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Murray Walker 'astounded' by reunion with father's racing motorbike

VETERAN broadcaster and motorsports commentator Murray Walker was for once left speechless after he was reunited with one of his father’s old Rudge racing motorbikes. During a Royal Automobile Club dinner, where he was a guest of honour, the 90-year-old ‘voice of Formula 1’ was overwhelmed by a surprise unveiling of a group of classic racers that had been assembled by the Club on his behalf. Ever-fewer people remember that Graham Walker, Murray’s father, was a hugely successful motorbike racer with brands including Rudge.

OFFICIAL: Alfa Romeo 4C laps the Nurburgring in 8:04s

The Alfa Romeo 4C (pictured) laps the Nurburgring in 8:04s We wouldn’t normally report on a car lapping the Nurburgring in around 8 minutes; after all, the Nurburgring lap record for a full production car is sub-7 minutes, so 8 minutes seems almost a stroll. But the lap time round the Nurburgring for the Alfa Romeo 4C is worthy of note because it’s a new lap record for a production car with less than 250bhp, and puts the Alfa 4C very much on the map as a performance car. We’d heard rumours a few weeks ago that Horst von Saurma has managed the impressive time in the 4C round the Nurburgring, but Alfa has now confirmed the time – with the 4C shod with road-legal Pirelli Zero Trofeo tyres – was completed on 23rd September 2013.

Novitec ups the ante on the Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale

The Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale might be leading in the vowels-per-word category, but on power it's slightly down--especially when you put it next to its Italian brethren. German tuner Novitec has a 646-hp solution for that. The Novitec Tridente, built off the MC Stradale platform, gets a belt-driven supercharger, a bigger intake manifold, larger injectors and new engine-software mapping.