Just mere hours ago, Honda have just announced that the company will make a return to Formula One starting from 2015 and guess who will be their partner when that moment take place? The answer is the team that Honda have shared some F1 history together: McLaren.

You read that right: McLaren Honda will be racing together once again. According to the press statement by Honda, the Japanese automotive giant will be change of development, manufacture and supply for the engine as well energy recovery system for the team. On another hand, McLaren will be responsible for the chassis together with the management aspect of  the new McLaren Honda team.

Since 2014 will mark the arrival of 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engine due to new regulations instead of the existing 2.4-litre V8 engine, their timing to return to F1 once again couldn’t be better. It is even more interesting to see if McLaren Honda are able to repeat the glory of their previous outing back in 1988 to 1992.

[Source: Honda. Image: Wikipedia]

In recent times, football has seen a shift with the rise of a new type of player: the “Engine”. There’s even a mathematical algorithm to back that claim – at least, that’s the thinking behind adidas’ new range of boots that the company will be launching tomorrow. The adidas Nitrocharge 1.0, as it will be called, has already been tested by some of the company’s sponsored players, and may even make its official debut during the UEFA Champions’ League final later this month.

Ahead of the launch, the company has already posted several teasers about the new Nitrocharge 1.0 boot, with YouTube teaser videos featuring Daniele De Rossi as well as a #theengine Twitter campaign that details the characteristics of the Engine player profile featuring Javi Martinez and Dani Alves.

Hit the jump for more information on the new adidas Nitrocharge boot, with some of the detailed infographics published by adidas about the Engine player profile.

If you have been following the Iron Man movie series since the first movie back in 2008, then you might have realized that Tony Stark (you know who he is, don’t you?) is very fond of Audi R8. As the third instalment of the hugely successful movie franchise has just been released in cinemas throughout the world, it is not a surprise that Audi has decided to take advantage of the occasion.

One of method that the company have used is by draping an Audi RS 5 DTM in Iron Man 3 livery at the recent DTM’s (German Touring Car Championship) season opener at Hockenheim. But Audi didn’t stop there though as they even had Alpinestars, Bell and Uvex came out with matching Iron Man themed gears for the driver (Adrien Tambay) and crew members.

We wonder if Alpinestars, Bell and Uvex have plans to offer those Iron Man gears for budding motorsports and Iron Man fans out there…well, ring us first then!

[Source: Alpinestars and Audi Sport]

Back in 1998, Nike has introduced their first ever Mercurial football boot that is quickly favoured by many footballers that utilizes speed on the field – thanks to its lightweight nature – right until today. Among players that are deeply associated with Nike Mercurial boots is the Brazilian maestro, Ronaldo.

As one of the poster boy for the series, he has been wearing numerous version and colorways of the Nike Mercurial boot throughout his successful career. That being said, some of these boots are more iconic than the others such as the silver-yellow-blue Air Mercurial R9 that Ronaldo wore during World Cup 1998 in France.

Fittingly, the same colour scheme has become the basis of the new Nike Mercurial Vapor IX Special Edition that is crafted to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Nike Mercurial series. Being a limited edition release, only 1998 pairs are made available throughout the world with 98 pairs are coming to select retailers throughout Southeast Asia.

Some of these 98 pairs will be released in Malaysia soon but it doesn’t come cheap (of course) though at RM 1099. Nevertheless, make sure to visit the football specialty store Match Up at Mid Valley Megamall from 8 May onwards if you planning to cop one.

[Ronaldo’s image: Who Ate All The Pies]

After being in production for almost a decade, there is currently no sign that Nike Free running shoes will be out of our sight anytime soon. True enough, here comes the new 2013 Nike Free collection which has landed into our shores recently.

For this year’s edition, a lot of focus have been given to collection’s upper area. As an example, the 2013 Nike Free 5.0’s top has been refreshes with newly designed mesh and lightweight structural designs while its flexible and low-profile Phylite midsole with 8mm heel to toe offset as well as the waffle outsole configurations remained the same as the shoe’s counterpart from 2012, the Nike Free Run 3.

[L - R]: 2012 Nike Free Run 3 vs. 2013 Nike Free 5.0

The 2013 Nike Free 5.0’s new upper also marked the arrival of Nike Dynamic Flywire technology – previously utilized on recent Nike Running shoes such as Air Max+ 2013 and Flyknit Lunar1+ – into the Free family of running shoes.

Article continues after the jump, through the Read More link below.

adidas Malaysia has announced its latest addition to the climacool range, the climacool Revolution running shoe. Promising a 360-degree ventilation running experience, the climacool Revolution provides ventilation from all sides of the shoe for greater comfort during any workout or run.

In addition to the new ventilation channels on the outsole, the climacool material on the upper also helps sweat to evaporate. Also, the COOLEVER lining, featuring a special clover-shaped yarn, helps keep the foot cool, dry and comfortable during any running session. These features result in significantly reduced thermal stress and discomfort, which increases running performance.

The new adidas climacool Revolution running shoes complement the other high-performance running shoes launched by adidas, which are the adidas Energy Boost and adidas adiZero Primeknit. The adidas climacool Revolution will be available for both men and women, and will retail for RM470 at the following adidas Sports Performance Concept Stores:

• adidas Suria KLCC
• adidas Pavilion
• adidas The Gardens
• adidas Empire Subang
• adidas Paradigm Mall

For more information on adidas Malaysia, head on to its official website here. Additional information on adidas Running, visit its dedicated website here.

The Premier League has voted in favour of the implementation of goal-line technology for next season’s matches of the Barclays Premier League. The English Football Association (FA) has awarded the contract to Hawk-Eye to provide the technology, whose past experience include providing the technology in professional tennis matches.

The Barclays Premier League will also be the first domestic league in the world to implement goal-line technology, a technology that has as many for as there are against. As football competitions get more lucrative, and literally millions of dollars on the line, it looks like the scientific approach has gained the upper hand in England.

The use of goal line technology will end future debates on whether the ball crossed the line or not, such as the “phantom goal” scored by Liverpool’s Luis Garcia in the 2005 Champions League.
Image credit: Twitter(@LFC)

The Hawk-Eye technology will see seven cameras placed around the stadium, and naturally will be focused at both goals. This system has proven to better the FIFA margin-of-error requirement of +- 3cm. In the event when the officials cannot conclusively confirm if the ball has fully crossed the goal line, the system will relay the outcome to a new watch co-developed by Hawk Eye and Adeunis, within a second of the event occuring. In addition, video replays of the incident will be made available within 10 seconds after it has occurred. The high speed cameras are also capable of removing players from the image, ensuring that the ball is fully visible. Finally, the system will also work in any weather deemed playable by the referee.

While the Premier League will be the first domestic league to use goal-line technology from 2013-2014, FIFA have also been toying with implementing the technology, with the most recent round on testing being the 2012 Club World Cup tournament.

(Source: BBC Sport; additional info: Premierleague.com)

Last weekend seems to be a rather busy period for motorsports as there are a number of major events happening throughout the scene including the first round of 2013 Autobacs Super GT at Okayama International Circuit in Japan. The event saw the victory of Takuya Izawa and Takashi Kogure with their No. 100 Raybrig Honda HSV-010 GT race machine in GT500 class as well as Katsuyuki Hiranaka and Bjorn Wirdheim in GT300 class through their No. 11 Gainer Dixcel Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.

Meanwhile, the Super GT action will soon arrive in Malaysia as Sepang International Circuit (SIC) will be hosting the third round of the series on 15 and 16 June. It is going to be a special occasion once again as it is the only full-fledged round in Super GT calendar to be held outside of Japan. Of course, Super GT is not foreign to SIC and Malaysian motorsports fans in general as the circuit has been hosting the series since 2000 when it was still known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship.

According to JPM Motorsport (the organizer of Super GT’s Malaysian leg), the tickets will be made available to fans very soon. So, keep a look at the event’s official channels such as www.supergt.com.my and www.facebook.com/supergt.my for further updates.