Formula One will be desperate to put the damaging Renault race-fixing scandal behind it this weekend, but it will not be easy with the sport returning to the scene of the crime in Singapore.
By a quirk of fate, the 14th race of the season takes place in the city-state just days after Renault was slapped with a suspended two-year ban by the International Automobile Federation.
It was here at Formula One's inaugural night race last year that team principal Flavio Briatore and chief engineer Pat Symonds ordered Nelson Piquet junior to deliberately crash to help teammate Fernando Alonso win.
Briatore and Symonds have been thrown out of the sport and Piquet's reputation is in ruins, but Alonso was cleared of any wrongdoing and will be back on the grid at the Marina Bay street circuit.
Last year, Alonso began in 15th position, but after the Spaniard made an early pit stop to refuel, Piquet crashed into a wall, prompting the deployment of the safety car.
As Alonso's rivals then gradually disappeared into the pits to refuel, he catapulted himself into the lead and went on to win his first race in a year.
Another Renault victory on Sunday is not likely with the team struggling to match frontrunners Brawn GP and Red Bull.
With just four Grand Prix left, Brawn's Jenson Button knows he needs a podium finish with teammate Rubens Barrichello closing the gap at the top of the world championship standings to 14 points after his win in Monza.
The Briton, winner of six of the seven opening races of the season, remains on top with 80 points, but the Brazilian now has 66 points.
Whatever happens, the pair look certain to deliver the constructors championship to their eponymous team-chief Ross Brawn in the outfit's first season.
"The Marina Bay street circuit is pretty challenging and although it has a stop-start layout which isn't usually my favourite type of circuit, I still enjoyed driving it last year," said Button.
"I spent some time at the factory last week driving the circuit on our simulator which helps with the track layout, gears and downforce levels so we are well prepared and looking forward to getting the weekend underway."
Barrichello's victory at the Italian Grand Prix this month was his 11th in a 284-race career and he is fired-up for more of the same here.
"I've had a great time over the last month with two victories so we've got some good momentum behind us going into the final four races of the season," said the 37-year-old.
"I can't wait to get back in the car and get on with the challenge."
After finishing Monza in eighth, Red Bull's Sebastien Vettel saw his world title ambitions take a huge hit.
The German is now 26 points adrift of Button and knows nothing short of victory here will be enough.
"We are looking forward to Singapore as the target will clearly be to win, as it is the target at all remaining races," he said.
"It's true the gap is quite big and it will be very difficult to catch up, but be sure we will try."
Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton is out of the title race after crashing on the final lap in Italy and failing to finish.
But the crowd favourite, who finished third in Singapore last year, is promising an aggressive drive.
"I remember my race in Singapore last year was all about damage limitation -- I was driving with one eye on the world championship and wasn't going to take too many risks," he said.
"I was happy to finish on the podium. This year, it's very different. I know I'm out of the title hunt and I want to attack these last four races, pushing for as many victories as I can."
After becoming the first ever night race, Singapore will nudge the boundaries a little further this time round when the drivers race from day-to-night during practice.
Friday's first practice session is scheduled from 6:00-7:30 pm (1000-1130 GMT) meaning they will start in daylight and end after dark, although the lighting system will be on throughout.
Bombers star Lloyd retires from AFL
If Matthew Lloyd is to be remembered at least in part for the controversial 270th and last game of his stellar AFL career, then Essendon would like the record to be set straight.
Departing Bombers chief executive Peter Jackson insisted that Lloyd deserved credit, rather than criticism, for his heavy hit in round 22 on Hawthorn midfielder Brad Sewell.
It earned the Bombers skipper a four-match suspension - and inspired them to victory and a berth in the finals for the first time in five years.
"That incident that led to his suspension was never intended to be what it was, but it was a statement of impact by the captain of this club and singlehandedly I think it turned that game," Jackson said on Wednesday at a packed media conference to announce Lloyd's retirement.
"Neither Matthew or I would be condoning the outcome of the incident (where Sewell was knocked out).
"But the decision to make a statement and say to this football club, which was trailing by four goals at the time, this wasn't good enough and turn the game around so we could play a game of finals and earn the respect back of the football world was huge."
It was a far cry from the furious reaction at the time of Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson and utility Campbell Brown.
But Lloyd revealed on Wednesday he spoke shortly after the match with Luke Hodge, one of Hawthorn's toughest players.
"He said `I've been brought up that whatever happens on the field, you shake hands and you get on with it, you look forward to the next time you play your footy' and I've always been the same," said the 31-year-old Lloyd.
"I've copped plenty of hits in my time and I've given a few out and that's the way footy should be."
There had been speculation that coach Matthew Knights had been less than keen for Lloyd to push on for one more year - and that if he did so it would be up the ground, rather than in his preferred position of full-forward.
But Lloyd was at pains to say the decision to retire was one he was happy with.
"I got offered a fantastic contract, I got told what my role would be next year but I decided I don't have the hunger to play any more and it's as simple as that," he said.
"You don't go into a pre-season and you don't spend the next 12 months of your life if you're not 100 per cent committed or you're fatigued from the mental or physical side, as I am.
"So it was quite an easy decision for me in the end.
"It's a happy time for me, it's not a sad time."
Even so, Lloyd teared up at the media conference as the father of two paid tribute to the support of his family throughout a 15-year AFL career.
Father John Lloyd played 29 games for Carlton in the mid 1960s, while brothers Brad and Simon both work in the football industry.
Lloyd's many playing honours include three Coleman medals and five All Australian jumpers, while his tally of 926 goals places him seventh on the all-time VFL/AFL list.
But his proudest moments were playing in the 2000 premiership team and succeeding three other all-time club greats, Mark Thompson, Gary O'Donnell and James Hird, as Essendon captain three years ago.
Despite being linked with a possible move to Collingwood in recent weeks, Lloyd said he always intended to retire as a one-club player, adding neither he nor his management had ever spoken to another club.
And he did not duck the tough questions during a long media conference, admitting that accusations he had dived for free kicks earlier in his career was valid.
"There was a stage where I got caught playing for free kicks," he said.
"And I feel like in the last five or six years I identified that, when Matthew (Knights) came to the club the losing of the feet was something we identified.
"I think it's a stigma that's stuck with me from a period where I probably did stage for a few free kicks and I accept that.
"But understand that I was also hard at the footy."
Most of Lloyd teammates attended Wednesday's announcement, including recently-retired fellow key forward Scott Lucas, whose career at Windy Hill paralleled that of the skipper.
A good friendship and a really good understanding, was Lucas's summation of their successful double act.
"In my time on football, he was as good as anyone I played with or against."
Lloyd plans to do more media work in retirement and step up his role with the AFL Academy.
Sri Lanka triumph over South Africans
Sri Lanka hero Tillakaratne Dilshan says switching from the middle to top order has helped develop him into a fearsome run machine.
He scored 106 to set his country up for a surprise 55-run victory over hosts South Africa at SuperSport Park on Tuesday in the opening match of the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.
Sri Lanka amassed 8-319 on a run-friendly pitch and spinner Ajantha Mendis snatched three key wickets as South Africa slumped to 7-206 before rain halted play with 74 balls left and the Duckworth-Lewis system came into play.
"I have been in good form for the past 12 months and believe moving from the middle order to the top has helped me a lot," revealed Dilshan after receiving the man-of-the-match award.
"As an opener I feel I have more chances to build an innings and Kumar (captain Sangakkara) and I have developed a wonderful partnership in which we know how to assist each other."
It was the third ODI century by the 2009 ICC Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year nominee and his career-best 137 came this year against Pakistan in Karachi.
Dilshan struck 16 fours and one six in a near-flawless knock before being caught at the boundary by Albie Morkel off the bowling of right-arm speedster Dale Steyn.
Sangakkara hailed the contributions of Dilshan and Ajantha Mendis, who overshadowed more famous fellow spinner Muttiah Muralitharan by taking the wickets of skipper Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy.
"Tilla and Ajantha were outstanding but this victory is history now and we must capitalise on it otherwise it will be worthless," warned the skipper.
"The big challenge with Ajantha was when to bring him on and against who."
Smith said the Proteas - joint pre-tournament favourites with defending champions Australia for the $US2 million ($A2.29 million) first prize - had to improve quickly or face a humiliating early exit.
South Africa meet bogey team New Zealand at the same venue on Thursday and another loss would virtually spell the end of their chances to reach the semi-finals.
"Although it was our first outing we have no excuses. We need to improve quickly and hopefully do a lot better. It is a question of executing the basics properly."
The World's Fastest Cars
Jacqueline Mitchell
Gas prices are up. The economy is down. For some, neither matters--all they want is to be able to drive faster than anyone else on the road, whatever the cost.
And the cars that can deliver that promise are built solely for speed. They're not the kinds of cars that are particularly good for anything else, such as dropping off the kids at school (unless they're running exceptionally late that day) or picking up a carton of milk on the way home from work.
These cars reach obscene speeds in mere seconds, the same amount of time that normal cars need just to warm up. Just ask Tom duPont, publisher of duPont Registry, a gallery of fine automobiles.
"A Bugatti test driver took a $100 bill and plastered it on the dashboard," recalls duPont, who was invited to strap into the passenger seat for a demonstration drive. "He told me I could have it if I could grab it once we took off."
The French-made Bugatti Veyron races from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and effortlessly cruises to a top speed of 253 mph. Most probably can't imagine what that feels like, but duPont learned firsthand.
"The car accelerates so fast that you can't touch [the $100 bill]," he said. "You can't move your hands.”
Even if duPont had managed to defy the laws of physics and become $100 richer, that wouldn't have afforded him a Bugatti Veyron or any of the other nine vehicles that made our list of the fastest cars in the world. DuPont cautions that superfast cars "aren't for the faint of heart financially or physically." The Veyron is the most expensive ultra-fast car on our list, with a price tag starting at $1.5 million.
But the Veyron is not the fastest car on the road, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. In March 2007 it tested the American-made SSC (Shelby Super Cars) Ultimate Aero and crowned it the Fastest Production Car in the world.
The $654,400 twin-turbocharged car boasts a top speed of 257 mph and goes from 0 to 60 in 2.78 seconds. Snagging this title marked a first for a U.S. auto manufacturer since the Ford GT40 claimed the Guinness record in 1967 with a top speed of 167 mph.
Rounding out the top five fastest cars are the $695,000 Swedish-made Koenigsegg CCX, top speed 250 mph; $595,450 American-made Saleen S7 Twin Turbo, top speed 248 mph; and the $700,000 British-made Bristol Fighter T, top speed 225 mph.
There are only a handful of these vehicles available in the world. Bugatti has said it will build a total of only 300 Veyrons since the model was introduced in 2005; Bristol custom-builds 20 Fighters each year.
Buyers who want these cars are placing their orders two years in advance, says Bassam Al-Farraj, founder and publisher of Rich Guy magazine. People who just can't wait that long will pay a premium, he says.
He adds, "I've seen people pay a million for the Ferrari Enzo," which is no longer in production but has a base manufacturer's suggested retail price of $670,000.
All of the cars on our list are street legal. So if you really do want to use one of them to cruise around town (or test the limits of how late in the morning you can leave for work), that's up to you. When researching which cars truly go fastest--with the automakers themselves , we excluded cars that are built and equipped for the sole purpose of racing on a track. We also excluded vehicles that are no longer in production.
If the wait is a bit too much to bear for one of the aforementioned cars and you are on a slightly tighter budget, you could check the second half of our fastest-cars list---some no less expensive, or more available. But you might get lucky.
They're the $741,000 Italian-made Pagani Zonda F, top speed 215 mph; $325,560 Netherlands-made Spyker C8 Double 12 S, top speed 215 mph; the $430,000 Italian-made Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, top speed 213 mph; $497,750 U.K.-made McLaren Mercedes SLR, top speed 206 mph; and the U.S.-made Silva GT3, which clocks in at 205 mph and sells for $75,000.
Would you ever purchase one of these cars, or are they just nice to look at? Add your thoughts in the Reader Comments section below.
Despite the high prices and lack of local roads on which one can actually drive these cars at their maximum speeds, demand for these luxury treats is heating up, says DuPont. Wealthy buyers in new markets like China are searching for expensive rewards for their newfound riches.
"Only the top 2% of the economic pyramid of the world are buying these cars," says duPont. "It is a reward for achieving personal success in life. There is new wealth emerging in developing countries, and they want the same luxury rewards."
And if any of those people happen to take you for a test drive, they may, with luck, put a $100 bill on the dashboard. Good luck grabbing it, but you're probably best off just enjoying the ride.
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