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Aston Martin unveils 2009 Le Mans challenger: first official pictures

By Ben Pulman First Official Pictures 27 January 2009 09:50 Those plucky Brits. This is Aston Martin’s new petrol-powered LMP1 Le Mans contender, designed to take on the diesel might of Peugeot's 908 and Audi's new R15. Aston is aiming for the overall win at the legendary 24-hour race on 13-14 June 2009, 50 years after Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori drove a DBR1 to victory. Aston’s new LMP1 car is based on the Lola-developed 2008 Charouz Racing Aston Martin that came ninth at Le Mans in 2008. For '09 the car has been further tweaked with help from Lola, Michelin, Koni and BBS.

Crash injuries force Franchitti to retire

SCOTTISH RACING STAR Dario Franchitti has been forced to retire after suffering a number of injuries in a high-speed crash during a race in the US last month. The four-time IndyCar series winner spent five days in hospital after suffering concussion, a fractured vertebrae and a broken ankle in the last-lap crash at the Grand Prix of Houston in Texas. Franchitti, originally from Bathgate, West Lothian, said he had taken the decision based on medical advice.

Driven: Nissan Juke

Nowhere is the fragmentation of established market segments more evident than when thumbing through Nissan's current brochures. The new Nissan Juke, the smallest and most extreme member of Nissan's crossover range, is pitched as an 'urban proof' alternative to more conventional superminis. We took it to the streets to see how Nissan's scattershot small car strategy – which sees a range of four models occupying a similar space physically and fiscally – plays out.