IT'S 6AM ON THE FRIDAY OF THE MONACO Grand Prix weekend. There's a good chance the real excitement will be over tomorrow afternoon once Q3 is complete. The Monaco GP is an amazing event but more often than not, a horrible motor race. But that doesn't matter, because the build-up is about to begin in earnest to Charles Leclerc's final, dazzling qualifying lap. Maybe he'll stick it on pole. Maybe he'll stick it into the wall. Maybe... no, that's about the only two possibilities I foresee right now. The man is an artist and heroically committed. Even the relentless talent of Max Verstappen doesn't conjure the same excitement as Ferrari's star man when he's shooting for pole on the streets of Monaco.
Or anywhere else for that matter. Is Charles quicker than Max? It's impossible to say. He's certainly not as consistent, he doesn't have the metronomic and devastating race pace that must be so demoralising to try to compete against, nor is he as ruthless in wheel-to-wheel situations. Yet Leclerc has something magical and intangible.
You just can't keep your eyes away from his Ferrari being danced, dragged, bullied, teased and caressed all at once until it delivers a lap time far beyond what it has any right to record. There's something so raw about the car's body language.
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Esta historia es de la edición July 2023 de Evo UK.
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BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
TYRE 2024 TEST
Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop
HONDA ACCORD TYPE R
A liberal sprinkling of Honda Type R fairy dust on the late-'90s Accord produced an unlikely evo icon and a genuine performance bargain
TOY STORY
Where best to store some of Toyota’s most prized and valuable racing superstars? Under the wind tunnel at its Cologne HO, of course...
POWER PLAY
It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
THE FIRST SAMURAIS
Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
DEFINITELY. NO MAYBE
Three Japanese performance icons - Lexus LFA, Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan GT-R. Over three days on some of our favourite roads we explore what makes each uniquely thrilling, but also the car culture that unites them
1V3.0
F1, P1... and now W1. The next chapter in McLaren's Ultimate Series is the British firm's challenger to the forthcoming new Ferrari hypercar and a £2million, 1257bhp, hybrid-powered, technical tour de force
Thornley Kelham European RS
One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
Bentley Continental GT Speed
The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?
