Following months of negotiations and uncertainty, the British Racing Drivers Club has signed a deal with the FIA and Formula One Management to keep the British Grand Prix at Silverstone for the next seventeen years, starting with next year’s race.

The deal is struck for the same amount of time (with a cancellation clause after ten years) that rival circuit Donington Park had signed with Bernie Ecclestone. That deal fell through, however, and Donington has gone into bankruptcy. In order to meet Formula One’s demands, Silverstone – which first hosted the event in 1948 and has hosted it every year since 1987 – will undertake a massive renovation project.

Volkswagen has now confirmed the purchase of almost 20% of Suzuki.

Suzuki has become the latest brand to become part of the Volkswagen Group after VW agreed to buy a 19.9 per cent stake in the Japanese microcar specialist.

VW has been attracted to Suzuki by its expertise in small car design and by purchasing a stake in the firm, VW has gained access to Japan’s kei-car market and a firmer foothold in China, where Suzuki has a large presence. VW is already China’s top-selling manufacturer.

A TRAVEL-loving sailor has found himself with nothing but a smile after his beloved van, packed with all his gear for a trip to Fremantle, was stolen just hours before he was due to leave Darwin.

When the thieves made off with Robbie Lewis’s white 1983 Toyota Hi-Ace in the early hours of Saturday morning they also took his tools, music equipment, passport, wallet, and a swag of memorabilia he had been collecting for years.

“I didn’t get my car stolen – I got my life stolen,” he said. “I’ve got nothing, nothing at all.

“Exit life, stage left.”

Mr Lewis was staying with friends in Stokes St, Parap, after returning from a sailing trip to Indonesia.

He was all packed to drive to Fremantle the next day.

It seems fitting that after everything that’s gone on in the global auto industry, a Middle East country is swooping in to take advantage of the industry’s dire straits. It’s becoming a trend really, and the latest we’ve heard is that Aabar, an investment fund owned by the government of Abu Dhabi recently bought a 4% ownership stake of Tesla, the electric car manufacturer that was recently purchased by Daimler.