Autoblog UK

The motorsport great John Surtees has become the first person to drive a sports car through the channel tunnel during a charity stunt. The drive was one of the events celebrating the 15th anniversary of the tunnel's opening.

The 1964 Formula 1 winner, who is still the only person to have claimed world records on both 2 and 4 wheels, drove an electric powered Ginetta G50 EV through the 31-mile tunnel.

He didn't break any speed records this time though as he had to stick to the 50km/h speed limit.

What didn't help with keeping a good time was also his constant stopping to have a closer look at the tunnel, which he called "a tremendous engineering feat".

"You certainly wouldn't want to be subject to any claustrophobic feelings down there.The tunnel is very small in parts," added the 75-year-old after eventually resurfacing in Coquelles, France.

The Finns are extremely fond of motor sport. Rallying in particular attracts many followers in Finland. Many of us wonder why so many good rally drivers hail from that country. Some say, it's a result of the relative isolation and the huge distances between places: drivers can routinely find deserted minor roads and hone their skills undisturbed. Others think it's the Viking blood coursing through their veins that makes them fearless. Maybe it's simply the sheer boredom of life in Finland that brings out the devil in them. The following video clip shows Finns blithely hurtling around rally stages.

Formula One continues to make the headlines. Mercedes are taking over a majority holding in championship-winning Brawn GP and will be lining up on the 2010 grid under their own name. In a telephone conference today (Monday 16th November), Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche announced that Mercedes will have their own team from the start of the 2010 season. It will contest next year's Formula One championship under the soubriquet of Mercedes Grand Prix. The Stuttgart-based automotive giant are taking a 75.1% share in the team that Ross Brawn rescued in a management buyout in March of this year following Honda's decision to quit the sport. Mercedes will be purchasing 45.1 percent themselves and a further 30 percent indirectly via Daimler shareholder Aabar. At the same time, former F1 partners McLaren will be buying back Mercedes' 40% holding over the next two years but still continue to use them as a supplier of engines.

Iconic tuning brand Gordini is set to return. French manufacturer Renault announced in Paris that the Gordini name will be reintroduced for a new series of high-powered small cars. Renault Sport is to develop these models. First car in the new Gordini line-up will be a converted 133bhp Twingo Sport. Model launch is scheduled for late November and sales will commence in spring 2010. A second 201bhp Gordini-badged car will be unveiled in 2010, based on the Clio RS.

The current wave of nostalgia should increase sales for the French marque. The Gordini name has been synonymous with fast cars from France since the Thirties. Amedee Gordini, born 1899 in Italy, even built Formula One racing cars. Gordini's biggest success came in 1964 with the Renault R8, which secured four out of five top places on the Tour de Corse rally.

An Audi TTS will race in the legendary Pikes Peak Race, without a driver at the helm. That's the ambitious aim of a team of students from Stanford. First efforts on a salt lake have proved successful with the car reaching 210 km/h (135mph). Shelley, the autonomous Audi, gets its name from the best-known and most successful rally ace, Michelle Mouton, who was the first woman to win the Pikes Peak race.

Early next year, Shelley will cover the course with driver, so that software can be programmed with live data. The race proper takes place on 27th June 2010. It won't be easy, as the famous rally circuit snakes its way 20 kilometres up a mountain around 156 turns.

Mattias Ekström reigns supreme. In the final of the Race of Champions tournament at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing, the Swedish DTM driver defeated seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher 2-0. After finishing behind him in 2007, Schumacher lost for the second time in the final against Ekström. The 31-year-old Swede had his first win in 2006 at the Stade de France in Paris and then won again the following year at London's Wembley Stadium. In the semi-final scrap between the two German drivers, Schumacher came home ahead of Sebastian Vettel, with whom he had clinched the Nations Cup on the previous day. In the second semi-final, Ekström defeated reigning Formula One World Champion Jenson Button.

The grand finale to the 2009 Formula One series did great credit to the organisers in Abu Dhabi and to the victorious Red Bull team. In the futuristic setting of the Yas Marina Circuit, Sebastian Vettel claimed his fourth win of the year and finished runner-up in the drivers' championship. Following the retirement of pole-sitter and race favourite Lewis Hamilton, Vettel's victory was never in any doubt. Team-mate Mark Webber held off a determined attack by Jenson Button over the last couple of laps to make it the second one-two victory for Red Bull of the season. Button had to settle for the third spot on the podium but was at least able to celebrate in style the title that he had already secured in the penultimate race in Brazil.

Sebastien Loeb sped to a muddy victory on the Rally of Great Britain on Sunday to claim his sixth successive World Rally Championship. Not bad but is it healthy?

The Citroen driver's 54th career WRC win further extended his record-breaking achievements in the sport and once again left fans and pundits alike wondering what his rivals need to do to beat him. For some time there has been criticism that Loeb has turned WRC into nothing more than a showcase for his talents as Michael Schumacher did with F1 - and fans have consequently turned off.

Fortunately, as evident by his comments after winnning in Wales, Loeb faced a serious threat in the shape of Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen, who only missed out on his first WRC title by a single point. The Finn is a serious contender gave Loeb a real run for his money but his challenge only really materialised once another of his countrymen, Marcus Gronholm, retired in 2007.

As early as the seventh race out of 17 inked in on the 2009 F1 calendar, all the experts had concluded that Jenson Button had the title in the bag. The Brawn GP driver had already accumulated 61 out of a possible 70 points and established an apparently unassailable lead in the standings. In the eight races that followed, though, the Englishman's points haul was a meagre 24; in fact, his performance during this period was measurably inferior to no fewer than five other drivers: Sebastian Vettel, Rubens Barrichello, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Räikkönen and Mark Webber. But in the Brazilian GP at Interlagos, Button finally snuffed out the hopes of the chasing pack by picking up the decisive few points to clinch not only the drivers' championship for himself but also wrap up the constructors' title for Team Principal Ross Brawn. As F1 champion elect, he can now enjoy the grand finale to the season at the new circuit in Abu Dhabi. Recipe for success for the 29-year-old was the reliability of his car and consistently finishing amongst the points: the Belgian Grand Prix was the only one from which he went home empty-handed. Congratulations from autoblog, Jenson!

In the finale of the IndyCar Series in Miami, Scotsman Dario Franchitti not only won the race but also wrapped up the championship. Living up to the national reputation for thrift, the ex-Formula One driver nursed his fuel tank through to the finish line in the Indy 300 in Miami to clinch his second championship title in the IndyCar series since 2007. Franchitti took the final chequered flag of the season 4.78 seconds ahead of reigning champion Ryan Briscoe from Australia and New Zealander Scott Dixon.

Ten laps from the end, Briscoe had built up a lead of 0.6 seconds on Dixon and an even bigger one of 24.2 seconds on Franchitti. The Scotsman eased back on the throttle and hoped that his strategy would pay off. And his prayers were answered because, for the first time in the whole season, the race finished without a single yellow flag period. A situation unheard of since 1997. Dixon had to refuel on lap 191, with Briscoe pitting two laps later. This opened the way for Franchitti who cruised to victory over the last few laps with a comfortable 6-second margin. After emptying the remainder of his tank by performing a few donuts, the new champion was pushed into Victory Lane by his jubilant pit crew. "I remember the final race of the 2007 when I also won the title by eking out my fuel towards the end," said Franchitti with a huge grin as he revealed the secret of his success.