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Tuner may sue Monaco hotel for damage caused by valet's injury

It's relatively common to hear about unethical valets taking a joyride and wrecking high-performance cars. However, a recent 'accident' in Monaco might be one of the weirdest cases ever. Of course, now the lawyers may get involved.
Andreas Belzek, owner of tuning firm Prior Design, was driving his highly modified, black with gold pinstripes, widebody Audi R8 (pictured above) to the Hotel de Paris in the famously rich city on the shores of the Mediterranean. Upon arriving, he was going to check in but wanted to park the supercar himself, which was against the hotel's rules. He protested to the valet but eventually gave in and handed over the keys. Then the problems began.
The Audi barely moved before the valet herniated a disk in his back and couldn't leave the car. The police and paramedics arrived to the scene, which had to be quite a crowd in a city as tiny as Monaco. To get the guy out, the rescue crew had to hook him to a special hoist and carry him out, according to Germany's Focus Online. Belzek claims the efforts to save the man caused roughly 10,000 euros ($13,622) in damage to the car's carbon fiber, Alcantara and Nappa leather interior.

Audi S3 Cabriolet is a topless two-door temptress

Now that we've driven the Audi S3, we're pretty eager for it go on sale in the United States. And while we won't get the Sportback version, there's a teeny tiny chance that Audi may grace us with this new Cabriolet version that makes its debut at the Geneva Motor Show this week.
That certainly wouldn't be a shame, considering the topless S3 packs the same 290 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque as the sedan, all of which comes from a turbocharged, 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine. That folding roof mechanism adds a bit of weight to the S3 package, and thus, reaching that ever-so-special 62 miles per hour takes an extra half a second - 5.4 compared to 4.9 with the S3 sedan.
Looks-wise, we dig the aggressive little S3, though the chrome wheels of the show car are kind of throwing us off. Swap out a set of standard alloys, and we'll be good to go. Have a look in the gallery above to see the topless Audi for yourself.

Le Mans champion Allan McNish retires from LMP1 racing

Having won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times, the American Le Mans Series title another three times and, most recently, the FIA World Endurance Championship, Allan McNish doesn't have much left to prove. Which is why he's retiring, ending this stage of his 33-year driving career on a high note.
In a statement just released by McNish himself and his team at Audi, the Scotsman said "I've had a fantastically successful time with Audi and feel it's the right time to step back from Le Mans sports-prototype racing and to look at other opportunities."
Just what those other opportunities might be is another matter. He's raced in DTM, Formula One and the International Formula 3000 series, where he won two races in 1990. McNish, 44, is also part of the BBC Radio's F1 commentary team, serves as president of the Scottish Motor Racing Club and is often called upon by the FIA to act as a grand prix race steward. Audi says he'll continue to be part of the team, just not in the driver's seat. Given his success in endurance racing, he's surely got a wide variety of opportunities to pursue, and we're looking forward to seeing where he lands.