There's also an inside play area with toy cars, a blackboard, books, a play kitchen and more. Last minute preparations are now underway before the café opens in the next few weeks. You can keep an eye on their Facebook page for the opening date. We will also be reviewing the cafe's menu soon. Meanwhile, the café are looking for cooks to join the team. If you're interested get in touch with James via email here: thedrivehaddo@
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Orlando Magic select Noah Penda after trading up in the second round of the NBA draft
The Orlando Magic traded up to No. 32 to select Noah Penda in the second round of the 2025 NBA draft. The Magic traded picks Nos. 46 and 57, a 2026 second-rounder and 2027 second-rounder to the Boston Celtics for the 32nd pick. Le Mans' French forward Noah Penda dribbles the ball during the French Basketball Cup final between Paris Basketball and Le Mans at the Accor Arena - Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, in Paris on April 26, 2025. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images) Penda, who's from France, played for Le Mans Sarthe Basket during the 2024-25 season. The 20-year-old forward averaged 10.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 blocks in 26.9 minutes per game over 29 appearances. Advertisement The 6-foot-7 wing will show his skills on the defensive end as he joins one of the NBA's top defenses. "I think I can fit anywhere," Penda said. "I'm glad to be a part of the Orlando Magic, thank you for trusting me." More: Orlando Magic pick Jase Richardson in 2025 NBA Draft Round 1 Penda marks the fourth French international selected in the 2025 NBA Draft. He faced off against the 19th pick Nolan Traore this past season. "I saw all my friends and former teammates get drafted last night," Penda said after getting picked. "I am happy for them and happy for me so I am ready to get to work." More to come on developing story. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Orlando Magic trade up for Noah Penda in the 2025 NBA Draft
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
F1' revs up racing history mixed with Hollywood flair
The racing scenes in Brad Pitt's new F1 film are impressively authentic but the filmmakers have also made much of how the sport's past is woven into the plot – with a hefty slice of Hollywood artistic licence. "We just drew from history. A little this, a little that, then we had Lewis Hamilton keep us straight," commented Pitt at a New York premiere ahead of this week's general release in cinemas. Apple's senior vice-president of services Eddy Cue, a lifelong Formula One fan and Ferrari board member, told reporters after a media screening that "there's not a single event in here... that hasn't happened in a real race." That does not mean, of course, that such events could still happen now or that they served as anything more than inspiration. The Apple Original Films blockbuster – with scenes shot during grand prix weekends – is a redemption story, with Pitt playing ageing driver Sonny Hayes on an unlikely comeback alongside a young hotshot at a struggling team. Seven-times world champion Hamilton provided advice and is credited as a co-producer on a film scripted for audiences unfamiliar with the sport. Pitt's age – 61 in real life – has been called out as unrealistic for a driver in the modern era but as Hamilton, 40, said when filming started in 2023: "Brad looks like he's ageing backwards." The oldest current F1 driver is Spaniard Fernando Alonso who will be 44 next month but in the 1950s, when physical demands were less but dangers greater, Philippe Etancelin and Louis Chiron raced at 55. Luigi Fagioli was a winner at 53. F1 comebacks also tend to follow short absences nowadays, one or two years at most, but it was not ever thus. Dutch driver Jan Lammers raced from 1979-82 and was out for more than a decade – when he won Le Mans and raced at Daytona – before returning in 1992. Italian Luca Badoer also had 10 years between races before a short-lived comeback in 2009. Last to first Drivers have indeed gone from last to first in barely believable circumstances, made winning strategy calls and taken triumphs with unsung teams that would not normally be considered contenders. The 2011 Canadian Grand Prix lasted more than four hours, featured six safety car deployments and was won by Jenson Button who at one point was at the back of the field and had two collisions including one with McLaren teammate Hamilton. Button made five pitstops, plus a drive-through penalty, and picked up a puncture in a race halted for two hours. Hayes' backstory is of racing Ayrton Senna before suffering a crash so violent he was flung from the car still attached to his seat. That is modelled on Northern Ireland's Martin Donnelly who crashed at Jerez in practice for the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix and was left inert in the middle of the track. He survived, miraculously, but there was to be no F1 comeback. Drivers have escaped blazing crashes, Frenchman Romain Grosjean after his car erupted in a fireball at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix while Niki Lauda suffered serious burns in a 1976 Nuerburgring crash. The Austrian returned to racing six weeks later. There are nods to the Crashgate scandal, when Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr crashed deliberately at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix and triggered a safety car that helped teammate Alonso win. A female technical director? Not yet, but women have run teams and work as strategists, race engineers and pitlane mechanics – although the film is far from realistic in that regard. For F1 fans of a certain age there is the 'Easter egg' of a glimpse of the Monza banking in homage to 1966 film Grand Prix. F1 director Joseph Kosinski said that classic, and Steve McQueen's 1971 movie Le Mans, were his touchstones. "Those movies are now almost 60 years old but you can still watch them and still marvel at the cinematography and the feeling of being there," he said. "The whole practical nature of this film was inspired by those classics".
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Newsweek
Toto Wolff Defends F1 Superiority, Slams Balance of Performance in Le Mans
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. While several F1 teams, such as Alpine and Ferrari, have fielded cars in the World Endurance Championship, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has explained why the German manufacturer has stayed away from the iconic Hypercar class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mercedes parted ways with the Le Mans race after a major accident in 1999, where the car flipped dangerously after taking off at high speed due to aerodynamic problems. Currently, the team's presence is limited to the GT3 class. While Wolff acknowledged the glory of Le Mans, he revealed his bias towards F1, considering it is the top tier of motorsports. Despite declaring that all other forms of racing come second to F1, he addressed the possibility of returning to Le Mans on the Bloomberg Hot Pursuit podcast. He said: Toto Wolff, Executive Director of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team on a scooter prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on April 20, 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Toto Wolff, Executive Director of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team on a scooter prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on April 20, 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia."Le Mans... I'm a racer. The Le Mans 24 Hours is one of the greatest races in the world. "Formula 1, for me - obviously I'm biased - is the best there is. It's the best drivers, the quickest cars, the greatest tracks. But if I had to say what's next? Le Mans 24 Hours and the Indy 500. And then, for insiders, the Nürburgring 24 Hours. That, for me, is the top of the top. "What it is for me today is, we are concentrating on the main platform, and that is Formula 1. It's what we want to do. It captures 99% of the audience. Everything else comes second." Wolff then explained the hurdle that was preventing Mercedes from racing in Le Mans - the Balance of Power (BoP) rule, which prioritizes fairness in competition by ensuring all cars are as equal as possible within a class. He added: "As Mercedes, it's something that we've done in the past, but we weren't particularly... that wasn't our happiest place. "And then there's the little caveat to all this: at Mercedes, we are racing people. We don't like BoPs - we don't like Balance of Performance. We don't like somebody assessing your power, your energy consumption, your weight, your driver skill... "You spend so much time and money and effort developing the quickest car, and then you're being given 10 kilogrammes of ballast. I don't want that. I just want to build the quickest car." Wolff reckoned that a budget cap, like the one in F1, makes more sense to have a level playing field. He explained: "Formula 1 has shown how it should be done. Give us a cost cap. Do more of that - give everybody a cost cap. You cannot spend more than - whatever you said - 30-40 million. And within this 30-40 million, you can do what you want. I mean, there are still regulations, but nobody needs to bluff in pre-season testing or qualifying. It's pure racing. "If that were to happen, then Le Mans would absolutely be something we would look at. But at the moment, with BoP - having some officials judge whether you're too quick, adding 10 kilogrammes to your car or taking it out of someone else's the next day - that's not for us at the moment."
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Even the midges are a hazard at Le Mans! The legendary Allan McNish on the thrills, spills and unexpected challenges of motor sport's greatest test of endurance
Ask most motor sport fans about Allan McNish and they're likely to enthuse about his extraordinary success in endurance cars, wonder out loud about his short-lived journey in F1, and hail his passionate insights as a racing commentator. The Scot is rarely mentioned in the same breath as Jim Clark, Stirling Moss, James Hunt, Colin McRae and Sir Jackie Stewart. At Le Mans, however, it's a different story. Here, McNish is hailed as a legend by fans of the eponymous 24-hour race. The 55-year-old is the holder of three Le Mans titles, 14 starts and place in the Hall of Fame. It's in his blood. And the blood of the host nation. 'It's not just a motor sport fixture,' says McNish. 'It's ingrained in French culture. 'You've got the Tour de France. You've got the French Open tennis, and then you've got Le Mans. 'The three biggest sporting events are within a month of each other and that's where it sits. So, from that point of view, it's unfortunate that the date clashes with Formula One. But that's the reality of 24 races as well in the modern world.' Ah, Formula One. McNish raced for Toyota in 2002 for one season. Now, 23 years later, it appears to be drawing him back in. But more of that later. First, let's talk Le Mans. And what makes it so challenging. Including, believe it or not, the scourge of midges which are usually more likely to be making a nuisance of themselves back home in McNish's native land. 'There's actually one key element which is very different here to anywhere else - the evening time,' says McNish whose triumphs came in 1998, 2008, and 2013. He also emerged virtually unscathed from a horror 120mph crash in 2011. 'Think about when you're driving at night, then think of driving that 40 miles an hour faster. Your eyes are processing things so much quicker in the dark. That's what your body is having to train for. 'The first time I raced here, I think it was 33 degrees outside. A stinking hot race. Inside, the car would be another 15 degrees. So it's now 48 degrees inside the car. You've got a suit, you've got a helmet - the heat was a major factor. 'When you sweat that volume of water, you lose your mental capacity very quickly. There are a lot more driver mistakes, fatigue, because of that. 'There are certainly a few things that stand out about this race. When you have the sun dropping down, and it's about 9.30 to 10.15, it's kind of dropped to the point where it doesn't affect you. But, in that period, there are a couple of things that happen. 'One is when you go down to the second chicane, there's a house on the right-hand side that's got a wee lake out the front. So, at the lake, there's millions of midges. 'They come out, and boom! You get these midges all over your windscreen. 'Then there's the sun, when you come down into Indianapolis, because the trees are still quite low at that point, it's right in your eyeline. By the time you get to 5.30am, the sun's rising. It's bloody stunning. When you come out of Tertre Rouge, it's dark. Then suddenly, the sun starts coming up here, and it's orange. 'Three and a half minutes later, you come past, because that's how long it takes to get round the lake, and it's a little bit more, and more. And it feels like a sunflower just waking up. It's absolutely stunning.' One race ultimately stands out for McNish; his first win, in 1998 'I arrived home to an answer phone message from Sir Jackie Stewart, who had been so pivotal in pushing me forward in my early career. 'He'd instantly called me and said: 'Bloody hell, you've won Le Mans!' I knew then that this victory would go on to be significant.' McNish is now heavily involved with Audi's entry into F1 next year, having seen significant success with the manufacturer at Le Mans, and having run Audi Group motor sport and Formula E racing team. 'I've been involved since the beginning in the F1 project which comes live next year, hence the reason I'll go to probably half of the F1 races this year.' When I meet McNish at the track in France, the air is abuzz with the news McLaren are also to join, in 2027. 'It proves the success of Le Mans and what they've done with the regulations here, their vision for the future. 'Since the late 90s, for a number of manufacturers, this is the best it's ever been. It's got real depth and it's exactly what everybody wants. It's a very good balance between traditional sport and entertainment if you want to call it that. 'It's a festival. And, with McLaren coming in, it's just proof of the success of the place. Because, you know, does Le Mans need McLaren? Does it need Ferrari? It doesn't really need any of them. 'You've got to remember that driving this race is just something quite special. 'Nicol Hulkenburg raced here and won. It accelerated his career in F1 and he still wants to do it again. He talks so fondly about it. 'Jacques Villeneuve was another one. David Coulthard did it in the Jag with Tom Kristensen in 1993.' So what about the current crop of talented young drivers? Can McNish see the likes of McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ever taking part? 'I think Lando will,' insists McNish. 'Oscar Piastri? I think he's got his eyes on another prize at the moment. I could see probably some of the other ones that are maybe at a different point in their careers, coming through.' McNish is in buoyant mood, having just met a couple of legends in Roger Federer and Sir Chris Hoy. He adores his fellow Scot for continuing to 'push himself to the limit', despite suffering from stage 4 cancer. Hoy has been taking part in the Dark Horse Stars class of the Mustang Challenge, returning to the track for the first time in nine years. 'He came here to Le Mans quite a few years ago,' says McNish. 'That was like a full Mount Everest, and he was taking it head on. The thing I really respect is that he's got his challenges and he goes for it, he doesn't back off. That's not his personality. 'The other side of his personality, of course, is that he is a lovely, lovely person - but there's a ruthlessness in there, in the person that sits down opposite you. He is obviously now in this situation, but like he has done with everything else, he has just gone straight at it. He will fight it all the way. That's just what he knows. It's all he knows.' It's easy to see why Hoy might feel at home within the fast-paced world of motorsport. Risk - and the thrill of the chase - are all an important part of the dynamic. As is the sense of history. 'It's steeped in history, where you've got all of these slightly archaic things that go on,' says McNish. 'You know, the grandstand there has been the grandstand since the 1950s, the parade through the town. The cars, the race, it pushes you to the limits of everything. 'If you take Mario Andretti, for example, Mario won the Indy 500, he won the F1 World Championship. He never won here. So I've done something that he's never done, which is pretty cool. 'There are a lot of people where the sand just slipped through the fingers with this one because it's like 17 Grands Prix back-to-back, hence the reason it's just got this sort of mythical status about it. There are corners that are still exactly 100 per cent the same as they were many years ago.' The sense of history continues as McNish prepares for another night of Le Mans. 'It's just special,' he smiles. 'It's something you don't appreciate until you come here.'
