Abu Dhabi's Ghaf Art Gallery opens Visions of Speed

Porsche GT3 Challenge heads up weekend of motorsport, Honda's honours million-mile driver, and a UAE car hire firm leasing only green vehicles.

Catch some GT3-style thrills at Dubai today - admission is free of charge to all.

Abu Dhabi's Ghaf Art Gallery is hosting a special exhibition from November 9, with an opening ceremony for visitors at 8pm.

Themed Visions of Speed and curated by the gallery's owners, Mohamed Kanoo and Jalal Luqman, it promises to bring together art and speed "in an explosion of creativity overlapping two of Abu Dhabi's most important calendar events": the F1 Grand Prix on Yas Island and the art fair on Saadiyat Island.

The exhibition will run for three weeks until November 30 and will include a special historic section with replica posters from yesteryear that showcase racing that has taken place over the decades in the desert.

The gallery is open daily and admission is free of charge.

Porsche GT3 Challenge headlines weekend of UAE motorsport

Today sees the culmination of two days of exciting motor racing in the UAE at Dubai's Autodrome, with a packed event on the 4.29km International circuit.

Fans of both motorcycle and car racing are catered for during the Dubai Motorsport Festival, with today's event seeing track action no less than 11 times. At 8.30am there will be a half-hour practice for the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, followed by Radical Cup racing, a warm-up for the UAE GT Championship, Formula Gulf 1000 racing, MotorCity UAE Sportbikes warm-up and qualifying for the GT3 Cup Challenge - all before lunchtime.

After an hour's break, full-on racing will commence with the UAE Sportbikes. Following that will be the GT Championship, UAE Touring Cars, the second race for the Radical Cup and, headlining the day, is the final race for the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge. This is the opening round for the Middle East series and features some of the Arab world's finest driving talent who will also be appearing in a support race at Abu Dhabi's Grand Prix next weekend.

Entry to this extremely exciting event is free of charge.

Dubai motor show is revving up

As if the gathering of the world's most luxurious and exclusive cars wasn't enough to get us frothing at the mouth, the Dubai International Motor Show, which opens its doors next Thursday, will also play host to Honda's incredible humanoid robot, affectionately known as ASIMO.

He visited the UAE back in 2005 but, if you go along to the Honda stand at Hall 2, you'll see just how far he's come in the past six years. According to Honda, the robot can now run, walk, climb and descend stairs with human-like agility and his presence at the show will hopefully encourage young students to get more involved in the sciences.

Once you've seen him do his stuff, there's still much to occupy visitors. Apart from the usual stands occupied by the latest and greatest supercars (including McLaren's MP4-12C), high end tuning companies and exhibitors showcasing the future of green transportation, there will be dynamic and interactive displays in external areas surrounding the International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The show runs from November 10 to 14 and is the Middle East's biggest motoring event. Tickets are still available via www. dubaimotorshow.com.

Honda gives Accord owner a new car after one million miles

It was the least they could do, really. After covering one million miles (1,609,344km) in his 1990 Accord, American Joe LoCicero has been handed the keys to a brand new model by Honda.

It was an exercise in PR heaven, proving beyond doubt the reliability inherent with Honda's products. LoCicero drives an average of 62,500 miles annually and started keeping detailed records after the Accord was showing 300,000, taking more than 660 photographs of his odometer readings.

Thinking he was attending a small press conference in his hometown of Bangor, Maine, he was treated to a surprise parade in his honour, with marching bands, stilt walkers, beauty queens and carnival floats before being handed his new Accord.

LoCicero puts his car's longevity down to a fastiduous maintenance routine, always using genuine Honda parts and driving in a responsible and courteous manner. In a million miles he got just one speeding ticket.

New car hire company aims to increase UAE's green credentials

Dubai's Green Car Rental is a new kind of venture for us: environmentally responsible car hire. The company is the first to offer luxury green rentals, such as the astonishingly quick Tesla Roadster, along with more ordinary fare such as the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and hybrids such as the Porsche Cayenne, BMW X6, Mercedes S400 and Honda CRZ.

"Three to four tonnes of CO2 is saved a year, per car, when using hybrids," Al Toukhi said. "If every hire company in the world had just 10 per cent of its fleet replaced by hybrid or electric cars, think how much pollution could be saved."

Initial customers will likely be those curious about electric cars. But that should level off with medium to long-term hirers coming on board. Al Toukhi also confirmed that the company will shortly be taking delivery of a Fisker Karma. As he says, green doesn't have to mean unattractive. Check out the fleet at www.greencardubai.com.