Ahoy Grid Crasher fans! 2008 has been a fantastic year for the site and we’d like to thank each and every one of you for visiting, commenting and giving us a reason to write about motor sport every day.

We’re resting our weary keyboards over the festive period, but will be back to full strength in January.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Hugs and kisses,

The Grid Crasher team

Got $150,000 and very little taste? We’ve found the car for you!

If you know someone who is incredibly difficult to buy for at Christmas, and that person’s life would benefit from a sickly-blue Mercedes Cl-Class with $180,000 worth of modifications, then basketball star Tracy McGrady has offered a solution.

For $150,000, one lucky eBayer will get to take home his pimped motor (which he has trouble fitting into, if the picture above is to be believed), and it comes complete with all kinds of useless crap:

T-Mac’s logo is all over the place, including the lid of the boot.

Petter Solberg tries to be cool, fails miserably

Apparently, Petter Solberg broke his wrist while executing this ungraceful manoeuvre at the Bologna motor show.

Now that Subaru have pulled out of the World Rally Championships, it looks like Petter won’t have the opportunity to embarrass himself in this manner again.

Footballer purchases a ride befitting his status

Manchester City striker Robinho, also known as the best paid footballer in England, was scared of driving on the left side of the road when he arrived from Spain. Fortunately, he has gotten over that fear and purchased himself a rather nice Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4. Thankfully, he resisted the urge to get a sickly lime green one, instead opting for tasteful white. Click here for a picture of the Brazilian driving his new car to training.

At £170,000, it will take him just over a week to pay for it.

[The Spoiler]

That’s some serious helmet hair

Swiss F3 star Natacha Gachnang is the first female driver to sign up for the new FIA Formula Two Championship. Don’t be surprised if one day she makes it all the way to F1. The 21 year-old certainly has the genes to succeed in motorsport: she is the cousin of Red Bull test driver Sebastien Buemi, who looks set to win a 2009 race seat for Toro Rosso.

The new F2 category will use a new car based on a chassis built by Williams and an engine built by Audi.

Lewis Hamilton’s WAG pouts for German mag

Nicole Scherzinger stars in the January issue of Maxim Germany, and Gridcrasher has tracked down the best photos from her cover shoot. Because we care about you in that way.

More photos after the jumpy thing…

Lewis honoured by Europe’s premier sports newspaper

After missing out on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Lewis Hamilton can take comfort in the news that L’Equipe has voted him one of their top five sportsmen of the year.

Hamilton came fifth in the voting, behind sprinter Usain Bolt (who was voted the Champion of Champions), swimmer Michael Phelps, tennis star Rafael Nadal and MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi.

Does this mean the French love Lewis more than us Brits? Shurely shome mishtake.

Scuderia chief forsees wage wars

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali believes drivers should not be immune from F1’s cost cuts. 

In an interview with Autosprint, Domenicali said: “I think in the following months there will be a major revolution, also with the drivers, as far as retainers are concerned.

“Let’s be clear: at a moment when the teams, whether big or small, must reduce costs in a significant way, one could feel like saying you need an ace (driver) to make the difference.

“However, I feel in the current climate the big teams won’t have the ability any more to think of offering certain amounts of money that some drivers get. So discussions can be held on this issue.”