Race track

Neil Dowling track tests the Lamborghini Aventador, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Less really does cost more in this Ferrari 458 Speciale.

New video highlights Audi's trio of 24 hour endurance race wins in 2014. Audi's win at the Spa 24 Hours in Belgium on the weekend marked the German brand's third 24-hour race win in six weeks, after the R18 e-tron quattro won outright at Le Mans last month and the R8 LMS ultra took out the Nurburgring 24-hour the week after. Clearly the brand's motorsport arm is doing something right, as the Le Mans win was Audi's 13th in 16 years, the second in three years at the Nurburgring, and the third in four years at Spa. On local soil, Audi have also taken out the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2011 and 2012 with the R8 LMS, in addition to Super Touring Championships in 1996 and 1998 with Audi A4 Super Tourers.

Watch the fastest ever and final Falcon GT storm around the Haunted Hills racetrack.

Renault Megane at the Nurburgring

Watch the complete lap as the Renault Megane RS 275 Trophy-R sets a new record at the Nurburgring.

The only way to map the outer edges of Planet Ferrari is to go exploring on a racetrack.

Ferrari F1 test driver Marc Gene will only have a 2010-specification Ferrari at his disposal for the Ferrari Racing Days, but is still likely to threaten the existing benchmark time set by Aussie hero Dan Ricciardo last month.Ricciardo re-wrote the record in in the lead-up to the Australian Grand Prix when he lapped a Red Bull RB7 in 1 minute 13.08 seconds, undercutting the previous benchmark time set by Mark Webber - also in an RB7 - in 2013 by six-tenths of a second.Gene is not promising an all-out attack but tells Carsguide there is always a temptation when he straps into a grand prix car. "We are racing drivers, we always push. Sometimes you do the lap record," Gene tells Carsguide."The car is run by the Formula One team and very much as it used to race. It's more-or-less three years old, so a 2010 car." Gene and the F1 missile are the star attraction at the Racing Days, a two-day event that's being run for the first time in Australia with everything from a debut appearance by the LaFerrari supercar to a children's activity area. But there will be as many as eight Formula One cars in action, most driven by wealthy owners who purchased the cars once their grand prix careers were finished."All Racing Days involve a Formula One demonstration. There are hot laps and also a pitstop," says Gene. "I'm really enjoying it. I know it might be one of the last shots I have."Gene is an official test driver for Ferrari but his work has been severely limited since F1 test days were cut back. He is now mostly involved with track days and demonstration runs, including the Racing Days program that has already visited Malaysia this year."Nowadays, I'm enjoying it a lot more than seven or eight years ago, because there are no tests these days. I'm doing 15 or 20 laps and really enjoying it."Gene promises all sorts of action, from the violence of a full-scale race start to the smoking craziness of donuts. "It's an exhibition. Of course, I try to put on a good show. So you do things that you don't normally do, like sliding and donuts."But he also knows he has the car and speed to go for the record, something he has already achieved at the Laguna Seca circuit in California, USA."I have the lap record at Laguna Seca. That shows that all of us, whichever teams do an exhibition, can achieve. "We'll see (in Sydney). It depends on the car. I'm too experienced to take any risks. I would regret it big time."Gene says there has been a huge response to earlier Racing Days, particularly in Japan. "There are many reasons. One of them is the cars. There is no other brand that is able to do such extreme cars. It is a car that people dream to drive," he says."There is no other brand in the world that is about to sell F1 cars and have a program for very special clients who own these cars."This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

Watch the McLaren perfect lap video on our desktop site.

After besting the Holden Commodore, Toyota Corolla and Toyota HiLux to become No.1 in showrooms, the Mazda3 faces the Albert Park race test. It's a certain winner as the field for the Celebrity Race at the AGP is entirely comprised of all-new Mazda3s.They've had only minimal safety tweaking, and each is competing with a driver-friendly automatic gearbox, which means the race will come down to skill and daring.And the ability to keep the car alive in an environment where it's too easy to go crazy or kill the brakes and tyres by overdriving in the wide open spaces of Albert Park. "If I cannot win I'm going to take out as many people as possible. But don't tell anyone," Charlie Boorman, a long-distance motorcyclist and great mate of actor Ewan McGregor, jokes to Carsguide."I always tell people to get onto a racetrack to learn what it's like to be able to do something properly. I truly believe that what you learn in one day on a track will stay with you for your whole life." Last year's Celebrity Race was loaded with car-crashing craziness, so chief trainer and five-time Australian touring car champion Mark Skaife is working to ensure all 20 cars come through without damage."We have to make sure they apply themselves safely and enjoy the experience," says Skaife. "On the face of it, the Celebrity Challenge is fun. The people are normally full of character and ability and application, whether they are in the arts or sport or whatever."But, just as that is a good aspect, it can actually be one of the traps. Some of those great character traits can also cause a few problems. Some people, in the end, feel so comfortable that they think they're a bit bulletproof."This reporter is on Twitter: @paulwardgover