Charlie Thomas

1 week ago | countrylife.co.uk | Charlie Thomas

Day oneAston Martin might have the best looking line-up of any road car manufacturer. The full collection of models standing — or parked — to attention in front of Beaverbrook Hotel on a sunny June morning is a sight. ‘Resplendent’, says the estate’s gatekeeper. I am here to celebrate Aston Martin’s return to the top category of Le Mans, and will do so with a road-trip to the sleepy French town for the 24 hour race. Le Mans is about endurance.

3 weeks ago | therake.com | Charlie Thomas

There aren’t many British sports cars left. Once a booming automotive sub-genre of compact and lightweight two-seater convertibles from the likes of Triumph, MG and Lotus designed for the UK’s narrow country lanes, they offered endless entertainment, along with the occasional breakdown. It was a recipe admired around the world, even inspiring Mazda to create its now iconic MX5 by modelling it after the Lotus Elan. But the market changed, and the UK’s automotive industry struggled to stay afloat.

1 month ago | therake.com | Charlie Thomas

Somehow, he pulled it out of the bag. On his final run in the last session of qualifying, Michael Schumacher secured a surprise pole position, ensuring he started first at one of the calendar’s toughest circuits. It was the Monaco Grand Prix weekend of 2012, and it was Schumacher’s last pole of his career. It was a blistering lap around the brutal street circuit, which remains a jewel in F1’s crown nearly 100 years after it first featured in 1929.

1 month ago | therake.com | Charlie Thomas

There’s a lot to like about the Mercedes-AMG SL 63. Sport-Leicht purists might argue that it doesn’t fall in line with classics like the 190 SL of the 1950s, and the Pagoda of the ’60s. These were the cars that defined the series, and were lightweight, drop-top cruisers designed to wallow along highways and carve gently through mountain twists. The SL 63 is designed to destroy them. It is a V8 muscle car with aggressive looks and 577hp.

2 months ago | therake.com | Charlie Thomas

In a relatively short space of time, Finn Cole has become one of Britain’s leading young acting talents. He got his first break aged 18, playing Michael Gray in Steven Knight’s hit T.V. show Peaky Blinders. One of his older brothers, Joe Cole, was already in the first series, and when an open audition came up for season two, he thought Finn would be perfect for the job. It turns out he was, and with only a couple of school plays to his name, Finn made the character his own over the next decade.