Charlie Thomas

2 weeks 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.

3 weeks 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.

1 month 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.

1 month ago | therake.com | Charlie Thomas

Watches have long been closely associated with motor racing. There is the element of timing, which is an integral part of the sport, measuring the success of teams and their drivers throughout a race weekend. But there’s also a synergy between the mechanical aspects of both. Both fine watches and racing cars are powered by a complex array of moving elements that are greater than the sum of their parts. Watch brands have been tied into the pinnacle of motorsport, Formula 1, since the 1970s.

2 months ago | therake.com | Charlie Thomas

The Land Rover Defender OCTA is entirely unnecessary. Nobody needs a 626bhp Defender, a car derived from military use and adopted by farmers and landowners. But that is exactly why it is so brilliant. The OCTA is the most powerful, most exaggerated Defender ever made, and the antithesis to many a new car. This is not a machine that relies on big batteries for its power, and while it is a mild hybrid, it defers to a huge 4.4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 for kicks.