2001 Mercedes-benz Cl500 Base Coupe 2-door 5.0l Brabus Package on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2016 Italian Grand Prix race recap

The Italian Grand Prix at Monza is called the Temple of Power. Furthermore, the winning driver in Italy started on pole in 13 of the last 16 years, and only one driver in that time has won the Italian GP from behind the front row of the grid: Rubens Barrichello in 2002 and 2009. By this point in the current Formula 1 season (era?) we know what it means when a track emphasizes both power and pole position: Mercedes-AMG Petronas. The Silver Arrows locked out the front row with Lewis Hamilton on pole. A poor start prevented the Briton from capitalizing on the advantage, so teammate Nico Rosberg and four other drivers swept by him before the end of the second turn. Mercedes would later say a clutch issue caused Hamilton's botched start, but that didn't help the man who'd just fallen to sixth place. Rosberg got about two laps of television coverage on his way to an unbothered victory ahead of Hamilton. Ferrari made Hamilton's second-place finish easier by sticking to a two-stop strategy; both Mercedes drivers pitted once. We aren't sure why Ferrari didn't at least attempt a one-stopper once Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen had been gifted second and third on track. A pit stop took about 23 seconds from entry to exit and Vettel finished third, six seconds behind Hamilton. Raikkonen finished fourth, another seven seconds behind Vettel. Perhaps the Scuderia's tire usage wouldn't allow longer stints, but we'll never know. Daniel Ricciardo wielded his Red Bull like a scalpel to make an impeccable pass on Valtteri Bottas in the Williams and take fifth place. Ricciardo, trailing another Italian province behind, somehow closed the gap on Bottas in just the braking zone of Turn 1, pulling alongside near the apex without locking a wheel on entry nor running wide on exit. Bottas claimed sixth ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez in the Force India, Felipe Massa in the second Williams, and Nico Hulkenberg in the second Force India sealing the top ten. Monza did spring a few on-track surprises. Esteban Gutierrez drove Haas F1 into Q3 for the first time this season, the Mexican setting the sixth-best time in Q2. Manor Racing planned for Monza all season, Pascal Wehrlein repaying the effort by qualifying 13th. Fernando Alonso pitted his McLaren on Lap 50 of the 53-lap race for a set of super soft Pirellis, then set the fastest lap. It's Honda's first fastest lap since 1992. The biggest moments happened off the track.

BMW expects China to pass US as its top market in 2013

When you combine two billion citizens, 100 cities with more than a million inhabitants and an economy that's as unrestrained as Jim Cramer on an Adderall binge, China's explosive auto industry growth shouldn't be a huge surprise. Audi already lists the communist country as its largest market, while Mercedes-Benz is expecting it to be there in the next few years. Now, according to a report from Automotive News, BMW is expecting the People's Republic to overtake the United States in sales by the end of 2013.
We already discovered the extent that BMW is going to in establishing a dedicated Chinese stronghold, when we explored BMW's Shanghai-based DesignWorks studio ahead of April's Shanghai Motor Show. And while we argued that DesignWorks Shanghai hasn't really borne fruit, it isn't due to a lack of sales.
BMW China has seen a 16-percent jump in year-over-year sales, lead by a 28-percent gain in 5 Series sales. Part of BMW's growth strategy comes from an ever-expanding dealership network. Remember those 100 cities we mentioned with over one million people? According to Karsten Engel, CEO of BMW's Chinese operations, those 100-million-plus city dwellers don't have access to a premium dealership.

Mercedes-AMG GT3 racing towards Geneva debut

So far, we've only seen the fundamental road-going coupe version of the new Mercedes-AMG GT, but like the Porsche 911 it targets, you can bet there will be more derivatives to follow. And this is our first glimpse at the first of them. At the Geneva Motor Show next month, Mercedes will showcase the GT3-spec racing version of the AMG GT. The German automaker didn't tell us much more in making the announcement, but did release a pair of cropped teaser sketches showing the sports car with all manner of racing appendages, including what looks like a massive rear wing. Once ready for action, the new Mercedes-AMG GT3 will replace the previous SLS AMG GT3 that won the Nurburgring 24-hour race a couple of years back. But with every automaker and its sister company getting in on the GT3 racing action these days, it'll face some stiff competition on the track. The new Mercedes-AMG GT3 February 12, 2015 Neatly coinciding with the upcoming market launch of the road-going version of the Mercedes-AMG GT, the next stage of the vehicle's evolution is already here: the sports car and performance brand of Mercedes-Benz is presenting a new customer sport racing car that complies with FIA GT3 race regulations in the form of the new Mercedes-AMG GT3. With this, the second customer sport car to be developed by Mercedes-AMG, the Affalterbach company is seeking to build on the success of the SLS AMG GT3 and further expand the customer sport programme first started in 2010. The superb racetrack performance of the road-going GT forms the ideal basis on which to model the new Mercedes-AMG GT3, which is due to make its debut appearance at the Geneva Motor Show. Featured Gallery Mercedes-AMG GT3: teasers Geneva Motor Show Mercedes-Benz Coupe Racing Vehicles mercedes-amg 2015 Geneva Motor Show rendering mercedes-amg gt sketch mercedes-amg gt3