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Posts by author: Nedzad

Alonso Delivers Monza Masterclass

by Nedzad (RSS feed) September 9th, 2007 at 7:19 am

Fernando Alonso trimmed McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s title advantage to just three points by delivering a Monza masterclass in the Italian Grand Prix.

The world champion stamped his authority on the race from the off and was never challenged en route to his first win at the historic venue and his fourth victory of 2007.

Hamilton was unable to match Alonso’s pace but protected his points lead by putting a bold pass on Kimi Raikkonen after the Ferrari driver used a one-stop strategy to leapfrog the rookie following his second pit visit.

The 1-2 result was the best possible tonic for the beleaguered McLaren team on a traumatic weekend in which the latest developments in the spying controversy threatened to reduce the race to a mere sideshow.

Alonso Takes Pole Position Ahead of Team-mate Lewis Hamilton

by Nedzad (RSS feed) September 9th, 2007 at 12:24 am

Fernando Alonso underlined the superiority he has enjoyed all weekend at Monza by dominating qualifying to head up an all-McLaren front row for the Italian Grand Prix.

The world champion ultimately took pole position by just 0.037s from team-mate Lewis Hamilton, but his true advantage was disguised by the fact that he aborted his final run once it became clear that he could not be beaten.

Mercedes-Benz Continues to Post Record Sales

by Nedzad (RSS feed) September 7th, 2007 at 4:35 am

Stuttgart – Sales of Mercedes Car Group passenger vehicles rose by nine percent in August 2007 to a record 96,200 units (August 2006: 88,600 units). As a result, sales of Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and smart brand vehicles amount to 817,600 units for the first eight months of the year (January-August 2006: 818,200). The Mercedes-Benz brand also set a new record for the month of August by delivering 89,100 vehicles to customers, which represents a nine percent increase from August 2006 (81,700). At 758,600 units, sales of Mercedes-Benz vehicles were also at an all-time high for the first eight months of the year, up three percent from the same period last year (January-August 2006: 739,800).

New Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG Black Series: It’s Time to Fly

by Nedzad (RSS feed) August 29th, 2007 at 9:32 pm

The famous F1 or SLR lookalike nose has finally justified its appearance. Well, it could be a potential überflieger, a car that Porsche drivers won’t make happy at all.

After shifting the CLK63 AMG into overdrive with the Black Series treatment, Mercedes is repeating the process, this time with the SLK55 AMG. Thanks to a massaged 5.5-liter V-8 that now makes 400 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque — up 40 and 7, respectively — and lightweight components that shave 99 pounds off the car’s weight, the SLK55 AMG Black Series goes 0-62 in 4.5 seconds — 0.4 second quicker than the regular SLK 55 — with a top speed of 173 mph.

The Magnificent 19

by Nedzad (RSS feed) August 23rd, 2007 at 10:53 pm

Mercedes-Benz’s director of corporate communications, Geoff Day, announced a great event for the upcoming Frankfurt auto show: Mercedes-Benz will be introducing 19 cars in 15 minutes.

These won’t all be new cars, with probably a mix of concepts and updates, but Mercedes-Benz intends to make a big splash this year. We expect to see some sort of hybrid in the mix, although we couldn’t pin him down on the details. The most firm information we got was the previously leaked F700 concept, rumored to be a big luxury car, which will feature the DiesOtto engine.